CHAPTER 4
SCARLETT
Iblink several times, trying to come to terms with what he just said. He’s a Daddy Dom? I didn’t hear him right; I mustn’t have. He couldn’t have said that.
Yet he called himself Daddy twice. My mind can’t be playing that many tricks on me. Unless something is majorly wrong.
“I’m not dying, right?” I ask, my eyes going wide. “Oh my goodness. I am, aren’t I? I need to find someone who can take care of Juniper when I leave. I can’t leave her in his custody. I can’t. You have to help me get her to some place safe so he can never find her.”
My breathing picks up as I speak, panic flowing over my body like a torrential downpour.
“Please, a nice family who can take care of her when I’m gone. Someone who will love her like she is their own, but will also tell her that I love her when she gets older. I don’t want her to think that I gave her up.” Tears run down my face as I continue to speak.
I hold Juniper a little closer to my chest and look down at her. She looks so peaceful.
“I don’t want to die,” I whisper. “I really don’t want to leave Juniper.”
Thorin’s hands wrap around my face, holding me steady as I look him in the eyes.
“You aren’t dying,” he gently says. “I’m not going to allow you to die or give your daughter away.”
“I’m not dying?” I ask, trying to process his words.
“You aren’t dying. Aiden said you are going to be okay.” Thorin rubs his thumb across my cheek.
“Really?” I look at him like he has the world in his hands.
“Yes, really, Little One. You aren’t going to die. I won’t allow it.” He gives me a firm look.
I relax into the bed, melting into his hands as he continues to touch my face. His warm hands are so calming, and I can’t help but close my eyes and relish this feeling. Will he ever touch me like this again?
“Are you feeling okay?” he gently asks.
I open my eyes and look at him. “Yes.”
For once, I actually am. It’s crazy to think about, but having Thorin’s hands on me just makes everything seem like it’s going to work out. Like he is going to make sure everything works out.
“Now, why did you think you were dying?” he asks. “Do you think you can tell me, or is it going to make you panic?”
I pull my face out of his hands and close my eyes again, trying to hold back a whimper. I don’t want to pull away, but I’m embarrassed about. I shouldn’t have freaked out like that, but I’ve been on edge for several days.
“You’re okay,” he coos at me. “Everything is going to be okay. You’re safe at the Whiskey River Mountain Lodge.”
“I know,” I whisper.
The safety I feel now is nothing I’ve felt before. I never want to leave, but I know sooner or later I’m going to have to when the money runs out. I paid everything upfront several weeks ago, so now I only have a little money left.
“I panicked because you said something, and I thought I was becoming delusional. I just need to know that if anything happens, I have to get Juniper to someone who will love her and take care of her. I need them to adopt her if I am going to die.”
“But you aren’t.”
“But I’m not,” I repeat his words.
“What did I say to make you think you were becoming delusional?” he asks, searching my face.
My cheeks heat up, and I shake my head. I’m not going to say those words if he doesn’t mean them or I imagined them.
“Scarlett.” His voice holds a warning in it. “Tell Daddy.”
My eyes go wide as he says that word again. My mind can’t be playing tricks on me now.
“You keep calling yourself Daddy,” I mumble, not believing what I just said.
“Yes, I have been. Is that a problem?”
I shake my head and then nod. “I don’t know,” I whisper, taking a deep, shaking breath in.
Everything is becoming too much, and I don’t know what to think or do. He confirmed that he called himself Daddy, which means that what he said is true.
I didn’t make that up.
“Can you look at me, Little One?” he gently asks.
I shake my head, too embarrassed to meet his gaze.
“Little One.” His voice holds a warning, and I can’t help but obey. “Good girl.”
A shiver runs down my spine as he says those words. I could get used to hearing him call me that. Along with him calling himself Daddy and him touching me.
“Fuck me,” I whisper.
His eyes go wide, and I turn away, humiliation coursing through my body. Why couldn’t I have kept my mouth shut?
“I’m so sorry. Please, just help me out of the bed so I can go to a different cabin,” I exhale, my voice sounding so broken. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
“Scarlett,” he gently says.
“Please, just help me out of the bed so I can move to a new cabin. You won’t have to see me again,” I beg.
I don’t even know if I would be able to walk with Juniper in my arms, but I am going to try. I can’t stay in the room with him.
I just asked him to fuck me, practically begged with how my voice sounded.
“I’m sorry.” I choke back a sob.
Tears fill my eyes as I take a deep breath. I need to calm down so I don’t wake Juniper. Though, she is due a feed at any moment.
“No,” Thorin says.
“What?”
“No, I will not be helping me out of the bed.”
“Fine.” I grit my teeth. “I’ll just do it myself.”
I go to move, but Thorin’s hand is on my chest before I can lift a muscle. I look up, only for him to be staring back at me with some type of emotion across his face.
“Listen to me, Little One.” His voice is firm. “You are not going anywhere. Yuu are staying in my bed until Aiden deems you fit. You are staying in my bed until I say you can leave.”
My mouth falls open, not expecting him to be so possessive. But I can’t help but love that he is. Something inside of me wakes up at the way he wants to ensure I am healthy. It feels different than what he did to me.
Thorin cares.
He didn’t.
“Do you understand?” Thorin asks.
“Yes.” Daddy is on the tip of my tongue as I speak.
I’ve only known him for a little time, yet I want to call him Daddy. I want to submit to him and tell him he can have his way with me. I want to be told I’m a good girl and have him take care of me.
But will Thorin want all of that as well? I have a newborn daughter. I know some people are okay with dating a single mom, but not everyone is.
“I would prefer ‘yes, Daddy,’ but I don’t think you’re there yet,” Thorin gently says. “I don’t want you to be embarrassed about what you said.”
“How can I not?” I whisper.
I literally asked him to fuck me. How can I not be embarrassed about that?
“I feel the same way.” He places a hand on my shoulder. “I would love to have my way with you, but not right now. You need time to heal, but don’t think for a second that I don’t want you.”
My mouth falls open. “But… but we don’t know each other. I shouldn’t have said what I did.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” I look at him, confused.
“Don’t say you shouldn’t have said it. I know you meant it.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. I don’t regret saying I wanted to have my way with you.”
I shake my head. “I didn’t say I regretted it, but just I shouldn’t have said it. It is two different things.”
I can’t help but get a little sassy. He’s putting words into my mouth, and I don’t want him to. There’s no reason for him to think I regret what I said.
I don’t. I just know I shouldn’t have said it.
“Okay, regret is the wrong word. I’m sorry. And it doesn’t matter how long we have known each other. There’s a spark between us, a pull. I know you do as well,” he encourages me. “Don’t push that aside like it means nothing.”
I don’t want to push it anywhere, but how could I have said something like that? It’s so unlike me to just blurt things out like that.
“I just…” I sigh, looking away. I’m still humiliated. Who wouldn’t be? Well, maybe someone who is confident in themselves wouldn’t be , but I am. I really am.
“You just what?” Thorin gently asks. “You’re safe here, Little One. You can speak your mind.”
“I’m embarrassed, okay?” I say, looking up at him again.
I know I’m safe. Every single time I talked to Thorin on the phone, he was nice and caring.
It wouldn’t be hard to be in a safe place, considering what he put me through. The things he did and said.
I shiver as the thoughts come over me.
“Are you cold?” Thorin asks. “I can get more blankets and put wood in the fire.”
“Oh, I’m okay.”
“Are you sure? You don’t have to just say that.”
I look at his clothing. He is wearing long pants and a tight-fitting, short-sleeved shirt. So even if I were cold, I wouldn’t tell him because I don’t want him to overheat.
“Scarlett.” His voice holds a warning. “I don’t think I like what you are thinking.”
“And what am I thinking?” I challenge.
“You won’t tell me if you were cold because you’re worried I’ll be too hot.”
My eyes go wide as I stare at him. How does he know? I didn’t say anything.
“You looked at my clothes. I’m a big man and create a lot of heat. But that doesn’t mean I won’t put wood in the fire to heat the place if you are uncomfortable. I can change if I am too hot. What I want is you to be comfortable.” He gives me a pointed look.
“You don’t have to do that,” I whisper.
“You’re right. I don’t have to do it, but I want to do it. I want to make you comfortable in my cabin,” he states.
I don’t know how to respond as when he says that. He wants to.
Thorin wants to make sure I’m taken care of.
“You and Juniper,” he gently says.
I look down at my precious girl in my arms and smile. She is still fast asleep, like nothing is going on around her. One day, I’ll tell her about how I escaped her father to give both of us a better life.
“Now, do you need anything? Food? Water? Bathroom?” Thorin asks.
“Maybe some food?”
Thorin smiles. “I’ll make something and be right back. Anything you don’t like or are allergic to?”
“No.”
“Great. You just lie here and relax. I’ll be back soon.”