Chapter 24 Madeline #2
“And,” he added, softer, “the nights you wear a dress I know you didn’t pick for them.”
I swallowed. “For who, then?”
His gaze dropped briefly to my neckline, then back to my face. “For me. For Daddy.”
Heat flooded my cheeks.
“I told you not to watch the stream. You respected that.”
“I did. That night. After that, I realised not watching didn’t stop other people watching. So I chose the lesser evil.”
“And?”
“And I hate every man who’s ever typed anything about your legs. But I like knowing what the feeds see when you walk into a room. So I know what I’m protecting you from. It feels… less helpless.”
Something inside me melted.
He wasn’t just possessive. He was trying to build a map around me. Around us. Learning the system he loathed. Because he wanted to wedge himself between me and every gaze that didn’t deserve me.
I stood before I thought about it.
His eyes tracked me up automatically. “Where are you going.”
“Nowhere. Just… over here.”
I walked around the table, bare, and slid into his lap sideways without asking. His hands went to my hips on instinct, steadying me.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” He sounded a little dazed.
Up close, the line between his brows looked less like anger and more like worry.
“You’re not helpless. You’re the least helpless person I know.”
“I can’t take you outside. Not without turning you into a target.”
“I’m already a target. Thorne daughter. Veil’s favourite liability. The difference is, with you, I’m a target who sleeps better.”
His jaw worked. “That’s not the kind of comfort most people offer their girlfriends.”
“We both know I’m not most people. And you’re not my boyfriend.”
His grip tightened. “No. I’m not.”
I knew what he was thinking. Dom and sub meant something else to him.
“I wore this for you.”
His attention snapped down to my dress. “What.”
“Underneath. You were very distracted by cutlery when I arrived. I feel neglected.”
His throat worked. “Baby.”
“I thought, since you went to all this trouble with the date and with Veil and with your war on comments, the least I could do was remind you what you actually own.”
His pupils blew so fast it was almost funny.
I slid the strap of my dress down my shoulder. Then the other. The neckline loosened. I bunched the soft fabric at my waist, hiking the skirt just enough to show him the top edge of the set I’d chosen.
Black silk. Thin straps. Tiny bows. A hint of lace where my thighs met.
His hand flexed hard on my hip.
“Madeline.”
“Recognise them? You picked them.”
His gaze dragged down, then up, lingering.
“That’s my set. On my girl.”
I nodded.
Something in him… shifted. The nervous host, the guilty almost-boyfriend, the man who’d set a table because he thought I deserved better—he didn’t disappear. He just moved back a step.
Daddy stepped forward.
His hand slid from my hip to my thigh, fingers tracing the silk.
“Stand up.”
The command went straight through me.
“Turn around.”
I did, hands smoothing the dress up so it stayed bunched around my waist. His breath hitched behind me.
“Look at you. Pretty little sub showing Daddy what belongs to him.”
Heat rushed to my face, down my chest, between my legs. My fingers clenched in the fabric.
“You were nervous. I thought this might help.”
“It does. Immensely.”
His palms slid up the backs of my thighs, slow, reverent, stopping just under my ass.
“Turn back around. I want to see your face when I tell you what I’m thinking.”
I pivoted carefully, still holding the dress bunched in my hands. He leaned back in the chair, looking up at me, jaw tight, eyes dark. Just the way I loved my dom.
“What are you thinking.”
“That I shouldn’t have bothered with plates. I should’ve just sat here and waited for you to walk out of that elevator, then put you exactly where I wanted you.”
“Where’s that.”
He hooked one finger in the waistband of the silk, just enough to tug.
“On my lap. In my bed. Against that window. Pick one, baby. I’m generous when I’ve gone two weeks without you.”
My pulse stuttered.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I’m in love. Same thing.”
The words landed in my chest like they always did. Something in me loosened. The last of his nerves, the last of mine. Just… gone.
I let the dress fall.
“Better?”
His gaze dragged from my chest to my face. “You break my brain. You know that.”
“Is that a yes?”
“It’s a yes. And a reminder that you’re never leaving this city again.”
“You can’t keep me here.”
“The hell I can’t.” His hands closed around my waist, hauling me gently back into his lap. “Sit. Let Daddy show you how much I appreciates the effort.”
I settled, his chain cool against my fingers when I reached up instinctively. He exhaled like he’d been waiting for that contact all night.
“There. Now it feels right.”
“I thought the candlelight was supposed to do that.”
“The candles are for you. My nerves were for you. The Veil lessons were for you.”
“And this?” I toyed with his chain.
“This is for me. My girl. My perfect little sub. In my lap where she belongs.”
He kissed my shoulder.
“I didn’t scare you off with my ridiculous attempt at romance , did I?”
“You did very well.”
“Yeah?”
“Mm. Next time maybe less table, more lap.”
“Noted.” His hands tightened, anchoring me there. That’s when he finally kissed me like I had been waiting for.