Chapter 12
Trace made it into the cabin’s bedroom and slammed open the window. He sucked in a deep but it wasn’t enough. He had to get out to breathe, to think. Luckily, the bedroom also had a door, which he tore open before walking out into the softly falling snow.
Had he ever felt like this much of a failure?
Turning his face to the sky, he tried to think.
But no matter how hard he tried, his mind cycled back to thoughts of what could have happened to Kip.
She seemed to be getting over it, but could she ever trust him again in a crisis?
He loved her, but did he owe it to her to let her find someone else?
Someone better? The thought made him physically ill, but it wasn’t about him. It was about her.
“Daddy?”
He spun around to see Kip standing there, way too close. She must have followed him out the door. Fat snowflakes drifted onto her hair and shoulders. Her eyes were soft and gentle. And despite his inner chaos, they captured his thoughts. The chaos raging in his mind began to slow.
Still, he wasn’t in control yet. He raised a hand to prevent her from moving closer. “Not yet, babygirl. Go back inside and wait for me.”
Ignoring him, she approached, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him close. Arching back, she looked up at him. The concern in her eyes almost dropped him to his knees. How could she still look at him that way?
“I was worried about you.” She tiptoed up and kissed his chin. “I knew you would protect me, but I also know how it is to feel out of control. And I know how a person can have thoughts that make them feel like they’re not good enough. Even Daddies who are so, so good.”
She was his everything. Now he needed to be everything for her.
Placing his hands on her hips, he smiled. “You do, huh? Well, what about little foxes who just went through something scarier than scary?”
She took his hand and led him back to the cabin as she spoke. And he let her. “I knew you wouldn’t let anything bad happen, Daddy. I wasn’t worried until now… but then I was worried about you. Daddy, you should take a deep breath.”
He didn’t want a deep breath. He wanted to get his girl back into the cabin and fuck all the worries out of both of them. “Deep breathing is good, babygirl. You were worried about me?”
She reached up to brush the melted snow from his face, eyes tender, and nodded. “Of course, I was, Daddy. You saved me. But instead of feeling like the brave hero you are, you felt like you failed. I could tell. Now it’s my turn to save you.”
Now that could be interesting. Looking down, he realized for the first time that she wasn’t wearing her coat or snowshoes. “You’re starting to shiver, Foxy. What have I told you about dressing to come outside in the cold?”
The cold had also pebbled her nipples hard. And just that quickly, his body went from frazzled to ravening. How the hell could she affect him this way after what had just happened?
He grew taut and hard while his mind tried to hold him… hmm, it seemed his mind was telling him to go for it. God, he wanted to hold her. “Let’s go back inside, Foxy.” Could she hear the strain in his voice as he struggled to control his need?
A gentle look filled her eyes. “No.” Then she rose to her toes again, this time pressing a kiss to his lips.
With her kiss, every semblance of control he had shattered.
Kip didn’t allow herself to think about what she was doing. The time for thinking ended when she saw her Daddy alone in the freezing snow, clearly upset by everything that had happened.
What did a Daddy do with feelings like that?
When she’d been scared, he’d comforted her.
But who comforted the Daddies? Sometimes, they needed someone to help them.
Her Daddy needed, not just someone… he needed her.
And even though she was Little, she could help him overcome the things torturing him in a way no one else could.
So that’s what she was going to do. It wasn’t like she needed her arm twisted.
She’d wanted him in a way she’d never wanted any other man.
Not even Lonzo. Trace understood her and connected with her in a way Lonzo never had.
That didn’t mean she hadn’t loved him. She’d loved her husband.
But not in the same way she loved Trace.
And now her Daddy was trapped in a cage of guilt, something she knew about all too well. He was telling himself he had failed her. She had to make him see himself the way she did. Something about him drew her. She’d been fooling herself into thinking she could ever leave him or Wild River Ranch.
This was her home now. He was her home. She would never run again, as long as he wanted her to stay. But if she was staying, it would be as the Little who loved him enough to give him what he needed. So she kissed him again.
He hesitated for a moment, then whatever was holding him back erupted into passion. Pressed against her as he was, she felt the change instantly. He grabbed her hips and lifted her off her feet. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her through the door and into the bedroom.
It was better than any romance she’d ever read.
She curled her arms around his neck, her sex pressed against him. She squeezed her thighs tighter, pulling herself closer. He cupped one hand beneath her bottom and reached behind with the other to close the door.
She might have initiated their kiss, but it didn't take him long to take full control.
His wicked tongue flicked through her, igniting every nerve.
He took charge—strong, confident, male—and she was helpless but to kiss him back.
Desire surged through her in relentless waves, flooding her.
Neither of them doubted who held the power.
Her body reacted to his dominance on a visceral level. Her nipples and clit swelled, throbbing to the point of aching. She pressed her breasts against his chest and rocked her hips to put pressure between her thighs. She needed relief from the unsated longing sweeping through her.
His body was cold against her, and she couldn’t care less.
She craved the pressure he gave her, pressing the ridge of his stiff cock against her needy pussy. She wouldn’t be surprised if the zipper burst.
The feel of his lips still on her, devouring her, had tingles exploding between her thighs. Destroying her, and she loved it. She was exactly where she wanted to be.
She ran her fingers through his short hair, winding them to the back of his head to pull him even closer.
He sat on the bed with her straddling his lap and took her hands, lowering them to his tight abdomen.
When she glanced lower to where she wanted her hands to be, his chest rose and fell as fast as her own.
“We need to stop, little fox. I want things from you that you might not be able to give me. I don’t want to be your Daddy just for now.
I want to be your Daddy forever. I don’t know if you’re even ready to hear that, much less agree to it.
The last thing I want right now is to hurt you even more. ”
“You won’t hurt me.” She wanted to rub against him like a cat.
Instead, she pressed her palms to his flushed cheeks.
“You saved my life today. More important than that, you said you were my Daddy. Doesn’t that make me your Little girl?
I hope so, because I want to be your forever babygirl.
I want forever with you as my Daddy. So, please, don’t turn me away. ”
His eyes flared at her words. “You wouldn’t have been in danger at all if it weren’t for me.”
“I’ve been in danger for six years. Today was scary, but knowing you were there changed everything. I knew with you there, I would be safe. My past was hard, but mostly because I had to deal with everything alone.”
She moved on quickly. No way did she want to wind up in a long conversation about the past six years of her life. Not when her lips were swollen in the most delicious way. What would it be like to do more than kiss?
“The only way you can hurt me now, Daddy, is by shutting me out. Please, let me take care of you like you always take care of me.”
What would it be like to just be able to live in the moment?
To not have to worry about who was around the next corner, or that she’d slip up and say the wrong thing to the wrong person.
Or to have a Daddy she could run to instead of running away.
Most of all, she wanted to know what really being Trace’s Little would be like.
His gaze narrowed. He looked like a wolf stalking his prey. Had she gone too far? Her heart thundered when he gripped her chin and forced her to look at him. “Eyes to me, Foxy. If we do this, it means forever.”
Never taking her gaze from him, she nodded as he caressed her cheek with gentle fingers. “Forever, Daddy. I promise.”
His cock jumped, trying to escape the confines of his jeans. “You know you’re in trouble for going outside without your coat and boots, right?”
Her clit pulsed. “You know what they say, Daddy. Don’t threaten me with a good time.” She wiggled her pussy closer to his cock and rocked against him. He was huge.
His finger trailed down her neck and lower until it reached the swell of her breasts. At that point, her lungs refused to work. He kept his touch light, teasing her. Her nipples tightened to sharp points.
With a growl, he ran his hand under her sweater and over one hardened peak, raking over it and then pinching. Pleasure surged through her in molten waves, igniting every desperate, aching nerve. She cried out in both pain and pleasure.
He raked his teeth from the curve of her shoulder to her ear. “I don’t make threats, little fox,” he murmured. “I make promises. And the one thing I can promise you is that right now I can’t be soft and tender.”
“Sweet and tender is not what I need.” She wanted to feel alive. She wanted proof she wasn’t frail and breakable. She wanted him, just as he was. “No holding back, Daddy.”