Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Two weeks later…
Cannon
It feels like I’m living in two worlds. One of them is dark and frustrating as my team waits for Eloise’s fucking trafficker to discover her location. It consumes me and leaves me pacing late at night.
My other world is a dream. Eloise is all that is light and good on Earth. She’s a breath of fresh air. She makes me smile every minute of the day.
Currently, she’s dancing around in front of me in the living room while I check her math homework. She’s so proud of herself. She doesn’t need me to check her work, but she likes to bring it to me, so I will because it brings her so much joy when I declare that every answer is perfect.
I’ve learned that Eloise could have passed the GED and gotten her diploma by the time she was in eighth grade. She’s just that bright. She doesn’t need to do all this work. Even after four years, she hasn’t forgotten much. But she’s determined to ace the test.
She can’t actually take the test while we’re waiting for Larkin to come after her. That part is unfortunate. We had to create a fake, drawn-out schedule at the study center. As if she would need a year of classwork.
If Larkin had even one brain cell, he would realize there’s no way Eloise needs to study for this diploma, but I doubt he paid attention to her grades in school. He only paid attention to her looks and spent his time plotting how he was going to arrange to abduct her.
I take my time looking over her paper. I don’t need to. I could see all her answers were correct in seconds. But I like the way she bounces around the room, giddy.
I finally look up and smile. “They’re all correct, Little one.”
“Yes!” She jumps up and down.
My heart is full. I love how far she’s come in the time she’s been here. Night and day. She still has nightmares most nights and wakes up gasping. I finally put a monitor in her room to easily hear her.
It’s especially helpful if I catch her before the bad dreams progress into a full-scale panic attack. I prefer to rush into her room while she’s in the whimpering phase of the nightmare and wake her before she starts screaming.
Life would be much easier if she slept in my bed, but we haven’t broached that topic yet. I think it’s been good for her to have her special corner in her own room. It’s allowed her some independence.
Eloise stays up reading about half the night most nights.
I don’t mind a bit. For one thing, she’s a grown adult who should be permitted to make her own decisions and sleep whatever hours she wants.
For another thing, I suspect she’s more afraid of the dark than she likes to admit, and reading is easier to do in the dark than sleeping.
She sleeps much sounder after the sun has risen.
What we have not done is leave the apartment.
She’s been here two weeks without setting foot out the door.
In fact, most of the time, she runs from the door and hides in the corner in her room when someone comes over.
I can sense her anxiety every time I need to open the door, let alone step into the hallway.
Which is why I have a plan for today, and I’m not sure how she’s going to react. “I think we should celebrate,” I declare.
She claps her hands together. “Ice cream!”
I chuckle. “We can get ice cream if you want.”
“Get it? There’s some in the freezer.”
“While we’re out. Let’s go to the park. It’s beautiful out. We should get fresh air.”
The smile fades from her face, and she glances toward the window. “I can see how pretty it is from right here. It’s lovely.”
“Eloise…” I reach out a hand, but my girl doesn’t take it. She backs up and crosses her arms, narrowing her gaze at me.
I nearly chuckle. She’s never been defiant before. This is interesting. It might be even more important than my initial plan for fresh air. I lean against the couch cushions and cross one leg over the other. “Who is this naughty girl, and what have you done with my Eloise?”
She narrows her gaze further. “It’s not safe. Maybe after you catch Larkin.”
I shake my head. “That excuse doesn’t fly with me, Little one.
If I thought someone was looking for you in Seattle, I would never take you outside, but you know Larkin is in Virginia.
Someone from my team is always monitoring his whereabouts.
You’re in no trouble with the law, as he made you believe.
Plus, you’ll always be safe when you’re with me. ”
She lifts her chin defiantly. “Well, I don’t want to. Maybe tomorrow.” And then my normally adorable, pleasant, rule-abiding Little girl turns and stomps all the way to her room.
I’m glad she can’t see me because I can’t possibly maintain my serious Daddy expression. It falters quickly as I stifle laughter.
Alas, I can’t let her run over me, so I rise and follow her. She may have retreated, but she didn’t shut her door. She’s sitting in her favorite corner with two dolls in her lap and a book open.
I’m not sure what she’s reading now. She finished Moby Dick a long time ago. She devours books. Soon, I will run out of reading material for her, and we’ll have to—
Aha. Perfect.
“Angel… I know you’re not actually reading that book. It’s upside down.”
She winces and flips it around, not meeting my gaze.
“I bet you’d like to get some new books to read.” She has an e-reader, and she uses it sometimes, especially at night, but she prefers to hold a paper book.
She lifts her gaze over the top of the book to glare at me. “Is this a trick?”
“Yes. Let’s go to the library.”
Her eyes widen before she can control her reaction. She jerks her gaze down again. “I’m fine for now. There are still a lot of books in your office that I haven’t read yet.”
“Ah, but they aren’t ones you’re interested in, are they? You said you wanted to read more about the history of the United States. I don’t have many books on that subject. And I know you’d like some more fiction material. The library is a great idea.”
She pushes out her bottom lip and sets her book aside before a dramatic flop onto her side. “Daddy…”
My heart stops.
I’m pretty sure hers does, too. For long seconds, neither of us moves. I’m not sure how to react. I don’t want to make a big deal out of this, but it’s fucking huge. This is the first time she’s called me Daddy.
I take a step closer to her.
She pops up to sitting and jumps to her feet. “Okay, I’ll go to the library and the park on two conditions.”
I blink at how she has changed the subject instead of addressing the elephant in the room. I’ll go along with her plan. “Depends on what these conditions are, naughty girl.”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s called negotiating. You said that when two people are in a D/s relationship of any type, including Daddy/Little girl, they should negotiate things.”
“I see. And are we in such a relationship?”
“Duh…” She leans forward, slouching. Sometimes she’s so very much a Middle. There are a lot of things she enjoys that are fitting for a younger age, but her sassy side is more Middle.
I can’t resist chuckling as I cross my arms. “Okay, Little one. What are your conditions?”
“First, you have to have sex with me.”
My brows hit the ceiling. I open my mouth, but no sound comes out because I’m blindsided.
Before I can form words, she continues, “And then you should definitely spank me because my behavior is unacceptable.”
Apparently, my eyes can widen farther. It takes me a moment to internalize my Little girl’s words. She’s serious. I won’t turn her down because she wouldn’t ask if she weren’t ready.
She knows her own mind. She’s proven to me that she’s resilient.
I’m not surprised. She’s had to look out for herself, stand up for herself, and find ways to protect herself from the moment she was born.
She’s done everything she could for the past ten years, since she was twelve, to avoid the worst atrocities that could have happened to a woman.
And now she’s here, and she’s mine. And if she’s ready to have sex and experience impact play, I’ll give her that.
I lower my arms from my chest and hold out a hand. “Come.”
Eloise doesn’t hesitate. She runs to me so fast I have to brace myself. I catch her and lift her into my arms as she wraps her arms and legs around me. She’s grinning as she looks into my eyes. “Yes?”
I turn and walk out of her room. “You’re mine, Eloise. The answer was always going to be yes.”
“You were waiting for me to beg?”
I chuckle. “I was waiting for you to be certain about what you want.” I carry her into my bedroom. Our bedroom. It’s been so hard letting her sleep in another room for the past two weeks, but I needed to give her space. There was no way I could have her in my bed and keep my cock in my pants.
That’s an exaggeration. I could have done it, and I would have if she’d needed that from me. But I truly believe that giving her time to catch her breath without looking over her shoulder was important.
Apparently, that time is over.