“Baby, are you okay, for real?” I reach over and cup her cheek.
“I am now.” She looks over, her soft features so trusting as she smiles, and my heart is beating out of my chest. “Where are we going?” she asks, and it takes me a second to switch off the fury and focus on caring for her.
Just as I open my mouth to answer, a loud, gnawing growl comes from her stomach and she wraps her free hand around her center.
“Sorry.”
“You’re hungry.” New anger wells up inside me as I remember watching her last night but not seeing her eat anything. “We’re going to get you some food, that’s where we’re going.”
“No,” she snaps, too fast, but I’m not backing down. “I’m fine.”
“Yes, we are,” I announce, giving her a stern stare. “Sometimes, I make the rules, I know what’s best for you and you’re going to learn to trust me.”
The tension in her face softens and she brings a shoulder to her ear. “Daddy knows best.” The words drip from her plump cherry lips and my already throbbing cock sends a jolt of painful need deep into my core.
“Every time you call me that, I feel like I’m the luckiest human on the planet, baby girl.”
“Every time I look at you, I feel the same.”
Chapter 10
Kezia
“This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.” I gaze around, my mouth hanging wide in awe as I turn in circles, the stars and moon shining down. The first hum of light turning the sky along the horizon from black to deep gray. “I’ve traveled this entire country, and I always had dreams of a place…it looked like this. I never knew it could be real.”
“Well,” Merrick starts, his eyes trained on me as we walk the stone pathway from where he parked his truck toward the front door of a house that is straight out of my dreams. He’s changed out of his uniform, wearing loose, faded jeans and a white button up shirt. Simple but still so sexy. “First, you are the most beautiful place, person, everything, that I’ve ever seen. And second…” He stands behind me, wrapping his hands around my waist, and I feel the hard length pressed into my back, making the tension grow low between my legs. “Second, this is real. I’m going to take care of you from now on, Kezia. No one will hurt you again.”
I want to believe him, but a lifetime of a reality that doesn’t match his words niggles doubt in my mind. I take a long breath, admiring the enormous barn-like structure that is his home lit up outside and inside in the low light of pre-dawn.
The rustic form contrasts with the modern touches that have turned the giant structure into an awe-inspiring house. As we approach the front door, I see huge glass windows that give a straight view through the first floor.
The driveway to the house was probably half a mile long, winding through pines that reminded me of the ones at the waterfall we went to just yesterday. He told me this is part of the same land, and the way it rolls and enormous century old trees hug the house make it more like the cover of a magazine than somewhere I ever thought I’d find myself.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I hear dogs barking inside, then see them through the glass.
“You have dogs?” I do a little skip-jump.
“Yeah, Rosy and Eleanor. Rescues. Sort of like you.”
A smile blossoms on my face. “I love dogs so much. I’ve never been allowed to have pets. They are considered a unnecessary expense in our group. But, when we’re at the festivals, people bring their dogs and I just always wanted one so bad.”
“Well, come on. Meet your dogs.”
The way he says ‘meet your dogs’ makes me pause, but I’m so excited I don’t dwell that I may have misunderstood.
“Come on. I need to get inside you—” Merrick immediately stops himself and shakes his head. “I mean, I need to get you inside.”
He turns toward the house, my hand in his as he guides us to the front door, and I’m nervous but at the same time, I feel at home. Something I’ve never felt before.
Just inside the door, the interior is more stunning than the exterior, if that’s possible. Warm wood, cream and white, and spots of blue that remind me of the ocean with soaring ceilings and rough beams. Rosy and Eleanor jump and lick and I sit right down on the floor and let them engulf me.
“They don’t usually take to strangers. They’re not really trusting of most people. Can’t blame them, they didn’t have the best upbringing.” Merrick stands, watching with a warm glow in his eyes, scratching the side of his face. “But, they probably need to go out.”