Chapter Ten
“You can’t—”
“You live in my house, you live by my rules.”
Fuck. He shouldn’t have said that. No matter what kind of fantasies he’d been having, no matter what he thought when he looked at her, this wasn’t something he could just…dictate. He could imagine Arthur and Hudson and Eric and every other top he respected glaring at him from behind Lilith, shaking their heads.
“Look,” he started, all ready to apologize for the hundredth time, get his stuff together and leave because fuck it all, that was bad. Real bad. But Lilith, for about the hundredth time since he’d met her a week ago, surprised him.
“Fine,” she said, her chest heaving through that damn heart-shaped cutout in her dress as she walked slowly toward him.
His mouth must be gaping so far open she could’ve stuffed her beloved bat inside but of course she wouldn’t. She loved that bat, wouldn’t want to get it all slimy with his saliva. But what did she mean,Fine? That was a completely irrational response to his totally out-of-line demands.
Vance held up his hands to ward her off as she approached. At least she hadn’t brought the frying pan.
“Hey, Lilith. I’m sorry. That was inappropriate and I take it back. I don’t want to be a creeper and I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this so you can stay here. I’ll pack up my shit and leave right this second and you can stay for as long as you need to, I—”
But the way she walked right up to him, standing so close she had to tilt her head back to meet his gaze…that didn’t seem like she was scared. Or mad, which he’d expect—and this time deserve. No, the woman looked calm and if he wasn’t mistaken, there was even a spark of anticipation in her eyes.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m not sorry.”
Whaaaat.
“Look,” she said, shaking her head. “I know you saw my binky. You noticed how attached I am to Flaps. You’ve seen the way I dress when I’m alone. And I feel like you have a good idea of what that means.”
“You’re a little,” he said carefully.
“Yeah.” She looked up at him with those black eyes and while they made her look somewhat otherworldly, they didn’t stop her from looking wide-eyed and vulnerable. “And I thought you might be a daddy.”
“I am,” he conceded. “But, I’m notyourdaddy.”
A flash of something he thought might be disappointment passed across her face and he almost regretted his words. But being someone’s daddy wasn’t something you decreed. It took a lot of negotiation, communication. It wasn’t unilateral even if he wanted her over his lap so badly he could taste it.
“Ain’t that the truth.”
It was funny how Lilith muttered half the things she said. Almost like she was so used to people ignoring her she could get away with saying whatever she was thinking because no one would notice. Well, he noticed.
“I’m not because we haven’t talked about the possibility at all. That’s not how I got brought up in this world. My mentors would beat my ass for announcing someone was my little without even discussing it first and I am not a masochist. Big baby when it comes to pain actually. You could ask my rugby teammates what a complainer I was after every match.”
He gave her a big smile and one corner of her mouth curled up in return.
“But…”
Normally he hated the word “but.” It almost never meant anything good was going to follow. But it had rapidly become clear that Lilith wasn’t anything he expected.
She swallowed and twisted side to side, hands held behind her back, the fluff of her skirt swishing around her thighs. Too goddamn adorable.
“But is that, like, theonlyreason?”
Vance’s brain stuttered. He needed more information. Like, a lot more. Sometimes he wished he could demand discovery prior to relationships like he got to before a court case. That would make everything so much easier.
Lucky for him, no cat had got Lilith’s tongue. No, the little minx licked her black lips and looked at him from under her thick, sooty lashes.
“Like you don’t think I’m hideous? Pretty sure you don’t hate me. Or maybe you’re just really nice to everyone who breaks into your house.”
“You are far from hideous.” Untraditional, yes, but mouth-watering in her own way. “And no, I don’t hate you. But there’s usually a lot more to it than that.”
“Does there have to be? I haven’t had a daddy in a long time and maybe I act tough but this is a really rough time for me and I—”