“You, sir,” she managed to gasp out.
“And who am I?”
“M-my Daddy.”
“That’s right.” Pain and pleasure melded together, overwhelming her, pushing her closer and closer to that shining, shimmering release. “My sweet, naughty little kitty. Come for me, baby.”
Pleasure exploded inside of her, scalding hot waves of it washing over every single nerve ending until she was a shaking, whimpering mess. Somewhere in the distance, she heard his roar of release, felt it inside of her. But she was floating above it and if it hadn’t been for his hold on her, she would have slid straight to the floor.
She was vaguely aware of him helping her to the shower, of strong, gentle hands washing her inside and out. Of those same hands scrubbing a towel over her skin and then guiding her to the bed.
Yawning widely, she snuggled into his side when he joined her in bed. “Daddy?”
“Yes, jellybean?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Loving me. Even though I was really bad and today was really hard at times, I never doubted how much you loved me.”
“Good. Get some sleep, baby.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
Hayleigh’s words and Derek’s warning kept Connor up most of the night. When his early alarm went off, he gave up and began the process of getting ready for the day. It was tempting to let Hayleigh sleep, to give him an excuse to skip the conversation they needed to have, but that was the coward’s way out and he damn well knew it.
So, he woke her a good half hour before her alarm was set to go off on his phone. Watching her wake up was quickly becoming one of his favorite parts of the day. Her nose always crinkled up when he first tried to wake her, like she was fighting him even in her sleep. After a few gentle shakes, her eyelids would flutter open, revealing those sweet brown eyes, still clouded over with sleep.
And then the brown would clear, and she’d smile up at him. Just like she did this morning. “Hi, Daddy.” Her voice was thick with sleep still and she yawned her way through the greeting.
“Morning, jellybean. Time to get up. There’s hot chocolate with marshmallows if you get up and get ready really quick.”
Apparently, those were the magic words because she was up and out of the bed like a shot. Satisfied she’d be ready in record time he went to the kitchen to start the hot chocolate.
Sure enough, it only took her about fifteen minutes to bounce her way into the kitchen with her hair brushed and pulled up in a high ponytail and wearing one of the uniforms she’d brought with her the first time she’d stayed the night. With his schedule it made more sense for her to have some clothes at his place instead of her needing to wake up with him to ride back down to the main building before breakfast every day.
He poured two cups of homemade hot chocolate and topped hers off with a pile of mini marshmallows. The fact that she didn’t even question the treat just added another layer to the guilt he was already feeling.
“Hayleigh, I have something I need to tell you,” he finally forced himself to say between her hums and smacks of pleasure.
With her mug at her lips, she looked up at him. The little girl fell away, and adult Hayleigh took her place. “What’s wrong?” she asked, returning the mug to the table.
Fuck, this was even harder than he’d thought it would be. “It’s about the other day. When I came and got you from the craft session.”
“When we,” she gestured vaguely to the space between them, “in the classroom?”
“Yeah.”
“What about it?”
There was no way to do it but to just get it out. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. “Julia came onto me. One minute we were working on a menu, the next she was half naked and pushing her breasts in my face.”
“So that’s why you were so… the way you were?”
“Yes. I just… I needed you. I should have told you, but I couldn’t seem to find the words at the time.”
She took another sip of her hot chocolate, and the air in the kitchen felt so thick he swore he could cut it with a knife. “Did you kiss her?” she asked at length.