Page 4 of Daddy’s Hunted Bride

“Marjorie!” My cargo fights even harder to escape. “Tell this asshole to put me down!”

Hands on her hips, Josie glares up at me. “Uncle Dane! Put my friend down right now!”

“Josephine Elise.” Coming up behind his babygirl, my brother Bram swats her bottom twice. I doubt it hurts since she’s wearing a thick cotton diaper beneath all those layers of tulle and lace, but Josie yelps and rubs at her bottom anyway. “Is that how you ask for something, little girl?”

“But Daddy, he—” Two more swats cut off Josie’s protests and she puffs her bottom lip out in a pout. “Fine. Uncle Dane, will you please put my friend down?”

“Well, you did ask very nicely.” And I’ll need to put her down for the wedding ceremony anyway. So I lean forward, depositing my little fox on her feet.

The second I let go, she scurries toward Josie, throwing her arms around my niece’s neck. “Oh my god. I’ve been so fucking worried about you!”

Leaning down, I pop my Little girl’s bottom again. “One more naughty word out of you and Daddy is going to wash your mouth out with soap, little girl.”

Vanessa spins around to glare up at me with all the ferocity of a wolf staring down another predator. “You. Are. Not. My. Daddy.”

“Agree to disagree, little fox.”

Before she can argue further, Josie slaps a hand over Vanessa’s mouth. “You should probably just… stop talking, Vanessa. Seriously. It’s for your own good.”

Gripping Josie’s hand, Vanessa pulls it away from her mouth, turning again to face her friend. “We have to go. I’m getting you out of here.”

But when she tries to pull Josie with her, presumably toward the front door, Josie plants her feet. “I’m not going anywhere, Vanessa.”

“What?” The color drains from my little fox’s face. “Fuck. They really got to you, didn’t they? What did they do to you, Josie?”

Sighing more for dramatic effect than out of any real disappointment, I bend and scoop my naughty babygirl up over my shoulder. “We’ll be back. Gray, if you could start getting things ready for the ceremony, I would appreciate it.”

Small fists pummel at my back while my sister chuckles and shakes her head. “Let me go! I’ll fucking kill you!”

If words alone could slice a man open, I have no doubt she’d succeed. Unfortunately for her, those fierce words are only going to get her mouth washed out with soap and her bottom paddled with her Auntie Gray’s hairbrush. As she is soon to find out.

She keeps up her fight all the way to the bathroom, where I sit her on top of the vanity, leaning in so our noses are nearly touching. Sucking in a breath, she meets my eyes with a boldness that has my cock twitching in my pants. “Behave.”

Fury burns hot in bright-green eyes. Her eyes, like the rest of her face, remind me of a fox, hence my chosen nickname for her. Sharp, angular features, vaguely feline but with the ferociousness of a wolf.

She’s absolutely stunning. And all mine.

“Fuck you.”

“Oh, you absolutely will, little fox. As soon as we say our vows.”

Terror flits across her face. Only for a moment before the anger comes rushing back to smother it, but that glimpse is all I need to nearly embarrass myself right in my pants. “I am not marrying you.”

“Agree to disagree,” I repeat cheerfully as I grab her ankles in one hand and crouch down to open the cabinet beneath the sink with the other. She struggles against my hold, but she can’t risk jumping off the counter without seriously injuring herself, so I let her wiggle and fight while I locate one of the mini bars of soap our friend Maxwell sent us for exactly this purpose.

Grabbing one bar, I rise to my feet again. I have to release my hold on her ankles to unwrap the soap, and as soon as I do, she seizes the moment, jumping down from the vanity and rushing toward the bathroom door. Without pausing what I’m doing, I lift one booted foot and press it against the wood, holding it closed with ease while she yanks futilely at the doorknob.

Once the soap is unwrapped, I flip the faucet on and run the white bar beneath the stream, making sure to get it nice and sudsy.

“Vanessa. Come here, please.”

Just because I’m her Daddy doesn’t mean I don’t know how to use my manners.

“No!” Spinning around, she presses her back against the door, her expression bordering on feral as she bares her teeth. “Stay the fuck away from me!”

Naughty Little girl. I could—and probably will—force her, but I want to give her a chance to prove she can do as she’s told first, so I set the soap in its dish and turn to face her, doing my best to look stern. “Vanessa Marie. Come here or Daddy will have to punish you for not listening on top of using those naughty words.”

My little fox goes still, a frown tugging at her lips. “That’s not my middle name.”