Page 158 of Daddy’s Fortitude

There, that should take care of things. Damn, he was actually quite good at this stuff.

“But what about the Daddy stuff? You said you weren’t a Daddy. I don’t want you to pretend to be a Daddy for me.”

He crossed his arms over his chest as he thought that through. He could see where she was coming from. But at the same time, she really should know him better.

“I don’t do anything I don’t want to do. Or say anything I don’t mean. If I want to be a Daddy to you, I mean it.”

“Do you know how to do that?” she asked.

“Well, I have done some research.” He’d done that last night on his run after he’d worked through his anger.

Which he now regretted, because if he’d just turned around and run straight back, then he likely would have been there when the fire started.

Instead, he’d stood on the side of the road, looking up what made a good Daddy Dom. How to know he was a Daddy Dom and other ridiculous stuff.

“Research?” she asked. “Really?”

He nodded.

“Reality might be a bit different,” she warned.

“I don’t know. I already think I’ve been Daddying you for a while. There’s just been a few things missing: Little time, playtime, and spanking time.”

“I don’t need to be spanked. I’m a good girl,” she told him huffily.

Ammo just laughed. “Oh, you’ve already earned yourself plenty of spankings. Once you’re feeling better, we’ll take care of those. And I’m sure you will earn many more to come.”

Then he sat on the side of the bed and leaned over her, his hands on either side of her head. He brushed his lips across hers while she just lay there, staring up at him, with a shocked look on her face.

“However I don’t just want to punish you. I want to make you smile. I want you all hot and bothered and needing me. I want you to be happy.”

“I want that too.”

“Good. Perhaps I was always a Daddy Dom, perhaps I wasn’t. But right now, none of that matters. All that matters is what the two of us need from each other. All right? So stop stressing that I’m changing myself to be what you need. I might be changing, but maybe it’s for what I need. Although I believe it’s for what we need.”

“Wow, that was really deep and eloquent,” she said.

He grimaced. “Don’t expect that to continue.” He kissed her again, and this time, her lips parted under his, and he ran his tongue over her lips. He didn’t want to kiss her any deeper. She still had the oxygen in her nose. Her throat was hurting her. She had to feel pretty miserable. He was already feeling bad about having this conversation right now.

But he just hadn’t been able to resist her lips.

“You’re fucking beautiful,” he told her.

Eloquent, huh? He wasn’t so sure. But the smile that lit up her face told him that she didn’t care.

“Thanks, so are you. Although I don’t think I’m very beautiful at the moment, oxygen in my nose, raspy voice.”

“I think the raspiness is pretty sexy, although not the reason for it.” He frowned. “I wonder how the fire even started.”

Aimee sucked in a sharp breath.

Shit. How had she forgotten about the fire? Did it have anything to do with the threat from that guy about the money Charlie owed?

But they’d given her until Monday night to pay, so why would they set her house on fire? Was it a warning?

And now, what was she going to do? Her attempt to push Ammo away to protect him had failed spectacularly. She could hardly send him away now, could she? But how was she going to protect him from getting caught up with these guys? What if they tried to hurt him to punish her? If they’d set fire to her house, it was clear they didn’t care about hurting people.

Although how they’d planned to get their thirty thousand if she’d died, she didn’t know.