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For the first time in my memory, my brother looks truly…happy.
Jasper
A sense of wonder fills me as I watch Juliet suck greedily at her bottle. Red-rimmed blue eyes, still wet with a sheen of tears, stare up at me as she drinks, and there is no doubt left in my mind that I am wrapped around her perfectly manicured little finger.
Not that I will be tellingherthat, of course. At least not right away. For now, she needs me to be strict. She needs to know that any disobedience will be met with immediate consequences. Give a girl like Juliet an inch, and she’ll run a fucking marathon.
When the bottle runs dry, I pull it from her mouth, earning me a ridiculously adorable pout from the sweet bundle in my arms.
“Don’t worry, princess. There’s more where that came from. But we need to get some actual food in our bellies. We have a big day ahead of us.”
Lifting her up so she’s straddling my lap, the bulge of her diaper pressing against my cock, I give her back a couple strong taps. To my delight, she burps loudly, then gasps, burying her face in my neck.
“Jasper! That was soembarrassing!” she whispers, horror filling her voice.
Obviously there are some lessons it’s going to take her a little while to learn. Sliding my hand down, I give her thigh a sharp swat. “What do you call me, Juliet?”
A long silence follows my question, and when I glance to my right, Catharina is watching us with round, excited eyes. We’re both waiting with bated breath to see if Juliet will give in, or if we’ll have another fight on our hands. I won’t spank her again so soon, not after the paddling she just endured, but I have plenty of creative punishments in my arsenal.
But Juliet’s sense of self-preservation seems to win the day. She sighs heavily, and I almost miss her whispered response. “Daddy.”
I’ve been called Daddy by at least half a dozen women in my lifetime in my effort to find my perfect Little girl. But not once has it ever made my heart beat this fast or my face feel like it might split in half from my grin.
“Good girl. Come on, princess. Let’s go get you fed so your Auntie Cat and I can take you shopping.”
As I’d expected, that perks Juliet up considerably and she sits up straight, eyes wide with excitement. “Shopping? We get to go shopping?”
Beside us, Cat throws her head back, letting out a delighted, throaty laugh. “Yes, sweetheart. We are going shopping. From what your Daddy tells me, you have a closet upstairs that is nearly empty. It’s my job to fix that.”
“Wait.” Juliet’s nose crinkles. “Are we going for real shopping, or are we going ‘Little girl’ shopping? Because these dresses aresonot my style.”
“Oh, but you look so darling! Well, that purple isn’t really your shade, but we can certainly find you something that works better for your skin tone.” Beaming, Cat leans in to press a kissto Juliet’s cheek, and my little princess blushes adorably at the gesture. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Auntie Cat will take good care of you.”
Chapter Eight
Jasper
We take breakfast in my office, with Juliet seated on my lap while I feed her bits of this and that from the plate we share. There’s a highchair stored in my closet, but after the eventful morning we’ve had, it doesn’t seem like the right time to add to her distress. Maxwell would tell me the longer I delay, the harder it will be for her to accept her role as my Little girl, but I can’t bring myself to upset Juliet further right now if it can be avoided.
Especially since much of what her Auntie Cat and I have planned for the day cannot be.
As we eat, Cat chatters brightly about the island and all the wonderful things available for “sweet Little girls” like my princess. Despite herself, Juliet leans in, curiosity stamped all over her face as she listens to her Auntie Cat’s excited tales.
“And once you’ve settled in a bit, I’ll take you and Tori to the spa for a bit of pampering. Just us girls. No mean old Daddies around to spoil our fun,” she adds with a salacious wink.
I roll my eyes, but don’t bother to contradict her. Cat is, possibly, the strictest of all of us, and as Tori recently learned,she is just as quick to put a naughty girl over her knee for a healthy dose of discipline as any Daddy. While she might spoil them rotten, she isn’t going to allow them to become spoiled, and it’s a distinction we all appreciate.
“Who’s Tori?” Juliet asks, her mouth turning down in a frown. “Is she your… umm…”
Longing fills Cat’s eyes as she shakes her head. “No, she’s not my Little girl. She belongs to Maxwell. But she is an absolute darling and I have no doubt you two will hit it off fabulously.”
Does Juliet hear the hint of warning beneath Cat’s words? It’s subtle, but it’s there. The girlswillget along, or they will have Auntie Cat to answer to.
Not for the first time, gratitude fills my chest. When Maxwell first approached me about the island, I wasn’t sure about Catharina’s presence. My reservations had nothing to do with what’s between her legs, and everything to do with the fact that I’ve sat on the opposite side of the table from her during a negotiation and I know better than any of us how downright vicious she can be.
But Auntie Cat is almost a completely different person, and after getting to know this version of Catharina Montgomery, I can’t imagine us building this life, this family, without her.
A quick glance at my watch shows we’re running a bit behind schedule and I grimace. “We need to get going if we’re going to make our appointment at Solene’s.”