Page 19 of Collision of Winters (Hillcroft Group #4)

Kayden Winters

T his is happening, this is happening, this is happening.

He’s my Daddy.

Wade was my Daddy Dom.

He was gonna own me.

I belonged to him.

I shuddered violently as he gently dragged the washcloth over my shoulders.

The hot water felt amazing, and the porch was so cozy now. It was getting dark, so the kerosene lamps cast a nice glow over the hot tub area. Also, we had cocoa—well, he had coffee.

We’d opened the window a smidgen, so every now and then, we got a whiff of supper cooking from inside.

He had rummaged through his outdoor freezer for grouse soup, and we’d have fresh bread too.

But I wasn’t ready to leave the water or his lap yet.

My Daddy’s lap. I was plastered to him. Arms around his shoulders, legs caging him in, my face buried against his neck.

“You’re my Daddy,” I mumbled against his skin.

He hummed and pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “All yours. My beautiful boy.” He soaked the washcloth again, then returned it to my upper back. “I’m reveling too. It’s difficult to process, isn’t it?”

I nodded. Never in a million years had I dared to believe this could actually happen.

“Let me look at you.” He kissed my cheek and cupped the other in his hand, and I eased back and smiled sleepily.

He smiled back and rested our foreheads together.

“You made a comment when we got in—that this is the perfect aftercare. But is there anything else you’d like? We went at it fairly hard out there.”

I shook my head and slid my hands down his chest. “Just this. Being close to you. Touching and kissing and taking it easy.” I felt so pampered .

He’d checked every little scrape, not that I had many of them.

A couple on my face and some around my hips and butt.

“When we add fear and more pain to that kind of play, maybe I’ll need something else.

I don’t know. I haven’t been able to play as hard as I’ve wanted with takedowns yet. ”

It wasn’t easy when you struggled to find partners you could trust.

“So if we use today to compare with your fantasy scenario, in terms of pain, fear, and mindfucks… On a scale from one to ten.”

Oh. Hmm. I tapped my chin and thought about it.

I mean, today hadn’t scared me one bit, and I knew Wade had gone easy on me. The focus had been on getting us together. He’d said he’d tested the waters a little. And my mindfuck had stemmed from the uncertainties. Would we or wouldn’t we? Was this happening or not? Were my dreams coming true?

I reached for my cocoa over his shoulder and took a big gulp, and I licked my lips.

“Today was a ten because we got together—and because your cock is pure magic,” I said frankly.

He chuckled at that. “But compared to the pain and fear I hope we’ll get to together in a takedown in the future…

? Maybe a four and a half. Mostly because I want to fight back as hard as I can, and I couldn’t do that today. ”

“It was too soon to go harder,” he agreed.

“And impossible,” I said. “Like a starving man declining food. You just don’t do that.”

He grinned faintly and captured my mouth with his in a slow kiss.

Because we did that now. We kissed and stuff!

A burst of joy surged through me, and I locked my arms around his neck again.

He was the best kisser in the universe. He had to be! One kiss, and all I could think of was going further. Like, why weren’t we fucking right now? He’d even told me not to touch his cock— no distractions right now, little one —and that was so unfair, ’cause he touched me however he wanted.

“I wanna do more stuff, Daddy,” I whispered into the kiss.

He shivered and hummed. “Call me that again.”

I smiled and flicked the tip of my tongue against his upper lip. “Daddy…”

“Mmm, best sound ever.” He sighed contentedly. “But no more funny business today. You said it hurt when I used a finger just ten minutes ago. You need to recover.”

Blah!

Pish!

Boo!

“You know what we should do instead?” he murmured. “Talk about your birthday.”

I inched back and eyed him seriously. “There better be birthday sex.”

He rumbled a low laugh and nipped at my nose. Clown!

“Luckily for you, I won’t be able to stay away from your perfect little bottom,” he promised. I beamed. That was good news! “If you want, we can skip the presents and have sex all day long.”

Whoa.

My mouth popped open, and I didn’t know what to say.

Other than, he was so damn sexy when he had that wolfish, sadistic, amused look in his eyes.

I placed my hands on his cheeks and spoke as seriously as I could. “Daddy, you can give me presents while we do the grown-up stuff.”

My goodness, I was gonna have to start a list of my favorite Daddy expressions. When he had a lot of happiness in his eyes and he was humoring me with sexy little grins, I felt like it should be at the top of that list. Like right now.

He was happy, and it made my year.

“As great as that sounds…” He kissed me briefly. “I was actually thinking we could take a little trip tomorrow. Do you remember where you and Chris landed, about an hour south of here?”

I nodded. “When I knew I was being kidnapped.”

He chuckled. “Did you see the resort there?”

“I glimpsed it. Chris said your friends run some wilderness retreat there, but I was too mad to give a crap.”

“Understandable.” He was trying to hide his mirth at the whole ordeal.

And I guessed we could laugh about it now …

After all, I’d won the lottery! “But yeah, they’re family friends of sorts.

Our fathers knew each other. Then when Chris and I wanted a getaway place up here, we reached out and reconnected.

You’ll like Patrick and Declan. But more importantly, I think you’ll like the resort.

They have a fantastic restaurant, little cabins you can rent, and more sled dogs than you can count.

We could head down and spend the night…? ”

Oh my gosh, it would be the best date ever. A proper, proper date. With a sleepover.

“I want that with you.” I booped his nose. “A big date with my Daddy.” Oh, wait! “But what about the steaks you brought? We love steak.”

He smirked. “They’re for breakfast, sillypants. You think I forgot your Top Five Breakfast List?”

He actually remembered that? Wow. I was kind of amazed.

I’d written that years ago. My top favorite was fresh-made Krispy Kreme, and you had to get them early in the morning.

Original glazed, of course. Second favorite, Dad’s homemade biscuits with eggs and sausage and cheese.

Third, fluffy pancakes with butter, bacon, and syrup at Silver Diner back home.

Fourth, Yaya’s honey cupcakes with walnuts and lemon frosting.

And, drumroll, in fifth place, a medium-rare steak with green beans and a shit-ton of butter!

“We’re low on biscuits and sausage patties here,” Daddy continued, “and I’m certainly not feeding you sugar in the morning, so steak it is.”

I grinned. “You really remember.”

His own smile was on the softer side, and he brushed his knuckles over my jaw. “In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been so surprised to realize my feelings were changing for you. You’ve always been special to me, blue.”

Gah.

I leaned in and brushed our noses together, and I couldn’t speak. If I did, jumbled, squeaky garbage would come out. I wanted to scream and shake him, I was so happy.

Was this my life now?

“I’m overwhelmed,” I managed to croak.

He understood me immediately and squeezed me to him. “No more words for a while, then,” he murmured. “Just leave everything to Daddy. I’ve got you.”

Jesus Christ.

I screwed my eyes shut and clung to him.

February 22nd, 2021

“…if the birthday boy can wake up.”

My nose twitched, and I hugged the pillow to me.

Birthday boy?

Sleep clung to the edges of my senses, and I wanted to go back to the dream I was having. Daddy and I were in the middle of shopping for a new pillowcase.

“Is someone here turning twenty-six today?”

Oh. Um. I… But the pillowcase shopping…

Wake up, it’s your birthday!

My eyes flashed open, and I squirmed around in bed as the weight shifted on the mattress.

Wade was here. Daddy! Daddy was here. He was my Daddy now.

Yesterday had been real. And his little one turned twenty-six today!

And also, he was only wearing boxer briefs, and that was always worth celebrating.

I pushed myself up and scrubbed my fists over my eyes.

“There he is, the most beautiful boy in the world…”

I grinned sleepily and shook off the last of the exhaustion. It must be super early because I was usually the one who woke up first. It was dark out, though that didn’t mean much.

“Good morning, Daddy.” I crawled over to him, and he was quick to wrap his arms around me.

“Good morning, my sweet birthday boy.” He kissed the top of my head and showed me a new pair of briefs he’d dug out from my luggage. He’d wanted us to sleep naked, and now he wanted me to wear clothes? Pffft. “Are you ready to join Daddy in the front room?”

I nodded but didn’t leave his lap or unlock my arms from around him. “I think I’m stuck. I can’t seem to let go of you.” Even though something smelled amazing from the other room.

“Oh, is that a fact?” His voice was extra sexy in the morning, all whiskey and laziness.

He put the underwear on me all on his own.

“Good thing I’m strong, then.” With that, he grunted and got off the bed, with me hanging on to him, and I giggled madly.

Then he swooped an arm under my leg and lifted me higher. “There we go.”

He actually carried me!

I tightened my hold on him and beamed as we headed out to the main room, and things only got better from there. He’d set up breakfast on the coffee table, and I counted four birthday presents! It was super cozy. He’d stoked the fire and put out all our blankets. Some candles on the table too.

“Oh my God, Daddy.”