Page 25 of Daddy Dreadful (Forbidden Pleasures Island #5)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Donovan

Worry still niggles at the back of my mind as we all make our way downstairs to Maxwell’s parlor, but I try to set it aside. The girls all seemed plenty happy to see Camilla, even Juliet, so the likelihood that anything bad will happen appears low.

Besides, Maxwell has that monitor. Even if something does happen, I’m only a staircase away.

Holding that knowledge close to my chest, I settle in one of the comfortable armchairs Maxwell gestures to, and graciously accept the tumbler of scotch he presses into my hand.

“So, Donovan.” Still wearing the same wide grin from upstairs, Maxwell takes the seat next to me and sips from his own glass. “How are things with you and the lovely Camilla?”

“Better than I’d ever dreamed.” Even though I’ve never considered myself the type to gush, I can’t help but smile at the thought of her.

“The first few days were rough, but for the most part she seems to have settled in quite nicely. She’s even calling me Daddy without being threatened within an inch of her life. ”

“That’s good to hear. I always thought you two were a good match.” He raises a brow, his grin shifting to a smirk. “And what about the applications I’ve passed your way? Have you interviewed anyone yet?”

“No. I’ve been… otherwise occupied.”

It isn’t a lie, exactly. I have been rather busy with my Little girl.

But the thought of trying to replace her still doesn’t sit right with me, which is the real reason I’ve been putting off interviewing anyone.

I know I'll need to, eventually, but with as small as the island is it’s not that difficult to handle the majority of my practice alone for now.

“You should definitely make it a priority.” Jasper’s gaze slides over to Maxwell as his lips curve up in a mischievous smile. “It would be rather dreadful for you to have to struggle through on your own.”

To his left, Evander inhales so sharply he chokes on his whiskey, and Gideon slaps him on the back as he coughs and sputters.

Maxwell and Jasper are both grinning now, and I can’t help but feel like I’m the butt of a rather private joke.

It’s not a feeling I’m used to, or particularly comfortable with, and my voice is much sharper than it normally would be with the men who employ me when I speak.

“Would someone care to share what’s so amusing about that word?”

Maxwell chuckles. “Just something the girls came up with. Since you only go by ‘Doctor D’, they were trying to figure out what the D stood for and they’ve settled on Dreadful.”

“Have they now?” Amusement winds its way around my chest. “Well… at least now I know what I need to be striving for.”

Jasper chuckles “We tried to tell them it wouldn’t go well for them if you ever found out, but you know how Littles are.”

“Indeed, I do.”

And I can only hope my own Little girl joins in the fun, so I can have an excuse to show her how truly dreadful her Daddy can be when he puts his mind to it.

Millie

“Millie, which dollie do you wanna play with?”

Victoria’s question draws my attention away from the door I've been staring at ever since our Daddies made their way downstairs.

Stop being such a baby. You used to do all kinds of stuff without him.

True. But that was before. After spending so much time practically glued to his side, it feels odd, almost wrong to be without him now.

But my friends want to play, and I really do want to be part of the group. So I force myself to smile and choose a doll—one with pretty red hair like I’ve always secretly wanted—and dive right into the game Victoria has concocted for us.

We’ve only been playing for a few minutes before Juliet turns those unnervingly pale eyes on me. “So what’s it like having Doctor Dreadful for a Daddy?”

“Juju!” Isabella’s voice drops to a low hiss. “You shouldn't tell her that!”

“Too late.” Victoria blushes and smiles sheepishly at her friends. “I let it slip at school the other day. She already knows.”

Juliet rolls her eyes. “Well, she was bound to find out eventually and honestly, what’s the big deal? It’s not like she’s going to go running to tell him. Are you, Millie?”

“No. Of course not.” Part of being a good friend is keeping secrets, and the thought of keeping such a funny nickname from my Daddy makes me giggle. “You’re all going to be in so much trouble if he ever hears about it, though.”

“That’s why it’s a secret .” Isabella glares at Juliet, who just rolls her eyes again.

“Whatever. Millie still didn’t answer my question. What’s it like? Is he as mean as he is at the office? I don’t think I could be okay with a Daddy who was mean to me all the time.”

“You would die ,” Nelly agrees with a giggle. “Especially with how Uncle Jasper spoils you.”

“He doesn’t spoil me!” At everyone’s raised brows, she huffs indignantly. “Okay, maybe he spoils me a little, but aren’t Daddies supposed to spoil you?”

“They are, but they’re also supposed to hold you accountable and help you grow.” I don’t know why I feel the need to say that.

Or maybe I do. Maybe it’s my way of not so subtly reminding them of how mean they were to me and why they were punished for it.

“Well, he does that, too. Most of the time,” she adds sheepishly when Nelly pins her with a bland stare. “But seriously, what’s he like? We’ve been dying to know.”

“He’s…. different than I expected.”

“How so?” Isabella asks, her eyes wide with curiosity.

“Way nicer than he was when I worked for him. He says he was such a jerk to me because he was trying to keep things ‘professional’ between us.”

“What a load of bullshit.” Eyes narrowing, Nelly sits back, planting her fists on her hips. “Being a total dickhead isn’t professional at all!”

Victoria gasps, looking frantically around the room like our Daddies will appear at any moment. “Nelly! You can’t say that! What if they hear us?”

“Relax, as long as I don’t say that to his face my Daddy won’t care.”

“What about the…” Looking around like Victoria did, Isabella drops her voice to a whisper. “Exams? Does he give you exams like he gives us?”

“No.” Heat floods my cheeks at the memory of my time on Doctor Dreadful’s table. “The ones I get are way worse.”

“No way!” Jaw dropping with shock, Juliet wiggles around to face me fully, her eyes full of ravenous curiosity. “Now we need to know everything .”

Everyone is looking at me, waiting for me to share. And isn’t that what friends do? Share the dirty little secrets of their relationships?

Besides, maybe if they realize how much worse my exam was, it will help them see me more as one of them and less like the person who used to help Doctor Dreadful terrorize them.

“Okay, but you can’t tell anyone . Not even your Daddies. It’s just between us.”

They all solemnly swear, so I settle in, crossing my legs and clutching my borrowed doll on my lap. “Well, it started normal. He took my temperature—the baby way, of course?—”

“Wait.” Frowning, Nelly holds up a hand. “What’s the baby way?”

Now it’s Isabella rolling her eyes. “The way we all get our temperature taken, Nell.”

“Yeah, but how is that the baby way? Everyone gets their temperature taken that way.”

Four confused faces turn my way and I hunch my shoulders against the outrage I know is coming. “Um, well… Nelly gets her temperature taken the grown-up way.”

Before I can explain further, outraged shrieks echo around the room.

“You mean we’ve all been getting thermometers shoved up our asses but she gets to do it the normal way?” Crossing her arms, Juliet glares at me, then at Nelly and back again.

“That is so not fair,” Victoria grumbles.

“You guys have been getting your temperature taken in your butts this whole time?” Nelly blinks once in confusion, then falls backward, clutching her stomach as she dissolves into laughter. “Oh man. Sucks to be you!”

“How come you never let us get our temperature taken the grown-up way?” Isabella demands, her face a mask of righteous fury.

“Um, well, Uncle Evan doesn’t care, but your Daddies all want it done the baby way. And… well… Nelly was really nice to me and she stood up for me when Daddy was being extra mean one day.”

“I can’t believe this! I’m telling Daddy.” Jumping up from the floor, Isabella marches toward the door.

“Please don’t!” Panic wraps around my chest. “If my Daddy finds out, he’ll… well, I don’t actually know what he’ll do but it won’t be good. And I’m still really sore from my exam and that was two days ago.”

“Really?” Looking more curious than angry now, Isabella slowly turns around. “What did he do?”

Telling them the truth now feels a bit more like self-preservation than girl talk, but if Daddy finds out I didn’t follow the “proper procedures” even once, there will be hell to pay. “Okay, well, he took my temperature like I said. And then, um… Oh, god.” Humiliation floods my cheeks with heat.

“It’s okay, Millie.” Sitting up, a fierce expression on her face, Nelly wiggles over to drape an arm around my shoulder. “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t wanna.”

“No, I-I do. It’s just kinda embarrassing. He, um, cleaned out my bottom and then strapped me to the table so he could do my breast exam, and he clamped my nipples.”

“Ugh, he loves those stupid things,” Juliet mutters with a scowl. “Freaking sadist.”

“That was honestly the nicest part. You know how when you get your yearly gyno exam, they put a speculum inside you and spread you open for your Pap smear?”

Four sets of wide eyes are trained on me, and they all nod silently. “Well… he did that. And then he did that to my bottom.”

I tell them the rest, from the explosive orgasm and the removal of the clamps, to the Wartenberg wheel, and finally Daddy fucking my bottom without any extra lubricant other than what he’d used for the speculum.

“So… yeah. That’s what an exam is like when Doctor D is your Daddy.”

“Oh, you poor thing.” Genuine concern fills Victoria’s eyes before she throws herself at me, hugging me tight. “I’m so sorry! That sounds awful.”

“Thanks. But I, um, I sorta like it.”

Yanking back, she stares at me in shock. “You like it?”

“Uh-huh. I enjoy being hurt like that. I always thought I wanted a really nice, cuddly Daddy. But the more time I spend with him the more I realize he’s exactly what I need. And he was actually really sweet after. He’s spoiled me rotten the past two days.”

“He should after what he did to you!” But Isabella looks more thoughtful than outraged. “I think I get it, though. I never thought I’d like the things my Daddy does to me, but I do.”

One by one, the girls chime in with their agreements. Even Juliet, though she looks more reluctant than all of us to admit it.

Eventually, the conversation shifts again, back to the game Victoria came up with for us, much to my relief. But as we sit and play, I can’t help but feel like something has shifted between us. Like we’re all a little bit closer now, because of this life we share.

Maybe I have a place in this family after all.