Page 38 of Daddy’s Naughty List (Dirty Daddies 2024 Anthology #4)

Chapter Two

Bliss

Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look.

Bliss’s heart thundered so hard against her chest she wouldn’t be surprised if lightning shot out of her butt. The man who’d rescued her practically foamed at the mouth every time he looked at her. She didn’t dare let him catch her doing something else he thought was wrong.

But scrunching down on the floor like this made her muscles cramp, shooting streaks of pain down her right thigh. When was the last time she’d had anything to drink? Nothing came to mind. Maybe all those Daddies in the books talking about water were on to something.

A second cramp ripped through her thigh so hard she had to bite her lip to hold back a scream. Her resolution to follow Connor’s unreasonable demands flew right out the window above her head.

She shot to her feet, leaning over and gripping the back of the seat. Sliding her feet back, she did her best to stretch out the knotted muscles, but nothing worked. There wasn’t enough room in the cab of the truck for her to get a good stretch. She should just sit still. Connor would be back soon.

The muscles in her leg knotted up and shuddered with each stab of pain. Tears stung her eyes, and she gave up trying to hold them at bay. How stupid was it, after everything she’d been through the past week, to cry over a muscle cramp? But… owie!

Desperate times called for desperate measures. If she stood up straight for a second, she could stretch out and be done with it. No one could expect her to suffer like this. It was against the Geneva Convention. It was against something, anyway. No suffering allowed.

Besides, Connor would never even know. She would be out and back within seconds. She could do this. Could she do this? She had to!

Scanning the parking lot, she saw no one. Ready, set, go. Creaking open the door, she slipped out, turning to place her hands on the seat. She lowered her forehead to the seat and pushed her butt in the air, stretching her hamstrings. Once her muscles loosened, she spent time on her quads.

She scanned the parking lot again. Still vacant, as long as she didn’t count the dog foraging in the dumpster and two squirrels scuffling next to the drain across the lot. There was no one behind the hotel except her. She was in no danger of being snatched.

If there was anyone she needed to worry about, it was Connor. He’d threatened to spank her! Her eyes stayed glued to the place Connor had disappeared. Her pulse beat at Mach 99.

The last thing she needed was him rounding the corner and catching her outside the truck. Superstar trackers like him probably never got leg cramps.

As a matter of fact, he didn’t seem thrown by anything that had happened the whole day except maybe losing his precious gun safe. Yeah. He rescued people all the time, but he needed to remember thatthis was her first time being sold to an angry Russian crime boss. Sue her if she made a few mistakes.

Sheesh! What did he expect? Not everyone was cut out to be a hero. Take her, for instance. She was no one’s hero. It didn’t matter anyway. She could have told him there was no hiding from the men after her. She’d been around men like them all her life.

The more she thought about it, the more out of sorts she got. She needed to move and work out some of this energy before she exploded. Connor hadn’t been gone that long, so she had time to walk up and down beside the truck.

Probably.

And what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

Hopefully.

Her imagination shot an electric spark as she remembered his firm thighs and his large hands gripping the wheel. How would it feel to be over those thighs with his hands delivering a well-deserved spanking? The shiver that crawled up her spine had nothing to do with fear. Her pussy pulsed at the thought. She tightened her thighs, as if that would give her any relief.

She wouldn’t go any further than the length of the truck. What harm could that do? It would take time for those terrible thugs in their expensive suits to find her, but they would.

Their tenacity made them unstoppable. The compound nursery she’d been put in charge of the day she turned sixteen never lacked the fruit of their unquenchable desire. Put them in a compound filled with women who didn’t have the right to say no, and, yeah, there were plenty of babies to care for.

When she reached the end of the truck, she turned and walked back to the door. That wasn’t anywhere near enough. She needed to make a few more laps.

If the men who’d snatched her away from everything she knew wanted her, they’d find her and take her eventually. It was only a matter of time. Not an if , but a when .

And what was all this about going back to Tennessee? Connor and Reid, Winnie’s Daddy, might mean well, but the last thing Winnie needed was for Bliss to return to Darling with hell two steps behind her. Darling wouldn’t be good for Bliss, either. No way could she keep up the act of hating her sister if she went back there.

Not to mention sitting in the seat next to Connor. She’d stared out the window as much as she could, but she could feel the claws of his glare scratching between her shoulder blades. The drive had been torture, and it only lasted forty-five minutes. She wouldn’t survive another two whole days. The man was sex on a stick.

She’d lived in Darling for months. She knew who Connor Davis was. It wasn’t unusual to see him at Books-N-Brews, the local coffee hangout. After figuring out his schedule, she made it a point to hand out tracks where he would be. They’d even spoken a time or two. He’d offered to help her get away from the Society. She’d have given anything to say yes, but there were things he didn’t know. Even now.

But the attraction was there. She wasn’t that experienced, but he seemed to like her, too. It felt nice when he smiled at her. Not like those creepy Russian men. They were gross. She’d have loved to have time to get to know Connor better, but it hadn’t ever worked out.

She kept pacing, adding speed. At this rate, she’d never calm down.

Weren’t fallen angels supposed to have black hair and blue eyes? Why he made her heart race the way it did, she had no clue. Well, other than the sex on a stick thing. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a man. In a Daddy. And with that dirty blonde hair, those bright golden-amber eyes… Talk about the eyes of a tiger.

Come to think of it, he was absolutely a tiger. All possessive and protective in the best ways. The worst of ways for her. It was no wonder Reid had sent Connor after her. He could stalk someone and then pounce before they even knew he was there. The intensity of his stare alone could melt her panties. She was in so much trouble.

The pacing helped slow her heart rate and calm her down. She picked up the pace to get in as many steps as possible.

Think. She needed to think. As far as living went, being on the run from the Russian mob wasn’t the way to go about it. They wanted her for one reason—her virginity—and it scared her to death. It made her fate inescapable. As long as she remained untouched, she was one wealthy man’s check away from being sold.

She’d heard the stories about what happened to the young women the Society helped to find a husband who would worship them. Those young women weren’t going where they’d been told. Not anywhere they’d wanted to be.

Bliss almost screamed when the beep of a horn jarred her out of her thoughts.

“Excuse me, miss?” an older man called to her from inside the car beside her. Close. Much too close. “I’m sorry to frighten you, but we aren’t from around here. Do you know how to get to… what was it called, Dodie?”

“South Las Vegas Boulevard, Daddy.” A woman with snow-white hair and a mischievous twinkle in her soft blue eyes answered.

She tried to hide her shock, but by the older couple’s knowing grins, she hadn’t succeeded. Seeing where she stood for the first time, she stared at the orange-and-white striped arm that supposedly kept people out of the parking lot. Since it was pointing straight up, it wasn’t doing a good job. How had she made it so far from Connor’s truck?

She shook her head like that would help. “Oh, no!”

Worry creased the man’s brow. “I guess I need to apologize again. I’m Dan, and this is my Little girl, Dodie. We couldn’t help overhearing the conversation you were having with yourself back there. You were talking about your Daddy being sex on a stick.”

Even the blood in Bliss’s veins froze. They’d heard her? She’d said that out loud? A wave of dizziness swirled over her. Did she always talk out loud when she thought she was talking to herself?

With a groan, she pressed her palms to her sizzling cheeks and bent over, resting her forehead on the car door. Could someone just dig a hole and bury her?

“I don’t know about always, but you were definitely talking out loud right then.” Dodie’s voice sounded just the way Bliss had always thought a grandmother would sound.

“In your own world, too.” She could tell Dan was a Daddy from the irritation in his voice. “We’ve been following behind you for several minutes as you paraded around this parking lot, and you didn’t even notice. You need to be more careful, young lady.”

“And for the record,” Dodie added, “dark angels make the best Daddies. And the kind of trouble you’re talking about is what makes life worth living.”

For the life of her, Bliss could do nothing more than stare back and forth between the couple. There were no words. None. It was too cool for words that Dan and Dodie were still enjoying their relationship. Maybe she had longer to find a Daddy than she’d thought.

Dan glanced past Bliss and smiled. “I take it you can’t help us get to South Las Vegas Boulevard. It’s probably as well you didn’t know. If that’s your Daddy there, I don’t think you’ll have time to explain anyway.”

Dodie leaned over for a better look. The twinkle in her eyes grew more devilish. “Oh, my! You are about to have a very memorable time. Enjoy!”

“Well, we best be going now.” With a quick wave, Dan pulled out of the lot.

She hoped Dan and Dodie found the street they were looking for as she turned to face her doom.

Connor stood at the truck’s tailgate, scanning the parking lot until his panicked gaze fell on her. Not knowing what else to do, she wiggled her fingers at him. The panic melted into momentary confusion before settling into white-hot fury.

Her stomach iced over and dropped to her toes. She’d never seen anyone that angry before. She wanted to run at the realization that all that angry was headed toward her.

She took a moment to close her eyes and twitch her nose. She could do it just like Samantha Stevens on that old-time television show Bewitched . Disappointment swamped her spirit when, opening her eyes, she still remained on the other side of the parking lot. The universe could be so unfair.

Connor prowled across the lot like a lion stalking a gazelle. Maybe she should leap away. The guilt of frightening him was even worse than the fear of him being upset with her. She’d caught the disappointment in his eyes, too.

Butterfly piranhas swarmed around in her tummy at the very thought. She hated being in trouble. Hated it! She tensed so much her muscle spasms came back, only they were more like ripples now and they weren’t in her legs. No, they were located slightly higher. What was up with that? She should not, under any circumstances, be getting turned on right now.

She was a good girl. There was not an ounce of brat in her anywhere. So, why was she excited? With no answer to that, she waited for Connor to reach her. At least it couldn’t get any worse.

The universe disagreed. Connor’s expression changed again, this time to shock, then determination. “Get down!”

Before she could process the command, he tackled her, rolling at the last minute to make sure he landed beneath her. Bliss would have screamed, but the fall knocked the breath from her.

Connor rolled again, taking them behind the empty guard station. “Don’t move,” he snarled.

When her breath returned, she punched his chest. “Get off me!”

“Bliss, I can immobilize you if I have to. I said, don’t move.”

Holy moses! Not even wanting to think about how he would immobilize her, Bliss did as she was told.

Connor studied the road until whatever he saw satisfied him. Pushing to his feet, he wrapped his large manacle of a hand around her wrist and yanked her up.

“Hey!” she shouted, trying to free herself from his grasp.

He pointed at her and growled. “Not another sound. Not one.”

Pressing her lips together, she tried to keep up as he dragged her toward the hotel.

“Wait. Wait!” What the heck was going on? She knew she’d messed up, but he was scaring her. “What is going on?” She tried to slow him down, but dragging her feet wasn’t working.

He spun to face her. “What did I say about making a sound?”

She scrunched her nose. “You said not to make one.” Lord, the only thing pounding harder than her heart was her clit.

“Consequences,” he said, his voice deep and clipped.

“What do you mean, consequ—eep!”

Before she knew what was happening, he shoved a shoulder to her tummy and lifted her. His hard muscles pressed into her abdomen as he started walking so fast he was almost jogging.

She was going to throw up.

It would serve him right if it got all over his back.

“Put me down!”

His hard palm smacked her bottom with the strength of a paddle. One smack for each word as he ground out, “Do. Not. Talk.”

Holy hotdogs, that hurt. Her bottom burned. She could tell where every finger had landed. And that was only three smacks. She’d read all those spicy Daddy books. She knew spankings hurt. But the driving heat that had shifted from her bottom to her pussy? That she had not known.

Connor strode straight past his truck to the hallway of the motel he’d entered before. And just that quick, her heartbeat was right back where it was before. Great. What was it about this man?

He set her on her feet when they reached the hotel room. “Do not move.”

Tilting her head up, she met the gaze of one still-furious, tattooed muscleman. And just like that, the fluttering disappeared, and those butterfly piranhas came back to gnaw on the interior of her stomach.

Even though she nodded, he scowled down at her. His disapproval burned. She needed to think fast but she never reacted well in the middle of a situation. It was as if her brain stalled and she couldn’t think. Her feelings were more reliable.

Before the answer came to her, he grabbed her hand and marched her into the hotel room like a naughty child. With the way he slammed the door shut, she half expected him to continue smacking her bottom.

He didn’t. Her chest hollowed. Why did that disappoint her? It shouldn’t. He must hate her after all the trouble she’d caused. He’d never want to see her again. If it ever worked out someday that she could live in Darling near Winnie, she’d have to carry a canvas bag around with her so every time he was around, she could pull it over her head.

He stepped in front of her and scowled, red-faced. Taking her by the wrist again, he marched her to the far corner and stood her there. Was… was he… was he putting her in the corner like the Daddies did in the books she hid on her phone?

A shiver skimmed her from head to toe but came to rest in her core. Goose flesh pebbled her skin. She was an adult, but he’d put her in the corner like a naughty child. And she was just standing there, not breathing, waiting to see what he said next.

“Nose to the corner, trouble. And clasp your hands behind your back. We’re going to talk, but you are going to do it with your nose in the corner like the naughty girl you are.”

When he had her situated the way he wanted, he backed away and sat on the end of the bed. He was angrier than she’d ever seen him, but when he spoke, his tone was even. “Tell me, trouble, was I not clear when I told you to stay in the truck and out of sight?”

She heard his questions, but her mind kept running the images of the flecks and streaks of gold in his eyes that melted into molten gold lava. She wanted to run her hand along his square jaw to see if his five o’clock shadow would prickle her fingers. The imagined sensations stole her breath.

“Well?”

Since she’d never been put in the corner, she didn’t realize she should guard against sinking into her Little headspace. She was there before she realized it was happening. He seemed to want an answer, so, as usual, she blurted out the first thing that popped into her head. “You’re beautiful when you’re angry.”

Yep. Those were the words that came out of her mouth. Her cheeks burned all the way to the tips of her toes. Not that it wasn’t true. He was incredible. How would he taste if she licked him and made him hers? That was it. He was the incredible edible Daddy.

The thought tickled her so much she almost laughed. But she shouldn’t want to laugh. She’d just said something stupid. Again.

Maybe she could press herself into the corner so hard she would pass through the wall into the next room. Or maybe another dimension. She wanted to disappear. Maybe.

What would it be like to have a Daddy? Especially one like Connor who would get that upset if she put herself in danger. No one had ever cared about her like that. He wouldn’t be upset if he didn’t care, right?

Still, she wished she’d given a different answer because now she worried his head might explode.