Page 22 of Elias

When he set her plate on her tray, followed by a chubby rubber-handled spork and her sippy cup, she giggled again. That was about the best reaction he could have hoped for. At least she hadn’t lifted the plate up and thrown it on the floor. That possibility had lingered in the edges of his mind.

“You take this babying thing very seriously,” she said.

He smiled. “I take caring for you very seriously.” While she was still mulling over the dishes she’d been given, Elias slid a large bib over her head and smoothed it down in front of her.

Leah glanced down, stared for a moment, and then rolled her eyes as she lifted her head.

“Be careful, Little one. You’re almost giving Daddy attitude.”

She sighed and picked up her spork. “You are so very over the top. The thing is that I’m really hungry, and this smells so good. Thank you for cooking for me. I’m not sure how I feel about the way you’re feeding me or the fact that you cut up my pasta and put a bib on me, but I’ll mull it over for a bit.”

He chuckled. “And then what, Little firecracker?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “And then I’ll decide if I want to negotiate for you to give me credit for the fact that I’m twenty, not five.”

He scooted closer to the table and picked up his own fork. “I’ll warn you, Little one, there won’t be much negotiating. I’ll cut you some slack as you adjust to life in your new environment, but in the long run, what Daddy says goes.”

She grumbled as she took a bite, and then switched to moaning.

His dick jumped back to full attention. She had no idea how her noises affected him. Or maybe she did, because as she chewed, she lifted her gaze with a wicked grin and slowly inhaled.

The naughty Little imp could scent his arousal, too. It surely wasn’t as potent as hers, but she had still managed to pick it up.

He narrowed his gaze at her. “And another thing, naughty girl. I’m beyond aware of your age. When I coddle you and Daddy you, it has nothing to do with how old you are. It’s just my way of dominating you. You will eventually submit to me in every way because you won’t be able to help yourself. You’ll do so to please me. You’ll do it because the rewards will outweigh your trepidation.”

“You keep mentioning rewards,” she muttered as she set her fork down and picked up her cup, grabbing the handle on one side of the cup.

Elias reached out to steady the cup with his fingers. “Two hands, Baby girl.”

Her breath hitched as she slowly lifted her other hand to use both to bring the cup to her lips. Her pulse picked up at his command.

“Good girl,” he praised.

That earned him another sharp inhale, but more importantly, she was incapable of hiding her arousal once again.

He knew in her rational mind, she was arguing with herself, fighting her instincts. It was expected. It happened to all new mates. Tossing out everything she’d expected in a relationship with her mate took time. She had to reset her expectations and gradually accept that her life would not look like the life she’d painted for herself in her head.

Her life would be ten times better. Elias would ensure it was. Hell, it would be ten times better than he’d believed also. The pheromones filling the inside of his home were so thick in the air it was hard to breathe.

Elias tapped her plate. “Eat your dinner, Little one.”

“Okay, but you gave me too much.”

“Eat what you can, Leah. Would you rather Daddy feed you?” He reached for her spork.

She jerked it to the side. “I can do it.”

“I can do it,Daddy,” he supplied. He really wanted to hear her call him Daddy. She’d used the word flippantly earlier, but she had yet to directly call him by that endearment.

Like everything else that had rocked his world today, he was surprised he cared what she called him. When he’d heard his brother’s mate call him Daddy, it had done nothing for Elias. He’d simply grown used to hearing that word from Suzette’s mouth.

But Elias had a strong desire to hear Leah call him Daddy. It felt like it would be a milestone. A breakthrough. The air in the room would shift as soon as she accepted the endearment and incorporated it.

Elias set his much larger hand over hers, keeping her from taking another bite. Maybe it was a mistake to touch her, but he couldn’t resist, and he wanted to press this issue.

He didn’t need to repeat himself. He simply lifted a brow when she met his gaze.

Leah licked her lips and said, “I can do it, Daddy.”