Page 14 of Melt For Us, Daddy (Big Daddy Energy #4)

Jacob

H e should have listened to Cordelia.

One donut had been fine. The second had kept him up all night, sick to his stomach. And now here he was, standing in the middle of this den of iniquity, trying to pretend he didn’t feel like death warmed over.

Zach was by his side, peering over the edge of the railing at the open area below, littered with stages and odd-looking furniture. Tools of sin, Jacob had been told, though he couldn’t for the life of him even begin to imagine how any of it worked.

On his other side stood Holden, his arms crossed over his broad chest while they waited for Braden to meet them. Despite only being a few inches taller than Jacob, he always seemed to take up all the space in a room.

Jacob envied that, and hated himself for the sin.

“Gentlemen.” Stepping out of his office, Braden greeted them with a welcoming smile. “I appreciate your patience. Lottie needed some help picking out flowers for the wedding, which is apparently a life-or-death decision.”

“What did you choose?” Holden asked, his voice tinged with amusement.

“I didn’t. She called me hopeless and kicked me out of my own office. I believe she’s on video with Frankie now going over her options.”

Jacob’s heart thumped against his ribs, before he reminded himself that this wasn’t the church. Men didn’t go around hurting women just because they talked back.

Beside him, Holden chuckled. “The deeper you two get into planning this thing, the happier I am that Frankie and I eloped.”

“Don’t think I haven’t thought about it. But my babygirl wants a wedding, so a wedding we shall have.”

Some of the panic winding around Jacob’s chest eased. Any man willing to indulge his wife-to-be in such a manner surely wouldn’t beat her for any little perceived slight.

Would he?

A peal of laughter drew his attention away from Braden to the two women who had just entered the club. Cordelia had her arm around Ivy’s waist, looking more at ease and happier than she had yesterday. Today she almost… shined.

The sight of her was like a physical punch in the gut.

But it wasn’t just her. For the first time, he noticed, like really noticed the woman beside her.

Shorter than Cordelia, with delicate features that reminded him of something he’d seen in a storybook once, she also seemed to glow from within as she smiled up at Cordelia.

“Sorry we’re late,” Cordelia said, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “Someone kept distracting me.”

Beside her, Ivy giggled. “It’s not my fault you’re so easily distracted .”

“It is your fault you tried to leave the house in that schoolgirl costume. You know what that skirt does to me, baby.”

A familiar stirring low in his gut had Jacob’s cheeks heating with shame. This was… wrong, wasn’t it? An abomination, his father had called it, for a man to lie with a man or a woman with a woman. So what did it make him to be having that reaction to the thought of them together?

Then Cordelia’s eyes locked on him and her smile warmed and he forgot all about what he should or shouldn’t be feeling. How could any of this be wrong if it meant being graced with that smile?

“Jacob. You look…” The smile disappeared, the corners of her mouth dipping downward, and his stomach twisted itself into knots. “Actually, you look like you haven’t slept in two days. Are you feeling okay?”

All of a sudden, he was very aware of the multiple sets of eyes on him. “Yes, Ma’am. I feel fine.”

Her eyes narrowed, leaving him with the very unsettling feeling that she could somehow see the truth, no matter how he tried to hide it. “Did you sleep well?”

“Ah, no, not really.”

“Why not? Are you ill?”

“Aw, man. I hope those extra donuts didn’t make you sick.” Looking worried, Zach leaned in, examining Jacob more closely. “You should’ve said something, man. Holden keeps the medicine cabinet well-stocked. We could have gotten you something for your stomach.”

Cordelia sighed, and the sheer disappointment in the sound nearly drove him to his knees for reasons he couldn't quite understand. He’d been on the receiving end of disappointment and anger plenty of times in his life, but never had it affected him quite so… deeply.

“I tried to tell you not to overdo it, Jacob.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. But hopefully the next time I try to warn you off something, you’ll listen.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

From her spot beside Cordelia, Ivy was watching him, curiosity dancing in her dark eyes. “I don’t think we’ve officially been introduced.” She held out her hand. “I’m Ivy. Cordelia’s partner.”

“Shit. Sorry, blossom. Ivy, this is Jacob. Jacob, this is my Ivy.”

Reaching forward, he clasped her hand, and that sinful reaction below his waist only got worse at the soft feel of her skin on his.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Ivy.”

“Just Ivy, please, Jacob.” Her voice was like springtime, soft and sweet and full of promise. Promise of what, he wasn’t sure, but he felt it all the same.

Braden clapped his hands together, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Well, now that Jacob has been properly chastised and we’ve all been introduced, we should begin the tour.”

Ivy flashed an apologetic smile. “I need to run to the ladies’ room but I can meet you all downstairs. I assume you’re starting in the pit?”

“We are. We’ll see you down there.”

But when Ivy tried to step away, Cordelia pulled her back, an edge Jacob couldn’t quite identify glinting in her eyes. “Aren’t you forgetting something, blossom?”

A pretty blush rose to Ivy’s cheeks. “Seriously, Dee? Here?”

“Did I give you any exceptions to this particular rule, little girl?”

“No, Ma’am.”

“Then yes, here. Or you’ll have to wait.”

Dropping her gaze to the floor, Ivy mumbled something beneath her breath.

“I can’t hear you, Ivy Mae.”

Ivy sighed, but when she spoke again her voice was strong and clear. “May I please use the bathroom, Ma’am?”

“Good girl. And yes you may.” Leaning in, Cordelia pressed a kiss to Ivy’s lips before releasing her hold.

As Ivy scurried off, Cordelia turned to the small crowd and smiled. That edge he’d noticed in her eyes before was there in the baring of her teeth, and it both terrified and excited him.

“Gentlemen. After you.”

Cordelia

“So… what was that all about?” Holden asked in a low murmur as they listened to Braden explain the cleaning process to Jacob.

Poor, innocent Jacob, who looked like he had about a million thoughts running through his head but who was keeping his mouth shut and hanging intently on Braden’s every word.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Cordelia responded in kind, deliberately playing obtuse.

“That deal with Ivy. You’ve never made her ask permission like that before.”

“Mmm. She’s never put me in a position where I felt the need to remind her, very firmly, of her role in our relationship.”

“Ahh, I see. So you two are better, I take it?”

“Much. We talked a lot of it out. There’s still more I need to tell her, but for now, we’re steady.”

“Good. Had me worried last night. Especially when I heard what happened upstairs. I was surprised you didn’t strip her down and whip her ass right there on the spot.”

“Believe me, I was tempted. But I needed to earn some of her trust back first, you know? So much of what happened yesterday was my fault. And Ivy is… delicate. A playful punishment at the club is one thing, but that would have broken her.”

“I get that. You know her limits better than anyone.”

Before she could respond, a slender arm slid around her waist, and then Ivy was there, the warm, soft weight of her pressing against Cordelia’s side. “What did I miss?” she whispered.

“Not much. Braden is just walking Jacob through how to clean the various surfaces. Leather vs wood, etc.”

“Poor kid. He looks like he’s about to pass out. Are we sure this is a good idea?”

The sympathy in her girl’s voice filled Cordelia with pride.

“I’m not sure there’s another option for him right now.

He doesn’t have a government ID and getting his birth certificate and other documents is going to be a nightmare.

And, if he’s here, Braden and the others can keep an eye on him. This is the safest place for him.”

“I guess. He just looks so… lost. I kind of want to hug him.”

“I know what you mean.”

Tilting her head, Ivy looked up at her, an unreadable expression on her face. “You feel protective of him.”

“I do.” There was no point in denying it, and she’d promised her girl the truth so the truth she would have.

“And he responds to you.”

“What do you mean?”

“The way he looks at you. I know that look, because it’s exactly how I feel when you give me an order. Like my whole world hangs on whether or not I disappoint you. Did you not see his face when you scolded him about the donuts?”

She had, but she’d simply put it down to him being afraid to upset anyone. Which, she could admit, was unusual for a man in his position within The Prophets. “It’s probably just because he sees me as an authority figure. I’m basically his grandmother, as far as he’s concerned.”

“Maybe.”

“What are you getting at, blossom?” She deliberately put a hint of steel behind the question, and was rewarded with Ivy’s delicate blush.

“I don’t know, really. It was just something I noticed.”

Maybe Ivy was right. Maybe Jacob did have a sweet little submissive side tucked away somewhere, just waiting for the right Domme to bring it out of him.

But that Domme wouldn’t be her. While she and Ivy occasionally played with other partners together, Jacob was too innocent to be dragged into their world of filth and depravity just yet.

Even if he hadn’t been, she was in no shape to be helping some sweet subbie boy navigate through his religious trauma when she was clearly still dealing with her own.

When the time was right, if he showed interest, she’d find a Domme she trusted to ease him into the lifestyle.

And if that thought made her stomach ache a bit, it was just because she worried. It was what she did, as a Domme, as a friend.

It had nothing to do with wanting him for her own. Nothing at all.