Page 25 of Melt For Us, Daddy (Big Daddy Energy #4)

8:00-9:00am - Eat breakfast together, all of us

9:00-11:00am - School for Jacob

11:00-12:00 - Activity Time

12:00-1:00 - Lunch

1:00-2:00 - Free Time

2:00-3:00 - Exercise

3:00-5:00 - School for Jacob/Reading Time

5:00-6:00 - Dinner (Ivy cooks)

6:00-8:00 - Movie time

8:00-10:00 - Free time

10:00 - Bedtime

“School?” he asked, turning back to the table where Ivy and Cordelia were both seated with their breakfasts.

“Yes. I know from experience your education is severely lacking. You’re going to need your GED at least if you want a decent job, so we’re going to get started on that. Ivy, as it happens, is an excellent teacher.”

Picking up her tea, Ivy frowned. “Dee, I teach little kids. The stuff he’s going to need to learn is way above my pay grade.”

“Maybe. But I have faith in you, blossom. You’re smart as hell and just because you don’t teach this stuff on a regular basis doesn’t mean you can’t do it if you have to.”

Ivy blushed at the compliment just as Merlin stepped into the kitchen and sniffed the air. “Something smells good.”

Cheeks turning even pinker, Ivy gestured to the stove. “There’s more than enough for everyone. Help yourself. And I’m not that smart, Dee. You’re setting Jacob up to be severely disappointed.”

“Nonsense. And unless you want your other set of cheeks to be as red as your face is right now, you won't ever let me hear you say that again, little girl.”

Somehow, Ivy’s face grew even redder. “Oh my god, Dee! Hush!”

“I will not.” Grinning now, Cordelia sipped at her coffee. “My little Ivy blossom looks so cute in pink.”

“I keep telling you, ivy doesn’t have blossoms.”

“Actually, some varieties of ivy do have small flowers.” When everyone turned to look at Merlin in surprise, he shrugged. “What? I like plants.”

“As I was saying,” Cordelia continued, pinning Jacob with that no-nonsense stare over the rim of her coffee cup.

“Ivy is an excellent teacher. At the very least, we can get you closer to where you need to be before you start your GED classes. Which you will be doing as soon as the threat from your father has been dealt with.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. That’s settled, then. Now, food. Coffee if you want it. Believe me when I tell you that you do not want to deal with Ivy when her routine gets interrupted.”

“It’s not my routine,” Ivy grumbled, and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

Reaching over, Cordelia ran a hand over Ivy’s hair. She did that a lot, he’d noticed. Little touches here and there, as if she couldn’t stand to not be touching her girl. “I know, baby. And I’m sorry. This is the best I can do for right now.”

Ivy shook her head, her shoulders slumping forward slightly, and Jacob was hit with the urge to pick her up and cuddle her. To offer some kind of comfort. “No, I’m sorry. You’re trying so hard to make this easier on me and I’m being an ungrateful brat about it.”

“All right, little girl.” There was a snap to Cordelia’s voice that had Ivy’s head jerking up, her eyes wide. Jacob, who was still standing at the edge of the table watching them, froze in place.

With her hand still in Ivy’s hair, Cordelia made a fist, drawing Ivy closer to her. “I am very much over hearing my girl say such mean things about herself. After breakfast, you and I are going upstairs to have a chat. Hopefully your hairbrush will make a better impression than I’ve been able to.”

“Daddy, no!”

Her hairbrush? She didn’t mean?—

“You can’t spank her!”

The words burst out of him without thinking, and three sets of eyes turned toward him. Ivy and Cordelia with stunned surprise, as if they’d forgotten he was there, while Merlin subtly shook his head, as if trying to warn him off.

But he wouldn’t be warned off. Not when there was something he could actually do to help Ivy.

Unlike his sisters.

“This doesn’t concern you, Jacob.” Cordelia’s voice was low, with an almost lethal quality to it that sent a shiver up his spine.

“You will stay downstairs with the TV on and the volume up. We will do everything in our power to make sure you don’t hear anything.

But you will not interfere. Am I understood? ”

“No. I can’t just let you beat her.”

“It’s alright, Jacob.” By contrast, Ivy’s voice was sweet, soothing. “I earned it. I’ll be okay.”

He wanted to believe her. God, he wanted to believe her so fucking bad. Wanted to believe that the Cordelia he’d gotten to know over the past two weeks wouldn’t actually hurt her partner.

“I’ve seen what happens when people get beaten,” he whispered. “I can’t let that happen to you.”

It was, to his surprise, Merlin who spoke next. “Jacob… have you ever been spanked?”

He jerked his head up once, twice. “When I was very young. But my father… he figured out that I didn’t really care about being whipped. So he started using my sisters to make his point instead. And I can’t—I can’t just sit back and let that happen to Ivy.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Cordelia muttered, shoving back from her chair, her movement quick and jerky as she paced back and forth in front of the table. “That fucking monster .”

Moving slowly, the way he’d seen some of the women back home move when there was an animal around they didn’t want to startle, Ivy rose from her chair to approach him, her small, gentle hands coming to rest on his arms. And when she looked up at him, her eyes were full of sympathy.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you. And your sisters. None of you deserved that.”

Looking down into her deep, dark eyes, something inside him seemed to click into place. As if he’d been waiting his whole life to look into those eyes, so full of sympathy and understanding. “You don’t deserve it, either.”

“No, I don’t. Not what you went through. But do I deserve the spanking Cordelia is going to give me? Yes. I know the rules, and I broke them. And in our relationship, when I break a rule, I get punished.”

“I’ll think of something else,” Cordelia said, raking her hands through her long blonde hair. “Anything else while we’re here. I’m not going to traumatize the poor kid just because you were naughty. Do we have any ginger?”

Ivy's eyes went round before she whipped around to stare at Cordelia. “Ginger?” she squeaked.

“Actually… I may have another idea.” Merlin was still watching him with those steady eyes.

“Jacob, we can tell you all day that what Cordelia and Ivy do is far different than what you and your sisters went through. But you’re never going to believe us.

Because in this case, seeing very much is believing. ”

“What are you—oh, hell no.” Lip pulled back in a snarl, Cordelia shook her head. “If just thinking about Ivy getting spanked is upsetting him that much, what do you think seeing it is going to do?”

“I’m not suggesting he just observe. I’m suggesting you give him the full experience. So he can know exactly what Ivy is going through, and he’ll understand the difference.”

Pausing her pacing, Cordelia stared at Merlin. “Are you suggesting I spank him?”

“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”

A spanking? From Cordelia? Like in his fantasies, only he had a feeling the reality was going to hurt a lot more. Did he want her to do that? Did he want to lay himself across those thick thighs while she ‘punished’ him?

“Absolutely not. Do you have any idea what he’s been through? I’m not going to?—”

“Do it.” He didn’t know where the words came from, only that they felt… right.

Again, three sets of eyes turned to him. Ivy with surprise, Cordelia with what almost felt like anger, and Merlin with approval.

The latter gave him the confidence he needed to meet Cordelia’s emerald gaze head on. “Merlin’s right. No matter how you two try to convince me it’s not the same, I just can’t understand the difference. Not without experiencing it for myself. And I–I kind of want you to.”

That confession had his cheeks once more burning with shame as curiosity crept into Cordelia’s eyes. “You want me to spank you? Because of what Merlin said or something else?”

“S-something else. I know it’s wrong, these sinful thoughts I’ve been having and I’m sorry, but I-I’ve been thinking about it. A lot.”

“You have?”

Swallowing down the lump that had become lodged in his throat, he nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Cordelia sighed, and his heart sank to his knees. “I don’t know, Jacob. There’s so much more to this, to what Ivy and I have, than just letting someone smack your ass.”

It was Ivy who stepped forward, understanding in her gaze as she laid a hand on Cordelia’s arm. “I think you should do it.”

Head snapping around, Cordelia stared at her babygirl. “You can’t be serious.”

“Jacob, would you mind giving us the room for a minute?” Ivy asked without taking her eyes off Cordelia’s face.

He hesitated a moment, but then Ivy looked over and smiled at him, a smile that made him want to do everything she asked and he nodded. “All right.”

Turning his back on them, he forced himself to leave the kitchen. And leave his fate in their hands.