Page 37 of Melt For Us, Daddy (Big Daddy Energy #4)

Jacob

H e didn’t wake refreshed. He woke groggy and gritty-eyed, his stomach still churning with guilt.

Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the textured ceiling above him as his mind went back to work trying to figure out what to do about the two beautiful women he was stuck living with for who knew how much longer.

He should resist them. That much seemed obvious. Everything he knew about what was right and moral and good said that he should resist temptation in whatever form it took.

But the thought of never touching them again, of never fully knowing the kind of pleasure they’d been so keen to teach him about made him feel… hollow. Empty in a way he’d never felt before.

Was that just the devil, trying to tempt him back into sin?

He was still lying there, as confused as ever, when the knock came.

“Jakey? You awake, honey?”

Ivy. Tiny, sweet, loving Ivy. Even before she’d stripped down to nothing and declared they were going to have an anatomy lesson, he’d felt drawn to her.

Not in the same way he felt drawn to Cordelia, and for completely different reasons, but it was no less potent.

She was comfort and cheer and so many happy things he’d never really had before.

Maybe if he pretended to be asleep she’d go away and he could have some more time to figure things out. But not only was that dangerously close to a lie, he didn’t really want her to go anywhere. He wanted her in his bed, even if all they did was talk.

“Yes, Ma’am,” he called out, pushing himself up in the bed.

A moment later, the door swung open, and there she was. She’d changed into a dress, one with little straps no thicker than a piece of spaghetti, covered with pretty pink flowers. Everything about her looked fresh and dewy and his mouth watered at the sight of her.

Stopping in the middle of the room, she tilted her head. “Something wrong?”

“Huh?” He blinked, and it wasn’t until he did that he realized he hadn’t done so since she’d walked in the room. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to stare.”

A slow, knowing smile curved her lips. “It’s okay, honey. You can stare if you want to.” Swinging her hips, she moved in a circle, the dress twirling out around her. “You like the dress, I take it?”

“Very much, Ma’am.”

“Hmm. Well, as much as I’d love to climb you like a tree and let you show me exactly how much you like it, Daddy’s waiting for us downstairs. And she will be very cranky if we have any fun without her.”

“Okay. Um, can I use the bathroom, first?”

Her smile brightened until she was practically beaming at him. “Of course, baby. I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

Baby . The endearment rolled around in his mind as he made his way to the bathroom. Every time they called him baby or baby boy, it made his chest feel warm and light. And yet, it also felt wrong.

He was a man. Not a child, and certainly not a baby. He should demand they treat him like one, show him the respect he deserved.

But he didn’t want to. And that was really the crux of all his issues when it came to the two of them. His brain was telling him he should do this or do that based on what he’d been taught was right.

But he just didn’t want to.

He wanted them to keep calling him baby. He wanted to touch them, taste them. He wanted to know what it would feel like to put his cock in someone’s pussy. He wanted Cordelia to spank him again, and maybe afterward pleasure her the way he’d pleasured Ivy.

As he scrubbed his hands clean, he met his own gaze in the reflection of the mirror above the sink. And found his answer.

There was no way he was giving up his women. And if loving them damned him to hell, then he’d greet the devil himself with a smile on his face.

Cordelia

She heard them before she saw them. Ivy’s giggles, Jacob’s deep voice, too deep for her to actually hear what he was saying. Sweet sounds she’d already gotten so used to hearing every day, and she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to live without them when they returned to the city.

A problem for future Cordelia, she reminded herself as they stepped into the kitchen, twin smiles on their faces. She might have been jealous of the moment they’d just shared, if it weren’t for the way both their faces lit at the sight of her.

Jesus, she could get addicted to that. To the sight of her two sweet little submissives smiling so brightly just for her.

She rewarded them with a smile of her own as she gestured to the empty chairs surrounding the small kitchen table. “Sit, so we can talk.”

Jacob immediately took a seat, but Ivy hovered. “I should make us some snacks. Maybe some coffee.”

It would help to soothe some of her girl’s nerves, so Cordelia nodded. “Coffee would be lovely, blossom. Thank you. Jacob likes his the same way I take mine if you want to make him a cup as well.”

Pure joy lit Ivy’s face. “Yes, Daddy.”

As Ivy moved around the kitchen, Cordelia shifted her gaze to Jacob’s face. But she didn’t find the worry or fear she’d expected to see there after their earlier conversation. What she found instead could only be described as resolve.

What’s going on in that brain of yours, baby boy?

“How are you feeling, Jacob?” she asked instead, letting her gaze freely roam his face.

“Much better.” A hint of pink colored his cheeks as he cleared his throat, his gaze shifting from her to Ivy and back again. “I want to apologize for earlier. I shouldn’t have gotten so… emotional.”

Temper pricked at her chest. “Apology not accepted.”

She almost felt guilty when she saw the hurt flickering in his eyes. “What?”

“We don’t accept your apology.”

Behind her, Ivy sighed, and Cordelia nearly laughed at how exasperated she sounded. “She means , we don’t accept your apology because you don’t owe us one. You never have to apologize for having feelings, Jakey. Even really big, messy ones.”

“Oh.” The corners of his lips dipped down as he thought it over. “Okay. Um, thanks.”

“Good boy.”

At her praise, he sat up a bit straighter, and his frown transformed into a smile that stretched all the way to his eyes, brightening the usually stormy gray. It was a good thing she loved giving praise, since he seemed to thrive on it just like her Ivy.

She waited for Ivy to pour their coffee and for her to join them at the table, her hands wrapped around a tall glass of ice water. When they were all settled again, Cordelia looked across the table, meeting Jacob’s pale gaze.

“Tell me about earlier. What happened while you were washing the dishes?”

Again that hint of a blush infused his cheeks as he lowered his gaze to the table. One shoulder jerked in a gesture she was sure he meant as nonchalant but in reality was nothing of the sort. “I don’t know.”

“Look at me, Jacob.”

She’d put just enough steel in her tone to let him know it wasn’t a request, but an order she expected him to obey. And obey he did, slowly raising his head so that his eyes locked with hers once more.

Leaning in slightly, she kept that eye contact even as Ivy shifted in her seat, clearly ready to jump in and defend their boy.

If she knew what was good for her, she’d stay out of it.

“If you are uncomfortable talking about something, you will tell me so. You may ask permission to table the discussion, which may or may not be granted depending on the seriousness of the issue. What you will not do, under any circumstances, is lie to me. Am I understood, boy?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he whispered. And though his face was now an even brighter pink, to his credit he never dropped his gaze. “I’m sorry. I just… I’m not used to talking about things like this.”

“Things like what, Jakey?” Ivy asked in that sweet, soothing way she had.

Still, he didn’t take his eyes off Cordelia, and her heart swelled with pride. “Feelings. Usually if I’m upset about something, I’m just sent to my room to pray about it. So I stopped even telling anyone when I was sad, since being alone in my room was worse than just hiding it from my family.”

In a second, Ivy was up out of her chair, sliding onto Jacob’s lap, her arms wrapped around his neck. “Poor baby. I’m so sorry, honey.”

Cordelia watched as he froze, like the proverbial deer in the headlights. But just for a moment before he pulled his hands away from the coffee mug to wrap his arms around her, surrendering himself to the comfort her babygirl offered.

All still without taking those gray, depthless eyes off her.

She had to swallow her own rising grief as she held his gaze.

Because she knew all too well what he was talking about.

Only for her, she’d also endured more than one whipping for daring to show her anger before being sent away to pray for forgiveness in the solitary confinement of her room.

Those beatings had only gotten worse when she’d married the Prophet, so she’d learned to keep her emotions locked away, hidden until she had a safe space to let them loose.

Was that part of why she had such a hard time sharing those painful parts of her past with Ivy? Was part of her still that furious but terrified little girl, desperate to avoid yet another beating?

Something to unpack with her therapist when she returned to the city.

And considering how much Jacob was bringing up, it would probably be a good idea for her to go back to weekly sessions instead of the monthly schedule they had now.

They’d have to find him a therapist of his own to work with, and it would probably be a good idea for all three of them to do some sessions together.

God, she was going to need a second job just to pay for their therapy.

A problem for when they returned home. Until then, she had a battered boy with wounded eyes to worry about. The rest would have to wait.

“I’m sorry too,” she said, keeping their gazes locked so he could see the truth in her eyes. See it wasn’t just pretty words but a promise that he was safe with them. “But I hope you’ll learn to trust us enough to share your feelings instead of hiding them. I’m proud of you for telling us, Jacob.”

Again he lit up at her praise, and it was almost painful to see how happy it made him. “Thanks.”

“But now I’m going to need you to be brave a little bit longer and tell me what happened this morning. You seemed fine when you got up to wash the dishes and then suddenly you weren’t. Did we say something to upset you?”

“No, not at all. Just the opposite, actually.”

Ivy lifted her head, confusion twisting her delicate features. “You were upset because we… didn’t upset you?”

“Sort of.” He paused, and Cordelia swore she could see his brain working, trying to find the words to explain.

“I was listening to you two talk and when Ivy gets all whiny like she was earlier she reminds me of my younger sisters. And it just hit me out of nowhere that they’re still stuck there, and I don’t know what’s happening to them, while I’m here with you two.

And I’m so happy, it doesn't feel right. It doesn’t feel fair that I should get to enjoy life, that I should get to experience all the things I’m experiencing with you while they’re still trapped.

Don’t you think that makes me a bad person? Or at the very least a bad brother?”

“Oh, Jakey.” Tightening her hold on his neck, Ivy pressed herself even closer to their boy. “No, of course not.”

Even with her comfort, however, his gaze remained locked on Cordelia’s, and in the gray she saw a plea she recognized all too well.

Tell me I’m not bad. Tell me I’m not wrong. Tell me I’m not… sinful.

“I understand why you feel that way,” she began slowly.

Leaning forward, she reached for him, gripping his hand with hers so tightly her knuckles turned white.

“I felt the same when I left. If I’m being honest, I still carry some of that guilt with me, wondering if I could have done more to save the people I left behind.

But when I ran, I ran to save myself. You ran for your sisters.

And that makes you the best man I know, Jacob Redding. ”

“You really mean that?”

Her heart trembled, threatened to shatter at the hope in his voice.

“Yes, baby. I mean it with everything I have in me. You are a good man, a good brother, a good person. And don’t you ever let those fuckers convince you otherwise.

If you start to doubt what I’ve said, you come to me.

And I’ll be all too happy to remind you that their opinion doesn’t mean a goddamn thing in this house. Understood?”

A ghost of a smile graced his lips. “Yes, Ma’am.”