Page 45 of Melt For Us, Daddy (Big Daddy Energy #4)

Cordelia

S he gave them all time to settle, showering both her boy and her girl with plenty of praise for how well they’d taken their punishments.

Checked in with Jacob, at which he’d blushed adorably and apologized again for breaking the rules.

After assuring him it was all forgiven and he didn’t need to apologize again, she’d sent him off to shower while she and Ivy stayed in his bed, wrapped up in each other.

“All right, blossom. Time to come clean. What happened this morning?”

Ivy’s nose wrinkled, the way it did when she was either thinking really hard or knew she had to confess something she didn’t want to confess. Which was it this time?

“I’m really not sure,” she said slowly, drawing the words out as though she was considering each one carefully before speaking.

“I got up this morning and I was thinking about last night and how much I’m enjoying topping him, which I never thought I’d enjoy in a million years.

And I was thinking how much fun it would be to wake him up the way you sometimes wake me up. ”

“I see.” Cupping Ivy’s cheek in her hand, she brushed a thumb over her cheekbone, her eyes searching her babygirl’s face for any hint of something deeper they needed to address. “And what about our rules? Did you think about them?”

Just like Jacob, Ivy blushed prettily at the question. “I did, Ma’am. And, well, I thought it would be a fun way to get a quick little spanking. I’m really, really sorry I took it too far.”

“You’ve already been punished for it, baby. What’s that mean?”

“It means I’m forgiven and I’m not allowed to keep beating myself up over it.”

“Good girl.”

Before she could prod any further, the door to the bathroom swung open and Jacob stepped out, his trim, surprisingly chiseled body wrapped in nothing but a towel. “Ah… sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No apologies needed, baby boy,” Cordelia assured him, not bothering to move from her spot.

The more ‘normal’ she and Ivy made it for him to see them being intimate with each other, the easier it would be for him to stop seeing it as something wrong or sinful he should be ashamed of.

“Why don’t you get dressed and head downstairs.

See if Kestrel’s around to show you how to work the coffee maker. Ivy and I will be down in a bit.”

“Oh, but coffee is my job.”

Still cupping Ivy’s face in her hand, Cordelia leaned in, nipping gently at her full bottom lip. “Consider this your punishment for not starting your chores on time, Ivy Mae. If you’d been a good girl and gone straight downstairs like you’re meant to, then you would be the one making my coffee.”

That pouty bottom lip trembled slightly, and Cordelia’s heart constricted at the fresh tears glistening in her girl’s eyes. “Couldn’t you just spank me again?”

“I could. But I have a feeling this will stick with you much longer than a spanking would. Don’t you think, babygirl?”

Somehow, Ivy’s pout managed to get even poutier. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Good girl.” Glancing over her shoulder, she raised a brow at Jacob, who was still standing in the same spot, watching them. “Jacob, when Daddy gives you an instruction, you’re meant to follow it immediately. Not whenever you feel like it.”

More of that irresistible color flooded his cheeks and he immediately sprang into action. “Sorry, Ma’am.”

“It’s all right, baby boy. I know you’re still getting used to things. I’m not angry.”

That seemed to settle him a bit, and he hurried to get dressed before heading out the door and down the stairs. When they were alone again, Cordelia returned her attention to her babygirl, who was still pouting over being denied her usual service.

“Eyes on me, blossom.”

Though she softened her voice for the command, she put just enough firmness behind the words to ensure Ivy knew it was still an order. With a quiet sigh, Ivy lifted her gaze, a million emotions swimming in the dark brown of her eyes. “Ma’am?”

“I love you.”

A smile spread across her girl’s face, banishing some of those swirling emotions. “I love you, too. Are you still mad at me?”

“Baby, I was never mad at you. You know it doesn’t bother me if you want to be a brat every now and then. I do want to make sure there’s nothing more to it than that, though, which is the other reason we’re letting Jacob make the coffee.”

“Oh.” Lips turning down in a thoughtful frown, Ivy went quiet, obviously thinking through her actions. “I don’t really think there was more to it than just wanting him.”

“You’re not feeling any kind of way about our rules? Wishing you had more freedom where Jacob is concerned?”

“Maybe a little but I also like having those rules. I like knowing that even if I get to be in control sometimes where he’s concerned, at the end of the day you’re still in charge. It doesn’t upset me that I have to ask permission or anything, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Good.” Relief loosened some of the knots in her chest and she smiled down at her girl as she brushed loose strands of hair from her face. “You’ll tell me if you start to feel differently about any of our rules.”

“Of course.”

“My sweet girl.” Sliding her hand into Ivy’s hair, she pulled her girl’s head back, swooping in to take her lips in a soft, sweet kiss.

When they parted, Ivy’s eyes were glassy, unfocused, and Cordelia couldn’t help but grin at the sight she made. Adorably well fucked and satisfied.

And though part of her wanted nothing more than to stay in bed all morning reminding Ivy over and over what it meant to be her Daddy’s good girl, they couldn’t keep Jacob hanging.

Once they got back home, that was something they’d need to discuss. Time for just them, for each of them with Jacob. There were bound to be some jealousy issues, some power struggles. But hopefully they could lay a strong enough foundation to mitigate them when they came.

“We should get downstairs to our boy.”

“In a minute.” Ivy’s expression turned serious. “You had a moment, when you were getting undressed to join us in bed. Are you okay?”

Her sweet, observant girl. “I am now. It… caught me off guard, is all. I was so into it, into both of you. And then I saw him kneeling there, looking so strong and I panicked a little. But then you called my name and I remembered I’m not there anymore.

They can’t hurt me, because I’m here with you and our boy. ”

“You’re going to have to tell him.” The words were soft, but filled with resolve. “You can’t keep it from him the way you kept it from me. He deserves to know the whole of it.”

“I’ll tell him.” Eventually. When the danger had passed.

“Not in some mythical, far-off future, Cordelia. You need to tell him and you need to tell him soon.”

There was a downside to being with someone who saw you as clearly as Ivy saw her. “I will. I promise.”

“Good enough. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need a shower. I’m all… sweaty.”

At the reminder of what they’d done, how thoroughly her babygirl had been punished, Cordelia grinned. “Want some company?”

“Absolutely.”

Jacob

It took a lot longer than he’d expected for them to come downstairs. Long enough he was worried Cordelia’s coffee would be cold and she’d be angry with him.

But when they finally appeared in the kitchen, each of them with their hair wet and their cheeks still glowing with what he assumed was pleasure, it was clear what had taken them so long.

An emotion he couldn’t quite place tied his stomach into knots as he watched them, the way they moved in sync, with random little touches here and there. They had a connection he could never hope to understand or compete with.

Jealousy. That was, he realized with a start, the sinister emotion winding its way around his stomach, making him feel vaguely ill. All his life, he’d been lectured on the pitfalls of envy, along with the other seven deadly sins.

Was this one of those things the prophets had been wrong about? If they were, did that make it okay for him to feel jealous? Was it not as evil as he’d always been told?

“Whatcha thinking about so hard, baby boy?”

Ivy’s teasing question had him jerking his head up to blink at her, then Cordelia. The latter was watching him with those quiet, steady eyes that seemed to see far more than he was comfortable with.

He started to tell them it was nothing, but Cordelia’s admonition from the day before had stuck with him. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

Cordelia smiled, and his heart fluttered the same way it did when she verbally praised him. “Good boy, letting us know you’re not ready to talk. But if there’s something bothering you, we want you to tell us when you are ready. Okay?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Her gaze shifted upward just a fraction. “Ivy, I’m going to take Jacob into the living room to talk for a bit. Can you handle breakfast on your own?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Good girl. Let us know when it’s ready.”

Unease churned in his stomach as he followed Cordelia out to the living room. She pointed to the couch and he immediately sat, earning him another of those heart-stopping smiles of approval as she took her seat next to him.

“Do you remember yesterday when we were talking about rules and limits and I told you that one of mine is not being touched?”

How could he forget when everything in him wanted nothing more than to feel her skin beneath his hand? “Yes, Ma’am.”

“Ivy thinks I should tell you why I have issues with that kind of intimacy. I will, if you want me to, but I want you to be very aware that it has to do with your grandfather. And that the truth will be difficult for you to hear.”

Already, his heart was breaking for her. But he wouldn’t chicken out now, no matter how much the truth might hurt. “I want to know.”

“Okay. If it gets to be too much, just tell me. Use your safewords if you need to. There’s no shame in needing a break.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I will.”

And so she told him. About how young she’d been, how rebellious. How she’d been married off to his grandfather in an effort to tame her.

She told him about her so-called wedding night and the women who’d held her down as his grandfather had raped her.

He knew that word from the documentaries he’d watched. An ugly word for an ugly act, and as he’d expected, his heart shattered for her.

Through it all, she didn’t cry. But she didn’t bother to hide the pain in her eyes, either. And although it felt like an elephant was sitting on his chest by the time she was done, he didn’t cry, either.

“I’m so sorry, Cordelia,” he whispered when it was done. “I’m so fucking sorry. I wish… I don’t even know what I wish. That I could fix it, make it better somehow.”

Reaching out, she placed a hand on his arm and squeezed, her eyes blazing now with righteous fury.

“You fix it by making sure he and the other prophets can never do this to another little girl again. When the time comes, you get up on that witness stand and you testify. You tell the world what you’ve seen, what you’ve experienced.

I’ll do the same, and with any luck, so will your sisters.

And we’ll fucking bury them with the truth. ”

“I can do that.”