Page 8 of Melt For Us, Daddy (Big Daddy Energy #4)

Cordelia

I vy hadn’t come home.

A text from Holden had let her know that Ivy was at his house getting ready for work. The knowledge that her babygirl would rather borrow clothes than come home and talk sat like a rock in her stomach.

Pulling her phone from her pocket, Cordelia once again read over the text she’d sent Ivy shortly after she’d gotten that news.

I love you, Ivy Mae. And I know I fucked up. But I love you, and I promise I’ll explain everything when we talk.

Still no response. As far as she could tell, Ivy hadn’t even bothered to open the message.

Another time, that might be grounds for a spanking. No matter how pissed either of them might be about something, they made it a point not to ignore each other. But how could she punish Ivy, knowing how badly she was hurting over something Cordelia herself had done?

She couldn’t, so she wouldn’t. They would be talking about it, however, and once they had, she planned on making it very, very clear to her babygirl that icing her out would not be tolerated again.

In the meantime, she had a job to do. With Ivy’s necklace tucked carefully in the pocket of her leather pants, Cordelia strode toward the back entrance of Club BDE.

The song of her people greeted her the second she opened the door, and she instantly relaxed. Leather striking flesh, cries and pleas for mercy, the teasing taunts of Dominants with a submissive at their mercy. All of it was a balm for her soul.

Maybe if she and Ivy could talk things out before their shift, she’d take her girl down to the pit and remind her how much she appreciated her submission.

There was a newly installed whipping post Ivy had been eyeing, and the thought of flogging her girl into a sweet, subbie haze before making her come so hard she saw stars had Cordelia’s mouth practically watering.

Sliding a hand into her pocket, she wrapped her fingers around the delicate flower as she made her way to the kitchen to clock in. The routine of greeting the staff, clocking in, putting her purse in her locker, all of it settled her, bit by bit.

Her Ivy-girl wasn’t the only one who loved routine.

As if that errant thought managed to conjure her, Cordelia caught a glimpse of her dark hair, pulled high in a ponytail with the ends curled the way Frankie often wore it.

“Ivy.”

Freezing in her tracks, Ivy whipped around, her eyes wide with… Was that fear? Real fear, and not the fun, delicious kind she so often loved to see in those deep brown eyes?

Before she could ask, before she could think , Lottie was between them, her expression a mask of determination. “Ivy is not speaking to you right now.”

Narrowing her eyes, Cordelia put every ounce of Domme she could into her voice. “This doesn’t concern you, Charlotte.”

It worked, at least a little bit. Lottie’s cheeks lost a bit of color and she swallowed hard, but she didn’t move. “Ivy is my friend. You hurt my friend. So yes, it does concern me.”

“I know I hurt her. But I can’t make it right if you don’t let me talk to her.”

“She’ll let you know when she’s ready to talk.”

“I swear to god, Charlotte, if you don’t move right this second , I am going to march you down to your Daddy’s office and personally request that he wear his belt out on your ass.”

That did the trick. Lottie immediately stepped aside, but it was too late.

Ivy was gone.

With a snarl for the interfering Lottie, Cordelia stormed out of the kitchen, looking around for her babygirl. But she was nowhere to be seen.

“It’s not that big of a club, baby. You can’t hide from me forever.”

As it turned out, she didn’t need to. Every single time Cordelia spotted her, one of the members of their group popped up in her path, telling her to leave Ivy alone. Lottie, Frankie, Ruby, Silver, every single time, one of them was there to stop her.

Three hours into her shift, she was ready to take a paddle to all their asses. And though she normally prided herself on handling her own shit, she was obviously outmanned.

Marching over to the table the Doms of their group had snagged for the evening, she jabbed a finger at each of them. “Get your subs under control and out of my fucking way.”

“It’s lovely to see you too, Cordelia,” Braden said with his usual smoothness, though there was a bite to his words that said he clearly didn’t appreciate being spoken to so sharply by one of his employees. “What seems to be the problem?”

“Every time I try to talk to Ivy, someone pops up and keeps me from getting to her. And by the time I get them to move, she’s gone.

I can appreciate female solidarity, I really can, but I will not tolerate anyone interfering with me and my girl.

And since I don’t have carte blanch to whip their asses, I’m counting on you lot to do it on my behalf. ”

Her demand was greeted with silence, and shared looks from her male counterparts that had her wanting to snarl at them all over again.

“I’ll get Ruby to stay out your way,” Beckett finally conceded. “But can you honestly say if it was one of us, you wouldn’t be right there with them?”

“Yes. Maybe. I don’t fucking know, Beckett. All I know is I need to talk to my girl and they’re getting in my way.” Dragging in a breath, she set her pride aside and forced her tone to soften. “Please. This is important. You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn't.”

“We do.” Rising to his feet, Braden fiddled with the sleeve of his suit jacket, his mouth twisting up in a wicked grin. “I think it’s time for Lottie’s break, anyway. And Ice, didn’t you say Silver was just begging to try out that new toy you bought for her?”

“She was.” Chuckling, Ice joined Braden on his feet. “I think I’ll go find her and see if there’s a station open downstairs.”

One by one, they each rose and went in search of their women. And one by one, they were met with loud protests and cries of unfairness. Frankie, little firecracker that she was, flat out refused to go until Holden hauled her up over his shoulder and delivered a hard swat to her ass.

“Congratulations, little siren. I had a fun scene planned for us tonight, but you know the rules. Naughty girls don’t get Daddy’s cock and they definitely do not get to come.”

“Daddy, no! That’s not fair!”

Guilt twisted in Cordelia’s stomach, but dammit, they hadn’t left her any choice.

Once each of the interlopers had been accounted for, she scanned the dining room in search of Ivy. And she spotted her girl, just as she disappeared into the break room.

Gotcha, babygirl.

Ivy

Avoiding Cordelia was turning out to be more work than she’d expected.

Thank god she had the other girls running interference for her, but even with that she was exhausted from constantly dodging and weaving.

She was pretty sure her tables weren’t happy with their service, either, so she was probably going to get in trouble with Braden on top of everything.

Folding her arms on top of one of the tables in the break room, she dropped her head down with a groan. “This sucks .”

“I agree.”

Jerking her head up again, Ivy stared at Cordelia, watching as her woman slowly stalked across the room. And that was exactly what it felt like, with those slow, even movements and Cordelia’s eyes locked on her.

“What are you doing here?”

Without so much as pausing, Cordelia raised one pale brow. “Are you asking how I got past your protective detail?”

“Maybe.”

“I have my own friends, and they were very happy to get their naughty babygirls out of my way for a bit so we could talk.”

Shit. Hopefully her friends hadn’t gotten themselves in too much trouble on her behalf.

Hopping up from her chair, Ivy scanned her surroundings, looking for an escape route. “You should have taken the hint, Cordelia. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

“Too damn bad. You’ve had more than enough time to be pissed at me. Neither of us is leaving this room until we’ve talked this out.”

Temper sparked in Ivy’s chest, freezing her in place as she stared down her Domme. “Enough time? You really think there’s enough time to get over the fact that you lied to me? Every day for two fucking years, you’ve lied right to my face, Cordelia.”

“I never lied to you.”

“An omission is the same thing as a lie! Isn’t that what you would tell me if I kept something important from you?”

Pausing her trek forward, Cordelia sighed. “You’re right. You’re right, and I’m sorry, baby. I'm so fucking sorry. I don’t know what else to say.”

“That’s just it.” Tears filled Ivy’s eyes, and she didn’t bother to blink them away.

Let Cordelia see what she’d done, how much she’d hurt her.

Hurt them . “There’s nothing you can say.

You lied to me, you kept things from me.

But the worst thing of all is you’ve made it crystal fucking clear you don’t trust me. ”

“That’s not true. I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone, Ivy.”

“But not enough to share your deepest hurts with me. I’ve shared everything with you, Cordelia.

You made it clear from the very first moment of our relationship that you would accept nothing less than total honesty from me.

Any time I’ve tried to hide even the smallest thing from you, all it’s gotten me is a spanked ass and a lecture about how we don’t keep things from each other.

And this whole time you’ve been nothing but a huge fucking hypocrite. ”

Cordelia froze in place, her face paling as her mouth fell open. Taking advantage of her shocked state, Ivy darted past her, running straight out the door. But she didn’t get far before Cordelia called after her.

“Ivy Mae, stop right there!”

Still riding high on her fury, she didn’t even bother to pause as she glanced over her shoulder. “Fuck off, Cordelia!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she could take them back. Every single head in the dining room turned to stare at them, and in the silence that fell, you could have heard a pin drop.

Spinning around, she came face to face with her calmly furious Domme. “Dee. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean?—”

“Enough.” That single word, delivered in a soft yet deadly tone, had Ivy’s stomach dropping to her toes. “On your knees.”

Heart pounding, she did as she was told, sinking to the floor at Cordelia’s feet, her gaze locked on the sleek hardwood beneath her.

Leather boots came to a stop in front of her. “Eyes on me, little girl.”

Little girl . No two words had the ability to tap into her submissive side so quickly.

Swallowing hard, she forced herself to look up into those emerald eyes she’d fallen in love with so many years ago.

There was anger there, yes, but more than that she saw grief and a pain so deep it threatened to shatter her own heart into a million pieces.

Reaching into her pocket, Cordelia pulled something free. She let it dangle from her fingers, and a sob rose in Ivy’s throat as the lights of the bar caught on the rainbow flower she normally wore around her neck.

“You are mine , Ivy Mae.” Bending down, Cordelia placed the necklace around her throat. Was it somehow heavier than she remembered? Or was that just the weight of everything they stood to lose hanging around her neck?

With the necklace in place, Cordelia gripped Ivy’s chin between her fingers, forcing her head back even further.

“This is what’s going to happen now. We are going to go home.

We are going to talk. And once we’ve talked through everything, I am going to remind you exactly what it means for you to wear my collar. ”