Page 5 of Praise Me: Pilot (Praise Me Daily #6)

Joel

G uilt sits in my sternum like food that won’t digest.

The phone continues to vibrate in my hand.

I have no idea how I’m going to answer and have a normal conversation when the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen is sitting in my lap topless, watching me while she catches her breath.

With my spit glistening on her chin in the moonlight, dazed from her orgasm.

God help me, my cock is already getting stiff again, she’s so fucking gorgeous.

Her hips move so eagerly, so accurately.

Those tits taste like the finest honey, too—I’m never going to get the flavor out of my mouth or my head.

Fuck.

There’s a voice in the back of my head telling me I’ve just doomed myself forever. Nothing will ever compare to her—and she’s off limits.

Even if by some stroke of luck, Phil could forgive me for hooking up with his eighteen-year-old daughter, he couldn’t have been clearer that he doesn’t want the life of a pilot’s wife for his daughter.

Hell, Haylo doesn’t want a pilot. In fact, I’m pretty sure her main objective tonight is to fuck me in a revenge plot against her father.

So this situation is pretty complicated.

Because even knowing all of that, the guilt, the consequences, her ulterior motive…

I still want to bring her back to my hotel and come inside of her as many times as humanly possible before I leave tomorrow night.

I’ve never manhandled a woman or spat on her.

I’ve never gotten off on being called Daddy.

All of this is foreign to me. She’s coaxing something dominant inside of me that wants to strike like a snake and I’m not sure if I can control it.

Not when she’s a living, breathing temptation.

Holding Haylo’s wide-eyed gaze, I answer the phone.

There’s every chance she’s going to out me to her father, right here and now.

Speak up and let him know she’s here, sitting in my lap, with her freshly sucked nipples.

If that’s what she chooses to do, so be it.

I deserve to get caught red-handed. I’ll face the consequences like a man. “Phil. How’s it going?”

“I’m on my way to pick up a hot redhead—it doesn’t get much better than that!” What about you?”

Haylo obviously hears through the phone, because her father’s words cause her shoulders to slump, her arms to cross protectively over her breasts. “Right. Just finished with the sorority’s welcome dinner.”

“How was it?”

I couldn’t keep my hands off your sexy little daughter. “Nice. About what you’d expect. A lot of excited squealing. Overcooked chicken.”

Haylo rolls her eyes at me.

“No booze?” Phil asks.

“Not a drop.”

Good thing, too. My judgment is already sorely lacking tonight.

“How is my girl? She’s not too upset that I didn’t make it, is she?”

She’s not your girl , snarls a voice inside of me. Shocking me.

Where did that come from?

I should reassure Phil that everything is fine, that he shouldn’t worry.

That I have the weekend covered. But the dejected droop of Haylo’s shoulders lights a fire in my chest. “Actually, she’s pretty disappointed, Phil.

Rightly so. Everyone else’s parents managed to get their asses down here, except for you.

” Haylo’s mouth drops open, her surprise over my outburst evident.

And I have a lot of nerve telling Phil off after what I’ve just done, don’t I?

I can’t help it, though. Someone needs to go to bat for this girl.

She’s been horribly neglected and frankly, I’m fucking pissed about it.

“She deserves better than that from her father.”

Silence settled against my ear. “I don’t need a lecture, Joel.”

“I think you do.” I bite my tongue before my temper gets the best of me.

For now. Again, who the hell am I to berate Phil when I’ve just allowed his daughter to rub her pussy on me until we both came?

I should be locked up indefinitely. Especially because I want to do it again, with my face between her thighs next time.

“Good night, Phil,” I say, my voice like gravel. “I’ll text you an update tomorrow.”

I hang up before he can respond, dropping my head back to throw a curse up at the sky. I’m surprised as hell when Haylo’s petite body slams into mine, her arms winding around my neck. Holding me tightly while her uneven breath warms my neck.

“Thank you,” she whispers. “For standing up for me.”

Jesus, if I thought I was protective before, it was nothing compared to the storm of responsibility that rages inside of me now, with this angel clinging to me in the dark. I want to set fire to anything or anyone who would dare to hurt someone so perfect.

She needs a Daddy , says that voice inside of me. Be what she needs.

With an effort, I force myself to snap back to reality.

Wake up, Joel.

I’m fourteen years older than her. Her journey is only beginning.

This urge to interrupt her life and become the dominant figure at the center of it…

is unforgiveable. I can’t believe I have that desire inside of me at all.

But I do have a desire for dominance when it comes to Haylo. And I have to fight it.

I can’t pin her face down on my hotel room bed, cram my two longest fingers inside of her and explain that she won’t be speaking to other men anymore. Not even to ask for the time. Not even to say a polite hello.

I can’t do that.

Men who do that kind of thing are psychotic.

“I need to take you home, angel,” I rasp, ignoring the hot blood that fills my dick at the image of her naked on a bed, one of my hands holding her wrists captive at the small of her back, the other exploring between her legs. “Now.”

She gives my neck a final squeeze, then eases away, nodding.

Letting her climb off my lap and get dressed might be the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life—and considering the missions I completed in the air force, that is saying something.

I attempt to fix my clothes as much as possible.

Not easy when I’ve just ejaculated in my pants and my cock is already swelling again for more of Haylo and the magic rub of her hot little pussy.

Somehow, I manage not to drag her to the ground and get another taste as we walk back to the sorority house in silence, her trusting hand inside of mine. My rental car is parked at the curb not too far down the block, and I unlock the passenger door, opening it for her.

“Is your apartment close by?”

She nods, hesitates, before sliding into the passenger seat. “Less than five minutes.”

Something about her behavior is off—and the problem hits me like a ton of bricks.

She’s an inexperienced virgin and I definitely didn’t treat her like one on that bench.

She must be confused. With a hard swallow, I close her door and cross behind the vehicle, getting into the driver’s side a few seconds later.

Pausing to survey her for signs of distress, I find only quiet contemplation of her pretty face.

“Haylo,” I say thickly, putting the car in drive and pulling onto the quiet street. “I want to apologize for being so rough with you. At the very least, we should have spoken about it beforehand.”

Her curious gaze brushes the side of my face. “Spoken about what?”

“What you’re comfortable with. I’ve never…put my hands on a woman’s throat like that. Or spat on one.” I rake a hand through my hair. “I don’t know what got into me.”

Even as I’m saying these words, I’m struggling not to pull the car over and strip her naked. These impulses only seem to get stronger by the minute.

What is she doing to me?

“I’m pretty sure if any other man did that to me, I would have been scared,” she murmurs, as if she’s still processing. “But I wasn’t scared at all when you did it. I felt…praised. Prized. I felt like…”

“What?” I practically pant.

“Your spit felt like a reward for being a good girl.” Blushing, she clasps her hands together tightly in her lap, sneaking me a glance. Can she tell that her confession made me feel ferocious? “Take a left here. My building is halfway down the street.”

“Uh-huh,” I manage, trying to keep my breathing even. “You are a good girl, Haylo,” I say quietly in the dark car, knowing I shouldn’t. Knowing I shouldn’t reach over and massage the highest part of her thigh, but doing that, too. “Go inside before I find another place to spit.”

Her eyes close and she traps a moan, but ultimately pushes out of the passenger side, her legs noticeably wobbly. “Good night, Joel. See you tomorrow for the pool party.”

“I’m walking you to door. Don’t move.”

“I don’t need you to do that.”

“I need to watch you go inside and lock the door or I won’t sleep.”

“Joel, please just go.”

“Why?” My eyes narrow over her plaintive tone. “Why don’t you want me to walk you to the door?” Cymbals crash together in my head and I’m already preparing to commit a homicide, my fists curling into weapons. “Is there a fucking boyfriend waiting for you in there?”

“What? No! No. I just…” She gestures to the building, and I follow her line of sight, noticing the silhouettes in the top window for the first time.

At least ten people are visible inside the top floor apartment and they appear to be playing charades.

“My roommates have their parents over,” she explains.

My heart sinks to the gas pedal.

“I was going to wait until you drove away and walk back to the sorority house. There’s a couch I can sleep on in the common area.” She shrugs. “I just don’t want to be the odd one out. It’s going to make me feel even worse if they try and include me.”

“Get in.”

“What?”

I give her a look that brooks no disobedience, and I’m shocked how…

right it feels. To give her a command with my eyes and have her follow it.

She slips back into the seat without another word and bows her head, that moonbeam hair falling around her face like a curtain and my hand moves on its own, reaching over to stroke the crown of her head.