Page 14 of Scythe (Devil Daddies MC #2)

W innie followed Scythe along the winding road behind Inferno, enjoying the scenery of his broad shoulders and tight butt.

A few fantasies roamed through her mind as he led the way.

Thank goodness for his brake lights warning her he was stopping.

Winnie stepped on the pedal sharply to halt behind him.

A gate? Scythe lived in a gated community? That seemed odd. He talked to someone inside the booth, gesturing back at her car. When he pulled forward, she trailed behind. When Vex appeared in front of her car, Winnie slammed the car to a stop.

“Hi, Winnifred,” he greeted her warmly.

“Winnie,” she corrected automatically. “Didn’t your parents teach you to look both ways before crossing the street?”

“They tried to teach me a lot of things. Some stuck in my brain, others not so much,” Vex answered, completely unfazed by the close call.

“Vex won’t always be at the gate, Winnie,” Scythe explained as he walked back to join them. “He’ll need your license to put on record, and everyone will let you in when you arrive without a question.”

“My driver’s license?” she asked, grabbing her purse and searching through it for her wallet. Of course, it was lost somewhere inside. Winnie grabbed a handful of things and dropped them on the passenger seat as the men watched. Finally, she found it.

“Got it!” Winnie flipped it open and yanked out a card for Vex. “Ta-da!”

“This is your library card, Winnie,” Vex told her.

“Crap!” She snatched it out of his hand and muttered something about how much the two looked alike.

“Okay, this is it!” Winnie waved her license around before pulling it back to double-check. “Yep! I found it.”

The guys didn’t point out her library card was pure white while the license was tan. Vex carried it inside to scan and returned with his phone to hand her license before capturing pictures of her car and the plates.

“Why the high security?” she asked.

“Very precious people live inside,” Scythe answered.

“Bikers?” Winnie asked.

“They’re not the special individuals we want to protect,” Vex explained. “The Devil Daddies can take care of themselves.”

When she glanced at Scythe, hoping to get a clearer answer, he said, “Vex is referring to you, Chipmunk. You are one of the precious people living in our community.”

“Oh.”

“All done,” Vex announced. “If you arrive by yourself, tell whoever’s at the gate that you’re Scythe’s. They’ll review this information and let you in.” Returning to the booth, he raised the gate and waved her in as Scythe jumped on his bike.

Scythe led her to the last cottage on the right. He drove into the far side of the garage and waved her in next to him. He turned to rummage in the workbench near his bike. When she hesitated, he walked down the driveway to her side. “Go ahead and pull in, Chipmunk.”

“I don’t want to hit your motorcycle. Bad things happen to me at the worst time.”

“You’re not going to hit my bike.”

“I might.”

“If I drive your car in, can you back it out safely?” he asked.

“Definitely.” She unlocked her door and scrambled out. When she lost her balance in her rush, Scythe’s powerful hands wrapped around her waist to steady her. “Thanks.”

“I got you.” Scythe kissed her gently before smacking her bottom. “Go stand by the door.”

Seeing him try to squeeze into her car without adjusting the seat made her giggle.

Finally, shaking his head, he found the lever and eased it back.

Scythe clipped something to her visor, and Winnie realized it had to be a garage door opener.

He was moving her in as if she were going to stay for a while.

When he rejoined her, she asked, “How long are you planning for me to be here?”

“Forever, Chipmunk.”

Stunned by his response, she stared at him. Could he really mean that?

“Come in. Let me show you around.”

He opened the door and ushered her inside. The garage entrance led into the sunny, yellow kitchen with an attached screened-in porch. A feathered creature walked past outside. “Is that a chicken?”

“I brought the last few from my parents’ farm with me. Only two are left now. That’s Fluff. You’ll see Patches soon. They roam around together.”

“You grew up on a farm?” She eyed his muscles. That made sense. Hard labor had honed his physique from a young age.

“I did. Unfortunately, life interfered with my plans to be a farmer. Come, let me show you around.”

Winnie ran her hand over the old-fashioned, red-gingham oilcloth that protected the table as they walked into a large family room.

A large leather couch and a huge double-sized recliner dominated the space.

A picture popped into her mind of sharing that chair with him as they watched Saturday cartoons.

She could see the influence of his former country lifestyle on his decorations. “Your place is lovely, Scythe.”

“It works for me. We’ll change anything you don’t like. And add more to make it your home as much as mine.”

“Is that a scythe on the wall?” she asked, pointing to a weathered wooden handle with a long, rust-dotted blade. She could tell it wasn’t a simple decoration. It was an actual farm implement.

“A memento from my parent’s farm. It was in the family for a long time.”

“I bet that’s where your name came from. Silly me. I keep picturing Death with his lethal scythe.”

She jumped as her phone rang, preventing him from responding to her guess. Winnie dug into her bag and retrieved the device. Checking the screen, she said, “It’s the funeral home.”

“Hello?”

“Miss Bradley? It’s Russell at Key’s Funeral Home.”

“Yes, this is Winnie.”

“I wanted to inform you that we received notice that the doctor has signed your mother’s death certificate. They’ve released her body.

Relief flooded through her. Her mother had grown to hate the hospital in the last few months. “That’s wonderful. You’ll go get her now?”

“Our driver is already on the way. She’ll be here in less than an hour.”

“That’s wonderful. Thank you.” Winnie disconnected the call.

“The investigation concluded, and the hospital is releasing your mom’s body?” Scythe guessed.

“Yes. They’re headed there now.” Winnie couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. Winnie was so glad she wouldn’t be there for much longer.

Scythe picked Winnie up in his arms and carried her into a small bedroom. He sat in a rocker and set it into motion to soothe her. She melted against his chest, loving how his strength supported her. He kissed the top of her head as they glided.

“Close your eyes for a few minutes, Chipmunk. Everything is going well. You can relax.”

“I already took a nap,” she protested.

“You don’t have to sleep again,” he promised.

The slow movement of the rocker soothed her emotions. With her ear pressed to Scythe’s hard chest, she could hear his steady heartbeat, reassuring her he was healthy. Absorbing his warmth, Winnie relaxed.

“Thank you,” she whispered to Scythe.

“Thank you, Daddy,” he corrected and kissed the top of her head.

“Do you want me to call you Daddy all the time?”

“I would love that. When we are with other people, judge what is safe for you. Teachers are often held to a different standard than others in the workplace.”

“I can’t imagine what Lorraine would say if she heard me call you Daddy,” Winnie said with a shudder.

“I don’t like how this woman treats you, Chipmunk.”

“Wait until you hear what happened today.” Winnie quickly ran through her encounter at the school district’s head office and how Lorraine must have coded her absence in to make her look bad.

The human relations director had corrected it for her and helped with the paperwork to fill out to protect her job during her bereavement leave.

Scythe’s jaw tensed, and Winnie knew he was pissed at her principal. “Don’t do anything to Lorraine, Scythe. I can’t lose my job. I’ll never get hired by another district if I’m fired for some fabricated reason.”

“I’m listening, Chipmunk.”

Winnie noted that wasn’t a promise, but she figured it was the best she’d get right now. She noticed a familiar figure on the wall and pointed to it. “Is that a chipmunk?”

Scythe’s gaze focused on the creature now attached to the wall. “Yes. That’s a Siberian chipmunk. He has stripes on his face.”

“You recognize the different species of chipmunks?” she asked, squirming to the side so she could see his face clearly.

“Maybe not all the different types. I’m not sure if that is a baby long-haired chipmunk or an eastern chipmunk,” he confessed, pointing to one in the far corner.

She peered over his shoulder and shook her head. “Babies are hard.”

Now that she was checking out their surroundings, Winnie finally noticed how unique this area was. Not only was it decorated with cute fuzzy characters, but she’d never seen furnishings like these. It was as if she’d walked into one of her favorite age-play novels.

“Is that a crib?” she asked, pointing to the beautiful oak crib with carved spindles creating a railing around it.

“Yes. You can nap there on the weekends. I’d rather you sleep with Daddy at night if you’re comfortable with that,” he answered smoothly without any indication that this wasn’t a normal bed to have in a room.

“But it’s adult-sized!” Winnie stared at it, secretly enthralled by the thought of curling up on the fluffy covers and truly being Little.

“Of course. You need to be comfortable to sleep, Little girl.”

She forced herself to look around. “Is that a toy chest?”

“It is.”

“Is anything inside?”

“Yes, Chipmunk. I gathered playthings as I created this nursery that I hoped my Little girl would enjoy.”

“It is a nursery!” she exclaimed.

“Not just a nursery, Winnie. It’s your nursery.” He stressed that one word, driving it home for Winnie.

Scythe had put this room together with the conviction that he would find his Little girl.

It was adorable and so perfect for her. How had he guessed what she would like?

Struggling to process how incredibly well he’d envisioned this room.

Winnie craned her head to see the wall behind her. And froze.

“There’s a changing table against the wall. Are those diapers? I’m a big girl. I don’t use diapers,” she protested, hearing her voice slide into Little space as she thought about the padded garments.

“Sometimes even big girls need to be super Little. Can you try new things for Daddy?”

Winnie froze as her mind whirled inside. Could she be that brave? “At home with Daddy?” she asked finally.

“If that’s how you’re most comfortable, I think that’s a smart idea.”

“You won’t laugh at me or tell other people?”

“I wouldn’t do that to you, Chipmunk. I’d lose my right to be a Daddy for life if I betrayed your trust.”

“That would be bad.”

“The worst punishment for a Daddy ever,” he agreed.

“Worse than a spanking?”

“Far more severe. Your bottom will recover after a couple of stingy days. My heart would never rebound if I’d screwed up my chance to be a Daddy.”

Winnie nodded. He made perfect sense. “What do we do now?” she asked.

“Would you like to explore your nursery before dinner? Then we can watch some TV or a movie and relax.”

“Don’t you have to go to Inferno?”

“No, Chipmunk. I took the next few days off to be with you. They’ll do fine without me.”

“Lucien looks mean, but I think he’s a softie,” Winnie said with confidence.

“To Littles, definitely. Someone who wrongs him gets an entirely different Lucien,” Scythe warned.

“I’ll be good.”

“Of course you will. Do you want to get Chippy before you check out everything in here?”

“Did you bring him?”

“Of course. He wouldn’t let me pack without jumping into the top of your duffle bag. Let’s go find him.”

In a few minutes, Winnie sat on the floor in front of the toy chest with her stuffie. She loved everything he’d collected. A few games made for several players filled one side and some activities that she could do alone.

“Will you play with me, Daddy?”

“Of course. What would you like to do first?”

“How about dress-up? I found all this play jewelry and makeup,” she said, opening the case to show him.

“Little girl.” Scythe shook his head wryly. “You want to put makeup on Daddy, don’t you?”

“I bet I could make you pretty,” she cajoled, trying to hide her smile.

“Where should I sit?” he asked and winked at her.

“How about in that chair at the table? I can lay out my supplies. You know, if you grew your hair out a bit longer, I could braid it.”

“Not happening, Little girl,” he growled, moving over to the seat she indicated.

“Okay, Daddy. I’ll brush it until it shines. Did you bring my hairspray?”

“No hairspray,” he declared.

Winnie smiled. He had brought it. This was going to be so much fun. “Here, you hold Chippy.”