Page 12

CHAPTER 11

W raith stepped off his bike, and the last dregs of his energy evaporated. As he removed his helmet, he struggled to pull himself together to present a better image for Caroline. She’d have a lot of questions. With a shake of his head, he grabbed his cooler from its spot, secured on his rear rack by bungie cords, to go inside.

Turning around, he headed for the kitchen entrance from the garage and stopped in his tracks. Caroline sat quietly on the step with her arms wrapped around her shins. “Hi, Precious.”

“Hi, Daddy. Are you okay?”

“I am. I bet you got scared today.” He didn’t tell her he’d called the front gate several times to see if she’d left.

She nodded. “I bet you can’t share with me what happened.”

“Not everything. I can tell you that Hellcat made it through surgery with flying colors. He’s going to be fine in a couple of days.”

“I’m glad. Are you okay?”

“Tired. But glad to come home to you. I was afraid you’d leave.”

“I won’t do that,” Caroline promised.

The tension that had built inside him all afternoon unraveled. Caroline hadn’t run. Despite the frightening incident, she’d hung around. “Thank you, Little girl. Let’s go inside, and I’ll make us some dinner.” He held out a hand for hers and tugged Caroline to her feet. Wrapping his arm around her, he pressed a kiss to her forehead before opening the door.

The aroma of Italian spices, tomato, and cheese filled his senses. Wraith’s stomach growled loudly. “That smells amazing. Did you cook?”

“I got pizza delivered to the front gate.”

“Romanelli’s?” he asked, inhaling deeply. “I saw Pirate at the gate inhaling a pizza.”

“I got an extra one for whoever was on duty. Smelling Romanelli’s without a pizza to eat is torture I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”

“You’ve made a buddy for life. No wonder Pirate greeted me with a smile. That guy’s never happy. I don’t scare easily, but that grin gave me the willies,” Wraith admitted, loving her grin in response.

“He is very serious. Pirate couldn’t believe I brought him a paper plate, napkins, and some plasticware for his meal,” she told Wraith.

A bark of laughter erupted from him at the thought of Pirate dabbing his mouth with a napkin and eating with a plastic fork. “Some men have no manners.” He set the cooler down on the table and pulled her close. “Guess what I need more than half of that pizza in my belly.”

Clueless, Caroline stared up at him in concern before slowly shaking her head and shrugging.

“Twelve kisses.”

“Why twelve?” she asked in confusion.

“Because I’m a greedy bastard who really wants twenty, but I’m also so hungry I could eat that cardboard box. It seemed like a reasonable number to tide me over until after dinner.”

“You!” she said, swatting playfully at his chest. Caroline rose onto her tiptoes to press her lips to his.

To Wraith’s delight, she didn’t start with a sweet, light smooch. His Little girl seemed to realize what he needed. She demanded his attention and got it. On kiss number ten, she dropped to her heels.

“Wait. I get two more,” he reminded her.

“Not until you eat something. I can feel you getting emaciated.” She patted his hard abdomen.

“I’ll let you win this one, Precious.”

“Thank you, Daddy.”

Wraith put two large pieces on a plate she’d already set out and handed it to her. “Go sit at the table.” After grabbing a slice for himself and taking a huge bite, he grabbed the pizza box from the counter and carried it with him. When she hesitated to choose a chair, he put the box on the table before pulling out one next to his normal spot. He waited for her to sit before sliding the chair into place. Munching on the slice in his hand, Wraith selected two bottles of water from the fridge and brought them to the table.

He popped the last bite into his mouth and opened her bottle as he joined her. “Drink. I’m willing to bet you haven’t had enough water today.”

She rolled her eyes at him but followed his directions. Yep, he was right.

Wraith helped himself to a second piece of pizza and inhaled it as fast as the first. “This is superb, Little girl. Thank you for ordering for us. I owe you some money. I’ll leave a credit card in the box on the coffee table. You can use it in the future.”

Her gaze changed from friendly to pointed—like with a sharp knife. “I’m glad to pay for things too, Wraith. I make a good income.”

“Of course you do, Caroline. I wasn’t insinuating you need my money. I enjoy taking care of you,” he said softly.

When her posture softened, he hooked the toe of his boot around the leg of her chair and pulled her close. When she was in arm’s range, he scooped her onto his lap. “Daddies stumble into dangerous territory sometimes. Now I understand that you’re touchy about finances. Forgive me?”

She stared him down for a second before sighing. “Sorry. Adam always belittled the money I brought in. Even when I did very well.”

“I’m definitely not Adam,” he reminded her, curbing his tone to soften his anger at her ex-husband. “Tell me what else that bastard did that I need to avoid.”

“I’d appreciate it if you’d not have an affair with a coworker.”

“Razor was spectacularly heroic today, but I think I can refrain from having a fling with him.”

When she laughed, he relaxed. He’d negotiated through that danger zone. Feeling he needed to be completely transparent, Wraith added, “There are some MC brothers who are bi or gay, but the Devil Daddies are all Doms. I don’t make a good sub.”

She shook her head at that idea. “And all the hotties at Inferno?”

“I could have chosen one of them before I met you. I didn’t because they weren’t my Little girl. Jeopardizing this,” he waved a hand back and forth between them, “won’t happen.”

“I’m being ridiculous, aren’t I?” she asked, feeling sheepish.

“Not at all. It’s better to get everything out in the open than let negative thoughts fester.”

“Are you a criminal?” she blurted.

“Have I done things against the law?” he asked. When she nodded, Wraith told her, “For the right reason, yes. Would I make the same choices again? Yes. Can you be okay with that?”

“I’m not sure,” she answered.

“Then I’ll try to reassure you, and we’ll take some time for you to decide. Now, drink and eat. Romanelli’s needs to be eaten fresh.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Having lunch with you was the highlight of my day. We’ll have to make that a regular habit.”

“Do the other Devils think I’m weird?” Caroline asked.

“No. Do you think they’re weird?” Wraith reversed the question, attempting to get a handle on why she’d thought it was important to ask that.

“No, of course not. I guess for them, being a Daddy is something they’ve understood about themselves for a while.”

“And you weren’t aware you were Little?” he probed.

“I didn’t even know Littles existed. I dated a bit in high school and college—nothing serious until Adam. Everyone was normal.”

“Or they pretended to be normal,” he suggested. Wraith noted she’d married the jerk who’d pursued her purposefully. What was up with his own sex who wanted size two women? Her next words drew Wraith from his thoughts.

“Possibly. I was pretty na?ve and inexperienced. The last few years, a lot of eye-opening books released. I always have escaped into stories. Maybe that’s why I love writing them.”

“One of those novels you discovered was about Littles? Or age play?”

Caroline took a huge bite, making him suspect she wanted to give herself time to answer. Wraith didn’t let her off the hook. He waited.

“Yes. The first one I read was about a young woman who applied for a job at a doctor’s house. She didn’t realize he was a Daddy, searching for a Little.”

“That one sent you down a rabbit hole, huh?”

She nodded. “Something clicked inside me. I searched for as many of those books to understand more about myself. But I thought it was fiction—a fantasy. That people couldn’t actually live like that.”

“But they can. We’ll explore and see what you enjoy and what doesn’t do it for you,” Wraith suggested.

“And what you don’t like?” Caroline added hesitantly.

“I love a lot of things, Little girl, but yes. I promise I’ll be honest. Can you do the same?”

She nodded immediately. Caroline looked up at him with such trust that his heart swelled in his chest. Wraith was in awe of their connection. Caroline didn’t understand how special it was, but he did.

“Thank you, Little girl. Would you like another piece of pizza?”

“No, thank you. You eat that last one, Daddy. Then maybe you’d read more of the story?”

“You have very good ideas, Little girl.”