Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Yes…the way we’re cuddling now,” Addison admitted. She looked up at him uncertainly. “But I know you’re not my Daddy.”
“No—I’m not,” Courick said sternly. “And we really shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Because you’re my boss, right?” she asked, looking sad.
“That’s one reason. There’s also the fact that I’m much too old for you. But mostly it’s because I made a vow to never call another female as a bride after my first mate died,” he said, feeling like he ought to get everything out into the open.
Her eyes widened.
“You had a mate? A wife?”
“I did,” Courick said and left it at that. He still couldn’t talk about his past mate without pain and he wanted to focus on Addison right now.
“She…died?” Addison guessed. “Or left you?”
“She died,” Courick said. “And I vowed to the Goddess never to take another mate. So I shouldn’t be holding you like this.”
“Then why are you?” she demanded, frowning up at him.
“Maybe…because I want to know more about you. I’m still trying to understand why you went to that club. Especially since you’ve been going for a while and you don’t seem to have found what you were looking for there,” Courick told her.
She lifted her chin defiantly.
“But I might. I might find the right guy—the one who wants to be my… my Daddy. I just haven’t found him yet.”
“It’s more likely you’ll find another human male who wants to beat and abuse you.” Courick felt a low growl rising in his throat at the thought. “I don’t think you ought to go there anymore, Addison. It’s not safe.”
She straightened her back, pulling away from him and put a hand on her hip.
“Look, just because you’re my boss, doesn’t mean you get to tell me what to do or where to go. The Torture Palace is actually the nicest and safest BDSM club in the Tampa Bay area. And it’s the only place I’m going to meet someone who has the same kinks I do! I’m sure as hell not going to meet anybody who wants to be my Daddy Dom outside a club like that—most people are so vanilla.” She made a face.
“Vanilla?” Courick frowned.
“Not interested in BDSM. Like…they don’t want to play. They just want to have straight sex without any kind of bondage or power exchange or role playing or anything.” She made a frustrated gesture. “I need to submit—I need a man who’ll treat me like I want to be treated. A man who’ll let me be little and not be disgusted or offended when I call him ‘Daddy.’”
“I wasn’t disgusted,” Courick said honestly. “Just confused. But I think I understand now—when you called me that, you weren’t referencing your own biological father in any way, right?”
“God, no!” Addison made a face. “No, a Daddy is just a Dom who takes things one step further. He doesn’t just punish his sub, he takes care of her…protects her…cuddles her and gives her what she needs—whether that’s punishment or pleasure. And in the case of Age Play, he lets her be any age she wants—any age she needs to feel safe and loved. That’s all.”
“I take it you like to be fairly young?” Courick asked, looking around the bedroom with its mountain of stuffed animals and fanciful decorations. It looked like the bed chamber of a much younger female.
“Most of the time,” she admitted candidly. “But I like to be a little older sometimes, too. My other favorite age to play is a bratty teenager—one who misbehaves and gets spankings from her Daddy.”
She gave him a naughty look as she spoke and Courick was surprised to feel his cock surge at her words. He had never even considered hitting a female before—and he still wouldn’t want to actually beat one as he had seen several females being beaten at the club that night. But the idea of putting Addison over his knee and spanking her lush bottom definitely got him hot.
“So you do things on purpose to get punished?” he asked, trying to understand.
“Yes—but it’s more about getting my Daddy’s attention than about the spanking—although that can be nice too. Especially if the Dom I’m with is good at aftercare,” she admitted.
Courick wanted to ask what “aftercare” was but then he had a sudden thought.
“Wait a minute—the letter you mistyped the other day—did you do that on purpose to get my attention?”
Addison hung her head, looking ashamed.
“Yes, Sir,” she whispered and then risked a glance at him, from behind the curtain of her long, silky hair. “I, er, know all about homophones,” she admitted. “I have a degree in English, you know.”
Courick frowned at her.
“I knew you were too intelligent to make such simple mistakes. I don’t mind telling you, Addison—I don’t appreciate being manipulated.”
“I know it was wrong.” She twisted her fingers in her lap. “I just…I wanted your attention. And even negative attention is better than no attention at all. You know?”