Page 16 of Daddy's Rule

Bas was always taking care of me. Not just because of the Rent-A-Daddy agreement or some stupid contract–he was doing it as my friend. Or, that's what I told myself, at least. There’d always been a special place in my heart for Bas. It’s why I ran away and married Jake. Bas and I couldn’t be together. There was too much to lose if we didn’t work out. So, Rent-A-Daddy was perfect. I’d have some time with him to get him out of my system once and for all, and then he would be so busy with clients I’d never see him outside the office. Balance would be restored.

"Did you do it?"

Bas greeted me with questions as soon as I walked in the door of my apartment, and even though I knew exactly what he meant, there was something about Bas and this arrangement that brought out my inner brat. I had to play dumb.

"Do what?"

He raised both eyebrows all the way to his hairline and the expression on his face told me he knew exactly what I was doing, but he played along. "Nyla, did you go to the bank and open a new account? One that Jake could never find or access?"

"Oh, that. Yeah, I did." I kicked off my heels and strode across the room to put my purse in the hall closet.

When I turned to look at him, he was holding his hand out expectantly. I smacked it. "High five. Thanks."

I could see him trying not to laugh. "Nyla…" he said warningly, "thanks for the high five, but that wasn't what I wanted, and I suspect you know that all too well."

I shrugged, still playing dumb, just because I liked to push his buttons.

"Nyla. Proof. When you open a new account, they give you paperwork. I'd like to see the paperwork, please."

"Ugh, fine." I opened the closet and rummaged through my purse, withdrew a brochure packet and pressed it into his outstretched hand.

He skimmed over it for a minute, then handed it back to me. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"No, Bas." I stuffed them back in my purse and finally closed the closet, schlepping across the room to collapse dramatically on the chair. I had only worked a few hours, really, but I was emotionally spent. And I knew the things I still needed to do, the things Bas would keep asking me to do, would only get harder from here. A new bank account was just the beginning.

"Nyla," Bas pressed, and I realized my mistake. It hadn't even been intentional, but I didn't want to correct it.

"What?"

"When I ask you a question you need to answer me properly."

The angel and devil on my shoulder were about to get into a sparring match. On one hand, I didn't want to take my bad mood and frustration out on Bas, but on the other… he was there.

"No, Sebastian." From the frying pan into the fire I went.

Instantly he was out of his seat and leaning over me. The expression on his face was a menacing smirk with a hint of amusement. "Nyla, why do you insist on testing me today?"

I instantly regretted every decision I'd made since walking in the door. My shoulders sagged. "I don't know, Bas… I mean Daddy. I really don't."

He leaned a smidge closer, scrutinizing my face, then he scooped me into his arms like a sleeping toddler and carried me over to the couch, sitting with me curled in his lap.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

I sighed. "I don't have any thoughts."

And I really didn't. Not coherent ones. Not that excused the level of bratting and testing I was doing. And maybe that was it. I didn't want to be excused. Submission, power exchange, discipline, and everything that came with it, had always grounded me. When I met Jake, I’d fallen hard and fast, and when it became very apparent that he was not a dominant, I’d convinced myself that time in my life was over, that I had grown up and didn't need it. But now that I was back in my element, with my boys, and with Bas as my temporary daddy, I could see clearly what I hadn't back then: I had spent the last four years untethered, floundering, missing the thing my soul craved, and now that I had it back in my life, even temporarily, I couldn't get enough.

There was no way I was admitting all that to Bas, though. I’d feel stupid and humiliated, and like I was manipulating him into giving me what I was missing.

But Bas was Bas, and he knew me. Maybe better than I knew myself. So I wasn't really surprised when he smiled and got straight to the heart of the matter.

"You've missed this haven't you? The punishments, the accountability, knowing there is someone who will catch you if you fall?"

"Maybe not the punishments."

Bas snickered. "Don't lie."

"I feel stupid."

---