Page 38 of Ruin Me, Daddy

But she hadn’t, because she’d been too weak to do it without Ice. It had taken him leaving for her to truly appreciate how much she relied on him. How often she looked to him for guidance and support.

Just like a Daddy.

Except, he wasn’t her Daddy, not for real. And it wasn’t fair to expect him to be that for her when she couldn’t give him what he deserved in return.

Worried, and restless with it, she made her way to the kitchen to pour another cup of coffee.

“Water first,” Ice called from the living room without even looking over his shoulder to see her pouring the damn coffee. They’d spent some time on the deck before moving back inside so he could work on his song some more. That song that made her ache for him and burn for him all at the same time.

“Coffee is just water with extra flavor,” she shot back as she poured her ‘extra- flavored water’ into her mug.

“One glass of regular water before you have another cup of coffee, Amanda.”

A delicious little shiver raced up her spine at the use of her real name. “Or what?”

Now he did look over at her, one eyebrow raised in a way that had her gripping the countertop for support when her knees went weak with need and fear. “Or you will lose coffee privileges until we get home.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” They hadn’t negotiated any kind of dynamic beyond last night. Which meant he technically had no right to punish her. And she might have argued that point if it weren’t for the way her heart raced at the thought of submitting to him.

Or, even better, defying him.

“Yeah? You really want to risk it?”

If it had been any other punishment, she might have tested him. But she wasn’t willing to put her access to caffeine on the line.

Some things were much too precious to be risked.

“I’m going to put that on my hard-limits list,” she grumbled as she sat the coffee aside and pulled a glass from the cabinets.

“Go ahead, baby. I have plenty of other ways to make my point.”

Torn between annoyance at his high-handed ways and the secret glow of being truly cared for, she filled her glass with water and drained it, all under his watchful eye.

“Good girl,” he praised in that low growl. “One more cup of coffee and then you’re done for the day.”

“When did you get to be such a bossy asshole?”

“I’ve always been one. You just weren’t mine to boss.”

She still wasn’t. Just like he wasn’t actually her Daddy. But maybe they could keep pretending, just for a little while. Just until they returned home. “What if I need a pick-me-up? You can’t just deprive a girl of caffeine. It’s inhumane. Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s specifically quoted in the Geneva Conventions.”

“Is that so?” Grinning now, he sat his guitar aside and rose from the couch, his movements reminding her of a sleek jungle cat as he crossed the room to stand in front of her. His arms slid around her waist, pulling her close enough she could feel the hard length of him between them and her pussy clenched greedily at the memory of how he’d filled her. “I hate to tell you this, baby, but Daddies aren’t bound by such rules. And if you need a jolt of energy, I have plenty of ways to get your adrenaline pumping.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.”

In a flash, she was up over his shoulder, shrieking with terrified delight as he hauled her to the bedroom. Where he proceeded to show her exactly how good he was at getting her adrenaline going.

CHAPTER 15

ICE

His girl was restless. The multiple orgasms he’d forced on her earlier had distracted her for a while, but then she’d been back to pacing the house, coffee in hand, like she was waiting for something to happen.

Not that he couldn’t sympathize. Every time one of their phones buzzed, the knot in his stomach tightened as he wondered if this was the text that blew everything up in their faces.

When she went to pour her fourth cup of coffee for the day, he followed her into the kitchen. “I already told you that was enough, Sil.”

Eyes narrowed, she glared up at him as he pulled the mug from her hand. “I didn’t actually agree to letting you boss me around.”

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