Page 50 of Ruin Me, Daddy

For a moment he simply stared at her, confusion etched into his face before he sighed. “Ah, shit. Come here, baby.”

Choking on a sob, she let herself be pulled into his arms. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to get out of my punishment. I’m just… I don’t feel good.”

“Shhh, it’s okay baby. Daddy’s got you.”

She let herself be held as the tears came, hot and fast. At some point, she was vaguely aware of him lifting her up into his arms and carrying her to the bathroom, where he stripped them both down before guiding her into the steaming hot shower.

It helped, more than she’d expected it to, and gradually her tears slowed and stopped altogether.

“There’s my good girl,” he murmured, raining kisses over her face as the water poured down around them. “Feel better?”

“Yeah. Thanks. I’m sorry I’m such a mess this morning.”

He released her, only to pour some of her body wash onto the loofah he’d picked up for her the day before. She sighed as he scrubbed her clean, as if he was washing away all the nasty feelings she’d just sobbed out of her soul.

“Does this happen a lot?” he asked, his voice far more soft and gentle than she deserved.

“Does what happen?”

“Feeling off like this the day after a big scene?”

“Oh.” Did it? Closing her eyes, she thought back to previous scenes, but the day after was mostly a blur. “I don’t know. I always felt kinda down and sad after Ace would punish me, but that’s normal, right?” In the romance novels she hid away on her eReader it was different. The heroines always talked about feeling lighter and happier after an intense punishment. She’d always assumed that was just the difference between reality and fiction, but Ice’s questions were making her wonder if maybe there was something wrong with her and not the books.

“What about our night at Black Light? Did you feel like this after Roulette?”

“Well, yeah, but that was because I felt like a total bitch for hurting you.” And then you went away, and you broke my heart.

“Shit. I’m sorry, baby. That was incredibly fucking selfish of me.”

“How do you figure?”

“I was so caught up in my own feelings I didn’t take care of you the way I should have, especially after such an emotional night. I’m so sorry, Sil.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. I got through it and now I’m here, with you, and everything is better.” Everything except Ace, but she couldn’t tell him that.

Ice had finished washing them both while he’d interrogated her, so he flipped the shower off and stepped out of the glass box to grab the giant fluffy green towel she’d claimed as her own the day before. After drying her off, he wrapped her up in the towel and repeated the process for himself.

“Sil, do you know what sub-drop is?” he asked as he led her back into the bedroom, where he grabbed a pair of her pajama shorts and a t-shirt from one of the dresser drawers.

“I’ve heard of it. Why?”

“Because I think you’re dropping. Pretty fucking hard, if I had to guess. Arms up.”

It didn’t even occur to her to argue as she raised her arms and let him pull the shirt over her head. From what she knew of sub-drop, it would explain some of her ‘symptoms’. And why Ace’s texts had gotten to her so badly. “How do I fix it?”

“Right now, you’re going to lie down and take a nap, which should help. And when you get up again, you’re going to let Daddy take care of you. Without arguing, this time. Understood?”

“But—” She cut herself off at the glare he sent her way. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Good girl. Back to bed with you. I’ll come check on you in an hour if you don’t wake up on your own.”

“Oh. Um, okay.” Bed sounded lovely. Going back to bed alone, however, did not.

He paused in the act of pulling the covers back—the covers she’d noticed he’d made up after he’d gotten out of bed, which she found uncharacteristically adorable—to raise an eyebrow at her. “If you want something from me, you need to ask, baby. I can’t actually read your mind.”

“I’m not sure I believe that,” she muttered.

“Amanda.”

---