Page 30 of Teaching His Babygirl

She looks at him like she’s in a daze and unable to comprehend what’s happening around her. She’s in shock.

“Can she give her statement later? Decide what she wants to do?” I ask.

“Yeah… you should get her home.” Jasper gives me a meaningful look. He knows. Of course, he does. He works at The Playground as security. He probably saw my little display of ownership the other night.

I nod as he hands her his card. “Darlene,” he says, making sure she’s looking at him as he talks. “You’re okay now, sweetheart. Colt’s going to take you home, and you’ll call me when you’re better. Okay?”

I’m immediately appreciative that he’s using his calming daddy tones, not his cop voice. She instantly responds that she will. And lays her head against my shoulder. She shivers and I pull her closer.

“It’s okay, babygirl,” I croon, whispering just for her ears. “Daddy’s got you.”

“I want to press charges,” Leon yells as he’s escorted from the room in cuffs. “She hit me!”

Leon is dragged from the building, screaming the whole way. I give them a minute to get him outside before I collect Darlene’s things and walk her towards the office. People are standing in doorways, teachers and students alike, trying to figure out what’s happening. I shield Darlene from their prying eyes as best I can, but I know holding her like this is going to raise questions.

It’s something we can deal with later. For today, I’m taking care of my girl to hell with any consequences. She can be mad at me later, but right now, she needs me, and I’ll be damned if I let her stubborn insistence of keeping us private hold me back.

“Oh no!” Judy cries out when she sees the state Darlene is in as I guide her to my office. I lead her to one of the chairs and help her sit. Her lack of protest or response in general scares me, but I know she’ll be fine once I get her home. “What happened?”

I briefly fill her in and tell her to find a substitute for Darlene’s classes for the rest of the week. She’s quick to agree, and I know she’ll take care of everything. I grab my things and kneel in front of Darlene. I take her ice-cold hands in mine. “Darlene, baby, I’m going to take you home now, okay?”

She nods. “Okay, daddy,” she whispers, the sound quiet as a baby mouse.

I press a fierce kiss to her forehead, again, not caring if anyone sees me taking care of her. The ride to her apartment is a quick one. I help her out of the car and lift her into my arms. I carry her to her apartment and straight to her bathroom. I slowly start to remove her clothes, careful to make sure she doesn’t have any sort of negative reaction. Aside from the robotic way she helps, there is none.

I turn on the taps to hot and lead her into the shower. She shivers as the hot water rolls over her cold body. The temperature shock jerks her out of her stupor. “Oh God,” she says, then bursts into tears.

I climb into the shower with her, clothes and all, pulling her into my arms, holding her tight. “It’s okay,” I assure, “Let it out, babygirl. I’ve got you.”

“He-he was going to…”

I growl lowly, dangerously. “No. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“If you hadn’t…”

I squeeze her in my arms harder than I should but unable to help myself. “But I did. Don’t even think of what could have happened. It didn’t.”

“The things he said…” she sniffles. “Oh God, Colt, he knows about us.”

“He saw us at the restaurant…”

“No,” she says empathetically, “He knows about us… that I’m a babygirl and you’re my daddy… he knows. How does he know?”

I shake my head, unsure of how he could possibly know something like that. The Playground vets its members, and everyone is extremely discreet. “I’m not sure, but I will find out,” I promise. And I will. No one fucks with mine without answering for it.

Once Darlene stops shaking, I pull her from the hot shower and dry her off, wrapping her in a fluffy white towel. I lift her from her feet, unable to resist having her in my arms. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to let her out of my sight again after this. She’s much too precious to me to risk like that.

“I can walk,” she unconvincingly protests.

“And I can carry you,” I reply, kissing the top of her head. “Let me take care of you.”

Darlene sinks into my embrace, dropping her token protest.

Chapter Fifteen

Darlene

I wakeup from a fitful sleep alone in bed. I can hear Colt talking in the other room and another male voice rumbling in response. A shiver runs down my spine when I remember the events of yesterday. Not able to lay in bed another second, I get up. I wash my face, brush my teeth, and then dress in my comfiest, most ragged pajamas, not caring who is here. I need the comfort of the familiar today.

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