Page 132 of Daddy's Naughty List

The cries from the bedroom grew louder. Connor led her toward the bedroom door, lips tight with tension. “I think now is the time to focus on giving the babies their bottles. If you take care of the girls’ diapers, I’ll get the bottles heated and ready. We can feed them together and talk about Christmas. I have to get gifts for the girls.”

Bliss got the babies changed, making sure to keep the correctly colored outfits for Sadie and Sophie. All she had to do was remember to match the nail polish on their tiny toenails. Once she’d finished changing and cuddling with all three, she carried them back to the great room.

Glancing in the kitchen, she watched Connor setting the filled bottles in a pot of steaming water. How could he ever have thought he wouldn’t be good for the girls?

He brought over the bottles and, without missing a beat, picked up Sophie and sat down with her in his lap. She hoped he was serious about being there for all the tomorrows because it wasn’t going to take long for him to become a part of his four girls’ world they wouldn’t be able to live without.

Chapter Fifteen

Connor

In the parking lot behind the courthouse, Bliss curled in Connor’s lap in the seat of his car as he did his best to control his rage. The first day of the hearing had been one clusterfuck after another. The only good thing had been, this being Darling, the judge had agreed to let him take the witness stand first so he could sit by his babygirl through the rest of that farce.

The only one who’d remained calm had been Raleigh. The man was unflappable. He questioned each witness who took the stand and did an excellent job of countering the picture Rochelle Talon and her minions had attempted to paint.

But even with all Raleigh’s efforts, by the end of the day, CPS had portrayed his girl as someone in way over her head who was incapable of providing safe living conditions for the twins. That woman, Talon—who Bliss called the Seagull—had shown only the things she’d found before he had moved in with Bliss. She’d made it sound like the conditions had not changed and implied Bliss had neither the desire nor the ability to care for her children properly.

Then Sandy Wainwright had taken the stand and cried… fuckingcried… on the stand about how the children came to Bundles of Joy in dirty clothes, soiled diapers, hungry, with no bottles or snacks provided by Bliss. It was nothing but lies, but it was her word against Bliss’s since Sandy was the only worker in the room most of the time.

The most damning thing she’d done was show pictures of Sadie with bruises on her legs and arms. They were obviously fake, but Raleigh hadn’t been about to get them thrown out. Connor had wanted to storm up to that witness stand and rip her fucking head off.

He had never wanted to hit a woman before. Not once. Until today. He wouldn’t, of course. Not after the way he’d watched his dad beat the shit out of his mom on a regular basis. It was why he kept such tight control over himself and his emotions.

It was why he hadn’t trusted himself around Sadie, Sophie, and Nori. But he was nothing like his dad. He’d cut off his arm before he’d hurt one of those girls.

He wanted to give them the best life he could. One full of love and joy and peace. As a matter of fact, he’d been working for the past two weeks on a surprise for Bliss. He’d planned on showing it to her on Christmas Eve, but after the day she’d had, he decided to do it today.

She hadn’t moved since he’d pulled her onto his lap. Even more startling, she hadn’t spoken. Yeah, this surprise was just what his babygirl needed. Carrying her to the passenger side, he put her in the seat and buckled her seatbelt. Before he got back in the car, he called Reid and asked him to keep the girls a few more hours. He needed some time with his babygirl alone.

Bliss stared out the window on the way back to her house, deep in her own thoughts. Trying to think of anything he could do to make her feel better, he took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “Try not to worry, babygirl.”

She didn’t take her eyes off the window. “I can worry if I want to.” She snapped at him in a tone of voice he’d never heard her use before.

It hit him that he knew exactly what his babygirl needed. She needed her Daddy to help her get rid of all the stress and emotions she had bottled up inside. She’d been so brave today. He was so proud of her. She’d stayed calm and still while people lied about her. She was no doubt sad, angry, and terrified. But she was stuffing all those feelings down, trying to be brave. But that was his job now. And another of his jobs was to give her a way to release all the pent up anger and fear.

Using his sternest Daddy voice, he put that plan into action. “I can’t make you not worry, little girl. But if you don’t change your tone, I can give you something new to worry about.”

Her fists clenched as they pulled up in front of her house. Perfect timing. “You aren’t the boss of me.” With defiance etched in her glare, she dared him to prove her wrong, and he was happy to oblige.

“That’s two, trouble. Be very careful what you say next.” He parked the car, moving toward her door to help her out of the car when she flung the door open with such force, it bounced back toward her, almost knocking her off her feet.

He was on her in two steps. “That’s three. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Taking her by the hand, he led her into the house and straight to the bedroom.

She struggled against his pull, not really trying to escape his hold. He continued through the bedroom and marched her into the bathroom. He’d stashed his bag of toys in the closet, and she hadn’t even known it was there.

“I know you’ve had a hard day, but that is no excuse to be rude. Nor is it a free pass to treat other people’s things carelessly. Now it’s time for you to remember what happens when you choose to disobey the rules.”

“Fine,” she snapped out. “I’m sorry I hurt your precious door.”

Oh, his naughty girl was on a roll. He wondered how long it would take for her to regret her choices. His goal was to help her get out of her head and get rid of all the pent up feelings she’d packed down tight all day. That being said, he had no intention of putting up with a brat.

Time to start step one of the plans he’d made in the car. Turning her to face the mirror over the sinks, he stepped behind her. “You looked beautiful in court today, Bliss. But these pants and jacket are much too grown-up for the way you’re behaving.”

First, he removed her jacket. Reaching around her waist, he worked the fastening on her pants loose. “I want you looking at yourself in the mirror, trouble. Let’s see if we can give you something new to think about. Put your palms flat on the counter.” He slid her pants past her hips, letting them fall and puddle at her feet.

He pressed his cock against the crack of her ass, smiling when she shivered. He’d bet her nipples were pebbled, but he’d find out soon enough. “You won’t be needing these anymore, either.” Hooking his thumbs in the elastic of the panties, he tugged those down as well.

Her face was already flushed. Was that from embarrassment or arousal?

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