Page 55 of Loving Luna

Memories of our last encounter, the night he’d become my Daddy, filled my head, heating me from the inside out. He’d taken my anal virginity that night, taking me in a way that no one ever had. I’d felt so wonderful that night, so amazing, so owned, and so loved. And then everything had fallen apart.

Was I about to get a do-over? “Yes, please!” I croaked.

Daddy’s wicked grin lit up his face. “Damn right, babygirl. Daddy’s going to claim this ass so thoroughly, you’ll never think about letting someone touch it without my permission ever again.”

And that was exactly what he did.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

LUNA

“Arggggh.” Hours later, I groaned as I woke, like I always did, and Drake’s arm wrapped around my middle, pulling me tight against his hard, muscular frame. Of course, that meant my ass touched his groin and I stifled a scream at the blazing fire that was still there.

He leaned up over me, propped on one elbow, and grinned. “Still sore, babygirl?” His voice was light but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes and I knew he was struggling. I wished I could do something, anything to take his pain from him, but I knew the only thing I could do was be there, support him, and not get in my head and try to run away again.

“In the best way,” I responded, smiling and pushing his hair out of his eyes. “We should probably get up though. It’s the middle of the day, and…” I sat up like a shot, nearly smacking his nose with my head as I did. “Your mom! Is she napping? We need to get up and make her food!”

“She’s not here, baby.” Drake chuckled deeply, wrapping his arms around me, trapping me back in place and I twisted around to look at him the best I could.

My nose scrunched and my brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean, she’s not here? Where did she go? Are you sure she’s not back yet? We’ve been in here… a while…”

“She’s not coming back. She went home.”

His voice sounded off. Flat. I could tell from the way he sounded that his mother going home had not been his idea. “She went home?” My stomach knotted, thinking of Hettie all alone in the house she’d only ever shared with Harold. “I… are you sure she's ready for that?”

I twisted again and this time, Drake eased his tight hold, allowing me to sit up and face him. He shook his head. “I’m not. At all. I hate the idea of her being there alone. I hate knowing how painful it must be for her. But what’s she going to do, sleep on my couch for the rest of her life?”

“I mean…” I ran my fingers through the soft curls of hair on his chest. “No, not for the rest of her life, but it seems so soon.”

“Yeah.” He grabbed my hand and clasped it in his, twining our fingers together. “I told her not to go, but she seemed so determined.” He sighed. “I don’t think she wants to be there, but I also don’t think she wants to be here. She said a lot of things about how happy my dad was that the two of us were together and how he’d want us to celebrate all our firsts, and make new traditions, and…” He sighed again. “Celebrate our first Christmas together. All those things. I told her they weren’t important, and that I didn't even want to think about the holidays this year, but she insisted. And she left. I don’t know, baby. I’m kind of worried that after all this, she’ll move back home to be close to her sisters. I loved having them so close, but I don’t think she’ll stay. Not with us, and not alone. It’s too painful and she is too set on not intruding.”

My heart hurt from listening to the heaviness in Drake’s words and tone. I could tell how badly my Daddy was hurting, and it killed me. The hopeless helpless feelings started to come back, and I quickly tried to push them away with a choked laugh.

“God. How is Christmas only ten days away? I forgot all about it.”

“You love Christmas.” Drake forced another smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and raised our hands to his lips, kissing my knuckles. “I know my mom is right, and I know I can’t just pause life, but thinking about Christmas at all just feels so overwhelming. The thought of getting a tree, of decorating it, of trying to figure out our special traditions…” He trailed off for a moment and met my eyes before continuing. “It just sounds so… tiring to even think about. I’ll probably figure it out though. For my mom. As a way to honor my dad and to let her know I’m going to be okay however she decides to move forward but…” He swallowed hard and I could tell he was getting choked up. “I just can’t think about that right now.”

I looked at my sad, broken Daddy, trying to hold it together and be strong for the women in his life, and instead of the gut-wrenching hopelessness I’d been feeling, I felt the whispers of a plan forming. I smiled, a smile that was a little bit forced, but that I hoped looked genuine. “Well, luckily for you, we don’t have to. In fact…” I trailed my hand down his chest. “We don’t have to do anything right now. We could just… stay in bed.”

This time, his grin was wicked and genuine. “You’re right. We absolutely could. We could order delivery and just stay in bed… all day.”

“Delivery?” I scoffed. “Who needs food? I have something you could eat.”

“Oh yeah?” He smiled. And the next thing I knew, he had twisted his body, covering me, and his lips found mine, taking what was his. Just the way I liked it.

The next morning, I popped out of bed before Drake was even awake, after tossing and turning through the night, working on my plan. I was now far too excited to sleep, and anxious to get started, and see if I could pull it off the way I was envisioning it or if it was going to be back to the drawing board. Pulling on a fresh plaid skirt and black tee along with my stockings and combat boots, I ran a brush through my hair, brushed my teeth, and left a note for Drake, telling him I was going to go talk to Erika about the work I’d missed. It wasn’t a lie. I was going to be doing that too. Just… later.

My stomach seemed to swim with excited butterflies as I made my way across the grounds in the crisp December air, hugging myself as I walked, cursing myself for forgetting to grab a jacket or even a hoodie.

Warm air seemed to blast me like a heater as I walked through the front doors of the main Ranch building. Yasmin’s eyes narrowed as I made my way up to the front reception desk. “It’s too cold to not be wearing a coat. Did you come up from the apartments?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I was in a rush, and I wasn’t thinking. I’ll go up to my suite and grab one before I head back.”

Yasmin clicked her tongue. “Bet Drake won’t be too happy to hear about that.”

“Probably not.” I feigned sheepishness, but the truth was, Drake probably would never know, and if he did, well, it wasn’t like he didn’t have far more important things on his mind. I changed the subject quickly. “Do you know if Master Derek is in his office yet? I was hoping to catch him before he got too busy.”

She looked suspicious, but said nothing, and just nodded. “He just got in like five minutes ago. I don’t even think Erika’s in yet. If you go now, you should be able to catch him before he has any meetings or anything.”

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