Page 14 of Daddy's Little Sunshine

“And you’re a big bully. Oh, Daddy, look! A rainbow!” She sighed happily and pointed across the room.

Donovan shifted his attention to the window. Sure enough, a prism of pale color was shining through the grimy glass. The sight should have charmed him, but his blood ran cold. “Sunshine. I’m going to need you to turn that off.”

“Why? It’s so pretty.”

He hated to break the spell and God knew he didn’t want to scare her. But he needed the rainbow gone before it led Rose Corp straight to his front door. He swatted the inside of each of her thighs, hard. “What happens to little girls who don’t listen to Daddy?” Relief washed over him when the stream of color disappeared. Clouds once again blocked out the sun, but no rain or crazy winds this time.

“Happy?” she snapped at him, pulling herself out of his embrace and rolling off the bed.

“Yeah.” Shit. Her feelings were hurt. What the fuck was he supposed to do about that? Protecting her, he could handle. Even the whole spanking and fucking deal was right up his alley. But this? He’d never been good with emotions – his or anyone else’s. “Look, sunshine. I, ah…” He rubbed at the back of his neck, searching for the right thing to say. “I’m sorry?”

She stood from where she’d started gathering her clothes and pinned him with a withering glare. “Is that an apology or a question?”

“An… apology?” What did she want from him? He’d said he was sorry, even if he wasn’t sure what the hell he’d been apologizing for.

“Gee, that sounds really sincere. Just forget it. I can’t believe I…” she broke off and shook her head.

“Can’t believe you what?”

“Nothing.” She yanked the sexy little shorts up, covering the welts he’d left on her bottom. It was a shame, and if things had gone differently, he might have made her leave them off. Something about the thought of having her naked and available had his cock standing at attention again.

He ran his hand through his hair, beyond frustrated by the sudden turn of events. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings or whatever.”

“It’s fine.” She pulled the tank top over her head and combed her fingers through her hair. The corners of her lips lifted. “See?” She gestured to the window, where the sun was shining brightly once again. “I’m fine.”

He didn’t quite believe her, but he didn’t think she had the control she needed to break the connection between her emotions and the weather yet. As far as he was concerned, if the sun was shining, she wasn’t mad anymore. Or sad. Or whatever the fuck that little spat had been about. Maybe it was the coward’s way out to just drop it without trying to find out whathad gotten her all riled up in the first place, but too fucking bad. He was keeping her safe. Wasn’t that what mattered, in the end? “Good. Hungry?”

“Starving. Let’s eat.” Lainey twirled and strode through the bedroom door.

Donovan followed, unable to shake the feeling he’d just been played.

CHAPTER 7

Lainey

Lainey curled up on the far end of the sofa, as far as she could get from him. The sting from those two slaps he’d given her thighs had long since faded, but the ache in her chest lingered.

The rainbow had caught her by surprise, but not as much as the feelings tied to it. She’d been a complete moron, imagining she was falling in love with a man she’d only known a few hours. Sure, he’d been an amazing and attentive lover. But good sex didn’t equal love.

The pizza she’d been looking forward to tasted like cardboard, but she ate it anyway. She was going to need her strength if everything Daddy had told her was true. If she was really a Variant and people were hunting her, she needed to escape.

There wasn’t much of an “if” left for the first part of the equation. Not after she’d watched the rain disappear and the sun go bright as a summer day while he’d pleasured her. And then there’d been that stupid rainbow. How had she never made the connection before? Well, that part was easy enough. Even though the first Variant gene had been discovered overfifty years ago, those with powers gifted to them by the gene mostly remained hidden. Before Daddy, she’d never met another Variant that she knew of, and there were precious few resources available to the general public. It wasn’t like there were special classes in school to teach Variant kids how to control the weather.

So, she was definitely a Variant. And if he’d been telling the truth about those men breaking into her apartment, there wasn’t much doubt about the rest of it, either. Which meant she needed to get as far away from here as possible.

“Earth to Lainey.”

Daddy’s voice snapped her out of her contemplation. It would be nice if she knew his fucking name so she could stop thinking of him as Daddy. “What?”

He raised an eyebrow, but no further rebuke came. For a moment, she thought he was going to say something about what had happened between them. Instead, he just asked, “Finished with your pizza?”

Just like a man to completely ignore the elephant in the room. Well, if he could act like everything was just fine, she could, too. “Yeah.”

When he stood and reached for her plate, she focused on his hand. Lightning was basically electricity, right? Maybe if she tried, she could just give him a little…

“Fuck!” The plate clattered to the floor and he glared at her, shaking his hand.

“What?” she asked, widening her eyes and hoping she looked convincingly innocent.

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