Page 5 of Saul

“I can’t,” I said, staring at the boat in horror and shaking my head. I would drown. There might be a typhoon, or a shark. Florida had sharks. What if a really big one attacked the boat? And I was a bad swimmer. I never dared put my head under… I shook my head quite violently to rid it of the memory that was trying to creep in.

Eels. Weren’t electric eels a thing? And they shot you with a bazillion volts before they drowned you? I could hear Ursula singingPoor Unfortunate Soulsin my head.

Saul covered my hands with one of his. “If we’re lucky, we might see dolphins.”

Which made me pause. “Dolphins?” I squeaked out, knowing my little was really close to the surface and while he was scared of water, he really liked the idea of seeing dolphins. Holding on tightly to Daddy’s hand, I let him lead me to the gangplank where Matt was waiting, not wearing a pirate costumemuch to my disappointment. I stared at him for probably too long, stunned by the sheer size of the man. I managed to keep it together while Daddy introduced us and said I was a little nervous of boats and asked where the best seat was.

Matt smiled and hunkered down in front of me. “How would you like to wear a special vest and sit in the Captain’s chair?” My eyes must have grown impossibly wide because I was soon sitting on a big leather chair wearing a red life jacket and special hat and still clutching Daddy’s hand as he assured Matt he could just stand at my side and guard against pirates.

I didn’t look behind me once to see if Steven was on our boat because I was too busy trying to see dolphins. I kinda thought Imighthave at one point, but Matt was busy pointing out the different parts of the island as we motored past and drew up to what he called the dock. There were three golf carts all waiting to either take us up to the hotel if we couldn’t walk or take all our suitcases. I recognized Joshua, one of the owners, from thebrochure, and a woman with bright blue hair and a happy smile that seemed to be bossing two older teenagers about as they stood next to the golf carts.

The hotel was gorgeous and looked like something out of the Colonial South. I mean, I had my own Rhett Butler standing next to me, so it tracked. I thanked Matt for distracting me and he said he would keep a look out for dolphins and come and get us both if he spotted any. There was a welcome reception later but not for a few hours, so, yawning, even though I’d had a nap on the plane, I trudged after Daddy to check in.

And when I said after, I meant with his arm clamped around me. So, technically at his side. My first thought wasyumm, but then I remembered I still wasn’t Ricky, and I was sad.

A perky receptionist called Edward greeted us both effusively, and we passed over IDs and he scanned them. “And a credit card for the room, sirs?”

Which brought me up short. The room. Shit, I’d forgotten we would be sharing. I opened my wallet for my singleemergency onlycredit card, but Daddy smoothly passed one over and shook his head slightly at me.

Well, okay then. He was just showing off, but it was probably going down as expenses, I thought waspishly.

“And you’ll be thrilled to know you qualify for a free upgrade.”

“An upgrade?” Daddy asked while in my head I was dancing to the thought of jacuzzi baths and patios.

“Yes, the honeymoon suite is of course booked for the happy couple, but we have a second executive suite that we are giving you since all the regular rooms will be full for the weekend, and I understand you, Mr. Jennings, are one of the groom’s brothers.”

Ricky.I swallowed the lump at his thoughtfulness and followed the bellhop, who refused to allow us to carry our own suitcases, which I was secretly glad of because mine had a dodgywheel and didn’t really fit with the upgraded executive suite vibe.

I’d cheered up by the time we got to the room and walked in after the bellhop opened the door for us with a large, old-fashioned key.

And stopped dead.

I took in the tray complete with two flute glasses, the ice bucket and champagne, and then my gaze landed on the bed. The admittedly large but still single bed, complete with confetti hearts sprinkled over the turned-down sheet, a single stemmed red rose lying on the pillow, and a few foil-wrapped chocolates. At least, I hoped they were chocolates. I wouldn’t put it past Ricky to provide me with something else of the single, wrapped variety.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Daddy said, after the bellhop had left with a generous tip. I nodded but couldn’t seem to get my legs to move. Daddy reached up and unbuttoned his shirt, then casually stripped, flashing a well-muscled chest sprinkled with black and gray hairs that I wanted to run my fingers through. He carried on talking, but I’d stopped listening, especially when his shoes, socks, and pants followed.

“What do you want to do?”

My mind spun with all sorts of ideas. He was suddenly in front of me and, carefully, he put one finger under my chin and pressed until my mouth closed. I raised my gaze to his. If he laughed, I was on the next flight home, but the heat in his eyes told me a different story.

“Maybe we should start with the conversation we should have had on the plane?”

I nodded, but my gaze fell to his lips, and I remembered what they tasted like, and he groaned. “You tempt me, baby-boy.”

Ooh rah, Daddy.Ooh fucking rah.

Chapter four

Saul

What the hell was I doing?Taking this a “little” too far.If I was honest with myself, slipping into a Daddy role had taken no effort. I was naturally dominant – came with the job—but my one half-assed attempt at any sort of relationship after I left the service had crashed and burned so fast it had left scorch marks.

And Calvin? Fuck, I wanted to wrap him in bubble wrap. Apart from sporting a body to die for… And that brought me up short. Calvin was soft. He wasn’t some sort of bodybuilder, muscle-bound gym rat. He wascomfy, and I knew he would feelfantastic in my arms. I didn’t want another Marine. Sure, some of them revved my engines briefly, but Calvin’s body was long term. He did a lot of revving, but the instinct to protect him rose above everything else – pun intended.

Had I stripped deliberately? Not at first. But I saw the interest in his eyes and couldn’t help posturing a little. Did a body like mine do it for him?Good.

But then I paused. Daddies weren’t necessarily supposed to be ripped. A lot had a softer side as well as a softer body. I could do that. In fact—

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