Page 37 of Break Me, Daddy

“Well, whenever you decide to get payback, I wouldn’t suggest retaliating in kind.” Pink blossomed on Ruby’s cheeks. “I tried that with Beckett after he made me edge myself in the bathroom and it ended with us parked on the side of the road while he fucked my face in the front seat of his car.”

“Wait.” Holding up her hands, Lottie stared at the newest member of their group. “He made you edge yourself in the bathroom? Here?”

“Ah, no.” The color in Ruby’s cheeks darkened. “At a restaurant a couple towns over. I had to bring myself right to the edge five times in a row. And I had to record it for him.”

They all stared at her in shocked silence for a moment before Silver let out a disbelieving laugh. “Holy crap and I thought Ice was devious. Maybe I should be more concerned about them being friends.”

As her friends discussed their Daddies and their deviously creative minds, Frankie clenched her teeth together, desperately doing everything she could to avoid coming right there at the table with all her friends.

Finally, just when it felt like she couldn’t hold back any longer, the vibrations eased, and she let out an easy breath. Looking over at the other table, she glared at Holden, who had turned to watch her, a smug, satisfied smile on his face.

Oh, yeah. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, she was definitely getting her revenge.

Right after she got her orgasm.

Holden

“Why doesFrankie look like she’s about to murder you?”

Cordelia’s question, asked in that slow, almost-bored-sounding drawl of hers, pulled his attention away from his furious babygirl and back to the conversation at hand.

Grinning, he held up the remote. “She’s been a brat all day, so I thought she could use a reminder as to who is in charge in our relationship.”

Across the table, Cordelia raised a brow. He had no doubt that look could have any little subbie quaking in their boots, especially since he had to fight the urge to shift in his seat and he was as far from submissive as they came. “Oh? And you think that’s you?”

Annoyance ran up his spine, prickly as the Wartenberg wheel he had stashed in his play bag. On either side of him, Beckett and Braden sat up straighter in their chairs, and Ice’s eyes widened slightly as he shifted his gaze from Cordelia to Holden and back again. “What the hell do you mean by that?”

“Nothing. Just that from where I’m sitting, it looks a bit like your ‘little siren’ has you by the balls. She led you on a merry chase for months, teasing you and shoving her wannabe suitors in your face. And the second she calls you crying, you drop everything to move her into your house.”

“She needed me. What the hell was I supposed to do?”

“And that’s just my point.” Leaning in, Cordelia jabbed a finger in his direction, her blonde hair swaying with the movement. “Sheneededyou. If she hadn’t ended up in the hospital, she’d still be playing hard to get and you’d still be chasing after her like a lovesick puppy.”

“I don’t give a fuck how she ended up in my bed. All that matters is she’s where she belongs.”

“But for how long?” Beckett raised his hands in mock surrender when Holden turned to glare at him. “Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just asking a question. Yeah, she needed you and I don’t blame you for stepping up. God knows I would have done the same thing in your shoes. But what happens when she’s better? Have you guys talked about that?”

They hadn’t, because he hadn’t wanted to think about a future without her in it. “She’s been sick,” he said, dodging the question.

A move that did not go unnoticed, judging by the look his friends all shared.

When Cordelia spoke again, her tone was significantly more gentle. “Look, Holden. I don’t want to fuck things up with you and Frankie. But… I think you know, deep down, I’m right.”

“Yeah? What makes you think that?”

“Because if you really thought you had a future with her, she’d be wearing your collar right now. The Holden I know never would have let his babygirl, his real, true, forever babygirl, anywhere near this club without the proof of his ownership around her neck.”

Shock had him going still as he processed her words. Because she had a fucking point, and he knew it. The first time around, he’d put his collar on Frankie before ever letting her step foot in the pit. He’d wanted it very clear to anyone who so much as glanced at her, that she belonged tohim.

Why hadn’t he done that tonight? Why hadn’t he even thought to put his collar on her before they’d left the house?

Was it because, as Cordelia said, he knew deep down that this situation with her was only temporary? “Fuck.”

“Sorry.” Cordelia’s expression turned sympathetic. “I know I’m being a bitch, but you’ve always been the kind of guy who responds better to straightforwardness. And I consider you a good friend, Holden. Someone I care about too much to watch you neglect your own needs for a woman who may or may not break your heart again.”

“Don’t apologize. I needed to hear it.” And really, wasn’t she only asking the same questions he’d asked himself back at the hospital? Questions he’d pushed out of his mind because his babygirl had needed him?

Running a hand through his hair, Holden blew out a breath. “Problem is, now that I’ve heard it, I don’t know what the fuck to do about it.”

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