Page 15 of Melt For Us, Daddy
Cordelia. Sitting up straighter in his chair, Jacob tugged at the oversized shirt, suddenly feeling very aware of how large it was on him. And how untidy he looked, overall. There wasn’t really anything he could do about it, but he still found himself smoothing the wrinkles to the best of his ability as Zach crossed over to the door and let their guests in.
Although Holden dwarfed everyone in the room and even the room itself with his size, all of Jacob’s attention went to Cordelia. She wasn’t wearing a suit this time, but her outfit was equally scandalous. Tight pants in the same material as his own clung to the curves of her thighs and waist. And the shirt she was wearing wasn’t any better. Not only did it hug her body tightly, it dipped down in the front, revealing the generous swell of her breasts. The white jacket she wore over it did nothing to hide her flesh, and Jacob could feel that part of him, that sinful, forbidden part swelling once more.
Jerking his gaze up from her breasts, he found her eyes—nearly the same shade of deep, shimmering green as her shirt—locked on him and his face heated with shame before he dropped his attention back down to the mug in front of him.
Cordelia settled into the chair across from him as Holden placed a white box in the middle of the table. “Donuts from my friends over at Rev and Roll. Thought we could all use a little pick-me-up this morning.”
“Oh, man, I love their donuts!” Practically diving onto the table, Zach opened the lid and scanned the contents. “What do you want, Jay? Looks like Holden got one of everything.”
“Umm… I’m not sure.”
“Yeah, I get that. Lots to choose from. Well, what’s your favorite?”
“Zach.” Again, Cordelia spoke in that low, firm voice. The one that somehow conveyed an expectation that she was to be obeyed without demanding obedience the way Jacob’s father did. “He’ll have the glazed, for now.”
“Nah, nobody actually likes the glazed ones. They’re too plain. How about?—”
“Anything else is too much sugar. I can tell you from experience that letting him gorge himself before his body is used to it will not be a pleasant experience. The glazed is more than enough for right now.”
“Oh. Wait.” Frowning slightly, Zach looked from him to Cordelia and back. “You can’t have sugar in the cult?”
Cult? He’d heard that word, in his father’s sermons.
They call us a cult. Tell the world we’re dangerous. Because we believe, and the strength of our belief is a danger to their sinful ways.
Had his father been right all along? Was the world really as sinful and broken as he claimed? Was the church his only refuge from the evil that crawled the Earth, looking for souls to consume?
“Fuck.” He heard Cordelia swear, though it sounded funny. Muffled somehow, as though someone had shoved cotton in his ears.
And then she was in front of him, the snap of her fingers banishing the roaring in his ears as he looked up at her.
“That’s right, Jacob. Eyes on me. Just on me.”
“Y-yes, ma’am.”
Something flickered in the green of her eyes at his response, the same little flicker he’d thought he’d seen there last night. “That’s good. You keep your eyes on me, and you listen to what I have to say.” Bracing one hand on the table and the other on the back of his chair, she leaned in. Until all he could see, all he could smell was her. Until his whole world was nothing but the gorgeous woman in front of him and the righteous fury burning in her gaze. “Whatever you’re thinking right now, I’m telling you it’s bullshit. You’re not going to believe me, not at first. But all those things they told you about how evil the world is, how sinful everything outside the church is? It’s all bullshit. You hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am.” She was right. He didn’t believe her, at least… not completely. There were some things he knew deep in his soul were lies. Like his father’s reasoning for forcing him to marry little Ruthie. Or the deacons calling Hannah unclean when it hadn’t been her choice.
And if some of the things he’d been told all his life were lies… maybe it stood to reason that there were other lies hidden in there as well.
He just had to figure out how to tell the lies from the truth. Somehow.
“Good. Now, are you actually planning to drink that coffee?”
“Huh?” Glancing down at the mug in front of him, he shook his head. “No, ma’am. I just didn’t want to be rude.”
“You should try a bit. But not black, at least not at first. Here.” Plucking the cup from in front of him, she carried it to the fridge, where she poured milk into the coffee before adding some sugar. Leaning back against the counter, she took a long, slow sip, her eyes fluttering closed.
“That first sip of the day is always the best. Here. You try it.”
She sat the cup in front of him, and for a moment he could only stare at it. “Caffeine is poison,” he recited, though he didn’t feel it.
Maybe that was the difference between truth and lie, what he could feel in his soul.
“It’s not, though it can be a bit addictive. God knows I can’t get through the day without it,” Holden, the giant man Zach worked for said with a laugh. “But it’s not going to poison you. Look at the three of us. Do we look like we’ve destroyed our bodies with poison?”
“No, sir.”
