Page 46 of Melt For Us, Daddy
“But how long do you think that will take? I can’t just abandon my students, Holden.”
Crossing his arms over his massive chest, Holden glared down at her. “I’m going to do everything in my power to get you home as soon as possible, Ivy. But until the danger is removed, you are staying here with my men. You will listen to them, and you will follow their rules. Understood?”
Why the hell was he being so mean to her? Stepping between them, Jacob folded his arms, matching Holden’s stance. Unlike Ivy, he was tall enough to meet Holden’s gaze without looking up, and it gave him a boost of confidence. “Lay off her. Can’t you see how scared she is?”
“It’s okay, Jacob. I’m not scared of Holden.”
The giant in front of him raised one gray brow as he shifted his attention from Jacob back down to Ivy. “Is that so?”
“It is so. We’re not at the club, so you can’t just go bossing me around, Holden.”
“I, on the other hand, can.”
Jacob turned to find Cordelia lifting a hand to the back of Ivy’s neck, her lips curving up in a wicked smile. “Apologize to Holden, Ivy Mae. He’s just trying to keep us safe and you’re being very rude.”
The color in Ivy’s cheeks darkened to a deep rose. “Sorry, Holden.”
“Apology accepted. And just so we’re all on the same page, I selected the team I did specifically because they share our… interests. So nobody here is going to blink twice at the sound of a naughty little girl getting her bottom spanked if necessary.”
Cordelia’s smile took on an even more wicked edge. “That is good to know, Holden. Thank you.”
“Hey! Jacob might mind!” Ivy protested with a pout.
Holden blinked, then frowned at him. “Sorry, kid. Been taking you to the club so often I forgot you aren’t actually part of the, ah, club.”
The thought of listening to Ivy get spanked didn’t affect him the way he’d expected. There was anger there, a hint of fear as well, but more than either of those was that feeling he so often had around them. The feeling he wasn’t supposed to have for anyone but his wife.
He was still trying to sort it out for himself when Ivy reached for him, giving his arm one of those reassuring squeezes. “It’s okay to say you don’t consent to being exposed to our kink, honey. But if you’re worrying about me, just remember, I do this because I like it. Cordelia would never hurt me, not the way you’re used to. Okay?”
Consent. They’d told him a little bit about what that meant, though it was still a bit of a foreign concept to him. Meeting her dark eyes, though, he felt that same sense of calm he always seemed to have around her. “Um, then I guess… I’d rather not hear you being spanked, if that’s okay.”
Cordelia’s eyes flashed, not with anger but with something that almost looked like pride. “Good for you, sticking up for yourself. We’ll keep the noise down as much as possible, and lucky for all of us, Ivy is a good girl.”
He didn’t want to feel the glow that spread through his chest when she praised him for sticking up for himself. But he did, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. “Sure. Okay.”
“Now that we’ve gotten that settled…” Holden crouched down in front of Ivy. “I know this sucks. And I’m so fucking sorry it’s necessary. I promise I’ll do whatever it takes to get you home and back to normal as soon as possible. Okay?”
Sighing quietly, Ivy nodded. “I know. I’m sorry I snapped at you. This whole thing just has me a little rattled, Sir.”
“Yeah, I get that. But you’ve got Dee with you and I’ll have you out of here as soon as I fucking can. I promise. I have to get going now, but you’re all in good hands here with Merlin and Kestrel. I’ll keep them updated as much as possible.”
He rose again, and made to leave, but Jacob lunged forward, grabbing hold of his arm. “Wait! What about my sisters? If my father is attacking people on the street, how do I know he hasn’t done something to them?”
Holden shared a look with Cordelia. “We’re doing everything we can to get them out. That's part of why I need Zach to stay in the city with me, to see if we can’t get him inside. Otherwise, we’re operating blind.”
“Maybe I should go back. I could be your inside person.”
“Absolutely fucking not,” Cordelia snarled. “That’s what he wants. You go back, they’re more likely to just lock you in a room or ship you off somewhere you can’t make trouble. You go back, and we lose what little bit of edge we have.”
“She’s right.” Gripping Jacob’s shoulder, Holden looked him square in the eye. “We need you here, safe. Knowing that we have you and your sisters as potential witnesses is the only way we can have any hope of putting your father behind bars where he belongs.”
Cordelia’s expression softened. “You wouldn't have left if you didn’t think it was the best thing for your sisters. You just have to trust that. And trust us.”
Although everything in him wanted to tell them they were wrong, that he had to go back, he knew they were right. If he went back now, his father was likely to beat every single one of his sisters in front of him just to teach him a lesson. Especially after the way Cordelia publicly humiliated him.
So he’d have to wait. And trust in his guardian angel.
“All right. I’ll stay.”
