Page 40 of Melt For Us, Daddy
He lunged for her, which she’d been expecting. Yanking the door open, she let the momentum carry the glass, and it smashed right into Harlan Redding’s smug face. Blood spurted from his nose, sending a thrill up her spine as she watched him stumble backward, clutching his face.
“You fucking bitch! You dare attack a prophet of God?”
Before she could respond, she found herself surrounded by three tall, tattooed men.
“This man bothering you, ma’am?” The man to her right, his dark hair slicked back from a face carved from stone asked with barely a glance in her direction. Rowan, his name was Rowan. She knew him from the club and instantly felt better having him by her side.
“He is.”
“You want us to call the cops?”
She didn’t get a chance to respond. A black, unmarked van squealed up to the curb, the sliding door on the side flying open. One of the men protecting her lunged forward, but even injured, Harlan was faster. He dove for the van and it pulled away from the curb, tires squealing as the door slammed shut behind him.
“Motherfucker!”
She’d had him. He’d been right fucking there. Bleeding and broken on the sidewalk, and he’d still gotten away.
“Come on.” Opening the door, the man who’d asked her if she wanted to call the police ushered her inside. “Grab a seat and we’ll call the cops.”
With a jerk of her head, she followed them inside and dropped down into a seat. While the bikers-turned-bakers dialed 911, she pulled her phone from her purse and made her own phone call.
“Holden. It’s me. We need to talk about that safe house.”
Chapter 14
Ivy
Cradling her new friend from the nature center, Ivy hurried her students onto the bus, counting heads as she went.
“Ashton! Hands to yourself, please!”
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and although it was technically against school policy to take a personal call while she was on duty, she checked anyway. And her heart immediately jumped into her throat at the sight of her Domme’s smiling face on the screen.
“I need to take this,” she said, flashing an apologetic smile to one of her fellow teachers. “Family emergency.”
Stepping away from the chaos, she hit the button to answer the call. “Dee? Is everything okay?”
“Nobody’s hurt, but I need you to listen to me very closely, baby.”
Though Cordelia was speaking in low, soothing tones, every nerve in Ivy’s body was instantly on alert. “What happened? Where are you? What’s going on?”
“Ivy.”
“Right, sorry.” Closing her eyes, she dragged air into her lungs, willed her heart to stop racing. “I’m listening, Ma’am.”
“Good girl. You’re still at the nature center, yes?”
“Yes, but we’re about to get on the bus to head back.”
“You are to stay exactly where you are, Ivy Mae. One of Holden’s men is coming for you. He’s already on his way.”
The panic she was trying so valiantly to will back threatened to choke the very air from her lungs. “Dee, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you everything when I see you. But right now, I need you to be my good girl and do as you’re told. Can you do that for me, blossom?”
“No, I can’t. I’m not trying to be defiant but I have to get back on the bus, Dee. You know I can’t just leave in the middle of a field trip.”
“Fuck.” Cordelia’s quiet swear was followed by a tense silence. “If you leave, will it fuck up the kid to teacher ratio?”
