Page 65 of First Time

“Hey,” she murmured at Chantelle.

Her cousin dropped her bags and strode across the bedroom—finally kicking off those goddamned heels in the process. She sat on the bed, legs curled beneath her, studying Becky’s bruises.

“I’m going to fucking murder him,” she muttered.

“I’d rather see him rot in jail,” Becky stated firmly. “You’re the only family I have left, so stay on this side of the law, please.”

Chantelle made an annoyed snorting noise. “That bastard is lucky I love you.”

Becky peeked around her cousin to meet my gaze. “Can you help me into the bathroom? My bladder is about to burst.”

We took care of business, then Chantelle began the fashion show, emptying bag after bag.

New clothing piled around Becky, whose eyes had filled with tears. She hadn’t had anything new in years—she and Stephen had only ever had enough money for secondhand things.

Lace and satin panties joined the mess, and I cocked an eyebrow at Becky when she glanced at me, flushing.

I stood against the wall, arms crossed and relaxed until that moment. Imagining sliding those panties off her smooth thighs and baring her pretty pussy for my hungry mouth—

Clearing my throat, I offered to head downstairs to make us something to eat.

“I got takeout from Bertonelli’s,” Chantelle said with a snap of her fingers as though just remembering. “All of your favorites. The bags are in my Beamer if you would be a dear and retrieve them, Daniel?”

Snickering, I did as told.

I had a feeling a lot of orders would be flying around my home in the coming days.

But I was more than okay with that if it meant having Becky beside me. And with Chantelle being her only family, I expected they might be somewhat of a packaged deal.

That, too, I could live with since the Domme had proven herself to be fiercely loyal and as protective as me.

Twenty minutes later, we ate picnic-style in my bedroom, and I learned all about Becky’s childhood from Chantelle’s perspective rather than the stories Becky had told me a few nights earlier.

By the time Becky needed some meds and more rest, I swore I could paint some of the memories they had shared.

I’d also gotten grilled, the two women were a lethal combination that fucking flayed me alive. Chantelle learned the entire truth of what had happened when I’d been a fearful thirteen-year-old. She’d even gotten tears in her eyes when her lips had pursed.

I also shared about the years spent with my grandpop who, while he wasn’t abusive, wasn’t exactly kind either. Shame didn’t attempt to choke me out when I told Becky and Chantelle what I’d had to do in order to survive in the streets of Boston when I’d first arrived, damn near penniless with a single backpack over my shoulder.

“Why Boston?” Chantelle asked.

“Far enough away from Spokane to start over and a big enough city with enough opportunities to create a new life.”

“I’m glad you came here,” Becky said, her voice quiet. “And I hope you know I won’t ever judge you for what you did to put food in your belly.”

Getting on my knees wasn’t something I’d ever been proud of, but I refused to feel shame since I’d survived. Thrived.

When my grandpop passed, a lawyer had somehow tracked me down. By that time, I’d held a steady job for almost five years, had managed to build some credit, and had a couple of college classes under my belt.

The inheritance I’d received as his only living relative wasn’t much, but it paid my tuition through graduation.

“And the rest?” I shrugged, studying my dark-haired beauty who appeared on the verge of once more fading into sleep. “Is history.”

I lounged in a chair alongside Becky’s edge of my bed, pretty much talked out.

“You’re one of the most intuitive Doms I’ve ever met,” Chantelle told me what I’d heard a couple of times before. “I’m sorry it took that kind of trauma to bring you to this place. You too,” she said, turning toward Becky who slumped on the bed beside her. “I knew the minute I met Daniel that he would be perfect for you.”

“You never held a giveaway, did you?” Becky asked, her jaw cracking on a yawn immediately afterward.

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