Page 89 of Daddy's Little Patient

“Oh,” she said weakly, because he was pretty heckin’ convincing. And when she thought back over their time together, he had genuinely seemed to enjoy all of their time together all the way from the filthiest debauchery to the cutest, sweetest ageplay. She was so lucky. And he wasn’t even done yet.

“I hope if you think about it logically you’ll understand we haven’t been back to Covert because you get so sick when you fly. It seemed selfish for me to even ask. I’d love to show you off there. And if it’s important to you, I’d be happy to take you back to Anchorage and parade you around the whole town, never mind just Covert. We’ll just have to build in a couple days on either side for you to recover from the flights. It’s trickier to take you on work trips because I’m usually going for a quick trip in a tiny bush plane and bringing supplies up too if there’s room for cargo at all. Even if there was room for you in the plane, there’s still the issue of you getting airsick which we’ve talked about before.”

“That seems reasonable,” she mumbled, feeling sicker and sicker that she’d ever accuse her wonderful Daddy of being like that stinkbug Mitch.

“Good. The other problem would be how I could take care of you once we get there. I’m usually staying in someone’s spare bunk or on a couch because it’s not like there are hotels in any of these villages. I know Enclave is rustic compared to Anchorage, but we live like royalty compared to a lot of people who live in the bush. I couldn’t guarantee there would be electricity to power Beyoncé and I’m not going to have you sleeping poorly if it can be helped.”

“Okay.”

Her stomach was churning worse than it had when she’d first flown into Enclave which was saying something. She’d flown off the handle without giving her Daddy a chance to explain, and after everything he’d done for her it felt like she could have at least given him the benefit of the doubt.

“I understand why you were so upset with me not telling you that I’d met a man who could be my father. That’s fair. I should’ve told you with the caveat not to get too excited in case he turned out to be a fraud. I hated the idea of you getting so excited and then being disappointed. But you’re right. That was something too major to keep from you, and I should’ve let us handle it together. I apologize, Cricket. I’m so sorry, and I hope you can find it in that big Little girl heart of yours to forgive me.”

* * *

“That was a good apology, Daddy,” she told him, and Owen had to smile even though his heart hurt from failing his little love bug. Cricket was praising him just like he praised her when she gave good contrition and it was adorable at the same time it made him feel like he’d done something right.

“Thanks, babygirl. You deserved a really good apology.”

Cricket nodded, and looked down at their joined hands.

“What’s on your mind, love bug?” he asked, skimming his thumbs over her knuckles.

“If I kept a secret like that I would get a big, huge punishment,” she told him, her eyes wide. She was probably imagining what that would look like and yeah, it would be probably the biggest, most thorough punishment she’d ever received.

“That’s true,” he agreed, feeling uneasy. Where was she going with this?

“Why don’t Daddies ever get punishments?”

“That’s a fair question, and I don’t really know how to answer. We didn’t agree on any punishments for me breaking rules. I don’t think it would be appropriate or even comparable for me to receive the same punishments as you.”

“Oh, no. I don’t want to spank you, Daddy! And making naughty boy dinner seems like a lot of work. Plus, I… Well…” Her sweet face twisted up. “I have a confession to make.”

“What’s that, Cricket?”

“I kind of like my punishments. Even the ones I really don’t like. It’s confusing.”

He smiled at her and towed her over to the rocking chair so she could sit next to him with her legs draped over his lap the way she liked. Before he continued, he couldn’t help but kiss her cheek and then her lips.

“I’ve got a confession too, then.”

How wide could a person’s eyes get? She was definitely feeling Little if she was giving him doe eyes like that.

“What is it?”

“I know you like your punishments. Sort of,” he told her with a wink. “And I love that about you. They’re supposed to make you sorry and think about your behavior in the future, but I know you get turned on by them too and that’s like the best thing ever. I love being able to reward you after a punishment and the intimacy and bonding of having sex after you’ve been disciplined. I know sometimes your punishments are so severe you don’t feel like having sexy time after and that’s okay too. I also love cuddling and reassuring you.”

“It still seems kind of unfair,” she told him with a small scowl.

“Did you have something in mind for a punishment? Getting spanked by the boss is a hard limit for me.”

Cricket stifled a giggle in her palm. “No, silly. But that would be so funny if the Daddies spanked each other.”

“If it’s not spanking, what is it?”

“Three things.”

“Wow, three things, huh?” he said, nodding. “You’re right, it was a pretty serious offense so I probably deserve it.”

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