Page 40 of Her Protector

Lottie nuzzled her nose along my bare chest. "Love you too, Daddy K."

I fell into a deep slumber, lulled by the feeling of having my Little in my arms.

CHAPTER 22

Lottie

Thursday and Friday passed by in the blink of an eye, and before I knew it, Saturday was here, and Andrei had been withdrawn and quiet all day leading up to leaving for Sergei's.

Kaleb slid into the driver's seat as he'd given Oscar the weekend off to spend time with his aging parents. Colby took the front seat, and I slid into the back with Andrei.

He gazed out the window, his jaw tightened as his hands clenched into fists on top of his thighs.

Reaching out, I turned his arm and loosened his fingers. Silently, he turned toward me, his amber eyes reflecting the sunset. "It's okay, Daddy A." I laced our fingers together. "We've got this."

He gave me a wry grin. "I'm supposed to be the one reassuring you,kroshka. Not the other way around."

I shrugged. "Who says we can't both do it for each other? There's no one-size-fits-all relationship, and we're already unconventional, so let's just roll with it."

"You're right." I leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "I should always be listening to the wise and all-knowing Charlotte."

Wrinkling my nose, I shook my head. "None of that Charlotte stuff."

Andrei just laughed and lifted my hand to his lips. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me for anything," I replied, saying their own words back to him. "Or at least that's what a few smart people told me."

"Brat."

"Yes, and you love it." I stuck my tongue out.

A moment later, I squealed as Andrei struck, tickling my sides. "No! Ah! Stop," I gasped out between peels of laughter.

"No sticking your tongue out at me. Remember, I still need to make good on my promise to give that pretty mouth something to occupy it." His eyes blazed with lust, and I swear the temperature in the car rose several degrees.

"Promises, promises." Man, I loved how he growled when I acted like a brat. It was so much fun to tease him, and the fact of the matter was he needed it and craved it, too. He'd spent too long stuck in his apathetic shell that he'd not really been living. He was a shell going through the day-to-day motions but didn't experience life as it was meant to be lived.

"You just love to tease me, don't you, little girl?" His voice was raspy, filled with the evidence of his desire, and it sent a shiver down my spine. I yearned for the way his accent thickened.

It made me feel like I was one of the most beautiful women in the world when I knew I wasn't.

"Charlotte," Andrei, Kaleb, and Colby snapped, almost completely and perfectly in sync.

Uh oh. That means I said the part about not being beautiful out loud.

"Do you really think you aren't one of the most beautiful women in the world?" Andrei asked, his brow furrowed with hishead slightly tilted. "Because that's not how any of us think of you. Youareone of the most beautiful women. I think we need to work on some affirmations for you to see yourself as we do."

Affirmations? That didn't sound like fun.

"I think that's an excellent alternative form of punishment," Colby added as he twisted in his seat to face us. "Make her say twenty positive things about herself every day."

"Or writing lines." Andrei nodded, and my gaze volleyed between them.

"You're enjoying coming up with punishments way too much." I grimaced, not loving the idea of having to write outlines or say positive things about myself. I'd much rather just have the spanking. It would probably be less torture.

They let out a chuff of laughter. "Kroshka, punishments aren't supposed to be torture, but they aren't meant to be fun, either. You need to understand the consequences of your actions, be challenged; and then earn forgiveness. Then it's gone. As if it never happened, and we begin the day anew."

I nodded, my throat thick. I appreciated what he was saying. If there was one thing about these men that I valued the most, other than their capacity for love, it was their patience. I knew I wasn't the easiest of people to love or be in a relationship with. Trauma was a bitch that liked to rear her ugly head at the most inconvenient times.

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