Page 31 of Daddy’s Hunted Bride

And his brain.

CHAPTER 13

VANESSA

There’s no time to discuss an escape plan with my fellow captives with Axel hovering over us the entire time. But not even twenty minutes into our game, Lanie gives us the perfect excuse for some time out from under her Daddy’s watchful eye.

“Daddy, I’m bored,” she whines, sounding so much like a Little girl I almost forget she’s actually a full-grown adult. “I wanna go outside and play!”

An indulgent smile stretches across Axel’s face. “All right, we can go outside for a bit before lunch. Who wants to come with us?”

My hand shoots up so fast it yanks something in my shoulder and I just barely manage not to wince. “Me, me! I wanna go outside!”

Axel’s smile dips down into a frown. “We’ll have to find you some proper play clothes. Tabby might have something that will fit.”

With an excited squeal, Tabby jumps to her feet. “I have so many clothes! Come on!”

Grabbing me by the hand, she ignores Axel calling our names and drags me to my feet and out into the hall. Where we are stopped by her Daddy, his arms crossed and a playfully stern expression on his face. “And where do you think you’re going, little girl?”

“Umm.” Immediately dropping my hand, Tabby shoves both of hers behind her to protect her tulle-covered bottom. “Up to my nursery. Nessie needs something to wear outside and Uncle Axel thinks my clothes will fit her.”

“It’s very nice of you to want to share your clothes, little one, but I heard Uncle Axel calling for you. Were you ignoring him?”

Pink slashes across Tabby’s cheeks as her gaze lowers to the ground. “Maybe a little. We were just excited!”

My instinct to protect these women from the people keeping them prisoner kicks in and I step in between Tabby and Colt, jerking my chin up as if daring him to touch me. “Leave her alone! We didn’t do anything wrong!”

“What’s all this commotion?”

The sound of Dane’s voice strips me of some of my bravado. But I’m not about to back down when Tabby was just trying to do something nice, so I turn and glare up at this man who calls himself my Daddy.

“We’re going outside to play and Tabby was going to help me find something to wear. And Colt is being a big fat jerk about it.”

Beside me, Tabby makes a distressed sort of sound, but I refuse to take my eyes off Dane. To my surprise, however, he doesn’t immediately move to punish me. Instead, he nods slowly, as if he’s giving my point of view some serious consideration.

“I see. And did you check with the grownup in charge before leaving the room you were in?”

Heat infuses my cheeks, a mixture of both anger and embarrassment at being treated like a child once again. “Well, no, but he knew where we were going.”

“Uh-huh. And when I left you with Uncle Axel, what did I tell you?”

God, I hate the way he makes me feel so very small, seemingly without even trying at all. “To listen to what he told me to do.”

“And do you think ignoring him and leaving the room Daddy left you in was a very good choice?”

Some hidden instinct inside me is nudging me to drop my gaze, to show him I’m sorry before this gets out of control. But I’m far too stubborn for such things, so I keep my eyes locked on his. “Probably not. But we weren’t going to do anything naughty. I just wanted some clothes so I could go play outside.”

“I understand that. And I know adjusting to all the new rules is hard. Which is why I’m going to give you a choice.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up in warning. “What kind of choice?”

“You can either accept a spanking from Uncle Axel and me for not listening, or you can spend the day sitting quietly on the couch while your cousins go out and play.”

It is, in the most technical sense, a choice.

Just a really shitty one.

But I don’t want to miss out on a chance to explore and look for escape routes, and maybe even pick my “cousins’” brains about my options, so there really is only one option available to me. “Fine. I’ll take the spanking.”