Page 203 of Merciless Daddy

When I looked away for a moment, she stole a slice of pineapple from my glass.

“My little thief.”

She smiled at me over the pineapple.

Then the music changed.

A faster song. Warm drums. A singer whose voice sounded like smoke and sunlight.

Yelena stood and held out her hand.

“Dance?”

“I have not finished objecting.”

“Maybe you could objectify while we move together?”

She pulled me onto the floor.

At first she danced with distance between us. Her yellow dress moved around her legs. Her hair had escaped beneath the hat. She laughed when I missed a step.

“You are bad at this,” she said.

“I run an international shipping operation, I’m not a dancer”

“And I guess international shipping doesn’t require much rhythm.”

Then she came closer.

Her arms went around my neck. Mine settled at her waist. Her body moved against mine without calculation. Not performing the bratva princess. Not performing a perfect Little. Just Yelena.

My Lena.

She tipped her head back and laughed at something I said. The sound made my chest ache.

When the music slowed, she rested against me.

“Daddy active?” she asked.

“Yes, little one.”

Her eyes softened, then flashed with lust.

“Then tell me what to do.”

“First . . . I want you to drink some water.”

She frowned. “That . . . is deeply unsexy.”

“You drank half a cocktail in the sun.”

“This is oppression.”

“Water, please, now.”

She drank.

“Put your sandals back on before the dock.”