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“It’s not!” I fought to keep my hand there as Dane wrangled one then the other and tucked them under me, trapping my arms beneath me. “No!”
Two more swats. The fourth might have broken something in my chest because it felt like I had really done something wrong and was being punished for it. I broke a lot of things in my life. I was never really punished for anything. I looked too sweet. I could just talk my way around it, out of it. Blame someone else.
The last two still stung like a bitch, but nothing hurt more than the realization that I was, in fact, being punished. Held accountable.
Tituss asked, sounding just as confused as his expression made him look, “Why are you crying?”
Dane pulled me up and situated my naked ass on his thigh. I sucked in a breath and refused to look at him. This…really hurt my feelings. Why? I…didn’t know. Didn’t really understand. He moved my hair, and I knew he could see more of my face that way. I tried to avoid his eyes, but he pulled at my chin and made me look at him. He said gently, “My son calls me dad. You will call me daddy. And before you get it all twisted up in there, it’s because I’ve decided whenever you see me on campus, you absolutely must call me daddy. It’ll bolster my ego, give the girls around here something to talk about. Agitate Cass anytime she’s within earshot, and you obviously don’t like it, so that is a bonus on its own.”
Dane was a dick. A big one. His personality matched the appendage. It was impressive. I wanted to slap him for doing this to me. For making me feel…wrong. Vulnerable.
I’d teach him. I sat there on his lap and listened to the rest of his speech so I could figure out what parts to use against him later.
He said, “You’re used to people bending to your will. All you had to do was get Popsicle back in the groove, and there he was, about to fuck you like the girl he dated in high school, not like the piece of ass we own.”
Tituss was falling back into that routine, and I was thrilled at the prospect of spending my time wrapped in his arms. He could get past the hurt if I could just get him back in that lust-crazed state we were in back in high school. He started out so cautious and reserved, but ended…well, it ended in a court of law…well, technically, it ended shortly after he came here for college.
Dane pulled me from thoughts I generally pushed aside anyway. He said, “You have no choices, Harpy. If you ever want either of us to actually please you…stop living in some delusional world where you can manipulate us, spread your thighs, and we will start doing your chores for you, punishing you with affection and multiple orgasms.”
What was wrong with that? It was in most of the books I read. That was exactly how the heroine was punished by her man or men. They forced her to have great sex like that was a hardship. He must have read the contemplation of my thoughts by my expression. He said, “Yeah, I read that shit. My ex was all about it. I didn’t understand what bratting was until I realized she was trying to get me fired up.”
That reminded me. “You have a son.”
I looked at him and didn’t know why it was bothering me, but it was. He nodded.
“With her?” I asked.
“Not with her brother.” Such a smart ass. He irritated me to no end with that.
“You lo—”
He pinched my lips together with his thumb and index finger. “I don’t fall in love with women. I love my family, my son. I care about my friends. I take care of what’s mine. If you are going to tell Cassidy it’s futile to think she can land a man by being a bunny, then get delusional and think you’ll be the exception to that rule…think again. This is a good place for you for the next three years. A solid income. A steady fuck. You’re the kind of girl who needs both, and we all know it. We are offering you a comfortable existence. I suggest you start enjoying that by behaving.”
I wanted to snarl, but another part of me was wondering if being what these two considered good would result in that multi-orgasmic, chore-doing reward system I always dreamed of. I looked at him, sniffed, wiped my cheek, and said, “Yes.” I gulped. “Daddy.”
He glared at me. Nodded. Game the fuck on. He wanted to be the daddy. Okay. Wanted me to call him that on campus. O-fucking-kay.
I slid off his lap and picked up the towel to wrap around me. I needed to go get my backpack.
It was late when I made it back to the dorm. I didn’t have classes tomorrow, but I did plan to study. I would normally work my work-study job, but after today, I was not holding onto that as a reserve option. If Sophomore House fired me, I would just go get a job at a coffee shop because I wouldn’t be here on a scholarship the next semester anyway. I was sure if they wanted me gone. They could pull funding. I was certain no one really knew who I was when they awarded that funding to me to begin with.
I thought about it. Or maybe the only reason I got those funds was because it was from Tituss’s family’s scholarship. I’d have to use student loans in addition to those grants if it came to that. I tried to be quiet and not disturb Cassidy. Didn’t work.
The light turned on next to her bed, and she sat up. She looked a complete and total wreck. I’d never seen her look worse, and I’d seen her after her surgery. I’d seen her when she had the flu. Maybe it was the handprints still making my ass sting that caused the admission of some slight hint of remorse for what I did to her in that room.
I said, “I tried to be quiet.”
“You always do.” She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs before putting her chin on her knees.
I didn’t know what to say. We weren’t friends and what happened solidified that in a whole new way. Still, when she spoke, I listened.
“Why didn’t you ever…say anything? I…didn’t know you heard or knew…any of that.” She looked at her perfectly painted toes.
“What was I supposed to say?” I asked and amended it with, “When we were little…I didn’t really understand what was going on. It was just words. Then as we got older, I realized what all those words were about.” I snorted a sound. “I was…”
The memory surfaced, and I gulped, turned away from her. No. I didn’t want to think about that.
“What?” she asked. “You were what, Harper? You destroyed me this afternoon. The least you can do is just once, be honest with me.”
