“But you’re going to find him a better face, right?” I gave Daddy a pleading look. The sticks on his face were okay, but if we wanted to make him pretty, he needed a real smile and better eyes. “Right, Daddy?”
“Yes, we’ll look for buttons or something inside that will work.” I thought about pouting to make him do it now, but as we went up to the porch, I started to realize how cold I was. Maybe Daddy was right.
“Stomp your feet off. We don’t need to track the snow inside.” As Daddy started to brush the snow off my head and coat, a rumbling noise came from the road.
The plow.
Somehow knowing we weren’t stuck anymore had my little side completely retreating back into my head. Forest must have seen something on my face because he smiled and tugged off my hat so he could hug me and kiss my head before moving us into the cabin.
“I’m pretty sure you told me yesterday that you weren’t going to chase me off. Have you changed your mind?” His voice was teasing and light as he started taking off my gloves and coat, but I wasn’t sure if that was just for my benefit or not.
“No, but you might’ve.” As the coat slipped off my arms, I forced myself to step back and look into his eyes even though all I wanted to do was hide against him. “I know being here with me wasn’t what you’d planned.”
Just because he’d adapted to the situation didn’t mean he’d want to stay. Sure, I knew he’d had fun being my Daddy for a few days, I wasn’t going to downplay that, but now things had changed. “The guy who does the driveway will be here in a few hours tops.”
We’d had the same old guy plowing the driveway since I could remember. It was one of the few expenses I’d never complained about.
“I might not have planned it out this way, but I wouldn’t change a second of it.” Forest tossed my coat to the floor, wrapping his arms around me as he kept his eyes locked with mine. “I will give you your privacy if that’s what you want, but you’re going to have to flat-out tell me to leave first because I have no intention of going anywhere.”
For some reason my throat seemed to tighten, but I swallowed past the lump to get the words out. “Because you like being my Daddy?”
He smiled. It was happy, but there was something tender behind it. “Because I like you. Period. No qualifications.”
Fuck.
I wished he’d meant that the way I wanted him to.
I knew it was wrong, but somewhere over the last few days, I found myself forgetting the reality of the situation. He wasn’t my boyfriend or lover…he was my temporary Daddy. I forced a smile. “Because I’m a fascinating friend.”
I’d been trying to lighten the mood, but Forest shook his head as that tender look turned more serious. Seconds passed by in complete silence as he stripped off his gloves and coat, watching me with those eyes that always seemed to see too much.
When his outerwear joined mine on the floor, he stepped closer and cupped my cheek. A shiver went through me. I told myself it was just a reaction to his cold fingers, but the way my heart clenched made it difficult to believe.
“Because you have grown up to be a beautiful man with a tender heart and an indomitable spirit. You refused to be crushed by the hand you were dealt. It could’ve made you angry and bitter, but the man standing before me is loving and searching to understand who he is.” Forest’s thumb stroked down my cheek, sending another shiver through me.
I couldn’t have pulled away even if I’d wanted to. It was like the world had stopped turning and we were the only two people left.
“You’ve made a wonderful life for yourself and I’m so impressed with your plans and everything you’ve accomplished.” He paused, looking deep into my eyes again before smiling and cupping my cheek with his hand.
As his fingers held me and he continued to speak, I found myself fighting back tears. “Your little side is sweet, but there’s a bit of teasing brat that comes out who just makes me want to smile.”
He just didn’t understand what he was doing to me.
When he kept going, I found myself pushing back a flood of emotion, but the dam was starting to break. “I know that when you finally fall for a Dom and submit, you’re going to be a devoted, passionate submissive who puts the man he loves before everything else.”
His questioning look said he was waiting for me to respond, but it was like everything was trapped inside me. How was I supposed to talk about a hypothetical Dom who’d never be as perfect as my Daddy when the man I loved was standing right in front of me?
Forest leaned in and kissed my forehead. “When you stormed out of your car the other day, it was like a two-by-four hit me right between the eyes. You were angry and sexy and so frustrated, all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around you and promise you everything would be alright.”
I couldn’t decide if my heart was ripping in two or finally starting to heal.
When he leaned in again and kissed my nose, everything narrowed down to that one moment. I didn’t know what to beg for or even how to hope for more. All I could do was send a plea to the universe who seemed to have forgotten me.
Please don’t let him break my heart.
“When you finally let me hold you and shared your secrets with me, I wanted to rail at the universe. I’d finally met someone absolutely perfect for me, but I knew you’d never see me that way. How could you with so much past between us?” The tender caress of his fingers was the only thing that kept me from shattering.
It couldn’t be real.
“But then you would give me these looks and there was the way you curled against me like I was the only thing in the world that mattered. I kept telling myself it was my imagination, but was it?” I knew there was a question, but I was too lost to find it.
Forest inched closer, his smile turning beautifully wicked. It was like he could see right through me. “Tell me that I’m wrong and I’ll walk away. We’ll go back to the way it was and I’ll never mention it again.”
But I couldn’t.
No matter what happened, I’d never be able to lie to him like that.
“I tried not to.” Stark honesty was all I could give him. “I knew right away there were too many things standing in the way for you to ever see me like that. But I just couldn’t walk away from you.”
Something fierce and powerful flashed through his eyes as he closed the final few inches between us. “I’m not sure I could have let you go.”
When his lips took mine there was a flash of panic. It couldn’t be real. I’d wake up in seconds and find myself tangled in the cold bed upstairs, alone and broken. But when his arms wrapped around me in that familiar embrace I’d come to crave, I knew it was real.
I shattered.
Tears streamed down my face as he deepened the tender kiss. I could almost feel his emotions pouring into me as everything shifted in that one touch. As his lips left mine, instead of pulling away he started sprinkling kisses over my wet cheeks. “It’s okay.”
His grip was almost painful as he held me close, showering me with love. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
Finally, he gave me one last gentle kiss and just held me, keeping me wonderfully trapped against him. I let my head rest against his shoulder, tucking my face against his neck. Giving in to the need that had been pushing at me for days, I kissed the long column and just inhaled his scent.