10. Bella

Chase came over every evening that week after he got off work. He had brought takeout a couple of nights and cooked in her kitchen the others. It was something so simple, but it made her feel precious in a way she'd never felt before.

He'd also checked in with her throughout the day, texting to ask if she'd had lunch or sometimes to ask random questions like what her favorite color was or favorite dessert or what kind of stuff she liked to do in Little Space. It was easier to communicate through text, especially when they talked about age play stuff, and she shared more with him that way.

On Thursday night, he'd texted to let her know he was going to be working late but that he would stop by and tuck her in for bed. She'd insisted he didn't have to do that, but he told her he wanted to, so she didn't argue. Quite frankly, she liked seeing him. She liked him. He was a breath of fresh air and the way he took care of her was so sweet.

The only issue was that he hadn't made a move on her. She was starting to wonder if he wasn't interested in her like that. Maybe she was too Little for him and not sexy enough? Or maybe she just wasn't what he wanted. That thought sucked, but she would understand. She was damaged and needy and he was a prominent attorney. Even though she had money, thanks to her trust fund, she wasn't educated like he was or nearly as sophisticated.

She tried not to worry about it too much, but the thoughts kept creeping up and she wasn't sure what to do about them. Should she talk to him? Whenever she had talked to Jared about her feelings, he'd always turned them around on her and made himself the victim. Eventually she'd stopped sharing. Would that be the same with Chase? He was nothing like Jared, but she also hadn't seen him in anything other than casual situations. People changed when they got mad or felt blamed or cornered.

A knock at the door had her pulling out of her thoughts. It was just after seven, so Chase wasn't very much later than he usually was. Maybe he'd finished up early. Without checking the peephole, she opened the door. It wasn't Chase standing on her doorstep. It was Jared, and he looked pissed.

"You fucking whore," he slurred.

Shit. She tried to slam the door, but his hand stopped it and he shoved it open, causing the edge to hit her cheek. Stars and darkness surrounded her. She tried to blink the pain away while Jared stomped into her home.

"You think you can take away what's rightfully mine? I put up with you for years! Years! You bitch!" he shouted.

She started to panic as she held her hand to her throbbing cheek. Jared wasn't a nice drunk. He never had been. She just hadn't realized it until it was too late. Why had she been so stupid?

"You need to go." Her voice trembled and she hated how weak she sounded.

"I'm not fucking leaving until you agree to give me what I want," he said, his eyes narrowed. He stalked toward her.

There was no way in hell she would give up the trust fund her parents had left for her. They'd never liked Jared and had urged her to sign a prenup, but she'd been too blindly in love and had ignored them. Now they were gone, and she wasn't going to kick dirt on their graves by giving their hard-earned money to Jared.

His nostrils flared as he balled his hands into fists. With every step he took, she retreated until she came in contact with the hallway wall. She glanced to her right to see if she could make a run out of there but he had kicked the door shut when he'd walked in and she wasn't sure she'd be able to get it open before he caught her.

"Jared, get out," she tried again.

The anger in his eyes was terrifying. She could smell alcohol wafting through the air. How much had the man had to drink?

"I'm not going anywhere, Bellllla."

She hated the way he dragged her name out like that. He'd always done it when he was wasted.

If she wanted to escape Jared unharmed, she was going to have to make a run for it and hope he was too drunk to catch her. She glanced at the door again. Her phone was in the living room, but she could run to the neighbor and ask them to call 911.

After three deep breaths, she darted for the door and swung it open. Fiery pain burst over her scalp. He had a hold of her hair. As she let out a scream, she saw a flash of movement. The next thing she knew, she was free. The room spun as she sank to the floor. When she realized the screams in the room weren't coming from her, she focused her eyes. Chase was standing over Jared, beating the shit out of him.

"Chase!" she screamed.

His hand was fisted in Jared's shirt as he held him down, but he paused mid-punch and looked over at her.

"Go call 911, babygirl. Now."

When Chase slammed his fist into Jared's face again, she crawled into the living room. She was terrified. The emergency operator took her information and told her police officers were on their way. As soon as she hung up, she got back down on her hands and knees and crawled under the small dining room table.

It felt like forever before she heard sirens approach. Chase scooped her up from under the table. He wrapped her in his arms and held her to his chest, murmuring soft words into her hair.

"Daddy's here. I got you, baby. Shh."

She cried so much, she wasn't sure how she still had an ounce of fluid in her body by the time she stopped.

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

A police officer stood near them with a pad of paper in hand. Chase let her sit up but kept hold of her hips so she couldn't get off his lap.

"We need a statement. He's already been cuffed and is in the back of a squad car so once you tell us what happened, we'll take him to jail. It looks like you have quite the bruise forming on your cheek." The officer looked angry as he examined her face and took a couple of photos, but not nearly as angry as Chase.

Twenty minutes later, Chase closed the front door behind the police officers. Bella leaned back against the couch, her eyes drooping from exhaustion. It wasn't until she'd left Jared that she realized just how tired he'd made her feel all the time.

"Here, baby. I want you to put this on your cheek."

She opened her eyes to find the most handsome man she'd ever seen standing in front of her with a bag of frozen peas in his hand. Even though his knuckles were swollen and red, he didn't seem the least bit concerned with them. No, his focus was on her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He sank down to the couch and gently pressed the peas to her face as he glared at her. "Don't apologize for that asshole. You did nothing wrong. I'm proud of you for trying to get out of there. That took courage."

His body heat relaxed her, and she leaned into his side. "I just want this divorce to be over. I want him out of my life."

"Oh, it will be over tomorrow. I'm going to fucking bury him. And his lawyer," Chase said as he rose.

He lifted her with him. She sighed and snuggled against his chest. "Where are you taking me?"

"I'm getting you ready for bed."

Her lip popped out with a pout. "But I don't want to go to sleep."

Okay, maybe she wouldn't mind it, but she also wanted to see him. She'd missed him all day.

Instead of setting her on her bed, he carried her into the bathroom and set her down on the counter. "I never said you had to go to sleep. But right now, I so badly need to take care of you. If you don't want me to, I need you to tell me right now."

She stared into his gray eyes and practically swooned. If her cheek weren't throbbing, she would think she was in a dream or an alternate universe.

"I want you to take care of me," she finally whispered.

After a few seconds, he nodded. "If you need me to stop at any time, you say red and I stop. Understood?"

"Yes."

He turned away and started the bathtub, spending the next few minutes adjusting the temperature, plugging the drain, and dumping a lot of bubble bath into the water. She admired his ass every time he leaned down.

When he turned back to her and started lifting his shirt, she let out a gasp.

"I'm going to give you a bath. Afterward, I'm tucking you into bed while I make dinner and then you and I are snuggling up for a movie of your choice. If it's okay with you, I'd like to stay the night so I can keep an eye on you."

Wow. Just, wow. If her heart could have pounded out of her chest, she was pretty sure it would have.

"I only want to keep an eye on you, babygirl, I'm not expecting sex," he added.

Heat spread over her cheeks. "What if I want you to expect sex?"

She couldn't look him in the eye, but when he captured her chin in his hand, she was forced to meet his gaze.

"There is nothing more I'd like to do than spread you out on your bed, play with all your pretty little holes, and make you cry out my name all night long. And baby, I hope that happens soon. But tonight, I just want to take care of you. I won't have sex with you while you're injured."

Okay, her cheeks were definitely tomato red by now. Her pussy clenched, making her squirm. "Oh."

A slow, sexy smile spread on his face. "Yeah. ‘Oh.' I want to be your Daddy, Bella. But I don't want to do anything until your divorce is official. Then I hope you'll be mine and let me show you how you truly deserve to be treated by a Daddy who adores you."

"Oh." That was the only word she was capable of at that moment. He really wanted her. He wanted to do dirty, filthy, naughty things with her. God, she wanted that too. She wanted him to be her Daddy more than anything. They might have only known each other for a week but it felt as though their hearts had known each other for much longer.

"So for tonight, I'm going to bathe you, cuddle you, and sleep next to you. Then tomorrow I'm going to wipe the floor with that bastard. After that, you and I will talk about the next step for us. Okay?"

"Okay."