Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Mmm."

Lyra kissed his neck again, loving his response to her while asleep. She hadn't had any more bad dreams after he'd made love to her. Lyra blushed at the things she'd asked him to do to her. Nothing seemed off the table, and the dirty talk was so arousing.

With only Boyd to compare things to, she already had figured out that Phoenix's heart and sex drive were more powerful than his biceps—and more effective.

She pushed Boyd out of her head. Hawking had escorted him off Danger Bluff property. Boyd already had her notice that she would no longer be using his services. She'd never known Boyd to be stupid. He would cut his losses and go on to Japan.

Daringly, she wiggled under the covers and pressed a kiss to her Daddy's tummy. She started to move a bit lower, but his hands hauled her back onto the pillow. "Hi, Daddy. I was just going to…"

"Good morning, Little girl. As much as I want to encourage you to play today, I have a meeting with the team in a half hour."

"That's no fun." She could feel her bottom lip pop out a bit.

"No pouting. I don't think you want me to call and tell them you have plans to lick my cock, do you?"

"No!" Lyra felt her face heat with embarrassment.

"I didn't think so. I'm going to take you up on that offer later."

"Really?" she asked.

"I cannot wait to feel your mouth wrapped around me, Lyra."

Phoenix reached forward to brush her hair out of her face. "I love you, Little girl. I love your sweet body, your Little side, your talent, and about four hundred other things."

"Four hundred things?" she echoed.

"At least. Like this spot that makes you shiver," he mentioned, leaning toward her to press his warm lips against her throat.

A zing of pleasure zipped through her body. Lyra felt herself responding just as he had mentioned. "You're good," she whispered.

"Thank you, Crash." He turned to get out of bed, exposing the other side of his face.

"Oh! What happened to your face? Did someone hit you?" Lyra sat up, disturbed by the sight of the black and blue bruise on his jawline.

"I took an uppercut to the face last night."

"Boyd didn't do that," she said, horrified.

"No, a Little girl who is now forbidden to watch scary movies did."

"Me?" Lyra felt like the breath was sucked out of her lungs at the thought of hurting her Daddy.

"I'm just teasing, Lyra. You didn't mean to hit me. You were in the middle of a very intense nightmare," he explained.

"That doesn't mean I get to punch you. I'm so sorry." She ran her hand over the discoloration and snatched it back when he winced.

"It's okay, Lyra. I'm tough. I can take it."

She just shook her head in disbelief that she had caused that. Phoenix leaned forward to kiss her. That did make her feel a bit better until he threw back the covers to expose another huge bruise on his upper thigh.

"Did I do that too?" Lyra started to reach forward to touch it and snatched her hand back. She didn't want to hurt him again.

"It's okay, Lyra. You didn't mean to practice your attack moves on me."

"I'm never watching a scary movie again as long as I live," she vowed.

"That might be best, but you need to forgive yourself, Little girl. I wouldn't have said anything about it because I knew you weren't attacking me. You were battling an epic monster in your dreams and got all wrapped up in your covers," Phoenix reassured her.

"I'm sorry, Daddy. I'll make it up to you."

"You already have, Little girl. Now, no worrying about it. I have to head to my meeting."

"They're all going to know I hit you," she wailed.

"They're going to all pitch in to buy you a Danger Bluff boxing title belt," he said as he stood up and walked to the dresser to search for underwear.

A picture of her wearing the huge golden belt that champions wore on TV popped into her mind, and she couldn't stop a snort of laughter.

"There's my girl. No worries. All laughter snorts," he directed as he stepped into work pants.

"Want Daddy to help you dress?" he asked a few minutes later as he walked out of the closet to pull on a Danger Bluff polo.

"I'm going to rest here for a while," she said, flopping back to the mattress.

"I'll set out some breakfast for you. Eat before you start practicing. I'll check on you later and will want to see your dirty bowl and empty juice glass in the sink," he said firmly, rounding the bed to tuck the covers under her chin.

"I can do my dishes," she protested.

"In the sink and dirty," he repeated, leaning forward to support his weight on his hands positioned on the mattress by her shoulders.

Unable to resist his stern look, Lyra nodded. "Yes, Daddy."

"Good girl. Close your eyes and rest a bit more. I'll set the alarm for nine so you can get up for your lesson with Jeremiah."

"Thanks, Daddy."

When his muscular butt and the rest of his hard body disappeared out the door, Lyra followed his directions. She heard him moving around the kitchen for a few minutes. Rolling over onto her tummy, she pulled Harry close and allowed herself to tumble back into sleep.

"That's quite the fight souvenir. Trouble in paradise?" Caesar asked as Phoenix walked into the conference room.

"Scary movies do not mix well with Little girl dreams. It took me a while to pull her out of the nightmare," Phoenix explained.

"Oh, we had those, too. Better erase the Littles' access to anything rated scary," Hawking suggested, looking at Magnus.

"Already done. Juniper clung to me all night long, wanting me to save her from the monster under the bed. We had to turn on all the lights three times to make sure one hadn't snuck in," Magnus shared, running his hand through his hair. He looked exhausted.

"I slept like a baby," Caesar said with a grin before sobering and adding, "I'd give up sleep for days to have my Little in my arms."

"Completely worth it," Phoenix agreed. "Don't worry. You're next, and I can't imagine Kingsley losing his touch now."

After taking a moment to pour himself a cup of coffee and snag a pastry, Phoenix looked around the table at the five men he now considered brothers. "I think we need to do a deep dive on Boyd Zhivers. I think there's a secondary reason he's attached himself to Lyra. Magnus, could you look at his bank records and see if there's a correlation between Lyra's travel and the deposits in his bank account."

"There is," their computer expert said. "I had the same thought. There's a one-day delay after the quartet arrives in a new city. Then, a chunk of money appears in his account. It's interesting to note that a huge amount was withdrawn yesterday."

"One day after they were supposed to arrive in Japan. What's going on?" Phoenix asked.

"Boyd hasn't left New Zealand yet," Hawking shared. "We escorted him off the property. However, it was obvious he doesn't plan to go away. I've distributed his photo to my staff."

"Thanks, Hawking. Other than meeting Jeremiah here in the conference room today, I think Lyra will be happy in our apartment practicing," Phoenix predicted.

"No way she'd cancel that?" Kestrel asked.

"No way. Being Little must come with a stubborn side," Phoenix guessed.

"I'd say," Rocco said with a grin.

Hawking, Magnus, and Kestrel nodded their agreement. Phoenix noted none of them looked a bit worried about that fact. They all loved their Littles—all facets of their personalities.

"Thank you all for keeping a watchful eye out for Lyra."

"Of course," Magnus said, adjusting his hat. "They're the most important people in all our lives. I'll do some more digging and see what I can come up with for why Boyd was making money and is now losing money. In the meantime, we have some Danger Bluff items we need to consider."

"What's up?" Kestrel asked.

Rocco cleared his throat. "I'll go first. The demand for rock climbing and nature hikes exceeds my ability to handle them. We need at least one more person to take over some of the guest's requests."

"I had to search for a family by air last week because they didn't return from their self-guided tour," Kestrel added. "I second that motion for new staff."

"Sadie needs more people in a variety of positions as well," Rocco added. He passed out a list of different areas where staffing was low.

"Do we have money to pay for more people in these areas?" Phoenix asked.

Magnus didn't hesitate to answer, "Yes. The revenue will support that."

"Looks like the Danger Bluff Resort is a success," Hawking said.

"I don't think Kingsley ever backs a losing proposition," Kestrel said.

A thought crossed Phoenix's mind. "Magnus, have you been gathering any information about our boss?"

"It's a slow process, and the pieces don't all fit together. It's like he's feeding me bits that he wants me to find," Magnus confirmed, shaking his head in frustration.

"He's good," Kestrel muttered. "I'm looking forward to learning his story."

The other men nodded before going to the next item on the list. Running the resort was a challenge that Phoenix hadn't thought he'd enjoy as much as he did. His impression was that the others felt the same way. What would everyone do after Caesar's token was redeemed? Would Kingsley give them the option to continue?

Phoenix knew what his answer would be. He wanted them all to stay together. He couldn't imagine Danger Bluff without the team.

"Hey, Phoenix. Are you with us? What do you think about adding snacks at the pool bar?" Rocco pulled him back into their conversation.

"I'll need to get some additional trash receptacles installed there. Having a couple of roaming servers during the busiest times would keep the mess away," he said, thinking quickly.

"Put that on our staffing list. We're going to have a lot of people streaming through the resort for interviews," Hawking said.

"I'll warn Sadie," Rocco volunteered.

Soon, they had all the items addressed and a plan in place. Phoenix loved working with ex-military people. They didn't waste time but handled things efficiently.

Standing, he saw Lyra peek into the conference room. "Come in, Crash. We're finished."

"Hi." Her brief hesitation when greeting him told Phoenix she had added "Daddy" in her mind. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kestrel open his mouth and snap it shut. Phoenix would thank him later for not commenting on the appropriateness of her nickname, considering the bruise on his jaw. The fellow Daddy must have realized Lyra was already beating herself up about hurting Phoenix.

"Let me get your cello moved in here," he offered.

"I can do it. I move it all the time."

"When I'm around, I get to help," Phoenix stated firmly.

"Thanks."

Soon, she lifted her cello from the hard industrial case and stationed herself in a chair from the table. She added another chair for Jeremiah a small distance from hers and one more to hold music if he brought something he wanted to work on.

Phoenix got one kiss before she tried to shoo him out of the conference room so she could warm up before the young boy arrived with his parents. "Be careful," he growled before leaving.

"Always, Daddy."