15. Daddy Kink

15

Daddy Kink

D ylan swung her arms as she marched up the path and painstakingly tackled the stairs up to the porch.

“What the hell is she wearing, Ma?”

Maeve waved him away. “We were gardening.”

Dark hair sprung about her little head like a curly halo as she struggled up the stairs, the height of each step half the length of her little legs. Her bright blue eyes darted around seeming to take in everything.

She was a sprite.

A mischievous pixie.

I was in love.

And I’d never wanted to run so far and so fast in all my life.

Stepping over the threshold, she stopped short when she saw Gabe. A smile bloomed and took over her round face as she slapped her hands onto her little hips, a tiny facsimile of her grandmother beside me.

“Well, hey there, Daddy!”

Gabe grinned at her and held out his arms. “Well, hey there, Dilly-bar!”

With a delighted laugh, she ran as fast as her stubby toddler legs could manage and launched herself into his arms.

Gabe tossed her up in the air then hugged her close as she threw back her head and laughed.

I stood gaping.

Gabe’s gaze, soft and warm on his daughter, eviscerated my heart. His muscled, tattooed arms, the same arms that had just pinned me forcibly to the door, cradling her so tenderly it stole my breath and imprinted on my soul.

I startled at the sound of Maeve’s voice close beside me.

“Aren’t they beautiful?”

I glanced at her quickly.

She grinned at me, knowing.

I laughed and reached for her hand. “You haven’t changed.”

She gripped me tightly. “You’re as lovely as ever.” Her eyes searched mine, flashing with something I couldn’t identify. “I hope they’ll make you happy.”

I blinked in surprise, stuttering as I attempted to reply.

She lifted my hand and patted it with her other one. “I’m glad you’re back.”

Dylan’s next words stole my attention. “Who dat lady?”

“That’s Shae,” Gabe replied before turning toward me. “Hey, Shae-baby.” Gabe grinned at me as he set his squirming daughter on her feet. “This is Dilly-Bar.”

Dylan’s big blues rose to meet mine. She pointed to her own chest, correcting, “I Dylan. Dy. Lan,” she stressed each syllable.

“Hi Dylan.” I smiled down at her.

She grinned, in that moment the very spitting image of her father. “Hey there, Shibaby.”

Gabe guffawed while Maeve chuckled and clapped her hands together with delight beside me.

Dylan tilted her head, looking back and forth between her dad and her grandma, not getting the joke but laughing anyway. This only made all of us laugh harder. Ascertaining she was the cause of the merriment made her stand a little straighter and smile a little wider.

She held her hand out for mine. “You want to play with me and mine Daddy?”

“Well, she was planning on playing with Daddy before you showed up,” Gabe joked drily.

“Oh my God, Gabe,” I muttered.

“Dylan play too.”

Maeve swatted Gabe. “Behave.”

“That was not the goal, Ma,” he mock complained.

“Daddy bad, Grammy?”

Maeve smiled at Dylan and shook her head. “Your daddy is the best.”

“The best,” Dylan echoed. “My daddy the best, Shibaby. You wanna play with me and mine best daddy?”

“I’d love to play with you and your best daddy,” I agreed.

Gabe groaned while his mom coughed to cover her laughter.

Giving me a kiss on the cheek, she teased, “You just ruined Gabe’s day.”

Maeve left, and we took Dylan and her favorite doll, a Barbie who had seen better days, to the park.

Gabe slid Dylan into one baby swing, then carefully sat her doll in the one beside her and pushed them both.

My heart waved the white flag.

We ate dinner, read stories, and he begged me to wait for him while he put her to bed. Well, begged was stretching it, but his arguments were convincing.

Twenty minutes later, rubbing a rough hand through his messy black hair, he plodded back down the hall.

Flopping down beside me on the couch, he looked tired. “That should be her down for the night.”

Smiling, I traced the tattoos covering his forearm, and teased, “I think I’ve developed a daddy kink. Can I call you daddy?”

His eyes danced as his mouth twisted to the side. “Are you prepared to get spanked?”

Spanked?

I cocked my head to the side.

He chuckled darkly. “Hm, so it’s like that, is it?”

Laughter bubbled up in my chest. “Gabe,” I admonished. “I was always the good girl to your bad boy.”

Something that looked suspiciously like hurt flickered in his eyes. I barely caught it before he dropped his mask back in place. I hated that.

“What—”

He moved closer, pressing me into the back of the couch. Smirking, he brushed my hair back from my face. “Are you going to be a good girl for me now?”

I smiled, slow and sexy. “I’m going to be such a good girl for you.”

Snaking his hand into the hair at the back of my neck, he held me tight as he dipped his mouth to mine. “You’re not good, Shae. You’re perfect.”

His lips had barely met mine when little feet padded back down the hallway.

“Well, hey there, Daddy!”

I giggled into his mouth as he groaned and dropped his forehead, bouncing it oh so lightly against mine.

Dylan stopped when she saw me, tilting her head to the side and offering me a smile. “Hey there, Shibaby!”

I began to laugh. “I’m going to head home and let you put your baby girl to bed.”

Dylan’s brow lowered. “I not a baby,” she protested, digging her tiny forefinger into her chest. “I a big lady. I a big mommy.” She looked at me, her big blue eyes wide and earnest. “Want to see mine babies?”

“I do,” I admitted, utterly enchanted despite the ache.

“How about Shae-baby helps you and Daddy put all your babies to bed and then you can go to sleep and keep them company so they’re not scared?”

She shook her head, her big blue eyes heavy with fatigue, and countered, “I not tired.”

“Are your babies tired?” Gabe challenged, holding out his hand.

She slipped her tiny hand in his and allowed him to lead her down the hallway. “Them tired, not me.”

My heart caught in my throat.

What I would have done to have had that for myself.

In a perfect world, to have been the one to give that to him.

He looked for me over his shoulder.

His smile faded just as I slapped mine back on my face.

“You okay?”

I cleared my throat. “I’m good.”

He grinned though his eyes remained watchful. “Well, come on, then. May as well witness me at my most masculine.”

Never in all of my life had I seen any man as strong, sexy, and viral as Gabe when he painstakingly tucked tiny blankets over a selection of baby dolls, teddy bears, and that over-mauled, bedraggled, Barbie.

For just a moment, I imagined I could slip into their lives, fill the place so obviously empty in their home. And maybe they could fill the hollow ache in my heart.

Was it possible?

I stepped away.

It was too soon.

Walking forward briskly, I hunkered down on my haunches and smiled at Dylan. “I’m going to go home to my bed, too.”

She cocked her little head to the side. “You tired?”

“Very tired. Sleep well, Dylan,” I said softly, daring to reach out my hand and brush a curl off her forehead. “May the dreams you hold dearest be those which come true.”

Nan’s words came unbidden, but sincere.

I wished her every dream come true.