Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
He took the stairs up to the second level without even getting winded.
“Maybe. Not quite.” She scratched her cheek. “Is it annoying? Me acting like this? I’ll try to stop. I’m sorry. I’m just a bit out of sorts. I’m not usually this . . . this . . . cranky!” For some ridiculous reason she burst into tears.
She had no idea why.
It was like her emotions were just overflowing out of her. Everything was overwhelming. Suddenly, the light above them was too bright, her clothes were too scratchy, everything was too loud.
And yep, she was being ridiculous, but she couldn’t seem to stop.
“Fuck, Maeve. What is it? What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
“N-no. I’m so s-sorry. I’ll be better. I will.”
She was killing him.
Panic welled inside him at the sound of her heartbroken sobs. He had no idea what had set her off.
Juggling his hold on her, Gray opened the door to her room. He came to a stop just inside. Even if she hadn’t told him this was her room, he would have known.
The room was huge. It had large floor to ceiling windows flanking the massive four-poster bed.
The drapes were a purple velvet and she had a matching purple velvet comforter on the bed. In front of a large wall-mounted TV was a gold velvet sofa and several fluffy beanbags.
Across the other side of the room were two doors, one had to be the closet and the other was probably the bathroom. There were some clothes on the floor and a few things cluttered on the nightstand. A shelf held several items that appeared to be plaques or awards. But he didn’t have time to really look. Right now, he needed to get his girl calmed down before she made herself sick.
The last thing he noticed was an antique rocking chair. It had plush gold and purple cushions on it and a throw over the back.
“Maeve, baby, please stop crying.”
She was clinging to his shirt, her face buried against his chest as she completely soaked the material.
This was completely unacceptable.
His girl should never feel an ounce of upset or pain. Logically, he knew that was probably impossible. But in that moment, he felt like the worst Daddy in the world because he didn’t entirely understand why she was so upset, other than being tired and having experienced a lot of turmoil in the past few days.
Maybe that was it. Perhaps everything was catching up on her.
But what did he do to help her? He had no idea how to comfort her.
Yes, you do. Hold her. Maybe . . . secure her?
He’d seen a Daddy Dom do this once in the Littles play room at the club. She’d had a complete meltdown and he’d told Gray afterward that her emotions had just gotten too much and she’d needed to feel secure.
It might not work. Then again . . . maybe it would.
It was better than standing here and just holding her, while doing nothing.
Gray had never been good at doing nothing.
Grabbing the throw, he set it out as best he could on the bed, then he tried to lay her on it.
But she clung to him, letting out a frantic cry. “Don’t leave me. Don’t go!”
“Hush, girl,” he told her. His voice sounded far harsher than he’d intended. Fuck, he wished he knew how to do soft and gentle. Would she prefer her friends?
But no, he couldn’t let anyone else comfort her. Not even platonically. Nope. Not happening.
It was him or nothing.
Poor girl. She really did get the short end of the stick with him as her man and Daddy.
But she’d have to learn to deal. Or he’d need to learn how to be gentler, to be more in tune with her emotions.
He was guessing the latter, since he’d do anything for her. Any fucking thing.
He hadn’t been joking or exaggerating when he told her that he’d sacrifice the world for her.
“Baby, I’m not going anywhere. Never again. Remember what I said about not having any privacy? I meant it.”
Especially while they were here. Maybe security had been increased. Likely, her stalker wouldn’t try to harm her a third time. But he didn’t trust anyone else with her safety.
To him, the sooner they left, the better.
“I’m just going to let you go for a moment. So I can help you.”
She shook her head. Maybe he should have said something gentle to coax her. Should have given her the soft words she probably needed.
But Rome wasn’t built in a day.
“Girl, let me take care of you. Understand me?”
She stopped shaking her head and looked up at him in shock. But she didn’t protest as he laid her on the bed. Now, how to fucking wrap this thing up? He tried to remember how the other Daddy Dom had done it.