The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The First Collection Frost, J (good beach reads .TXT) 📖

are dim, but still hurt when I crack my eyes open. I blink until the pain goes away and focus on the people in the room. Logan stands over me, holding a carton of apple juice. When he sees me blinking up at him, he sits on the edge of the bed and rubs my back through the fuzzy while he has me drink the juice. Other than his soft directions to me, and his movements, there’s no sound or motion in the room. Mistress Maude and Master Javier sit in chairs turned toward the bed, while Master Ten stands behind them with his arms crossed over his chest.

They’re all watching me; none of them look happy. Did I do something wrong? Maybe they didn’t like me crying during my punishment. I tried to be quiet, but when Daddy flogged me and asked me those questions, I just couldn’t hold it in. Did I make them uncomfortable?

“Thank you for monitoring my punishment,” I offer, around sips of juice.

“You’re welcome, Emily,” Master Ten says. “Anything you need?”

“No, sir.”

“Logan.” He lifts his chin at Daddy. “We should talk in a day or two.”

“Sure. I’ll give you a call.” Logan returns the gesture, still rubbing my back, and Master Ten stalks out, pulling the door shut behind him.

“Is Master Ten mad about something?” I ask.

“I think the scene had too many feels for him,” Daddy responds, giving me a grin.

“Any scene with more words than screams has too much emotion for Ten,” Mistress Maude says. “Emily, how are you doing?”

I take stock of my body. I am sorer than I can ever remember being, and not just between my legs. My stomach muscles and calves feel like they’ve been beaten with a baseball bat. Even my toes hurt.

Despite the soreness, I feel floaty, and slightly disconnected. I’m not in shock or, at least, I don’t think I am. Maybe it’s just my mind trying to insulate me from the pain.

“I’m okay, ma’am. I just hope I don’t have to walk anywhere for a while.”

She smiles at me. “No, you don’t.”

“I want you to sleep now, little girl,” Daddy says. “When you wake up, if I’ve left already, tell Mistress Maude what you want for dinner. And if the pain gets to be more than a five, I want you to tell Maude just the way you’d tell me.”

“Or you could tell me,” Master Javier says. “Except that I’m clearly chopped liver.”

That makes me giggle, which makes my stomach muscles pull something awful. “Please, don’t make me laugh, Master Javier.”

“You do realize who you’re saying that to?” He grins. “As a sadist, I consider it my duty to tell you knock-knock jokes for the next hour.”

Ow-ow-ow, more giggles. “Please, please, no, Master Javier.”

“Sh,” Daddy says, rubbing my back more firmly. “No knock-knock jokes. Time for bowbies, little girl.”

“Yes, Daddy.” I settle as much as I can under my fuzzy. The bed’s a bondage bed, with an extra-firm mattress and PVC sheets. Great for scenes. Not so great to sleep on. But anything is better than having to get up and walk.

Warm lips brush my ear and I smile sleepily, letting my eyes drift closed. Mistress Maude says something to Logan, but I don’t try to follow their conversation. Daddy’s told me to go to sleep, so I do.

Chapter Sixteen Logan

I wait until Emily’s deeply asleep, her muscles slack, her breathing slow and even, before I set an alarm on my phone for an hour and curl around her.

“How are you holding up, Logan?” Maude asks, peering at me over the top of the half-moon glasses she’s taken out of her bag along with a silver hook and a quantity of thin, silky ribbon.

“Knackered,” I tell her truthfully. “And not in the mood for a knitting interrogation.”

“I’m crocheting, actually,” she says. “And he greatly exaggerates.”

She nods at the door, presumably indicating Javier, who just left to get his laptop.

“But if you were inclined to answer questions, I have one or two,” she says.

Uh-huh, here it comes.

“I might answer one before I fall asleep.” I yawn and not just for effect. Having to focus on Emily so intently throughout the scene, on top of the intense emotions of today, has wiped me out. “If you have other things to do between now and seven, don’t let me stop you. I’ll text you before I have to go.”

Maude sniffs. “Nonsense. You need looking after as much as Emily. You’re both exhausted, and I don’t mean physically.”

I check on my sleeping submissive and kiss the back of her head. “Ask your question.”

“When did you find out you might be the father of Miranda’s child?”

“On the cruise. Her loving husband sent me a copy of her medical record showing the removal of her IUD last September. He also threatened to kill the baby if he found out it was mine.”

“Charming.” Maude’s mouth purses. “I assume you’ve dealt with him?”

I shrug and tuck myself a little tighter around Emily. “As much as I can. I reported the threat to the police. They interviewed him and gave him a caution. That’s all they could do. He and Miranda have separated, and he’s filed for divorce. I hope he’s out of the picture, but unless I get custody, I won’t know for sure.”

Maude’s eyebrows shoot to her hairline. “You intend to try to get custody of the baby?”

“Uh-huh, if I’m the father. That’s why Miranda was here. She had a paternity test yesterday. We’ll know the results in about a week.”

“The way Miranda was looking at you when she was talking about the baby at dinner the other night, I assumed you already knew.”

“She told me she was certain it was Colin’s at first. Now she says she knows it’s mine. I’ve stopped believing anything she says.”

“Hence the paternity test,” Maude says. “And hence her attack on Emily.”

“Yeah.” I rub my hand up and down Emily’s arm. She mumbles in her sleep and snuggles back against my chest. Sweet girl.

“The