Chapter Sixteen

Not edited or proofread.

Axel

Novella threw up again when we got home, the car ride apparently making her nauseous all over again. I'd wanted her seeing Kyle on the outside for the first time in years to be an exciting experience for her, but I hadn't expected to her to spiral and then get sick. I hadn't thought that me asking her to stay in the office and relax while I went downstairs to get Kyle would make her think I was growing tired of her.

I could never grow tired of this beauty.

Reaching over, I ran my hand over her hair, my heart clenching in my chest when she nuzzled my palm in her sleep. Her arm, which was wrapped around my thigh, tightened, and she made a small noise. I paused, waiting to see if she would wake up, but she continued sleeping. I slowly removed my hand from her hair and focused back on my laptop so I could finish reading the email my attorney had sent me.

I typed out an email in response before setting my laptop aside. And good thing too because Novella chose that moment to wake up, her sleepy gray eyes meeting mine. I stroked my thumb over her soft, smooth cheek. "Hey, baby girl," I murmured. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she mumbled, leaning her face into my touch, her eyes fluttering shut again. She whined when I moved my hand and began to slide off the bed, reaching for me. "Daddy." She pouted at me. "Don't leave me."

Fuck, she was so pure.

I leaned down and scooped her up from the bed. She was wearing one of my white t-shirts and a pair of her pajama shorts, so all I had to do was carry her downstairs.

"I had the cook prepare some soup I can heat up for you. You need to eat, baby."

She groaned and wound her arms around my neck as I slipped out of our room and headed down the stairs. Kyle was sitting at the kitchen table with a plate of grilled chicken to the side of him, a bottle of water in front of him, and his tablet in front of him. He looked up, arching a brow when I stepped up to the table and pulled a chair out with my foot before settling Novella on it.

"How are you feeling?" Kyle asked her.

She shrugged. "Fine." She looked up at me. "Can I have a bottle of water, Daddy? My throat is really dry."

I pressed a kiss to her forehead before heading into the kitchen to get her some soup, crackers, and the bottle of water she requested.

"Gotten sick any more?" Kyle asked her.

"No," Novella said. I sighed, shooting her a disapproving look from the kitchen. Her cheeks colored, and she ducked her head, avoiding my gaze.

"She got sick when we got home," I told Kyle as I slid the bowl of soup into the microwave and pressed the thirty-second button four times.

Kyle sighed. "Novella, don't lie to me," Kyle told her, his voice dropping an octave in disapproval. "You know I don't like it when you lie."

She chewed on her bottom lip. "Well, I just..." She shrugged helplessly. He sighed and focused back on his tablet, scrolling through whatever Harlan had him reading. She fidgeted before sitting on her hands. "What are you reading?" she asked her older brother.

"Your shitty ex's file," Kyle told her, not looking up from the screen in front of him. "Real piece of shit, by the way, Novella."

Her cheeks colored. "He... He wasn't like that at first," she said softly. "And I didn't have many options, Kyle."

He grunted. I scowled at the back of his head as the microwave beeped. "Speak nicer to your sister, Kyle," I warned him. "I won't tolerate disrespect, not even from her own brother."

He merely grunted again. I drew in a deep, calming breath. If he had been anyone else but her brother, I'd have shoved the barrel of my gun into his mouth and reminded him who signed his fucking paychecks. But I knew if I threatened Kyle like that, Novella would never forgive me. And I didn't want to upset her like that.

Grabbing a spoon, I carried the soup over to the table, setting it in front of her. She grabbed the spoon from me with a thankful smile before digging in, moaning quietly as the first spoonful burst over her tongue. My cock stiffened a little, but I ignored it. She was in no condition to be fucked right now. I needed to make sure she wasn't still ill and could hold down the soup.

I grabbed her crackers and water, setting them both in front of her before taking a seat beside her and settling my palm on her thigh. Kyle flickered his eyes up from his screen, staring at me with eerie, blank eyes before focusing back on his tablet.

~*~*~

Novella wrung her hands in front of her as I slowly closed our bedroom door behind me and flipped the lock. "Get undressed, baby girl, and bend over the bed. You know better than to lie."

"But he—" she tried protesting, but I wasn't hearing it. There was absolutely no reason she needed to lie about being ill. I knew it was trauma from being with Dexter that made her lie about being sick to her brother, but she was safe here. And if she was ill, her brother—who was her fucking bodyguard—needed to know so he could properly take care of her if needed.

"He's your bodyguard, Novella." She flinched at my use of her name. Immediately, I cupped her neck and pressed a kiss to her forehead, letting my lips linger until she relaxed again. "He needs to know these things, baby."

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she whispered.

I stroked my hand down her back. "I know, baby girl. But it'll be a quick punishment; I promise. Then, I'll take care of you and fuck you soooo good, okay?"

Her breath hitched in her throat, and I felt her nipples harden against my upper abdomen. She nodded, and when I stepped back, she quickly stripped out of her clothes. After drawing in a shaky breath and slowly releasing it, she bent over the bed, gripping the comforter above her head. I rubbed my palm over the globes of her perky ass, and she shivered. When I brought my hand back and smacked if over her bottom, she squeaked, and the pale flesh of her ass turned red.

I did the same to her other cheek before going back and forth four more times. By the time the punishment was over, she softly crying into the blanket. I rolled her over to her back and stepped between her thighs, my cock straining against her zipper. When I slipped my fingers between her thighs, I was honestly surprised to find her so drenched for me.

"Fuck, baby," I growled, leaning over her to press our mouths together. Her tears tasted salty in our kiss. "You took your punishment so well—just like a perfect good girl." She moaned at my words, her hips arching off the bed. "And you're so fucking wet." I kissed her again, thrusting my tongue into her mouth as I used my free hand to free my cock. "You ready for Daddy's cock, baby girl?"

She nodded, reaching for my waist, her nails digging into my flesh hard enough to sting. My dick jerked in the air, brushing over her pussy lips. She softly whined, her eyelids fluttering. "Please, Daddy."

God, she was so sweet when she begged me like that.

I spread her thighs further apart, pressing them to the mattress, before I slid my cock inside of her. She groaned my name in that throaty, sexy as fuck way only she was capable of, her neck arching as her wet pussy wrapped around my aching cock.

"Fuuuuuck," I groaned, sliding deeper, unable to look away from the way her cunt gripped me. I slid one palm up her torso to grip her breast, and she gasped, pushing my hand away. I snapped my eyes up to hers, stilling immediately.

A blush stained her cheeks. "Sorry, Daddy. They're tender."

My restraint snapped, and I snarled, pushing the rest of the way inside of her. Gripping a handful of her hair, I tilted her head back and began licking, kissing, and sucking at the skin of her slender throat. "You might really be pregnant, baby. Fuck, you might be growing my baby right fucking now. I can't wait to see you round and swollen. I'm going to fuck you so goddamn good every single day as a reward."

She cried out, my words sending her tumbling over the edge. Her walls fluttered around my swollen length, and I growled, fucking her harder and faster, the bed frame jostling with every stroke of my cock into her warm body. Snarling her name, I spilled into her drenched core before kissing her, sliding my tongue along hers.

She clung to me, her heart hammering against my chest. "I love you, Daddy," she mumbled, sleep already tugging at her.

I nuzzled her cheek before pressing a kiss to the shell of her ear. "I love you, too, baby girl." I eased out of her body before gently lifting her into my arms and arranging her properly on the bed. "Go on to sleep. Daddy will clean you up."

"M'kay," she mumbled, her words heavily slurred with sleep. By the time I emerged from the bathroom with a warm, damp cloth, her lips were softly parted, and she was quietly snoring, oblivious to the world.

She was so fucking perfect.