Sheriff Daddy (Montana Daddies Book 10) by Laylah Roberts (good book club books txt) 📗

“Shh, I’ll never break you. All I want to do is make you stronger. To make you see what I see. Someone fiercely courageous. Strong and beautiful.” He ran his thumb between her ass cheeks. “With a plump, gorgeous ass. I think I’ll need to inspect this ass often. I thought your pussy was going to be my addiction. Then it was your nipples. But now I think it might be this ass.” He pressed his thumb to her crinkled back hole and she moaned.

Yeah. Definitely an addiction.

Pulling his hand back, he slapped her ass. Fast. Not too heavy. Just a small punishment. A slight sting. Then he rubbed the heat in.

“Stand up, my girl. Slowly.” He took a step back, ready to catch hold of her if she showed any sign of dizziness.

But she managed to stand on her own.

“Turn to me.”

She turned. Her gaze was down, her breath coming in sharp pants.

“Look at me.”

Her gorgeous gaze reached his. And he gave her a smile of satisfaction. Approval filled his face. “Good. Now, remove your hands.”

She gulped but then her hands dropped away. His breath caught in his throat at the faded, jagged scar. Fuck, the idea of someone doing this to her. Hurting her. It killed him.

It made him murderous. He had to stifle the rage, though. For her. Because she needed him to be strong. Not to indulge in his own feelings.

That could come later. When he was in the gym and could take it out on the equipment.

“See, it’s ugly.” Her hand moved back to cover it up.

He dropped to his knees. She let out a sharp breath and tried to take a step back, but he grabbed hold of her hips.

“Put your hands in the small of your back.”

“Ed.”

He smacked her ass and gave her a firm look.

“Daddy, I don’t know if I can . . . “

He took pity on her. Poor girl. He could see that she wanted to obey him. Was at war with herself. But this was difficult, laying all of herself bare. He got it.

“Do you know what I see when I look at this scar?”

“Something ugly? Someone to be pitied?”

“No,” he growled. “You could never be ugly. No part of you. And I could never pity you. How could I pity someone who went through something horrific and came out the other end stronger?”

Her gaze was caught on his, her eyes filled with tears. “Really?”

“All I see is someone courageous. You have strength. I don’t know exactly what happened, but whatever it was, to leave you with a scar like this it had to be terrible. And look at you, you’re a fucking defender of justice. You take care of others. You fight for them as well as for yourself.”

“But I failed. I froze. I wasn’t able to go back to my job after being shot.”

“You don’t think most people would have problems after being shot? Especially with whatever happened in your past to give you that scar.”

Her hands slid away from the scar and he took in the old injury without a word.

“I had a stalker,” she whispered. “When I was sixteen.”

“Sixteen?” What the fuck?

“I’ve always been sheltered. After my father died when I was twelve, I ...” She sucked in a breath.

“I’m so sorry you lost him, baby.”

She gave him a pained smile. “Me too. He was an amazing man. The best father. My best friend, really. He gave me Squawkers. That’s why he has such a special meaning to me.”

He got it. “I never knew my father.”

“You didn’t?”

“No, he died in combat when I was just a baby. All I’ve got are a few photos of him and what my mother told me about him.”

“Oh no, I’m so sorry.”

She knelt then hugged him tight. He drew her up then sat on the floor with her on his lap.

“Your mom? Is she still . . .”

“She’s still alive.” He grinned. “She and Kiesha’s mom are on a long cruise together at the moment. It’s long overdue. But I get what it’s like to miss a parent.”

“I didn’t realize until after he was gone, that he’d also sheltered me a lot from my mother. She’s, umm, well, let’s say she’s kind of difficult. Nothing I ever did seemed to be right. I had to be perfect. All the time. She wanted to pull me out of school again, but my brothers convinced her to let me stay. But I became paranoid, introverted.”

“Shit, I’m sorry, my girl.”

“School wasn’t a lot better. But at least I was away from my mother for hours a day. Out of that house. But then I started getting these notes. I felt like I was being followed. I didn’t want to tell my mother because I knew she was looking for any excuse to yank me out of school. It would be playing into her fears.”

Fuck. She should have been able to tell her mother anything. His mother had always been there for him. Sure, he’d missed not having a father figure, but his mother had done everything possible to give him an amazing childhood. Even though they hadn’t had a lot of money, there had been plenty of love.

“Please tell me you had someone to tell.”

“For a start, I kept it to myself. A James doesn’t admit to being afraid.”

His poor girl.

“What happened?”

“It got worse. There were calls where I could hear someone breathing but no one would say anything. Notes left in my locker at school. Finally, I knew I couldn’t pretend it wasn’t happening anymore. Gareth, one of my brothers, knew something was wrong. He was at college, but he was home more often than the others. I confessed what was going on. He went nuts. And then he called the rest of them. And they all lost it. They came back home. They demanded to know it all. To see all the notes.”

“And your mother?”

“She didn’t want to believe it at