For all the lip she gave him, Nadine was a little bit afraid of her stepdad and always had been. It was a good kind of fear, though. Maybe some people would have called it respect. Whatever it was, she had it for him, and a lot of it. She didn’t listen to many people, but he was different. What he said was law. Her law.

He took her by the hand and led her into the master bedroom, locking the door behind them. She knew it wasn’t necessary, but there was something about it that was right. The secret would be locked up tight with them, right there together.

Nadine hadn’t seen him bare-chested in a long while, not since last summer when she’d watch him swim early laps in their pool, the water rippling over his broad shoulders. She never told him she was watching, but she fantasized about him all the time. Secretly, she’d been saving herself for this—hoping against hope that what she’d always imagined would, one day, come true. Now it was happening.

But she was petrified.

As if he could sense it, he took her into his arms and walked her backward until the mattress hit the backs of her knees. She let her cheek press against his cool chest hair and inhaled against him.

“I’ve got you. All you need to do is listen. Think you can do that for me, baby girl?”

Nadine looked up at him, blinking rapidly. “Yes.”

Marcus moved a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I would never hurt you. Not for the fucking world. I would protect you with my life. You have to know that.”

“I know.”

He raised her chin on his finger so her eyes met his, his palm firm against the side of her neck. “I’d fight the fucking world to keep you safe. But I need you to give me what’s mine.”

“Right now, you’re making me feel like you’re the one I need protection from. The way you’re looking at me.”

He let out this growl, this deep-in-his-chest roar. “I’ll keep you safe all fucking night.” Marcus scooped her up in his arms then, like a child, or a newlywed. He laid her down on his big king bed, making sure the pillows were under her head. For a long moment, he stood over her, trailing one finger down her breastbone and then down the thin fabric of her nightie. Over her belly button, down, down, down. He helped her sit up and pulled her nightie off over her head, carefully making sure he didn’t tangle her hair. “If it’s too much, that’s just fucking tough,” Marcus said and pulled down his boxers, thumbs to his waistband, letting them fall to the floor. His cock sprang free—massive, imposing, and far, far bigger than she’d imagined.

“Daddy,” she gasped, shocked. But then she saw him smiling, just a little gleam of his gorgeous smile in the moonlight.

He climbed on top of her, still smiling. “I was teasing you. If it’s too much, you just say so,” he said, serious this time. Dead serious. No teasing, no joking. “You hear me?”

Nadine nodded.

Marcus studied her and nodded slowly in return, but she could see his eyes narrow. “I need you to say the words, baby. I need to know you’ve got it.”

She swallowed, watching him stroke himself, as the tip of his cock pressed into her stomach. “If it’s too much, I’ll tell you.”

“Good girl.”

Those words did something to her. They made this tightness in her thighs, like a heat from deep in her bones. “I love when you say that.”

Marcus rocked back on his heels, blocking out the light from the window and plummeting her into his massive shadow. “Good, because I fucking love saying it.” He leaned down and took one of her nipples in his mouth, the roughness of his stubble scratching the tender skin underneath her breast. His hand moved down her body and then stopped at her belly button. On the barbell she’d gotten last week.

“What the fuck is this?”

Nadine thought, Uh-oh. “I was going to tell you.” She watched his eyes flash; she watched his jaw harden.

He turned it over in his fingers, spinning the rod in the still-tender piercing. “You didn’t ask my fucking permission for this.” He looked up her body into her eyes, his expression hard-set and stern.

“Sorry.”

“Say it.”

“Sorry, Daddy.”

His eyes moved back down to the piercing. “I’m not going to lie, though. It looks fucking sexy.” Then he lowered his mouth down to her stomach.

Nadine got up on her elbows, watching him play with the barbell, running his tongue over the edges. With one of his fingers, he pressed inside her again, and she dropped back onto the mattress. Marcus tugged at the barbell with his teeth but then let it go. “I’ll punish you for that later. But right now, I need to know something. Any of these boys ever make you come?”

“No,” Nadine said. “Never.”

“Have you done it to yourself?”

She thought she had—she’d touched herself plenty, and yet suddenly, she just wasn’t sure. She realized there was a lot, a whole lot, that she didn’t know at all. “Would I know?” He slid off of her and stood by the bed again, moving his fingertip to her clit, making her gasp. “I bet you’re beautiful when you’re coming, baby girl. I plan to see it, as many times as you can stand.” Then, as if she weighed nothing at all, he dragged her across the bed with his forearm under her knees. She felt like a rag doll, like a child, like a little girl again. He climbed on top of her again, this time the light from the streetlamp showing off the perfect rows of his abs. He stroked his cock some more, surprising her with how rough he was with himself.

“Can I touch you?”

He growled again. “Jesus Christ. Yeah. Go ahead.”

Slowly, she moved her hand under his massive balls. As she did it, he froze with his cock gripped tight in his fist. He bent his neck back so he was looking up at the ceiling, and she watched him bite his lip. With her other hand, she gripped his bare thigh, easily twice the size of hers.

After a moment, he positioned his cock right in front of her clit, and her body buckled underneath him. “Oh… Daddy…” Nadine closed her eyes and let her head fall to the side, pressing her cheek into the pillow.

“Are you always wet like this, baby girl?”

“No,” she said, almost panting. She was sure now that she was right—all that touching herself hadn’t been the real thing. This was the real thing.

“Fucking right, you’re not,” he said and then moved the tip of his cock down to her opening.

Nadine’s whole body stiffened with worry. “You’re sure it won’t hurt?”

Marcus pulled back from her opening, and Nadine let herself take a deep breath. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness completely, and she could see his eyes just as clearly as if he’d had the lights on. “I’m not going to lie. It might, a little bit,” he said, knitting his free hand into hers and pressing it back onto the mattress. “But I've got you.”

“Okay,” she said.

He nodded and began to press into her again. “Just so we’re crystal fucking clear, this is your first time, isn’t it?”

Nadine nodded, kissing the pad of his thumb as he ran it over her lips. He forced his thumb into her mouth a little farther, to make her suck on it.

Marcus pulled his thumb from her mouth. “Say it.”

“This is my first time. You’re my first.”

He pressed into her a little bit farther, and her breath got caught in her lungs again. “Just breathe, baby girl.”

Nadine listened to him and breathed through the pain. He kept a close eye on her, and when she began to relax, he pressed in deeper. Nadine held on tight, whimpering a little when another pinch caught up to her.

“You okay?” “Yes.”

“Fucking say it, Nadine,” Marcus said, and not politely either. “I need to know you’re with me.”

“I am.”

“Tell me you’re here.”

“I’m here.”

“Tell me you’re okay.”

“I’m okay.”

“Tell me you want it.”

“I want it,” Nadine answered, getting used to this rhythm, this command-and-answer that came so easily to him. But then she added, “I want it, and I need it.”

“Good girl,” he said, giving her that smile again. Nadine looked down at the two of them together, at her stepdad disappearing into her body. At the two of them becoming one.

And that’s when it started to hurt less and less and began to feel really, really good. “Oh my God,” she gasped into his chest.

He took a deep breath through his nose. “Fuck, you are so tight.”

“Is that okay?” Nadine asked, because she had no idea if that was good or not. No idea about any of this. “Am I…okay?”

She saw a kind of rage in his eyes. “You don’t fucking get it. You’re the only perfect thing in the world. You make me want to hurt you so badly, Nadine. You make me want to ruin you.”

He gave her a ruthless thrust that made her cry out involuntarily. This time, he didn’t ask if she was okay. He held her hand tighter and drove into her again.

“Just relax,” he said into her ear. “Don’t fight me.”

“I’m not, Daddy.”

“You are, and you don’t know it. Just relax into me. Let my cock take you where you need to go.”

Nadine willed her body to relax, to get used to the massive presence now inside her, making her feel full and stretched.

“There you go,” he said. “Exactly.”

“I just want to make you happy,” Nadine said. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted. You know that.”

“You’re so fucking effortless.” Marcus shook his head, as if in disbelief.

“I don’t know what…” Nadine said, trailing off as he thrust into her again.

“It means you’re fucking perfect, from the top of your head to the tips of your toes, from the inside of your pussy to that perfect fucking mouth of yours.”

Marcus moved one of his hands around behind her ass, gripping it tight, and adjusted the position of her hips.

“Oh God,” Nadine gasped, as a wave of something warm and unexpected spilled out of her.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck,” Marcus groaned, plunging into her and staying there, burying his head in the pillows and crushing her with the weight of his body. “You’re going to make me come. You know what just happened?”

Nadine shook her head against his chest. “No.” He pulled his face away from her. “I made you mine, that’s what.” Nadine let her thighs part a little wider and knew that the warmth had to be blood. Her blood. The blood that was her virginity, now all over the sheets, making their skin slick.

“You’re sure it’s okay?” Nadine asked, embarrassed by the dirtiness of it all. The shame of that, of her making a mess of things, horrified her. She tried to sit up; she tried to make it right. “Wait. Stop. Let me change the sheets. I’m sorry.”

“Fuck that. Don’t be ashamed,” he said softly into her ear. “This is the most beautiful thing in the world. Just fucking enjoy it. Just take it. Let me take care of you. Let me fuck you senseless. Let me have my way.” He began penetrating her even more deeply now, the barrier broken. “Tell me who you belong to.”

“You.”

“Say it the right fucking way.”

“I belong to you. I’m yours. All yours, Daddy.”

“There you go. Perfect.” He repositioned her hips, his hands so massive that his fingertips parted her ass cheeks and his thumbs dug into the knobs of her pelvis. He drew her body up slightly, making a curve of her spine, and then he lowered himself down into her, kissing her deeply, making her forget everything. Making her want more. So much more.

As he kissed her, Nadine relaxed into it. She let herself trust him, and that word kept coming back to her—effortless. It was so easy to be his. It was so beautiful to let go with him.

And let go she did. The world started to turn to glitter on the edges, twinkling and blinking as something began to happen inside her. It filled her with a peaceful warmth—like stepping into a hot shower on a chilly winter morning. It made her feel safe. It made her feel far away. It made her feel totally out of control. “Something’s happening, Daddy.”

“Let it happen. Give it to me,” he said, pounding into her again.

The walls of her pussy tightened around his cock, and the pulsing there echoed back in the glitter in her vision. Marcus came up into a pushup, watching her. “Ask my fucking permission.”

“For what…” Nadine whispered, feeling like she was in free fall on a roller coaster.

“To come. Say, ‘May I come, Daddy?’”

“May I…”

But it was too late. He was pulling the pleasure out of her. She made sounds that didn’t sound like her at all. A sob that turned into a gasp, a gasp that turned into a scream.

He held her tight, one forearm at the small of her back, keeping her close as she disappeared into him, around him, under him. It went on and on. It was heaven. It was angels in the sky. It was everything.

When she was able to open her eyes again, she saw him there, keeping a close watch over her. He drew his thumb down her lip and said, “Fucking told you you’d be beautiful when you came.”

Nadine nestled her face against his, wrapping her arms around him, letting herself fall and fall and fall. “I love you too, Daddy.”

Which released a whole new growl from her stepdad, a noise she’d never heard before. One that hardly sounded human at all.