Dancers make the best eavesdroppers, because we’re light on our feet. The three men in the living room don’t even hear me coming down the hallway, especially over the noisy television. They’re watching some survivalist reality show and nursing beers, frankly looking kind of uncomfortable with each other. Rex is lounged back in a leather easy chair, his two friends spaced out on the nearby couch.

My attention travels back to Rex and I have to cover my mouth so they won’t hear my dreamy sigh. Holy moly. He gets more irresistible every time I see him. In the old white T-shirt he’s wearing, I can finally see his tattoos. They rake down his arm in spikes and brushes of bluish green. The material of the shirt is thinner than his usual flannel, so I can see patterns of his chest hair underneath, more tattoos sneaking out over the neckline.

He doesn’t have a flat stomach or six-pack abs. Not like the girls in my dance school never stop talking about. No, he’s got a big barrel chest that drops to a real man’s waist. Thick but powerful. Sturdy. He’s a tank with thighs to match and they’re barely contained inside dark blue jeans.

As I watch, he lifts the bottle of beer to his lips, draining half of it with one gulp, the slide of his Adam’s apple making me ticklish between my thighs. I don’t even remember falling asleep after…after Rex used his mouth on me there. But God, how embarrassing. Seriously. Who just passes out on a table?

I didn’t even satisfy him.

My gaze drops to the bulge in Rex’s lap. Did he touch himself when I wasn’t awake to do it myself? If he did, I’m going to throw another tantrum. Throwing my fit in the kitchen felt…good, actually. I’ve always been polite and mild mannered, but there’s something about Rex that fills me with static energy. Makes me want to lash out and be a brat, just so he’ll take over. Take control of me. Touch me.

“All right,” Rex says, slapping a hand down on the arm of the chair. I fade further into the hallway, pressing my back against the wall. “Let’s get this shit over with so you can stop acting like a couple of scandalized church ladies. Say what you have to say.”

“She really your niece?” asks the skinny, red-headed man. “That’s some serious shit, Rex.”

“Step-niece. My new sister-in-law’s kid,” Rex answers in a grim voice, hoisting his beer bottle for another swig. “Met her for the first time a few days ago. By the time I knew we were related—”

“You’d already baited the trap,” says the second man, with a wise nod. “Hell, I’ve been there. Except mine was an undercover cop, not my niece.” He turns thoughtful. “Although, she was probably someone’s niece.”

“Jesus, Hank. Shut up,” Rex mutters, setting down his beer. “This is…different.”

“Bet her daddy won’t think so.”

“Don’t call him that, Rudy,” Rex snaps, sitting forward in his chair. “He’s her stepfather. They ain’t close enough for him to be called Daddy.”

Rudy and Hank mimic each other, holding up their hands in surrender.

“How is it different than my undercover cop situation?” Hank asks, after a long pause. “You’re not fitting to keep her, are you?”

“Can’t.” A muscle jumps in Rex’s cheek. “Can’t do that. I’m a salty bastard like you two. I couldn’t make her happy. And hell, you seen her. She’s too young, too beautiful. I spend those fall months crabbing. You don’t think someone will steal her out from under me while I’m gone?”

“She’s a peach, all right,” Hank drawls. “You’d have to worry about those young bucks sniffing around.”

Rex sends him a murderous look. “I can say it. You can’t.”

Hank just appears confused. “Which part?”

“All of it.”

Rudy leans forward with a sigh. “The argument is irrelevant. She’s his niece. This kind of shit breaks up a family.” He tips back his beer, finishes it and sets it on the floor. “People will think it’s unnatural. And they won’t mind telling you. Telling her. Hurting her feelings and whatnot.”

“Yeah.” Rex’s voice sounds raw. “Yeah, I can’t ruin her life before it’s barely started.” He shakes his head. “Man, you should see her dance. She’s going to be a star.”

“Tasted her cooking,” Hank says, patting his belly. “Good thing I’m not a young buck anymore, huh, Rex?”

“Last chance,” Rex growls. “Then you’re sleeping outside.”

Hank and Rudy dissolve into laughter.

I’m caught between floating on air and sinking into the ground. Rex talks about me to his friends like I’m important to him. Like I’m special. And there was something about his jealousy when Rudy brought up my stepfather. He’s her stepfather. They ain’t close enough for him to be called Daddy. A low, thrilling tremor moved through me, seeming to hit a target. What was that all about?

The conversation between the men fades and I glide back down the hallway, replaying Rex’s words in my head. I can’t ruin her life…I couldn’t make her happy. At least now I know what I’m up against. Now I know where to prod his armor.

Taking a deep breath, I open my bedroom door and slam it, before padding down the hallway, pretending to rub the sleep from my eyes. Rex tenses as I walk into the living room, his eyes narrowing on the hem of my nightshirt.

“Good…morning?” I laugh at my own joke, since no one seems inclined to do it for me. “Did everyone enjoy dinner?”

Hank chances a look at me, but whips back toward the television when Rex growls. “Best meal I’ve had in a good long while.”

Rudy nods. “Same here. Thanks, Clara.”

Rex shifts in his chair. “Left a plate for you on the stove.”

I twist my fingers in the bottom of my shirt and watch my uncle swallow hard. “I’m not really hungry…” I slide off toward the kitchen. “But those beers look nice. Maybe I’ll have one of those.”

Without waiting for the protest I know is coming, I speed walk into the kitchen, open the fridge and snag the closest bottle. After a short search, I find a bottle opener and spend way too much time figuring out how it works. Eventually, however, I get the beer open and waltz back into the living room, trying to hold the bottle like it’s one of thousands I’ve held in my lifetime.

The closer I come to the trio of men, though, the more it becomes obvious I have nowhere convenient to sit. Rudy and Hank are taking up the couch and Rex’s bulk leaves zero room in the recliner. Having no choice, I move toward the couch, intending to squeeze between Hank and Rudy—

“Get over here, girl.” Rex’s hard voice halts me in the middle of the living room. I turn to find him crooking a finger at me. “Now.”

The desire to throw a tantrum sneaks up on me, but not because I’m mad. I mean, don’t I want to sit on Uncle Rex’s lap? No, I want to throw a tantrum so he carries me off to bed and punishes me how he did earlier.

Why? So you can pass out again?

Oh, shut up.

With my chin raised, I reverse directions and return to Rex’s side. He pats his lap and—ignoring the thickening tension in the room—I ease over the arm and perch on his big, strong thigh, my body angled sideways so his chest meets my right shoulder. Rex clears his throat and sits up straighter, pulling an afghan off the top of the chair, laying it across my bare legs. Then he ignores me and watches the television. As if I don’t feel how much he likes having me in his lap. The proof is growing by the second, finding its way between my butt cheeks.

“You ain’t old enough to drink that beer,” he finally mutters, for my ears alone. “Considering my list of sins concerning you, though, I guess it don’t rate.”

Until he mentions the beer, I forget I’m even holding it, but I take a long pull now, refusing to grimace over the bitter taste. “Uh…yum.”

A laugh rumbles in his chest, making me want to snuggle closer. We’re not alone in the room, though, and I can feel Rudy and Hank’s interest from five feet away. So I lay my head on Uncle’s Rex’s shoulder and try to watch the television program, taking occasional sips from my beer. My limbs start to tingle when I’ve almost reached the bottom of the bottle…and that’s when things like Rex’s scent begin hitting me harder. Not just his soap and aftershave, though. No, the subtle flex of his thighs and the possessive hand he settles on my knee beneath the blanket.

Hoping to ease the sudden pooling of heat between my thighs, I drink the last drop and lean back to set the bottle on the floor. But just the act of arching my back on a stretch is decadent. There’s a delicious tug in my tummy. Rex’s eyes feast on my nipples which are more than visible through the nightshirt. And when I settle back onto his lap, his hand is higher on my thigh. High enough that I can feel the heat of his touch through my panties.

“Stop squirming,” he grunts in my ear. “Sit still.”

“I’m trying.”

Attempting to be subtle, I lean in and take a long whiff of his neck and his hand tightens—hard—on my leg. I think he’s going to admonish me for doing something so intimate in front of his friends, but that hand begins to massage and it melts me all over the place, turning me soft in places I’ve kept safe for Uncle Rex.

“I’d be more comfortable like this,” I whisper, turning beneath the blanket and straddling him. Fizzy bubbles pop in my blood courtesy of the beer, heightened by the most perfect contact in the world. Yes. I settle down on Rex’s huge erection with a roll of my hips and he curses, reaching up to turn off the lamp beside the easy chair. The only light left in the room comes from the television. The darkness might as well be permission to do whatever I want and the beer buzz only encourages me, our audience be damned.

“I eavesdropped,” I whisper in Rex’s ear. “I heard what you said. About boys stealing me away. About being too much of a bastard for me.” My tongue dances up the side of his neck and he stiffens. Except for his arm, which spreads the blanket higher. “But I told you, I’ve never liked boys my age. I-I didn’t even know what I wanted, until I saw you. I would be sad and miss you while you’re gone. I’d worry about you. But I would know how right we are and I’d wait. I’d wait years, let alone months. I have.”

“You say that now, Clara, but your mind could change. You’re too young to make decisions like this.” He pulls our hips tighter together, his voice a bare rasp. “Ahh, girl. Ones that could affect your whole life.”

“That’s why you have to make them with me.” I lock my mouth with his, keeping us hovering on the brink of a kiss. Then I reach down and undo his jeans, lowering the zipper slowly, determination simmering inside me. “You won’t let us make decisions that will hurt me. Or my feelings. I don’t know how I know this, but I do. You’re…you’re my…”

“I’m your Daddy,” he breathes against my mouth, his muscles expanding and hardening underneath me. “Ain’t I, little girl?”

It’s almost like flying, this mental cog twisting into place and launching me into the atmosphere. I’ve been missing something my whole life. A safe place, a protector. Even my birth father couldn’t give me those things. But this man does.

Uncle Rex.

Daddy.

There might be two other people in the room, but in this moment, there’s no one else on the planet but Rex and me. And I need him so bad, I’m gasping into the kiss he gives me, his hands delving into my panties to manhandle my bottom. It’s unrestrained, this kiss. Rex fingers my back entrance while sucking my tongue into his mouth and I can’t get enough. Can’t get enough. When Rex tugs away and lays a finger across my lips, tipping his head toward the couch, I turn and find both men have dozed off.

“You want to play, you need to stay quiet.”

I nod, prepared to agree to anything, as long as Rex keeps touching and kissing me. No, not just touching and kissing. I want it all. I want that final act that’s going to make me feel complete. That’s going to mark me as Rex’s forever.

I trail my fingers down his stomach and circle his length, sticking out my bottom lip. “Does this big part of you hurt, Daddy?”

His close-mouthed groan sounds like surrender. “Hurts like a motherfucker.”

“But…how do we make it stop hurting?”

Asking him these questions to which I already know the answer is as natural as breathing. Like I’ve been preparing for it all my life.

“Ain’t got a rubber on me, girl.” Sweat is beginning to appear on his forehead, his expression one of pain. “And goddamn. I just know I’d fuck you good and pregnant on the first try.”

My forehead wrinkles. “What’s a rubber, Daddy?”

Right in front of my eyes, Rex sails past his breaking point. I don’t have time to savor the victory, though, because his coarse hand wedges between my thighs, twisting and ripping the crotch of my panties. “Lord forgive me,” Rex grinds out, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. “Lord forgive me.”

I move further and further into a different version of myself as Rex positions his arousal where I’ve been begging him to put it. I’m still Clara, but now also I’m Rex’s little girl and I’ve never felt more at home in my skin.

“It’s so big, Daddy,” I whisper with wide eyes. “Do you have to hurt me to make your own hurt go away?”

“Sometimes, girl. Yes.” He shoves the first few inches of himself inside me, his mouth falling open against mine. Breathing heavy along with me. “There are times I won’t have a choice. Little pussies make Daddies angry sometimes, because we know we shouldn’t wreck ’em, but forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest. It’s just the way of the world.”

I shake my head, bite my lip. “I won’t tell.”

“That’s a good girl. That’s what’ll keep Daddy coming back for more. Just before you fall asleep in your pretty princess bed, Daddy might have to come in and get angry, but he’ll put your panties back on and give you nice kisses afterwards.” His hand finds my right butt cheek, gripping it hard. “Let me see how brave you are.”

Knowing I can’t make a sound, I bury my face in his neck and nod. The flesh of my right butt cheek is screaming from abuse and Uncle Rex uses that grip now to shove me all the way down on his steel flesh. Pain cuts through me like a dagger. He’s too huge, too thick, but instead of screaming those concerns, I only whimper into his neck. And I focus on him, because his reaction to being inside me eases the discomfort considerably.

“Jesus Christ almighty, that’s some tight cunt.” His head is thrown back against the chair, his mouth open wide, chest thundering up and down. There’s a pulsing, pulsing between my thighs and I realize it’s the veins in his big penis. “How the fuck am I supposed to get a ride without comin’ in two damn seconds?”

There’s some stirring behind me on the couch, but I ignore it and start to move my hips, instinctually trying to ease Rex’s misery. “Don’t you like me tight, Daddy?”

“Ahhh shit, girl. Daddy loves you tight. Means ain’t nobody come in this princess hole but me. And that’s the way it’s going to stay.” The rest of my pain fades away when Rex leans in and gives me a slow, loving kiss. His hands frame my hips, helping me climb to the head of his erection and wiggle back down. “You make Daddy so happy moving like that. Letting me rub you on the inside. Does it feel good?”

I gasp when my clit grazes his base and tingles move into my belly, tightening the muscles. “Y-yes.”

His smile is hard when he catches my jaw, tilting it up. “Yes, what?”

Excitement shivers down my back. “Yes, Daddy. It feels good.”

That hold on my jaw tightens just a touch. “And we don’t tell anyone what happens when we’re alone and Daddy takes your panties off, do we, girl?”

“No, Daddy. I promise.”

When I start to ride him faster, his eyelids droop, his hips rolling up to meet me, upper lip pulled up in a snarl. “I don’t want to have to tell everyone how you’ve been teasing me. Sitting on my lap and twirling those pigtails around your finger. Changing in your bedroom with the door open. Daddy had no choice.”

My thighs start to tremble on either side of his hips. “Sorry. I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, little girl,” he rasps. One big hand slides up under my nightshirt and cups my breast, squeezing it tight and pinching the nipple between two rough knuckles. “Having our nighttime secret is going to make it all better.”

The blanket covering me begins to slip off my shoulders, but I can’t tell Rex, because my vocal cords are no longer working. I can barely breathe. The orgasm is beginning to crumble me, starting deep in my belly and spreading to the insides of my thighs, my core. Mindlessly, I ride Rex harder and harder, finding that place where I can grind my clit side to side, up and back. Oh God. Oh Jesus.

“Now look at you, teasing little girl. You’re going to make Daddy breed you if you keep that up.” His hips are jerking in violent upthrusts now. Drives that rattle my teeth and make me dizzy, along with his words. Words that are wrong and right and everything I’ve fantasized about since I can remember. “Is that what you want? You want everyone to look at your swollen belly and know Daddy couldn’t take it anymore?”

I throw myself forward on Rex’s chest and sob into his shoulder, my climax picking me up and shaking me, rocking me to the very foundation. Rex’s big body tenses beneath me and begins to quake, low, animal groans in his throat. Hot spurts well up inside me, one after the other, Rex’s hands still guiding me up and back in relentless yanks, until hot stickiness begins to leak out where our bodies join. And it doesn’t stop. Rex has more to give me. He picks me up by the waist and bounces me up and down several times, his erection still spilling seed, his jaw clenched so tight I worry he’ll break it. Even though I’m replete, I continue to service him until he’s completely spent and he crooks his finger to bring me close, his arms folding around me in an embrace.

A safe one. The one I’ve been longing for.

Several minutes later, Rex wraps me in the blanket and carries me from the now-empty living room.