CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

SOLOMON

“I have a surprise for you at home.” 

Ari looked at me suspiciously out of the corner of her eye. She kept up the aloof, not-talking-to-Daddy-act when I picked her up from school, but I knew my baby girl wouldn’t be able to resist a surprise. 

“What is it?”

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”

She squirmed in her seat as we pulled away from the school. I knew it was eating at her and she was fighting her desire to stay mad at me. I just couldn’t wait to see her reaction when she saw Natalie was back. 

“Can I have a hint?” 

“You’re going to like it very much and call me the best Daddy in the world.” 

“That’s not a hint, Daddy!” She swung her legs back and forth anxiously.

“Yes, it is! Now you know it’s not gonna be dog poop in your shoes. Or a big pile of vegetables, or anything else you don’t like. That eliminates a lot of things.”

Ari stared out the car window as she continued to swing her legs back and forth, trying to think of questions to ask me that would give more information. 

I lost track of time getting all cozy with Natalie on the couch that I’d almost been late to pick her up. Time went by in a flash while I was with her and slowed to a crawl while she was gone. It felt she was gone for years rather than a few days. Now that she was back I couldn’t get enough time with her, and I knew Ari wouldn’t be able to either. 

I still felt worn out and deeply relaxed from our hot makeup sex and that incredible blowjob she gave me. I mean, holy fuck. If there was any upside to her awful time spent in captivity, it was that she got enough practice and technique down to make any man finish prematurely. 

She drew it out nice and long for me though and it made my orgasm feel that much more amazing. I knew it was to get me back for teasing her so much. 

I grinned to myself. We were like two sides of a coin. Polar opposites and yet so similar. Both of us slept with many people before although our experiences were vastly different. She was soft, warm and gentle. I was hard, cold, and ruthless. And here we were together, fitting each other like two puzzle pieces and burning up hot as if lit by a blowtorch. 

“Daddy!” A tiny fist was punching me in the arm. 

“Sorry, baby. What’d you say?” 

“I said, does my surprise fit in my Barbie house?”

“Nope. Your surprise is bigger than your Barbie house.” 

“Bigger?!” she squealed. 

“Yep!” 

“Is it a bigger Barbie house?” 

“Nope.” 

“Daddy, tell meeeee!”

 “We’re five minutes away from home. You’ll see it when we get there.”

“That’s too looooong!” 

“Hey, you know what though?” I looked over and pinched her cheek when we came to a stoplight. “I’m so happy you’re talking to me now. I really missed having conversations with you, baby girl.” 

Her angry glare made me burst into laughter as the light turned green. My girl was sweet, smart and already developing a hell of an attitude. She already had that swagger about her that nobody would want to mess with her. Still, I hoped the world wouldn’t be as cruel to her as it was to me and Natalie. 

When we pulled onto our street, she was already fiddling with her seatbelt buckle and the buttons of the door locks. 

“Hey, leave that stuff alone!” I scolded. “No unbuckling or opening the door until the car is completely stopped. I mean it.”

I pulled into the driveway and just put the car in park when she jumped out and ran for the front door. When I followed her inside closely behind, she spun around and faced me with wide eyes. 

“Where’s my surprise, Daddy? Where is it?!”

My heart froze for just a moment while my eyes darted around the house. Natalie was nowhere to be seen. 

Fuck, did something happen? Or… did she actually leave?

I exhaled the breath I was holding in relief when I heard the upstairs shower running. We had both gotten pretty sweaty from our romp on the couch. Thankfully there was no evidence of that lying around for Ari to ask questions. 

“Your surprise is taking a shower upstairs,” I replied, smiling at the confusion spreading across her face. 

“What?!” she placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head at me, a pose she must have seen on TV or somewhere. “What kind of surprise takes a shower?”

“You’ll see. Just be patient.” 

“Daddy, I can’t wait anymore!”

“Well then, pretend you’re not getting a surprise.” 

“DADDY!” 

Ari and I went back and forth for another minute or two until the bathroom door opened. We both stopped talking mid-sentence and looked up at the top of the stairs. 

Natalie emerged wearing cotton lounge pants and a tank top that did absolutely nothing to hide her delicious, pert nipples. She rubbed at her hair with a towel to dry it, obscuring her face for a moment before revealing her large, crystal blue eyes and heart-stopping smile. 

“Oh my gosh!” cried Ari at the top of her lungs and raced up the stairs. “Natalie! You’re back!” 

“Hey, Ari!” Natalie held her arms out and nearly fell backward as Ari tackled her with a hug. 

“I missed you so much!” Ari’s voice was muffled against Natalie’s towel on her shoulder. 

“I missed you too, sweetie.” Natalie continued down the stairs carefully with Ari clinging to her like a baby monkey. “Have you been good for your dad and Netta?” 

“Yes!” 

“Uh-huh,” I scoffed with a roll of my eyes. “When she was speaking to me, that is.” 

Ari twisted around in Natalie’s arms to look back at me, her eyes wide and her gap-toothed smile spreading across her face.

“Thank you so much, Daddy! You really did it! I knew you’d bring her back!”

“Uh...” I cleared my throat awkwardly, struggling to find the best way to tell the truth when Natalie saved my ass.

“That’s right, sweet girl,” she said, bouncing Ari on her hip. “Your daddy brought me back for you. He’ll do anything to make you happy.” 

She smiled and winked at me over the top of Ari’s head. My heart swelled like a balloon with relief and gratitude. Natalie was more perceptive, kind, and generous that I ever realized. The more I learned about her, the shittier I felt about sending her away. I wasn’t done making it up to her. I would make her feel wanted, needed, and loved in this house and erase any shadows of doubt she still had about me. 

When Ari settled down and detached herself from Natalie, she settled in front of the TV to watch one of her shows. Natalie began preparing dinner in the kitchen when I swiftly came up behind her, wrapping my hands around her slender waist and placing kisses on her neck. 

“You didn’t have to give me the credit for that,” I whispered in her ear. “But I appreciate it.” 

Her breath hitched in her chest and she leaned back toward me, gently pressing her ass and back against my torso and stirring my cock to stiffen again. 

“You’re her hero,” she whispered. “She looks up to you more than anyone else. I’d never want to take that away from her.” 

My heart felt like it would burst. I felt so moved, so touched, I couldn’t even speak. I could only cup her chin toward my mouth and kiss her. Hard. 

My mouth against hers told her everything I felt without words. I encircled my arm around her waist tighter as I whispered my feelings through my tongue against hers, my hand against her soft face, and my rock hard dick against her ass. 

She began moaning softly through our kisses, keeping quiet so as not to attract Ari’s attention, but those little noises just spurred me on to rub my cock harder between her soft, pillowy ass cheeks. I squeezed her firm nipples through the thin fabric of her tank top, making her whimper desperately into my mouth. 

She shook her little ass across my bulge, urging me on and making me moan too. 

“Ugh, fuck,” I growled with her earlobe between my teeth and took two firm handfuls of her ass. I could just pull her pants down, slide inside that tight, wet entrance and fuck her quietly here against the kitchen counter. 

But Ari would only need to stand up and look over the back of the couch to see us. Even for a dirty bastard like me, it would be far too risky. 

As if right on cue, we heard a small voice say, “Natalie?” 

We untangled from each other just as Ari’s head popped over the back of the couch to look into the kitchen. I quickly stood behind the island to hide my boner. 

“Yes, sweetie?” Natalie looked as casually as possible, crossing her arms across her breasts, although her cheeks and lips remained flushed.

“Can you read to me again? The book we didn’t get to finish?” 

“Of course! We’ll read before bed.” 

“Ahem, homework first,” I said.

“I know, Dad,” Ari answered, bringing back her sassy attitude. 

“Dinner’s almost ready,” Natalie said, turning back to the counter. “Go wash up, Ari.”

The moment Ari ran off to the bathroom, I came up behind Natalie again and covered her neck with kisses, holding her tight around her middle. 

“Mmm, you dirty old man,” she teased, wiggling away from me.

“Hey, I’m not that much older than you,” I protested, stealing one last kiss from her. 

“Oh?” Her eyebrows raised. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-seven.” 

“Really?” Her mouth dropped open in surprise. “You are awfully young to…” 

“Be a crime boss? Yeah, that’s true,” I said, a bit shortly. I was one of the youngest successful bosses in Northern California and I didn’t achieve my position without some sacrifices. But she didn’t need to know the details of that. 

“No. I mean, that wasn’t what I was thinking,” she stammered. “I meant you became a father pretty young, that’s all.”

“Yeah, that too,” I sighed. “It’s a bit of a wild story.” 

“I’m a good listener,” she offered with a heart melting smile.

Damn, why did she have to be so sweet? Being locked up like an animal didn’t seem to harden her heart at all. That kind of resilience amazed me. 

“I have an idea,” I said, massaging the back of her neck. “Let’s go out tomorrow. Just us two. We can have some wine, walk around downtown, and get to know each other properly.” 

“Are you sure?” she asked with surprise. “I thought you didn’t want to be targeted if I was seen outside of your house?”

“Fuck Antigua and fuck being afraid of him,” I spat. “You deserve better than to stay cooped up inside all the damn time.” I brushed my thumb against her lower lip which was still swollen and flushed from my kisses. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” 

The grin that broke out on her face was the largest I’d seen yet. I swore the happier she looked, the more beautiful she became. 

“Then it’s a date.”

She raised her lips to mine and I captured her kiss eagerly, never getting enough of her taste. When I broke away, it was just barely. 

“There’s one more thing I want to ask you,” I whispered against her mouth. 

“Yes?” she gazed up at me curiously. 

“Sleep in my bed tonight.”