I throw an arm over my eyes to block the morning light.

Christ, I feel fucking great. There’s my first clue that I’m not in my bunk out on the boat. My chest is light, my cock is hard…I’m actually glad it’s morning. There’s something to look forward to. A weight falls from the ceiling and lands on my gut.

No, not something. Someone.

Clara.

I jackknife in bed, my gaze falling to the empty spot beside me in the bed. Where is she? Where’s my little girl? I almost roar the question to the cabin in general, because I need a goddamn answer right now. She slept in my arms all night, her adorable tush tucked up against my junk. Man, she sleeps like the dead. When I carried her into my bedroom—instead of the guest room she claimed yesterday—she was already sawing ladylike logs, her head lolling against my shoulder.

The privilege of laying her down on my bed and cleaning the virgin blood off her inner thighs turned me into a possessive motherfucker. I knew she wasn’t in danger last night, but I still stayed awake until the wee hours, waiting to slaughter anyone who posed her danger. This is it. We opened the door last night and I can’t close it now.

She’s mine. She’s mine and she’s not in this bed. Therefore, I’m pissed. Rudy and Hank don’t have a death wish, so they won’t lay a finger on her. But I know too well how Clara likes to dress. And if I’m not there to make sure they keep their eyes to themselves, they’re going to see too much of what’s mine.

Not to mention, I’ve got a hard-on here that needs attention. I could visualize Clara riding me hell bent for leather—the way she did last night—and give myself a quick jerk job. I experienced the best last night, though, and I’ll never be satisfied with anything but my niece’s pussy until the day I die.

“Clara.” I throw my legs over the side of the bed and pull on my jeans. “Where you at, girl?”

Not getting an answer, I stomp from the room without bothering with a shirt. There’s no one in the living room, but I hear water running in the kitchen, so I head in that direction. When I walk inside, there’s no Clara, though. Only my two friends, who are back to looking like outraged church ladies. Not surprising, considering I fucked my niece in front of them last night. But hell, once she called me Daddy, there was no stopping. Not having claimed her virginity was driving me insane. Couldn’t even take the extra minutes of waiting to get her somewhere private. It had to be now, now, now.

I clear my throat. “Where is she?”

“Good morning to you, too,” Hank blusters.

Rudy pours a cup of coffee, taking his time adding sugar and milk. “She went for a walk.”

“A walk?” I bellow. “Alone? Where?”

“She’s only been gone about ten minutes,” Hank says, leaning back against the counter. “Let the girl enjoy some nature.”

“Hell, she’s already caught herself a bear,” Rudy drawls.

My asshole friends high five each other.

I snatch up the communal set of cabin keys. “Which direction did she head? If something happens to her, you’re both dead.”

“Said she wanted to see the lake.”

Lake? Jesus, she could drown. Or get bitten by something. Or trip over a tree branch and cut herself. Don’t these idiots know Clara has balance issues?

No, they don’t. And that’s the only thing that stops me from shutting their lights out. It would waste time, anyway, and I need to find my little girl. Still not bothering with a shirt—or shoes—I stomp from the cabin and head toward the lake. It’s not far, but during the five-minute walk, I picture every bad thing on the planet happening to her. She could be in pain and calling for me—

What I see instead when I reach the lake turns my vision dark, bloody red.

Clara is knee deep in the lake, wearing nothing but a yellow bikini. A tiny scrap of one that’s already gotten wet, clinging to her pussy and tits like a second skin.

Two young men in their early twenties wade in her direction, outfitted in fishing gear. I don’t know what the hell passes for handsome, but they sure as shit ain’t as ugly as me.

“Hey there. You lost?”

“No,” Clara says, backing away. “I’m staying with my uncle and his friends. They’re on the way here to meet me.”

“That so? Well, we’ve got our own cabin over yonder. It’s real nice,” says one of the boys, taking off his hat and letting it smack against his thigh. “Why don’t you come with us and hang out?”

“Can’t have enough friends, can you?” says the other, smiling a little too brightly, like a toothpaste commercial actor. “I’m sure your uncle won’t mind.”

There isn’t a chance I’m letting Clara go off with these boys, but there’s a part of me that wants to see her make that decision. Needs to know she’ll choose me.

“You better get out of here before my uncle shows up. He won’t like other men talking to me.” She lifts her chin. “I don’t like it, either.”

The young men exchange a look that turns my stomach and they begin wading toward Clara again. “Come on, now,” says one of them. “You’re not being very friendly. We just want to make nice.”

I’ve heard enough. The blood in my veins is boiling, a roar pressing against the insides of my throat. Hands in fists, I storm the water and let loose a sound that carries clear across the lake, echoing off the mountains. The boys drop their poles and try to run, but I reach them in three quick lunges, catching them both by the collars and slamming their heads together. Taking advantage of their dizziness, I spin the first one around and cold cock him once, twice, letting him drop into the water. The second guy throws a right hook at me, but it’s like getting tapped by a fly swatter. He attempts to escape when I barely register his punch, but I don’t allow it. Oh no. I saw the way he looked at my niece and he’s going to pay.

One shot puts his lights out. His friend, who is only somewhat coherent, drags the man toward the shore. I start to follow, intending to inflict more harm, but Clara steps in front of me. “Don’t. Please.” Tears run down her cheeks. “Just hold me.”

My hands close around her shoulders and I give her a good shake. “I should paddle your ass, girl,” I grit out. “Where the fuck are your clothes?”

She chews her lip. “I was coming for a swim.” Her gaze moves lower to my chest and stomach, followed by a quick intake of air. “You’re not wearing a shirt.”

“So what?”

“I haven’t seen all the h-hair and tattoos before.” Under my watch, her nipples turn to little points inside the triangles of her bikini top, her eyes glazing over. “Y-you…I-I…like the way you look.”

My dick grows swollen behind my fly. Somewhere deep down, I expected her to find me an ugly bastard below the neck. I’ve got anchors and treasure maps and ship masts inked all over me, but half of them aren’t visible, thanks to the pelt of black hair on my arms and chest. She actually likes this? More than she likes the look of those two kids her own age? I shake myself. “Stop trying to distract me, Clara. You’re in trouble.”

“I know.”

“They were fittin’ to carry you off somewhere, goddammit.”

Her lower lips starts to wobble. “You have a cut under your eye.” She takes me by the hand and tugs until I follow her out of the water, my anger turning black at seeing how little of her ass is covered by the bikini bottoms. When we reach the shore, she goes down to her knees in the spot she left her backpack. She unzips the front pocket and pulls out a box of Band-Aids. I throw a glance across the lake to make sure the young men are long gone, and when I return my attention to Clara, I notice something. She’s holding the box right in front of her face, nose winkled, eyes squinted as she tries to find the opening.

“Clara.”

“Sorry, it’s so hard to find the little flap…”

I take the box out of Clara’s hands and pull her to her feet. “Answer me something.” She nods and waits as I take a few paces backwards, holding up the Band-Aids. “Read the red words near the bottom.”

She squints for a second, a pout playing around her mouth. “I can’t.”

When I see my brother and sister-in-law, I’m going to tell them they’re a couple pieces of shit. Seriously, how did they miss something this obvious while living with her every day? “You need glasses, girl. That’s why you’ve been falling down all over the damn place.”

Pink appears in her cheeks. “But…really? You think so?”

“We’ll go see the eye doctor today.” I toss the box toward her backpack, then pin her with a look. “This don’t mean you’re not in trouble.”

My leftover rage drains right out of me when Clara launches herself at me, wrapping her arms tight around my waist. “Thank you, Uncle Rex.”

With a grunt, I pull her closer, wondering how long the squeeze in my chest can last without killing me. “You want to go for a swim, you bring me with you next time. Men see a sweet thing barely clothed and alone, they don’t care that you belong to someone else. They just want to take.”

Her head comes up, face full of hope. “I wasn’t sure if you’d still feel the same in the morning. That’s why I came out here alone. I was worried.” She slides her fingers into my chest hair. “But…you said I belong to you.”

“That’s right. Meant it.” I widen my stance and tug her hips up against mine. Groaning when she writhes on my fuck-ready cock. “I tried to do the right thing. But the wrong thing feels too goddamn good.”

“It’s not wrong,” she murmurs, giving me big, earnest doe eyes. “Your friends know about us and they’re still your friends, aren’t they? Some people might have a problem with us, but we probably wouldn’t have liked those idiots, anyway.”

A laugh rumbles out of my chest, surprising me. “You’re a fierce little thing when you want something, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only ever wanted you this much,” she says, pulling me down for a slow kiss.

About two seconds of her sugar tongue and I’m ready to bang her doggy style, right here on the shore, but I sense her holding back. “What’s going on in your gorgeous head?”

She drops back on her heels. “I, um…will you tell me what happened between you and my stepdad?” A frown draws her eyebrows together. “He said you blacken everything and I know you believe that. That you’ll blacken me. I want to know what happened so I can tell you it’s all nonsense.”

Can I tell her? I haven’t told anyone about my past. Never even considered it. Why would I volunteer the information that I’m the family bastard? With Clara’s encouraging touch and maybe a deep-seated need to be free of the secret, though, I find myself telling her. “My mother had a one-night stand and got pregnant with me—and it happened while she was married. She decided to go through with raising me, even though her husband didn’t want the reminder of what she’d done. How she’d betrayed him. Later, they had a second child. Their child. That child is your stepfather now.”

I shrug off the years of disgust being leveled in my direction, every time I left my small room in the cellar. Instead I focus on Clara’s sympathetic eyes, her hands as they stroke up and down my chest.

“I got a job when I turned thirteen and tried to pay my way, but…I think my mother regretted keeping me. I was always that elephant in the room and her husband never stopped being bitter. I…did blacken everything in their world.”

“No, Rex.” Her outage is so cute—so welcome and unexpected—my throat begins to ache. “How dare they blame a child? They should have known the betrayal was theirs and never held it against you.” She sputters a little bit. “They’re the ones that blackened everything. You…you make everything brighter for me. That’s how I know they were wrong and this is right.”

I cap off her final word with my mouth, letting her taste how much I need her. How much I appreciate her. God, what has my life been up until this point? What was I living for until Clara? “Starting tomorrow,” I growl, fisting her hair and tugging it back. “You stay in bed until I’ve given you a morning fuck. My cock is all worked up and nasty now. It don’t like waiting for a helping of little girl pussy.”

Her eyelids flutter. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”

“Show me how sorry.”

I don’t even have to direct Clara to her knees, she just drops like a stone, her fingers eager on my fly. Didn’t bother putting on briefs this morning, so she’s on my cock within seconds, pumping it in and out of her mouth. Whimpering around it. Savoring it. Her eyes are on me the whole time, looking for approval and I give it, grunting and stroking her hair, tucking it behind her ears.

“You taste the nasty, don’t you? Yeah. Lick it off. You love it. You love having Daddy panting after that ass. Makes your little cunt wet, doesn’t it?”

She nods her head, choking when I hit the back of her throat and push deeper, deeper—until she’s just beginning to panic—before pulling out.

“Get on your back, little girl.”

I stand above Clara, stroking my dick as she lies down on the wet earth, her dark hair fanning in all directions around her. Fuck, she’s flushed and beautiful. Hot as goddamn fire, too, with that yellow material cupping all my favorite parts. “Should I leave my bathing suit on, Daddy?”

“Yeah,” I grit out, going down to my knees in between her splayed legs. “Want to watch those tits bounce around in your top. Just like when Daddy used to bounce you on his knee, only this time I’m going to have my cock right where it’s meant to be.”

Last night, I knew my instinct about Clara needing this kind of relationship was dead on, but watching her thrive in it makes me proud. I gave this to her. I gave her what she needed. Her back arches as I speak the filth we both know is fantasy. For us, though, it’s a touch closer to real. Something we both hunger for.

“This is a punishment fuck.” I wrench the bathing suit bottoms down her legs, throwing them over my shoulder. “You’re going to walk bowlegged back to the cabin, girl. And if I see so much as a pout over it, you’ll lie back down wherever we’re standing and you’ll get another lesson.”

She shakes her head. “I won’t pout, Daddy.”

I wedge the head of my cock inside her tight entrance, then fall flush with her soft body, thrusting the rest of my inches into her slippery passage, letting loose a shout at the perfection of it. “Shit.” I pound the earth with a fist. “Ain’t ready for a man yet, but you sure do try for Daddy.”

Her knees lift and spread, opening her up just right. “Does that mean I’m a good girl?”

“Not today, you weren’t,” I rasp into her neck, bucking my hips. Hard. Again and again. She starts to scream, so I slap a hand over her mouth and shake my head, warning her with a look. No no. “You make a scene and them boys might come running back. Might get an eyeful of Daddy’s secret treasure. And I wouldn’t like that, would I?”

A timid headshake from Clara.

“Who’s the only one who sees your privates?”

I remove my hand to hear her answer. “Just you.”

“That’s right. Very good.” I draw up her ankles, draping her sexy legs over my shoulders. There’s no help for it now. I fuck her like a beast. Hell, I feel like one taking her so close to the woods, rasping my chest hair all over her unblemished body, leaving redness behind. Hearing the slap of my sac pounding off her ass. I’m snarling louder with every thrust, growls kindling in my chest. And even though this started as a punishment, I see Clara is with me. Her eyes are glassy, mouth open and groaning. Are those her fingernails raking down my back?

Yeah. Fuck yeah they are. I have no choice but to pleasure her, I realize. I know exactly how to do that, too. It’s the same shit that gets me off now.

“You can’t even let Daddy get his nut without being a greedy girl, can you, Clara?” I tilt my head. “Did I raise a little slut?”

“No, Daddy,” she moans, even as she arches her back. “No.”

“Did you make me mad, make me jealous, just so I’d come inside you?” I bare my teeth and rocket in and out of her incredibly small pussy. “Did you know I’d want to claim my little girl after seeing her with those boys?”

“No,” she gasps, her tits bouncing up and down with the force of my body entering hers. The straps are barely holding now, leaving the ripe little mounds to jiggle free of the material, along with her pointed, pink nipples. “No, I’m a good girl.”

“If you’re so good, why do you make Daddy want to do bad things?”

“I don’t know!”

“Maybe Mommy will have the answer.”

“No!” she screams. “Please!”

“I won’t. Not as long as you keep the bedroom door unlocked, right, girl?” I’m riding her into the fucking ground, the packed earth keeping her lower body steady so it doesn’t slide an inch when I drive deep. Perfection. I have to bust soon, though. She’s too tight and sweet and wet. The back of my neck is gripped by a steel claw, the base of my spine beginning to clench. Fuck. My balls aren’t even hitting her ass anymore, they’re cinched up so tight, ready to blow.

“Daddy needs to come. Open your pretty legs wide.”

Clara does as she’s told, her eyes blind, tits heaving.

Have to bring her with me. “Now, remember. Daddy just couldn’t take it anymore.” I thrust deep as I can and begin to shudder, allowing the liquid seed to shoot up my cock. So good. So good. Jesus Christ. “This is all because of your teasing, brat,” I grit out, unimaginable pleasure wracking me. Owning me. “You made me do this.”

At the last second, she joins me and we topple over the edge together. Watching her big eyes grow wide, broken sobs falling from her swollen lips, makes me come all the harder, my hips working overtime to pump her cunt full of Daddy. Christ almighty, she’s milking it something fierce, too. I thought it couldn’t get any better than last night, but I see I was wrong. Every time I take my little girl, she’s going to run the chance of getting pregnant.

Hell, could be today. I’m still not done spurting. She’s cleaning me out. “Ain’t no choice. Can’t suit up. Sure as shit can’t pull out. Too snug. Too pretty. Won’t be long before you’re having Daddy’s baby.”

Finally, I’ve got nothing left inside me and I drop onto the ground beside Clara, drawing her rug-burned body up against me. She turns in and tucks her feet between my legs, trust shining in her eyes. A feeling I’ve never experienced before rises up in my chest, robbing me of breath. Love.

I’m in love with Clara.

She’s forbidden. But God help anyone who tries to take her away.