Chilled and Thrilled (Daddy Issues, #1)

by Cleo White

It’s not all in my head. I’m not alone in this, and the certainty is like the first lungful of air after staying underwater for too long.

“Come downstairs,” I tell her between slow, lingering kisses, “I’ll make you pancakes.” Sophie snorts, playing with the ends of my hair. “Do they come with a side order of sexual frustration? Because I’m already pretty good on that.”

“It’s never been like this for me, Sophie.” The words, rasped in my ear by a low, rapturous voice, make me feel exposed in a whole new way. Bram kisses my shoulder, my back, my neck, fucking me slowly all the while. “I’ve never wanted to keep someone the way I want to keep you.”

Another kiss. Another slow thrust. More uneven breaths. More quiet noises of pleasure. I’m just… gone. Every thought and worry has been stripped from my mind, and what’s left behind is good. I feel good. He’s reduced me to my most basic form, lost in the moment, sound asleep and wide awake all at once.

I’m all but defenseless against Bram Vogel’s tireless campaign to keep me. Also, I don’t want to resist, and I want all the reasons that I should to disappear.

I didn’t want borrowed time with somebody else’s family; I wanted mine. Not the people I was born to—who love the Bible more than they love their child—but my people. How did I not see that if I never let anyone in, I would never have that?

Overnight, all the sharp edges of my emotions seem to have settled. Things aren’t resolved, not by a long shot, and I’m not magically absolved of all guilt for feeling the way I do about my best friend’s father. I love him, though.