The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The First Collection by Frost, J (great novels .txt) 📕

basement playrooms are fully sound-proofed, the bedrooms aren’t. Something I might need to rectify if I end up with custody of Miranda’s baby. But that’s a worry for the future. For now, there’s a restless Dom who finished fucking his submissive while I was reading to Emily. I heard him close Laurel in her crate, which he’s already told me doesn’t lock for safety reasons, and walk downstairs. Wanting to be a good host, I follow him down.

Jiro’s in the kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil, but he’s also turned on the telly to the late news, although he’s left it muted.

He stiffens when I walk into the kitchen. “I hope I didn’t disturb you.”

“Nope, not at all.” I take two mugs out of the cabinet and put them next to the kettle, then toss a peppermint tea bag into my cup. “Coffee or tea?”

Jiro fishes a paper-wrapped tea bag out of his pants pocket and holds it up. “I always bring my own.”

“Snore and Peace,” I read off the wrapper.

He nods. “Helps me sleep.”

“Does it make you snore?”

His austere face softens, and he chuckles. “I hope not. Laurel has never complained.”

“I’ll let you know in the morning.”

“Are the walls that thin?”

“’Fraid so.”

“Ah.” He doesn’t color the way Emily would, but he shifts a little. “I’ll be more discreet with Laurel in the morning.”

“Don’t worry about it. Emmy and I are both used to public sex. Sounded like you were having fun. That’s all the matters.”

Jiro turns off the boiling kettle and pours water into both cups.

“Shall we?” I gesture to the couch in front of the telly.

Jiro joins me as I take my cup and sink down into the comfortable cushions. The floor between the couch and the telly is still strewn with pillows. I push them into a pile with my foot as I think fondly of watching the girls curled up there after dinner, chatting like they’d been best friends for years. I didn’t see a twitch of anxiety out of Emily today, despite the fact that she spent half the day with strangers, when she’s not feeling her best. She took to Laurel even faster than I did, and the way she supported Laurel through Theo’s interrogation blew me away. These are the sort of friendships I want to help her find, to replace the friends she left behind in Syracuse. It’s just too bad Jiro and Laurel live so far away.

“Laurel’s had a really good day,” Jiro says, sipping his tea. “Thank you for that.”

“No thanks necessary. We enjoyed it, too, and it took Emily’s mind off her punishment.”

“I noticed she was moving gingerly. What happened?”

“She broke two rules, for a second time, and a promise. I had her ride a wooden pony for an hour.”

Jiro whistles softly. “Is Emily a masochist?”

“She is.”

“Unusual in a little.”

“I haven’t known many littles before Emmy,” I admit. “I wasn’t really aware of it until I met her, but there’s a bias against age-players at my club. Emily’s our only little. We’ve joined a playgroup that meets every other Sunday and I’ve met some littles and their caregivers through that. But I don’t know any of them well enough yet to talk about punishments and pain tolerances.”

“That’s more pain than I’d ask of Laurel. That’s why she’s in the crate tonight instead of in bed with me. She didn’t follow the rules about looking after herself while I was away. But I wouldn’t ask her to endure that level of pain. You mentioned on the phone that you’ve only been with Emily for a couple of months.” At my nod, Jiro asks, “Do you have a mentor? Someone you can bounce ideas off? I don’t mean to imply that you’re doing a bad job. Emily seems healthy and happy. Just if you don’t have a lot of experience topping a little, a mentor’s always helpful.”

“I don’t,” I admit. “But I know who to ask.”

“I got lucky with Laurel,” Jiro says. “Her sponsor in NA is in the lifestyle. He was able to give me a lot of guidance in how to use her submission to help her get clean and sober and stay that way. I’m not sure I could have managed without him.”

Jiro doesn’t exactly come across as arrogant, but he’s very self-contained, so the admission that he needed help surprises me.

“I didn’t realize you knew Laurel before she got clean.”

Jiro nods. “I’ve known her for several years. I had my eye on her from the start, but my firm was one of her firm’s clients and I don’t mix my personal life with business. When I sold my firm, I was finally free to pursue her. That was two weeks after the Fire Island party. She was still in the hospital. I visited her every day. When she was released, instead of driving her to her apartment, I took her home with me and never let her leave.”

He gives me a sly smile that makes me chuckle.

“I’d known Emily for two weeks when I was injured,” I tell him. “She came home with me on the train because I couldn’t fly. That was two months ago.”

“I gather you don’t intend to let her leave, either?”

I shake my head. “I’m giving her a lock for that collar and an engagement ring for our three-month anniversary.”

Jiro laughs outright. “And I thought I was pushing asking Laurel to marry me after a year.”

“I don’t know how old you are—”

“Forty-three,” he says.

“Then you’ve probably been around the block as much as I have. It’s never felt absolutely right to me before. I’ve always had doubts. I don’t have a single one with Emily. She’s mine. I’m not letting her get away.”

“Your friend Detective D’Andrea might consider that kidnapping.”

Unabashed, I grin at him. “I don’t give a shit what he or anyone else thinks. Only person whose opinion matters is Emily.”

“Very true. Does she have family? Laurel and I had some major hurdles with her family. Her brother’s still refusing to