Daddy PI: Book 1 of the Daddy PI Casefiles by Frost, J (reading comprehension books .txt) 📕

I hear the snap of my cape.

“Of course, baby doll.” I drop the shirt over her head, then slide her panties up her legs, under the oversized tee, without giving anyone another look at her ass, since I’m suddenly feeling very territorial about it. When we sit on the bench to lace up her sneakers, Niall sits on Emily’s far side. He doesn’t touch her, but his big body creates a barrier between us and the rest of the room.

When Emily’s dressed, I sling my bag over one shoulder and tuck her to my side before offering Niall my hand.

“Same time on the bench tomorrow?” he asks as we shake.

“See you then.” Looks like I have a weightlifting buddy for the cruise, and maybe more, since Niall seems like not just a good guy but a good Dom, which counts for more in my book.

We leave Paul talking to Red Spandex in increasingly gruff tones.

* * *

Despite Red Spandex’s interference, Emily seems perfectly happy with the scene as we recap in the shower. She examines the marks on her thighs under the spray, testing them with her fingertips, before grinning up at me. “Good spacing, Daddy.”

After making my own inspection, I smile back at her. Other than the broken blood vessel on her thigh, the cuts look really good. No broken skin. No stippled bruises. Just straight red marks that will fade in a day or two.

“Lotta practice on sandbags, sweetheart,” I tell her.

“Really?” Her little brow furrows. I’m coming to know that look. Concentration. She wears it whenever she focuses on something that interests her. “Why sandbags?”

“The resistance is similar to striking flesh and the bag indents after the stroke so I can see where it landed,” I explain as I wash her hair. “Sometimes I chalk the cane, too, so I can see exactly where it hit.”

“I heard you tell Master Niall that you trained in Bangkok. I didn’t realize there was formal training for Doms. Did you take classes or something?”

I tip her head back into the spray to rinse out the shampoo, keeping one hand pressed to her forehead to prevent the soap from running into her eyes. I have a fuzzy, warm memory of my mother washing my hair that way when she gave me baths as a kid.

Smiling down at Emily, I say, “No classes. Most tops either learn along the way like Niall, or they have a mentor. I had a mentor, Lady Suda. She was—” There are no words for what Suda was. “A great teacher. She only trained one top at a time. The training lasted six months. It cost me everything I’d saved up in the Navy, but I wouldn’t trade my time in Thailand for anything. It sounds corny, but I found myself there.”

“It’s not corny, Daddy,” Emily breathes, looking up at me. “It’s super-cool. And you were trained by a woman?”

“Uh-huh. Equipment doesn’t matter. Suda taught me domination is all in the mind.” I smooth conditioner over her wet curls. Another thing I learned at Jasmine House: how to care for my bottom’s body.

“Wow. Would you—can I know the things she taught you, or are they, like, Dom secrets?”

That makes me chuckle; Emily’s exuberance would have tickled Suda, too. I can picture Suda’s wicked black eyes disappearing in wrinkles as she laughed. She had a great laugh, deep and throaty, given that she was only five feet tall and skinny as a switch.

“There are a few Dom secrets, sweetheart, but mostly she just taught me to pay attention to what my submissive needs. She taught me this.” I lather up a loofah with one of the cruise’s girly soaps and wash Emily, lifting her hair so I can lather the back of her neck. “I know some Doms don’t go for personal care, but Suda showed me it’s not about who is doing what to whom. It’s about the mindset. I can still control you even when I’m bathing you or feeding you or tying your shoes.”

Wide-eyed, Emily nods.

“Do you feel my control?”

“Always.” She shivers and grins. “I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. I haven’t done this full-time before. But I love it. When you plan out my whole day and do things like tying my shoes for me, I feel so little.” Another shiver, a delicious one that makes her wrap her arms around her wet body. “Ta very much, Daddy.”

I kiss her clean forehead. “You’re welcome, baby doll.”

“Did Suda teach you about caning and all the other domly stuff, too?”

Her terminology gets another chuckle out of me. I turn her around so I can scrub her back. “Uh-huh. Suda was an absolute master with a flogger. She could turn a bottom into jelly in ten minutes. She taught me all about impact play. She had a rigger who came in twice a week. He taught me rope work and suspension bondage. And then Malee, my såao-chái, taught me sensation play.”

“What’s a såao-chái? Is that a submissive in Thai?”

“Malee was my housekeeper. She cleaned my room, took care of my clothes, made sure I was fed when I wasn’t eating with the family.”

“Oh.” Emily ponders this for a moment, her big eyes filled with wonder, as I turn her under the spray to rinse her off. “But she’s the one who taught you sensation play?”

“Yup. Suda was a hardcore sadist. Even hot wax was too tame for her, but Malee loved wax and feathers and silk scarves. She filled my room with candles and scarves before one of the girls explained what was going on.” I give Emily a sheepish grin. “In my defense, it’s a different culture.”

She giggles. “Was she making a subtle, subbie play for you, Daddy?”

“Uh-huh. She was also twenty years older, had a hundred lifetimes more experience and taught me everything I needed to know about how to flip a woman’s switches.” I run my hands over her hair to get rid of the excess water, rinse myself off and