Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
She nodded. She’d try anything at this stage.
“Good girl. Keep pumping.”
She put the pump back over her nipple, wondering what he was doing as he moved behind her. Then he reached around and started to lightly massage her breast.
Shock filled her.
That wasn’t what she’d expected him to do. These past five weeks, they’d helped her with so much. From getting out of bed after she’d first had Hope, to showering and dressing. But they hadn’t touched her sexually.
However, she quickly realized he wasn’t touching her breasts for pleasure.
“I read that massage can help with bringing on your milk,” he murmured. “Not sure if it will, but it’s worth a shot, right?”
“Right,” she said as she finished with her right breast and moved the pump over to the left.
“We need to keep you hydrated and fed. And see that you get enough rest.”
That was a tough one. But there was no hint of reprimand in his voice.
Thank God.
If there had been, she might have burst into tears. Instead, he continued to massage her breast. When she finished, she hadn’t managed to pump any more milk that usual. But for some reason, she felt better.
As though she wasn’t in this alone.
Slade helped her rearrange her clothes. “There. It might not have done much this time, but we can keep trying.”
“Not very sexy, though, is it?” she said with a grimace.
He cupped her chin. “Eyes on me.”
His voice was so firm that it demanded instant obedience. She raised her eyes to his.
“You are so damn sexy that you take my breath away,” he told her. “And it doesn’t matter what you do or say. That isn’t going to change. I know that having a baby is a big change and I’m going to let some of these comments go for now. But just know that if you keep saying bad things about my baby girl. I am going to take action.”
Why did that make her shiver with pleasure?
Slade cupped Indie’s cheek. Why couldn’t she see how fucking amazing she was?
She was a warrior.
A queen.
She was taking everything in her stride. This was an extremely stressful situation, yet she was there every moment for Hope.
His protective instincts were riding him hard. The need to wrap Indie and Hope up in bubble wrap was eating away at him. He wanted to lock them away and keep them safe.
Maybe he couldn’t do that. But he had been researching other ways he could help.
Grabbing the bottle of water, he held it out to her before rising to get a few snacks for her. When he turned back, he saw that she’d placed the water back down.
Hmm.
“You need to drink some water, Boo,” he told her.
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m fine.”
Fine? Yeah, she didn’t look fine and he frowned. “What would you like for dinner?”
“Umm.” She rubbed at her forehead.
Fuck. What was he doing? She had enough decisions to make, things to think about. He needed to start finding more ways to lighten her load. They were all doing what they could.
But he was certain that they could do better.
“Don’t worry, Boo. I’ll sort it.”
Relief filled her face and he realized that he was right. They had to make the small decisions for her. So she didn’t burn out.
That was something he could do.
Happily.
He took the water after putting a tray of snacks on the table next to her. She eyed the food with disinterest. He knew her appetite was gone, but she also needed to eat.
He cupped her chin, tilting her head back. “I know that this environment doesn’t feel safe enough for your Little to come out. But perhaps she still needs some Daddy time. And maybe we can help in smaller ways than full blown Daddy-Little girl time. I know there are a lot of decisions to make, what about if we decide some of the more basic things? Like bedtime. When you eat. What you wear. What you drink.”
Indie eyed him. “You guys mostly do that anyway, right?”
“We’ll take it up a notch. And you’ll need to behave. Because I have the naughty girl notebook with me. And when you’re feeling up to it, we’ll start going through it.”
She gulped. Something to look forward to. She thought over what he’d said. Would that help? Maybe. Would it be easy for her to lean on them like that? She wasn’t sure.
“Are you sure you want to do that? Don’t you have enough on your plate juggling everything else? Shouldn’t you be back at work by now?” she asked.
Slade narrowed his gaze. “No, I shouldn’t be. Because I’m exactly where I should be. Taking care of my two girls. Work can wait. The two of you can’t. As for having too much on my plate? Little one, you should know by now that there is nothing more I like than having full control.”