“Yes, Daddy. I’ll accept your punishment,” she says, trying to drop her gaze again.
I growl low and she looks in my eyes again. “We don’t have time for me to properly punish you right now, but the moment we get to the safehouse, I’m going to bend you over and teach you a lesson. Am I understood?”
She nods in my grip. “Yes, Daddy.”
Leaning in, I kiss her forehead tenderly. “Good girl. Now what are we making?”
When she looks up at me again, some of the fear is gone, leaving a vulnerability that makes my heart squeeze a little in my chest. But I pull away, not wanting to undermine my sternness. I watch her throat work as she swallows, handing me a bowl of potatoes to chop. Slowly, my anger and hurt bleed away as we work in comfortable silence, my mind already planning how I’m going to punish my baby doll.
The rest of the pack wakes up as Delilah and I finish making breakfast together. She’s getting better about letting others shoulder the burden of domestic tasks, but I can tell her instincts needed this act of service to show how sorry she is to the rest of the pack. And she doesn’t even fight when Cross piles her plate with plenty of food, more than usual. If I didn’t already have a plan for her punishment, I’d almost be tempted to let her off the hook. She’s punishing herself plenty enough.
“I want everyone dressed in full kit by 1100 hours. We need to have this place packed and wiped before we leave. No trace.”
Bones’s voice is low and serious, taking on a timbre that only appears before critical missions.
“How little trace?” Joker asks, also surprisingly serious.
Bones considers for a moment. “Scorched earth.”
By the look on Joker’s face, you would’ve thought Bones just told him he was getting four Christmases and a dozen birthdays in a row. He practically vibrates in his seat as he waits for Bones to finish the briefing.
“Data backups are almost complete. I started them last night,” Siren adds, picking at their food.
Our prime alpha grunts in approval. “Anything that can be left behind stays behind. Throw the fresh food in the woods, bring anything non-perishable. One duffle of clothes and personal items. We don’t have the time or space for more than that.”
There’s a general grumble of agreement, and Bones turns to Joker and Delilah. “Bring the essential nesting items. Try to keep it to one or two duffels. We can always get more when we get to our next location.”
Joker lets out a disappointed sigh, but he doesn’t argue. Delilah nods and drops her gaze respectfully, which settles something instinctive in my chest. Not that I expected her to fight about material possessions, but having her compliance and obedience right now is going to make this whole process that much easier.
We finish eating together and start to move in organized silence. I go back to my room and carefully pick out the clothes I’m going to need before packing them. Then I pop the latch on the hidden panel in my closet and start pulling the guns and their cases from the storage compartment. If we’re going scorched earth, we don’t want anyone to find these left behind. Once they’re packed, I bring themto the living room, packing them into one of the long totes we usually keep in storage. I drop my duffle bag off next, but I pause at the nesting room when I hear Joker and Delilah talking.
Chapter fifty-three
IgiggleasJokerleans his entire body weight onto the vacuum bag, forcing the air out of the duvet and pillow packed inside. I’d packed my clothes and a singular blanket from my storage room nest before Joker lost his mind and brought me to the nesting room and insisted I pack more of the things I’ve squirreled away in the nest. We filled one full duffel bag each, now we’re working on packing as much of the nest into the tote as we can.
“How the hell are we going to fit all this stuff in the van?” I ask in disbelief, hearing footsteps passing by the open door to the nest.
“It’s bigger than you think,” Joker says with asuggestive smirk.
I roll my eyes, but let out a soft laugh, purposefully glancing at his crotch. “I know exactly how big it is.”
Joker laughs at my quip before rolling more onto the bag to force more air out. “It’ll fit, I promise. Well…thatalready has. But we’ve got things sorted with packing, love. This isn’t our first time moving house.”
I frown thoughtfully, pausing as I fold a blanket to look at him. “Why are we doing all this? Once we lose Tyler, why can’t we come back here?”
“Because this location is compromised.”
I jump as Phantom’s voice comes from the doorway behind us, and I whip around, eyes wide. He’s still looking tired and stern, and my heart skips a little, remembering his promise from earlier this morning. I’m not sure what to expect from his punishment, and the anticipation is killing me. But I force myself to focus on the current conversation and not the anxiety in my belly.
“He’s right. The used cum rag knows about this location and could just as easily come back here to find us again, or worse, tip off the police to this location. Which is why we’re going scorched earth,” Joker adds, voice lifting with noticeable excitement toward the end.
“And what does that mean?” I ask, though I have a fairly decent idea what it could mean if Joker is this excited.
Joker laughs maniacally, and I can’t help but smile. Yeah, that’s about all the confirmation I need. Whatever plan is rattling around in that ginger head of his is going to be something to behold.
Once he calms down he looks at me with a patronizing smile. “Don’t you worry your pretty head one bit, my little wisp. The next house we’re going to is even nicer than this one,” he says, even patting the top of my head lightly for emphasis.
“How many houses do you guys even have?” I ask, speaking the question as it occurs to me.