Sweet Possession (Carson-Fox Resorts #2)

Chapter 9

Fox

A chilling scream woke me from a deep sleep. It took a few secondsfor me to get my bearings and realize the scream had come from Cora’s room.

It’d been a week since her last nightmare, and I thought we weremaking progress.

Since the day I found out she couldn’t read, we’d spent hourstogether, with me helping her to learn, and with every passing minute, I was sure her trust in me was growing while her past faded away.

She’d begun to open up, telling me little snippets of her past withFreddy. Every time she mentioned his name, it had taken a whole lot of willpower to not beg her to let me end his life. But I was adamantthatit was Cora’s decision to make, and until she came to a decision on her own, I wasn’t going to sway her.

I jumped out of bed and raced across the hall.“Baby girl, are youokay? ”

I was met with a moan of pain, and fearing the worst, I grabbed thehandle and pushed the door open. Relief rushed through me at finding it unlocked this time.

Cora’s bedroom was bathed in darkness, aside from a little lamp onher bedside table which cast a soft glow over her.

“No, please. No,”she whimpered, her leg kicking under the duvet.

Fuck, she was still dreaming.

I needed to wake her, but I didn’t want to scare the shit out of her. I’donce woken Nash up from a nightmare and earned myself a punch to the jaw as a thanks. I didn’t think she’d hit out, I was more concerned about the fright it could give her.

Tentatively, I crept toward her.“Cora,”I called, keeping my voice soft.

She didn’t wake.

I called a second time, this time a little louder, and her body stoppedmoving. Crouching down next to her bed, I found her lying on her side, a frown creasing her brow, and a strand of hair falling across her cheek.

“Cora, can you wake up for me?”I reached out and gently movedthe hair from her face, and as I did, her eyes fluttered open.

They went from alarmed to relieved in a heartbeat.“Fox?”

“Hey, baby girl. You were dreaming again.”

She let out a deep exhale as she rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling, her eyes filling with water.“Will they ever stop?”she whispered.

“They will. With enough time to process what you’ve been through,they’ll go away.”

At least I hoped they would. The dreamsthathad haunted me foryears went away after many hours in therapy sessions. Maybe I needed to look at getting someone in to help Cora process her trauma.

“Will you stay with me?”Her question reverberated around the room,and I stared at her profile, wondering if she was being serious. She turned to face me.“Justuntil I fall back to sleep. I feel safe with you around.”

My chest swelled like I was her own goddamn superhero.

Getting to my feet, I walked around to the other side of the bed, butinstead of getting under the covers with her, I laid down on top.

The last thing either of us needed was me getting a boner because Icouldn’t control myself around her.

She turned to face me, her eyes wide, but not wary. No, there wassomething else burning in her beautiful orbs.

“Thank you,”she said, snuggling into her pillow, and closing her eyes.

Unable to resist, I leaned forward and placed a light kiss on herforehead, her soft skin warm against my lips. I pulled away, and she let out a contented sigh. Within a few minutes, her breathing deepened, and her body relaxed.

I should’ve leftthen. She’d asked me to stay until she fell asleep, but Ididn’t want to go. I told myself I’d stay with her a little longer,justin case she had another nightmare.

But when she moved closer, her head resting on my bicep, and anarm draped over my chest, I knew I wouldn’t be going anywhere.

I closed my eyes, relishing in how damn good it felt to have my babygirl sleeping next to me, content in the knowledgethatI was keeping her safe.

Every day for the next week, Cora and I started the day with a two-hourreading session. She was a quick learner, determined to prove to everyone, including herself,thatshe could learn to read.

In a short space of time, her reading ability, and her confidence hadcome on leaps and bounds.

After our morning reading session where I’d get her to read aloud tome, we’d take a break. I’d head to my office to catch up on work, and she’d head to the kitchen to make something for our lunch, or she’d bake.

I’d never seen anyone as happy as she was when she was in thekitchen, covered in flour, and delicious aromas coming from the oven. I’d also never eaten so well. I was having to make a concerted effort to get up and go for a morning swim every dayjustso my waistline didn’t grow with all the home-cooked food I was devouring.

After Cora admitted she struggled to read, she found the confidenceto tell me she also couldn’t write. Cue afternoon writing sessions, where we’d sit for hours at the table, and I’d teach her how to spell, and how to write.

Her skills weren’t the only thing going from strength to strength.Something was blooming between us. Something I’d never experienced with anyone before.

It wasn’tjusta sexual attraction to her either. As much as I oftenfound myself staring at her gorgeous body, imagining what her nipples would feel like in my mouth, or what shade of pink her pussy was, there was more to it thanthat.

I’d wake up every morning excited to see her face, and desperate toknow how she’d slept. When I’d head to my office, I would lose myself in thoughts of what she was doing in the kitchen, and if she was happy. I’d go to bed each night, hopingthatshe’d ask me to sleep next to her again.

After the last nightmare, she hadn’t had any more, and as much as Iwished there was a reason for me to sleep next to her, I was glad they’d abated.

There’d been a number of times over the last week where I’d almostkissed her, and Christ, did I want to. But I held back. I didn’t want to push her into something she wasn’t ready for, not when she was making incredible progress.

I knew though,thatwhen the time came, I’d be claiming Cora as minefor the rest of our lives.

The downside of spending so much time with her wasthatmy workwas piling up. Nash was fielding as much of it as he could, the same way I’d held the fort when he was off stalking Sav, but with a potential new casino in the pipeline in Singapore, I needed to pull my weight.

Which was why I found myself locked in my office, plowing throughemails long after Cora had gone to bed. I was reading through the details of a proposition Nash had sent over when a knock on the front door echoed through the silent hallways.

Who the fuck was knocking on my door past midnight?

I pulled up the app on my phone which was connected to the doorbellcamera, and cursed when it showed Lily waiting expectantly on the porch.

How the fuck had she gotten past the gate guard?

I cursed again, this time at my stupidity. I’d been so wrapped up ingetting Cora settledthatI’d forgotten to ask for her to be removed from the approved visitor list.

Fuck.

Hoping the knock hadn’t disturbed Cora, I headed to the front door tosee what Lily was playing at. On my way, I peered up the stairs, checking to see if Cora had emerged from her room .

The coast was clear.

“Lily, what are you doing here?”I said after opening the door andscrubbing a hand down my face in frustration.

She looked how she used to whenever she came over for alate-night booty call. Her hair was scraped back in a high ponytail, her face thick with makeup.She wore a long trench coatthatcovered her entire body, trailingdown to her ankles where her feet were clad in shiny black stilettos.

“Hey, can I come in?”she asked, hope tinging her voice.

“Now’s not a good time. We can speak tomorrow, I’ll come to Onyx.”Ihadn’t been near or by the casino since Cora had arrived. At some point, I was going to have to leave the little bubble we’d created, and go to work.

“Please, Fox. I need to talk to you, it’s important.”

I sighed. My gut was telling me to send her on her way, but I knewhow stubborn Lily could be. It was one of the reasons why she would never have been more than a fling. I wouldn’t have put it past her to cause a scene right there on my doorstep, and I wasn’t going to take the risk of waking Cora.

Against my better judgment, I opened the door wider, and indicatedfor her to follow me.

Her heels clacked on the marble floor, each step sounding like nailsscraping down a chalkboard. The sooner she said what she had to say and got the hell out of my house, the better.

“What’s so importantthatyou had to turn up at my house,unannounced in the middle of the night?”I said, keeping my voice low.

She stared at me for a few seconds before suddenly tugging her coatoff and letting it fall to the floor. Anger flashed through me as I took her in, including the satisfied smirk she wore.

She’d dressed up thinkingthatI’d fall at her feet. She’d crammed hertits into a black and red corset which was done up so tight, it was a miracle she could breathe. On her bottom half, she wore matching panties with stockings and a suspender belt.

Fuck sake. She just couldn’t accept that we were over.

“I miss you, Daddy,”she purred, fluttering her lashes at me andrunning her hands over her curves, doing her best to entice me.

In days gone by, her calling me Daddy while dressed as she waswould have made my cock hard in an instant, but rightthen, there wasn’teventhe slightest twitch.

There was only one person I wanted to call me Daddy, and it sure asfuck wasn’t her.

I glowered at her.“What the fuck are you doing, Lily? I’ve told youtime and time again, we’re done.”

“Come on, Daddy. I know you’ve missed me.”She took a stepforward, placing her hands on my chest.

My entire body tensed, and the need to rip her hands off me and burnmy shirt took over. Instead, I stepped back, her hands falling limply to her sides.

“Don’t ever call me that again,” I growled.

Her eyes flashed with hurt, but I saw the second she connected thedots. Internally, I kicked myself for showing my hand. I didn’t want her to know about Cora, I didn’t trustthatLily wouldn’t have done something spiteful to hurt her.

“There’s someone else, isn’t there?”she said, her voice cracking.

I let out a heavy exhale. I didn’t want to hurt Lily, I knew she’ddeveloped feelings for me, and I’d ended things before they could get too deep.

Evidently, I hadn’t ended things soon enough.

“Look, Lily. It doesn’t matter whether there is someone else or not,you and I both agreedthatall it was between us was sex-”

“We had more thanthat, Fox!”she cried, growing hysterical .

“Keep your voice down,”I warned sternly, narrowing my eyes on her.

Her brows arched.“Oh, god. She’s here, isn’t she?”

I cursed under my breath. Why the fuck she was acting as if she’djustdiscovered I was cheating on her was beyond me.

“I think it’s time you left,”I said, picking up her coat from the floor andshoving it at her.

“Who is she, Fox? What the hell can she give youthatI can’t?” shespat venomously. She snatched her coat from my grasp, wrapping it around herself as she continued to spew bullshit. “Does she take your cock down the back of her throat and let you come down it as good as I do?”

Her voice rose several octaves, pissing me off more. I grabbedher arm, not hard enough to mark her, but hard enough to pull her to the front door.“Does she get to call you Daddy, huh? Does her pussy taste as good as mine, Fox? Answer me!”

She tried to shrug out of my grasp, but I opened the front door andwrestled her across the threshold. She gaped at me with mascara-streaked stains running down her cheeks, and a wild look in her eyes.

“Does she love you the way I do, Daddy?”she whispered.

Fuck my life.

“Go home, Lily.”I closed the door and quickly dialed the number forthe gate guard, telling them to make sure she was escorted off the estate, and to remove her from the visitor list.

Pocketing my phone, I glanced up the stairs. The hallway was still indarkness, and silence loomed.

Deep down though, I knew.

Cora must have heard.