Chapter 6

The air in the private back room of the Grand Ballroom was thick, heavy with the scent of expensive perfume, stale champagne, and the underlying, primal musk of desire that had been simmering just beneath the surface all evening. The muffled roar of the string quartet and the clinking of crystal glasses from the main hall felt like a distant world, a polite facade that I had happily shed the moment the heavy oak door clicked shut behind us. Here, in the dimly lit sanctuary of the guest suite, it was just me and him. Just Daddy. I had barely caught my breath after the way he had pinned me against the velvet drapes, his hand fisted in my hair, forcing my head back so I had to look at him while he worshipped my neck. But now, the urgency had shifted. It had deepened. He had lifted me, carrying me effortlessly to the plush, low-slung leather couch that dominated the center of the room, and laid me down with a reverence that belied the roughness of his grip. "Stay still, baby girl," he had murmured, his voice a low rumble that vibrated through my chest. He didn't wait for