Cats In the Cradle

42. Daniel

Fuck my life.

I had no idea how to answer her.

I'd just spoken to Kayden yesterday. Lars and Luke were willing to help me in the most inconspicuous way possible. Kayden was going to arrive soon, and I had no idea what would happen once we escaped.

What would my family think, if I told them I was pretending to be married to a 17 year old?

Would everything change between us once we were free?

Was it even ok for me to consider a future with someone who was so young?

She had so much shit to unpack.

There's no way her brain was totally ok after being born into a stifling, sexist society, being molested by a 900-year-old pedophile with a man bun, then being raped by said pedophile and his pedophile buddy.

The thought of being forced to live without her literally made me want to murder someone. Literally anyone. Anyone but her.

If I could lock her up and put her in a fucking cage and keep her safe from everyone, I just fucking might.

But that wouldn't be fair to her.

That wouldn't be realistic.

Truthfully, I didn't know what I'd do when it was time to make that call.

I couldn't legally marry her yet, and I couldn't just shack up with her until she turned 18. It would be better for me to keep a close eye on her and keep things platonic until I could marry her.

Then there wouldn't ever be a Next Guy for her to use her magical mouth on.

I'd be her first and her only, and nobody else would have to die if they tried to fucking touch her.

So then I guess that was my answer.

Because I would legally marry her. I'd wait til exactly 12:01 AM on her 18th birthday and marry the fucking shit out of her.

But that was still months away. It was only February, and her birthday was in June.

So much could happen between now and then.

We both had so much trauma to work through.

What if she woke up one day and realized that she only wanted me because I was the only man who'd ever protected her? The only man she'd ever been with?

What would I even do if she tried to leave me?

Would it be more or less fucked up if I told her that I would burn down the whole entire fucking planet for her?

Would it hurt more or less if she knew I was pretty sure I would actually go insane if anything fucked up ever happened to her again?

Would it kill us both if I admitted that I had zero doubts that she was the love of my life, despite the age difference and all the insane shit that brought us together?

Probably.

"Yeah I am." I told her honestly, in the simplest terms I could manage.

"I am in love with you. And I'm so sorry for the way I treated you yesterday... I...I think I fully realized it, when Max burst inside my work office and told me Orion took you... Or maybe it was when you surprised me in the shower and...literally blew me away."

Don't think about why she's so good at that. Save that energy for later.

She smiled shyly at me, and her adorably shy smile went straight to my fucked-up heart.

And my dick.

It had been over 24 hours since I'd been inside of her, and I suddenly needed to fuck the living daylights out of my very best friend, very badly.

"I love you, too." She whispered.

"Yeah, I could tell. You weren't hiding it well at all," I teased her.

Her blush deepened, but she smiled even harder.

My mind had completely switched from Serious Talk Mode to Obliterate Her Pussy mode, and I was ready to prove to her exactly how much she meant to me.

But she stopped me before I could pull her dress off.

"If you love me, then you have to brand me, Daniel. We can't put this off anymore."

Right.

I needed to burn my name into her skin during an excruciating, possibly illegal procedure. Which was a very romantic, very normal way for me to express how much I cared about her.

"You're not going to want me to fuck you after you're branded though..." I whined a little pitifully, half-joking. She laughed a little.

But then her face turned serious.

And she nodded.

So then I nodded.

And I reluctantly heaved myself up to go get Lars. I had no idea how to maim someone with a fucking branding iron, and I was going to need some help.

********************************************

"Ok, Emma, did you get enough tea?" Lars asked her. She was obviously high as a fucking satellite, so I'm not even sure why he needed to ask. But she nodded anyways and smiled lazily.

"Daniel, are you sure you don't want to tie her down? You'll have to hold the iron down for a few seconds, and she absolutely cannot move."

Am I sure??

"No, I'm not sure! I don't fucking know! I don't even want to do this," I whimpered again.

I felt like a little bitch, but this was beyond cruel and barbaric. I was going to have to get a tattoo of her name on me once we escaped. Hardly the same level of pain, but it seemed fair.

"Emma, do you want me to tie you up, love?" I asked her gently. She was really fucking out of it, and I kinda hoped she'd just black out from the tea.

"Yesssss. I loved it when you tied me up," she slurred, giving me a drunk, seductive smile.

"Baby, that's not what I......maybe later." I told her, mouthing a half-assed 'sorry' at Lars, who looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Ok, I'll go ahead and tie you up, then, I guess..."

"Make sure your hands are washed before you do it," Lars reminded me again. "And she'll need to take some antibiotics and you'll need to keep an eye on the mark for a while so it doesn't get infected."

I secured her arms and legs to the long straps on the bed and tightened them until she had no wiggle room in her limbs.

"Daniel, the iron is ready to go. Go wash your hands, and let's get this over with." Lars said shakily.

I felt dazed as I walked to the bathroom to scrub my hands for a full minute.

Under the fingernails, in between the fingers, front and back, scrub the knuckles. I'm going to prison. I'm going to hell.

Lars was just walking in with the glowing-orange branding iron when I emerged from the bathroom. Emma's head had lolled over to the side a little, and I hoped she was on the verge of passing out.

"Here, Daniel. It's ready to go. Do it as quick as you can, on her thigh. I'll...step outside."

Fuck me.

"Emma. I'm so sorry." I whispered, trying to keep my hands still while I brought the torture device closer to her taut thigh. I was sweating profusely, and I was pretty sure I was crying involuntarily.

Here we go.

"I'm so sorry."