chapter 1

HALEY

The smell of musk was the first thing I became aware of. The second was

that I couldn’t move my hands or legs—they felt heavy. Wait, no, I think

I’m bound. I shifted around, seeing if I could free myself, but the soft,

ribbon-like material held tight. “Where am I?” I whisper to myself. I shift

harder, trying to free myself from the blindfold.

BAM! A door slams maybe a few rooms away.

I still.

Should I call out? A chill runs up my spine and I suddenly become very

aware that I’m naked. Except for what feels like something drying on my

chest. As my breathing picks up, the musky smell seems to grow. What is

that sound? Steps. Someone is coming. I hear the footsteps shuffling closer.

Maybe, just maybe, if I’m quiet enough they’ll just pass. The steps grow

louder and louder, then stop. I hold my breath for what feels like forever.

They start up again, this time moving away from me. Releasing the breath I

was holding, I lay my head back down on the mattress. Think, Haley, how

did I get here? What do I remember last?

William.

-THE NIGHT BEFORE-

“I’d like to thank everyone for coming here tonight to celebrate my little

Haley graduating.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my father so happy before. He keeps talking

about how I’m a big girl now. It’s time for me to grow up, he says. “Enough

living in that head of yours, Haley.” He even went as far as cleaning out my

room last week, removing all my stuffed animals, my baby dolls that I’ve

had since before I can remember, hiring William’s construction company to

paint over my beautiful pink walls. Now the room is an ugly blue that

makes me stomp my feet every time I enter it.

“She’s not my little girl anymore. She’s a young woman ready to enter the

world, and I’m sure she will do great things. I love you, Haley. You’ve made me a very proud father. I wish your mother was here to see you now.”

Cheers break out and I rush to hug my father.

I know he means well, but the thought of growing up and being a woman

terrifies me to the core. I need to get some air. It’s too hot in this house and

I’m starting to feel like I can’t breathe.

As I make my way down the hall I see William leaning against the

backdoor. William, the man that makes me tingle all over at just the sight of

him. He has the broadest shoulders and the most thickly muscled thighs.

He’s all man. I’ve had a crush on him for what seems like forever. Though

for the past year he’s avoided me like I developed leprosy.

He used to come around all the time, he was, after all, my father’s best

friend. Picking me up from school when Father had to work late, or staying

over and putting me to bed when Father couldn’t make it home. I remember

curling up in his lap while he read me bedtime stories; I could always talk

him into reading a second.

“Please, Daddy William, just one more.”

“One more, sweetheart, and that’s it. Do you understand me? I don’t want

to have to turn that little bottom of yours cherry red.”

Back then, that threat just made me giggle, thinking about it now made my

panties grow wet.

William stood up from his position against the door as I grew closer. His

dark black hair was starting to become peppered with gray, and it only

added to his appeal. Could men tell when a girl got wet? Just the thought of

William knowing this about me made my face heat.

“God, Haley, you have the sweetest blush I’ve ever seen,” he says, running

his finger down my cheek, and I can’t help but blush harder. He quickly

drops his hand, as if remembering the leprosy. Looking at me with that

same gaze he’s been giving me lately. I can’t quite figure out what it is. I

missed his touches. He never touches me anymore. In fact, he hardly even

looks at me, and when he does his face is hard—no longer the Daddy

William I used to know. He’s also made it very clear that I am to stop

calling him that, correcting me every time I use the name.

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