“No, Daddy, it’s me.”

He sat up. “Helen? What’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream?”

“No. In fact, I had a delightful dream.” She stood a few feet from his bed.

Alarm bells sounded in his head as he saw her fingers glide to the tie around her waist.

“I dreamed about you and me,” she said in a sultry voice.

Damn it, she was untying her robe. He leaped from the bed as her tie dropped and the front of the robe slipped open.

“God damn it, Helen.” He tugged the robe closed, having only caught sight of a sliver of naked skin, then he grabbed the sash and tied it snuggly at her waist.

“But Daddy…” she murmured, her eyes wide and filled with a disturbing heat.

“Don’t call me that.”

She ran her hand up his chest, then over his shoulder and she leaned in close. “Then I’ll call you Dare. Which is so much better anyway, because I think it’s time for our relationship to move in a new direction.”

“Helen, don’t even—”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and gazed at him with longing. “But I’ve wanted you for so long. And I know you want me, too.”

He grabbed her wrists and dragged her arms from around him.

“Helen, you know I don’t feel that way about you.”

“Do I? Then why are you fucking that slut who is my age? I’m sure it’s because you really want me.”

“Don’t talk about Ashley that way.”

He should deny her claim that he wanted her—which he didn’t, sexually. She used to be his stepdaughter for God’s sake, but how did he put that into words that didn’t make her feel unwanted as a human being? She’d been abandoned by her own father, and two other stepfathers. Even her mother didn’t really show her the love she needed. Didn’t make her feel like she belonged anywhere. Dare didn’t want to hurt her more than she had been already, but he walked a fine line.

She pouted and rested her hand on his chest. “I’m sorry, I just want you so much. Mom was an idiot to walk out on you. I’d never, ever do that.”

Her hand glided upward and he flattened his on top of it and drew it away.

“You don’t want me, you just think you do.”

Before he knew what she was doing, she grabbed her robe and pulled it open, exposing her naked breasts.

Fuck. He pulled it closed again, grasped her shoulders and spun her around, then marched her to the door.

“This is completely inappropriate, Helen.” He guided her down the hall to her door, then opened it. “If you try a stunt like this again, you won’t be welcome here.”

He closed the door behind her, then strode back to his room. This time he locked the door.

*   *   *

Ashley dropped onto the couch and slumped down. She’d tried to arrange a movie with Jessica this evening, but Jess had a date with Eric, a guy from work whom she’d had a crush on for a while.

Ashley sighed. She just wanted something to keep her mind off Dare. She should be over there right now.

Helen coming to town had thrown everything off. With her staying with Dare, Ashley had no idea when she’d see him again, or even if she would before he returned to New York. He wasn’t the kind of man to let things just drop between them, though, so she had to trust that she’d hear from him when the time was right.

Her cell phone chimed, indicating a text. She picked it up and glanced at the display.

You’re late.

She stared at the message from Dare, her heart lurching.

With Helen there, I thought tonight was canceled, she typed.

Get your ass over here, he replied. I expect you here within 20 min.

She jumped to her feet and ran into the bathroom to refresh her makeup, then she grabbed a sexy bra and panty set from her drawer—sheer black with lacy flowers edging the cups and the skimpy front of the panties. Then she threw on a slinky, formfitting dress in a deep blue print. She was out the front door in record time, her heart pounding in her chest.

She was going to see Dare tonight.

She couldn’t stop grinning as she drove to his house, arriving exactly twenty-two minutes after his text. She rang the doorbell.

He opened the door, his face stern. “I said twenty minutes.”

“I did my best, but there was traffic,” she said as she followed him inside.

“That sounds like an excuse.”

She dropped her gaze. “No, sir. I’m sorry I’m late, Mr. Gallagher.”

She followed him through the house to the door. The room where her deepest fantasies were brought to life.

When he closed the door behind them, she turned to him.

“Where’s Helen?” she asked.

“Don’t worry about her. She’s staying with a friend for the weekend.”

She didn’t ask if that was because Dare had sent her away or if it was Helen’s choice. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Ashley was here now.

As he stepped closer, her whole body went into alert. Her nerve endings tingling, anticipating his touch. Her insides swirling with need.

He stroked her cheek, his touch like a whisper of electricity grazing her skin. Warmth glowed in his dark blue eyes, and she stared into those depths, noticing the little golden flecks that looked like starlight across a midnight sky.

His lips lowered to hers and brushed lightly, then lingered for scant seconds. Enough to drive her need to dizzying heights, but not enough to satisfy her craving.

“You know I have to punish you.”

“Yes, sir.”

*   *   *

The eagerness in her eyes caused Dare’s pulse to quicken. God, she was delightful.

“First, I want you to change.”

“But … I thought—”

“What you’re wearing is very sexy.” And it was. The dress accentuated all her curves, and the short skirt and high heels showed off her long, shapely legs. He didn’t want to discourage her from choices like this one, but he still wanted her to wear the costume he’d been fantasizing about seeing her in.

He walked to the cupboard and pulled out the box he’d hidden in there earlier today and handed it to her. She set it down on the nearest bench and pulled off the lid. She gazed inside, then picked up the short, blue plaid skirt and the virginal white blouse.

She grinned at him. “A schoolgirl uniform? Really? A little cliché, don’t you think?” she teased.

He chuckled. “Would you rather the sexy nun costume?”

“Um, no, I’ll stick with this.” She placed her hand on his chest. The feel of it set his heart beating faster. “Unless you’re going to put on a sexy priest outfit. Or would you be a naughty schoolboy and I’d be punishing you?”

“No and no. And I’m not really giving you a choice.”

At the subtle hint to drop back into their role as Dom and sub, she drew her hand away and picked up the blouse.

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll give you ten minutes to change.” He turned and left the room, knowing he’d barely be able to wait that long.

*   *   *

Ashley reached behind her and unzipped the dress, then let it fall to the floor. She pulled on the blouse and buttoned it, leaving the top few open, enough to show the lacy edges of the cups of her bra … and quite a bit of cleavage. Also, the black bra showed through the white fabric like a dark, sexy shadow. When she pulled on the skirt, she wished that she’d worn a garter belt, but when she gazed at herself in the full-length mirror on one wall she realized this looked better. More innocent.

She wondered if she should slip off her panties. The skirt was so short that if she bent over, he’d see everything. But she decided to leave them on.

He strode back into the room just as she was picking up her dress from the ground. She turned around to see that he’d been admiring her backside.

She quickly folded the dress and dropped it in the box that had held the costume.

“Very nice,” he said, his gaze roaming her body. “Turn around.”

She turned slowly in front of him, feeling her body heat at his close scrutiny.