Daddy.

The word still felt alien on my tongue, hitting the air like shards of shrapnel, but the after effect was memorizing. The space that surrounded us, the closed-in, momentarily stifling space . . . it ignited with something that stole my breath. There was no name for it, for words fell short; all of the dictionaries in the world couldn't have brought the moment justice.

It was raw and powerful. It was like a vacuum. Blake's eyes had gained an odd glint, his shoulders squaring. His chest had swelled, and as he smiled, those should-be-illegal dimples coming out to play, the air around him seemed charged, thick with dominance....