Dungeon Daddy by Golden Angel

Chapter 26

Jax

Maybe it was Esther’s anxiousness rubbing off on him, but the closer they got to Michelle’s house, the more nervous Jax became. He wasn’t sure if he’d been this nervous when he introduced Esther to his parents, way back when. Totally different situations, yet he saw similarities.

Esther had been anxious back then as well, worried his parents wouldn’t like her. He was pretty sure that’s what was going on, but tonight, she felt as if there was reason not to like her. No matter how many times he told her Suzie and the others didn’t hold his decisions against her, he knew she wouldn’t really believe it until she was there.

Hewas nervous because he wanted Esther to truly understand she had nothing to worry about with any of the young women. He wanted her to like them. Part of him was a little worried this would make everything worse instead of better, rubbing her nose in a portion of his life he’d deliberately kept her out of for so long.

She let out a deep sigh as Jax turned onto Michelle’s street, and a pit of foreboding opened up in his stomach.

“We don’t have to go. I can cancel.” Maybe it was bad timing. They were trying this too soon to after everything had blown up in their faces. He didn’t want to lose the progress they’d already made.

“No, I want to do this.” Esther hesitated for a moment before turning her head away, so she wasn’t looking at him when she made her admission. “I’m afraid they won’t like me.”

Dammit, he’d known that.

“Oh, babygirl.” He squeezed her hand. “They’re going to love you.”

As expected, his words did nothing to reassure her. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her dragging her teeth over her lower lip the way she did when she was anxious. This was feeling more and more like a bad idea, but if they turned back now, she’d only feel worse. That was the only thing that kept him from putting his foot down as her Daddy Dom and take control of the situation. He never wanted her to think she couldn’t handle something when she insisted she could. That would only undermine her self-esteem, which wouldn’t help anything.

Parking the car, Jax took a deep breath. He had his own admission to make. Maybe it would help if Esther realized she wasn’t the only one who was nervous, and he was trying to be better about his own communication.

“I’m nervous, too.”

“You are?” Startled, Esther turned toward him, shock and surprise clear on her face.

“Of course I am. I want you to like them, and I’m worried this will hurt you. Now that someone who knows how to play is here, I’m worried you’ll discover I’m an awful Dungeon Master.” He winked, hoping to get a smile out of her, and it worked.

“You’re not awful,” she said automatically.

“You don’t know that; you haven’t seen me at work yet,” he teased, giving her fingers a squeeze. As he’d hoped, she seemed more relaxed. Still nervous, but admitting his own feelings had helped. Glancing at the door, he tilted his head at her. “Ready?”

Esther took a deep breath.

“Ready.”

* * *

Esther

As ready as she would ever be.

She was clinging to Jax’s hand as they approached the front door. The twisting in her stomach got so much worse with every step she took, and it was getting harder to breathe. It wasn’t only meeting the other group. She realized so many of her emotions had been tied to what this group represented.

Jax’s lies. The many nights she’d spent feeling lonely and inadequate. The worry he’d been cheating on her.

Her husband’s steps slowed, and he looked down at her, his brow furrowing with worry. Esther knew he was about to suggest—again—they turn back.

Nope. She would not give these women another reason to dislike her by having him cancel.

Letting go of his hand, she darted to the door and pressed her finger to the doorbell before he could stop her.

“Esther,” he growled from behind her, but she employed selective hearing.

Thankfully, the door opened before he could say anything else. Esther found herself face to face with Michelle Cain. She was as beautiful in person as she had been on the internet, though she was dressed more like Esther was in yoga pants and a long shirt, although hers were more fitted than Esther’s.

The reason she might have felt so jealous hit her like a freight train. It wasn’t only that Michelle’s photos online had been beautiful and sophisticated, but she also kind of looked like a younger version of Esther. Ouch.

She didn’t have time to assimilate that revelation before Michelle’s expression lit up, and she stepped forward to hug Esther.

“You must be Esther! It is so nice to finally meet you,” Michelle said, giving Esther a firm squeeze before stepping back. Moving on autopilot, Esther returned the hug and blinked, trying to figure out what was happening. Behind Michelle, several other young women were coming toward her with welcoming expressions. “Jax has told us so much about you.”

“He has?” Esther asked, surprised. Michelle basically passed her off to the next person—who happened to be Suzie.

“Oh, yes.” Suzie laughed, giving her a quick hug. “I’d already met you, of course, but everyone feels as if they know you. Jax never shuts up about you. This is Katherine.”

The abrupt turn from the revelation Jax had talked about her—she’d assumed the ‘hiding’ went both ways—to being introduced to the rest of the group had her thoroughly off-kilter. It also killed her nerves. There was no room for anxiety when she was still trying to find her footing in an entirely unexpected situation.

“I never get greeted with hugs,” Jax said behind her, pretending to sound offended.

“That’s because food is more important than you,” Michelle responded, laughing. “But finally meeting Esther? That takes precedence.”

“We’re so glad you could come,” Annie said. Esther had recognized her from the pictures Cyana had taken. Of course, she hadn’t mentioned that when Suzie introduced her, Katherine, and Karen. “Thank you so much.”

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Esther replied automatically.

“I doubt that.” Katherine snorted. “Jax told us what a dumbass he was. We really appreciate you letting him come back for another tutorial and coming with him to help. I love this game, but we didn’t realize how much he was guiding us until he was gone.”

“We don’t have to keep talking about what a dumbass I was, you know,” Jax muttered, making them all laugh.

The not-so-gentle way they ribbed Jax and the overly aggrieved way he responded reminded Esther so much of how he interacted with Jennifer. She realized he saw these young women in a fatherly way—not in the Daddy Dom way. Even Michelle, who reminded her of herself, he treated her the way he would Jennifer. He didn’t see the resemblance to Esther. He saw her as his own daughter.

Now that she could see them all together, interacting, the truth was inescapable—she had absolutely nothing to worry about with Jax and any of these young women, and she never had.

* * *

Jax

Sitting next to Suzie behind the DM screen, Jax grinned as he watched Esther, sitting spot between Katherine and Michelle. She was spending most of the time with Katherine—she’d chosen the most complicated character—but she was also helping the others… and having a great time doing it.

He was so grateful Michelle and all of them had greeted her with literal open arms. He hadn’t asked them to; it had been spontaneous and sincere, and he knew that made a difference. It had also set Esther at ease right from the beginning, especially with all of them joking about what a dumbass he’d been. He took it on the nose since he couldn’t blame them.

There was a bit of boys versus girls going on, but as long as Esther was happy, he would tolerate it. Especially since none of the young women knew about the kinky side of his and Esther’s relationship, and his babygirl was having fun taking advantage of that. She was aiming for a good spanking later.

By the end of the night, Esther was ‘one of the girls’—evidenced by the fact they asked her to return rather than him.

“We know Jax fucked up, and we totally get it if you don’t want him to play anymore, but would you consider coming back to play with us?” Katherine was using her big, pleading puppy-dog eyes to full effect, and Esther wasn’t immune. Heck, even Jax wasn’t sometimes, and he’d had plenty of time to get used to Katherine’s antics.

“Me?”

“Uh, yeah. We got through so much more of the game thanks to you.” As if sensing Esther’s weakness, Katherine’s expression became even more pleading, going in for the kill. “I understand my character so much better.”

“Well, and thanks to Jax,” Suzie piped up, giving him an apologetic look as if she felt bad he’d been left out. He could only shake his head with bemusement. He wanted to say he didn’t mind being replaced, but it was a very odd feeling.

Esther exchanged a look with him, and he could see her amusement. She knew she was being played but didn’t mind and was considering it.

“We could both come back…” she started to say.

A chorus of jubilant ‘yes’ greeted her suggestion.

“You should make up your own character and join us!” Karen said. “That way, you can help us and play.”

“Can I go back to being a regular player?” Suzie asked. “Oh, wait, did you mean you could both come back every week, or did you mean you could come back a few more times to help us out? I can keep DMing if I need to.” She didn’t look thrilled about the idea.

Jax had already known Suzie wasn’t comfortable leading unless she knew every tiny intricacy about a topic, but she was also the type to step up when no one else did. It had clearly weighed on her. He could sense her relief at the idea she wouldn’t have to anymore.

“I think Jax can take over if you really want him to.” Esther gave him an amused smile. “We might need to miss a week now and then to make sure our kids don’t feel neglected.”

“No, that’s okay, we’ll totally work around your schedule,” Annie said quickly. “We got used to playing a lot, but we can take it down a notch. Everything is much easier with you two here.”

“Then we’ll make it work,” Esther said before giving all of them a hug goodbye. Jax got his hugs as well. Even before they closed the door behind them, they could hear the excited explosion of chatter.

“Thank you.” Jax took Esther’s hand as they walked toward the car.

“I had fun. I get why you wanted to keep doing it, even though you only intended to do a few sessions to get them started. They’re hard to resist.”

“They are, and so is their enthusiasm. Good idea about having to miss a few weeks. I don’t want the kids to feel neglected again.”

“We’ll make sure they don’t.” Esther smiled, going up on her toes to give him a quick kiss before he opened the car door for her.

Grinning, Jax waited till she sat down, then closed it and moved around to his side of the car. It felt good to be a solid team again.