When he’d popped her ass, she hadn’t demanded he stop. No, she’d submitted to his correction without protest. They both knew she’d earned every swat and then some. That knowledge simmered between them now, thick as heat before a storm.
She was unlike any Little—hell, any woman—he’d ever met. That was saying something, since he lived in a small resort town that catered to people in the DDlg lifestyle. He’d see people who practiced complete submission and those who played at it. Bliss was neither. She wouldn’t know complete submission if it bit her on the ass. But she was real.
Did she know anything about the lifestyle? As long as she’d been in Darling, she had to have picked up something about howthe couples behaved. She’d been around Winnie and Reid often enough.
But to be fair, no one in Darling was all that discreet because they didn’t have to be. It was the kind of town where everyone knew exactly who they were and didn’t bother pretending otherwise.
Did she even realize she was a Little? Best he could tell, she pretty much lived in Little space. If she ever came out of it, he had yet to see or hear it.
Except when that wariness crept into her eyes. When fear hardened her gaze. Fighting for survival had a way of sharpening a person’s edges. If it didn’t flat-out get them killed first. And as much as she tried to hide it, Bliss had the look of someone who had walked that razor line before. Or been forced to.
Yeah, there were times when life had forced her to handle adult things. That woman intrigued him just as much as the Little in the corner. He liked her resilience as much as he hated that she’d had to develop it. He and his Sabre Security brothers would make sure those who had forced her into those situations paid for it.
He understood her. Being a Daddy wasn’t a bedroom game to him. Of course, he didn’t usually go around spanking women without consent or act as if he had authority over them because he didn’t. Control without consent wasn’t dominance. It was abuse. Connor had zero tolerance for that line being crossed.
Still, being protective and nurturing, taking care of someone twenty-four-seven, wasn’t a choice for him. The Daddy in him couldn’t be turned on and off like a lightbulb. It was who he was. So, what was he going to do with the little girl fidgeting in the corner? The one who looked like she’d been waiting her whole life for someone to step in and steady her world?
There was nothing to do except be himself. There was no time like the present because he needed to know certain things. “Are you a Little, Bliss?”
She shot up straight and spun around. “You can’t just ask a question like that.”
Color flooded her cheeks, but he didn’t know if it was from shock or embarrassment. Or both.
When he gave her his best ‘Daddy’ look and raised his brow, she spun back around to face the corner.
He crossed his arms and stretched his legs out in front of him. “I can ask any question I want. The decision to answer or not is yours. I’ll never judge you for what you say. I can’t make you talk to me, but I hope you choose to answer.”
He had the kind of patience that could outlast any storm. So he waited, calm and quiet. Littles hated silence almost as much as they hated vegetables, naps, water... or choices. His Little’s trouble was no different. Her shoulders slumped as the silence pressed down on her like a weighted blanket.
Seconds later, she stomped her foot. “Argh! You are so infuriating!”
Not the answer to his question, but she kept her face to the wall. At this point, he’d take whatever progress he could get. “Does that mean you’re choosing not to answer me?” He kept his voice mild, though he couldn’t hide his amusement.
Heaving an aggrieved sigh, she answered him. “You wouldn’t ask if you didn’t already think I was.”
“It’s not what I think that matters. It’s what you think.”
He’d be willing to bet that if he looked, she’d be nibbling that luscious bottom lip. He let the silence intensify the room’s atmosphere until she gave him an answer. Patience was a weapon he wielded well, and this was a battle he intended on winning.
Her shoulders hunched as if bracing for his judgment. “Okay, fine. Yes, I think I’m a Little, but I’ve never had a Daddy. I want to have a Daddy. One day. I love books about Daddies and their Littles.”
He released the breath he’d been holding. She knew the lifestyle, and she wanted it. Standing, he walked toward her with silent steps. “That’s good, babygirl. Books are a great place to start. Did you realize, based on what you’ve read, that I am a Daddy?”
He stopped just behind her, close enough to feel the warmth radiating from her body.Her breathing quickened, and one heel started bobbing up and down like a jackhammer.
Someone was nervous. Good. Nervous meant she cared. Nervous meant this mattered.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, the tossing me over your shoulder and spanking me kind of gave it away.”
Hm. It seemed that being nervous also made her sarcastic. That was all right. He had several ways to deal with a smart mouth, if her was her Daddy, every one of them involved teaching her that he was in charge.
The way she wiggled her head back and forth on certain words for emphasis was adorable. He stood mere inches from her back, so he leaned close enough that his breath would tickle her ear when he spoke. “I am a Daddy and have been for a long time. I must say, in all my years, I’ve never met a Little who needs a Daddy as much as you. I don’t like to repeat myself, but I’ll make an exception this once. Did you understand that you were to stay in the truck?”
She turned her head to look at him. Not going to happen. “Nose in the corner, Trouble. You do not want to add to your tally. Answer the question with that nose pressed into the corner as far as you can.”
“Tally?” Her voice came out as an adorable squeak. “If I don’t have a Daddy, how can I have a tally?”
The Little logic in that question made his mouth twitch. “Now that is a very good question, babygirl. Can you think of a good answer?”
