“No.”
He nodded. “So say you were starved for affection all your life. Nobody touched you. They didn’t hug you, they didn’t kiss you, they didn’t praise you. And then suddenly you’re thrust into a different situation. It’s warm. People are always touching you, always hugging you, and your system can’t handle it. It gets overloaded. It feels so good that you think you’d almost do anything to keep this feeling. But your system just needs to get used to it. Does that make sense?”
It actually did. And it was so similar to how her life was that it actually surprised her for a long moment, before she realized he was just making a generic statement. He didn’t know that for most of her life, she’d been touch starved. That she’d received very little praise, that most of what she’d heard growing up had been negative. Not just about her, but about the world in general.
Yeah, she could have easily become a recluse like her mother, locking herself in her house, too scared to leave for fear of what might happen. If not for her sisters, she was fairly certain that would have happened.
“You can trust me, Addie. I’m not going to hurt you or push you too far. I can give you a little bit of a taste of this, but maybe it’s best if I back off. You’re going home in a few hours, and I don’t want you to drop without me there.”
“Drop?” she asked.
“Have you ever heard of Sub Drop?”
She’d read about it, but she didn’t see how it applied to her. “We’re not playing.”
“There’s all sorts of play, baby.” He set her down on her feet. “Now, would you like to have a look around?”
22
Cash wanted to grab hold of her again. To pick her up and hold her on his hip. But he knew that he needed to take a step back. It wasn’t fair to her if he started to act like her Daddy. They hadn’t agreed to it. There were no terms, no conversation about limits, and she was going home in a few hours.
He was just being selfish. Taking what he wanted, and not thinking about the best outcome for her. Should he have even brought her here to LittleLand?
But watching her face as he showed her the different toys and outfits . . . he knew he couldn’t regret that decision.
“What toys do you like the best?” he asked as she walked next to him.
Every so often, she’d let out a small skip as she walked along. And a soft sigh of pleasure or a wrinkle of her nose would let him know what she thought of whatever they were looking at.
She did not approve of the discipline aisle. Or the room for naughty boys and girls. She also didn’t seem to be into the trucks and other vehicles and machinery aisle. Nor the area with the water guns, bows and arrows, and other outside games.
She definitely gravitated toward soft things. Toys, blankets, chairs and clothes. Anything soft and fluffy, she oohed and aahed over, bringing it up to her cheek to rub.
Finally, they made it to the aisle that Bonnie had told him to go down.
“Oh, good.” She started going through some packages of panties.
He took a closer look. Period panties. Good to know. They seemed to come in lots of pretty colors. The pair she chose were a pale blue with white daisies on them.
“Just one?” he asked.
“I have more at home. And it hasn’t come yet.”
Her voice sounded like it was getting raspier.
“Get two,” he told her. “Just in case.”
She nibbled on her lip, then nodded. “These are cute. Never seen ones like this before.”
“Really?” he asked.
She picked up another pair that were also pale blue, but these ones had strawberries on them.
“Okay, I’m good,” she said as she held her two pairs of panties.
She was good? What was she talking about? There was a lot more stuff that she might need. Heating pads and these patches that you stuck on your tummy that grew warm. They could be a good idea, especially while on the plane. Not that he wanted to think about that.
And then there were some zip-up waterproof bags. He bent down to have a look at them. One of them was white and thick, and said along the front, ‘Crime Scene Kit.’ Another one said, ‘Period Essentials.’
