CHAPTER 13
SCARLETT
“Were you good for Aiden?” Daddy asks as he steps into the cabin.
I squeal and run to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Daddy!”
“Are you okay?” he asks, holding me tightly against him. “Aiden? Is she all right?”
“I think she has just missed you. You have been gone for six hours,” Aiden replies.
“Six hours too long. Next time, you need to bring me and Juniper with you,” I grumble into his chest.
“What was that, Little One?”
I pull away and give him a playful glare. “Next time, you need to bring me and Juniper along with you. It was way too long without you. Juniper and I missed you so much.”
“I hope not to make this a habit, but once or twice a week. Most times, I’ll be able to bring you along,” Daddy explains.
I push my bottom lip out, not liking his answer. “I don’t want to be away from you. Neither does Juniper. She told me.”
Daddy looks at me with amusement. “Juniper told you she doesn’t like to be away from me?”
I nod confidently. “She did. I was talking to her earlier, and she was agreeing with me. So, it’s settled then.
Next time, you have something like this, you are going to bring us along because we both don’t want to be away from you.
It would make us incredibly sad if you left again for a whole afternoon. ”
Daddy pulls away and shakes his head. “Little brat,” he mumbles, leaning down and kissing me on the lips. “Where is Juniper?”
“We put her down for a nap several minutes before you got here. She was starting to get cranky, so Scarlett fed her and put her down for a nap,” Aiden chimes in.
“See, I told you. She was getting cranky because she missed you. It was the only logical reason to put her down for a nap.” I sweetly look up at Daddy.
“Thank you for looking after them while I was working, I really appreciate it.” Daddy ignores me and talks to Aiden.
I push my bottom lip out, not liking being ignored. Who does he think he is, ignoring me? How rude!
“I would talk to her about the feeling she has in her stomach.” Aiden nods. “But it was my pleasure. I’ll do it anytime you need me. Maybe when other people find their Littles, we can start a daycare, so when one Daddy needs to work, they can drop them off and they can be supervised.”
“We don’t need a daycare!” I raise my voice and stomp my foot.
“I think someone else needs a nap.” Daddy raises his left eyebrow.
I cross my arms and shake my head. “It’s not me, but I think Aiden might need one.”
“You mean Uncle Aiden?” Daddy corrects me.
Sighing, I nod. “Uncle Aiden definitely needs a nap. He looks so tired and a little bit cranky if you ask me. But don’t tell anyone I said that,” I whisper toward the end.
“Brat,” Uncle Aiden mumbles.
Giggling, I wrap my arms around Daddy once again, melting into his embrace.
“Thank you again for watching over the two of them,” Daddy says once again. “When you find your girl, let me know if you ever need me to watch over her.”
“Thanks,” Uncle Aiden replies before walking out the door.
I watch his figure get smaller, and I can’t help but feel bad for him.
“What’s wrong, Little One?” Daddy asks, pulling me up in his arms.
“He seems sad, Daddy,” I point out.
“He is sad. He doesn’t have a Little to take care of. He has been searching for her for years,” he explains as he walks into the living room and sits on the couch, placing me in his lap.
“Maybe I can help him find his Little. I know several Littles online and can talk to them about visiting. Maybe he and some of the other guys can find their one true love with them,” I suggest.
Daddy eyes me before shaking his head. “As much as I would love that, it would be extremely hard with them filling out the paperwork, getting a background check, and making sure there is an open cabin with a Dom to supervise them.”
I stare at Daddy and giggle. He really thinks it’s that hard for me to get them to come out here and find them all Daddies? Does he know who he is talking to?
“Why are you giggling?” he asks.
“Because you are talking to someone who loves to do those things. I used to set up all my friends online and a lot of them worked out,” I tell him.
“It’s my favorite thing to do. I want to do more of it.
Only if the person is up for it, but I think Uncle Aiden is ready for it. He needs to brighten up his mood.”
“That doesn’t answer all of them having to do paperwork, background checks, and everything else with sorting out the cabins.” Daddy raises an eyebrow.
“There aren’t any empty cabins?” I ask.
How can there not be any cabins when almost all the guys are single on this mountain? It makes no sense.
“Because other subs visit to get away from things. We have a couple of openings next month and after that, but this place books out,” Daddy explains.
“Save that spot. I need to talk to some of my friends online, but I bet they would love to come here. We need to find everyone a Little of their own so they can find their own joy.” I smile.
“And the annoyance?” Daddy chuckles. “I’m teasing. You aren’t annoying.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “That’s right. I’m not annoying, and you better not tell anyone else that I am. I am a pretty princess who does no wrong.”
Daddy just winks at me, and I quickly look away. I know that look because I get it a lot.
“Does no wrong?” Daddy gently jokes. “Are you sure about that?”
“Um, well… no, I’m not sure about that. I do wrong, but I can’t help it. Sometimes it just comes out, and I try so hard for it not to, but it begs me,” I ramble. “It just begs me inside to do something, and I can’t tell it no. That would be rude.”
Daddy cups my face. “It won’t be rude, especially if it keeps you out of trouble.”
I open and close my mouth several times, not knowing what to say. I could definitely tell it no, but sometimes I want to do something wrong even though I know it will land me with a hot bottom.
“No promises,” I mumble, not looking at Daddy.
He runs his hands up and down my arms, smiling softly at me as I turn to look at him. How did I get so lucky to find my way on this mountain and fall in love with him?
I don’t know what I did to deserve him, but I’m never giving him up.
“What did Uncle Aiden mean when he said for me to talk to you about the feeling in your stomach?” Daddy asks.
My shoulders drop, and I look away, not wanting to talk about it. Daddy didn’t pay attention to me before, and Uncle Aiden wasn’t either. If I tell him again, will Daddy make fun of me or tell me it’s nothing?
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I mumble.
Daddy cups my face and brings it back so I’m looking at him.
“We are going to talk about it,” he gently says. “We need to. It’s not good to hold things in, especially when it has to do with a feeling you are feeling in your gut.”
I giggle. “You said feelings a lot.”
He cracks a smile. “I did, but it’s important since it’s what I mean. So we are going to talk about it whether you like it or not. Even if it takes us all afternoon to do it.”
I push my bottom lip out and close my eyes. I wish Uncle Aiden hadn’t said anything about it, but I know he is just looking out for me.
“So, what are you worrying about?” he asks.
I suck in a deep breath. “Just that something bad is going to happen. I can’t shake the feeling in my gut that it’s going to happen. We aren’t going to be prepared.”
I close my eyes before I finish speaking, not wanting to see Daddy’s expression. I told him the same thing this morning before he left, but he didn’t do anything about it. Is he going to change his mind or stick to what he was thinking before?
“Bad like what?” Daddy runs his thumb across my cheek. “Do you know, or just a bad feeling like something is off?”
I shrug.
“Look at Daddy.” he gently commands.
I open my eyes slightly to find nothing but worry across his face.
“Talk to me,” he begs. I don’t want you to shut down because you think I don’t care. I do, and I want to know everything.”
“It’s just a bad feeling that I can’t shake. Like something bad is going to happen to people and there will be no way of stopping it. I just worry that it’s going to be something to do with him,” I whisper, not wanting to utter his name.
“Nothing is going to happen. We have people patrolling around the compound at all times to make sure everyone is safe,” Daddy calmly says. “Brix and Elijah are going to get another Little from a nearby town, but they will be back before anything happens.”
“Anything happens,” I repeat. “You think something is going to happen as well!”
I knew I wasn’t the only one feeling this way.
“Nothing is going to happen,” Daddy repeats.
“But you just said ‘before anything happens.’ So you think something is going to happen,” I point out.
Daddy cups my face, giving it a firm squeeze. “I shouldn’t have said that because I won’t let anything happen, not when you are here.”
I struggle to believe him, but I want to.
“Do you want to go see everyone walking around the perimeter to make sure nothing happens?” Daddy asks. “I can show you them on the camera or I can show you in person.”
I open and close my mouth several times, not knowing if that will help.
“Why don’t I show you on my phone, and if you find out that you want to see it in person, we can wait until Juniper wakes up or get Aiden to watch over her,” Daddy offers as he pulls out his phone.
I stay where I am, looking down at his phone as he pulls up the security cameras.
“See, they are all walking around and making sure everything is safe,” Daddy points out as he shows me multiple different camera feeds.
“How will they fight off the bad guys?” I whisper, staring at the phone screen.
“They have guns, but they are also trained. Each guy on this mountain knows how to protect people. It’s a qualification they need to have in order to stay on the mountain,” Daddy explains. “But everyone here carries a gun in case of something, but we’ve never had anything happen.”
“But I’m bringing danger,” I mumble, feeling nauseous at the thought. “Maybe we should go somewhere so we keep you all safe.”
Daddy places his phone on the couch and cups my face once again.
“This is a safe haven for a lot of people. We aren’t going to send you and Juniper somewhere because someone is after you.
You two will stay here, where you are safe, and I can keep an eye on you.
Nothing is going to happen to you, I promise. ”
I lean forward, letting my forehead hit his chest as he continues to cup my face. It’s awkward, but I don’t really care.
This is what I need.