Chapter 11
Teddy
Teddy slept like a dream. When she awoke in the morning, Arden was still sleeping, curled up around her, skin to skin.
Not wanting to wake her, and end this, she carefully reached for her phone and checked her messages. There were a few from Briar.
Hey there cous, how’d it go?
Teddy?
Theodora Honoria Mills, answer my damn text message!
Teddy winced. Not the full-naming.
Hey B, all good. Sorry for not replying, we fell asleep early.
Just all good?
Arden’s a very caring play partner.
Typing dots.
More typing dots.
Teddy was about to give up and put her phone down when finally another message came through.
She’s a good person, just… be careful, k? I don’t want you getting hurt.
I’m not going to get hurt! Everything’s fine.
But Teddy was lying, both to herself and her cousin. Things were not exactly fine because today they would arrive in Missoula and then she’d have to say goodbye to Arden, and that was the last thing she wanted.
“Hey there, baby girl.” Arden’s voice was hoarse and croaky in the morning, and it was hot as fuck. “You awake?”
Teddy turned over and kissed her, before snuggling back up in her arms. “No wake. Sleep time.”
Arden chuckled, but merely pulled her close to her and fell back asleep.
* * *
When they checked out, Arden gave Sage the message about the bedding, and Sage tried very hard to keep a straight face. They failed. “Glad you had a good time,” they said, with a snicker.
“Hope we didn’t scare the straights!” said Teddy, with a grin.
“Not this time, but there’s always next…?” Their voice trailed off when they clocked the awkward looks on Teddy and Arden’s faces and they shook their head. “Either way, you’re always welcome back.”
“Thank you,” Teddy said.
Breakfast was a quiet affair, with them both working their way through mahoosive piles of matching pancakes. Then, after one last cup of coffee, Arden met her eyes. “Come on, baby girl. Time to hit the road.”
Teddy nodded quietly, getting up, and letting Arden hold her hand as they walked to the bike.
There was a tension in their air now, something between them that neither of them wanted to acknowledge, and that neither of them could completely ignore. Arden helped Teddy onto the back of the bike, and kissed her swiftly, a short burst of passion, before fastening the helmet in place.
“You going to hold onto me, all the way home?” she asked Teddy.
“Yes, Daddy,” said Teddy, before holding onto Arden as tightly as she could.
She couldn’t help but turn her head to watch the diner and motel disappear into the distance as they set off along the highway. They were only a few hours away from Missoula, she knew that, and so she wasn’t going to waste a single hour of that thinking about anything she didn’t have to.
All Teddy wanted to do was to cling on to the precious memories of the previous night, and the wonder of waking up next to Arden that morning.
Everything else wasn’t for her to worry about. Everything else could wait.
The rhythm of the bike, the sound of the road rushing by, it all became white noise as they rode.
Everything in Teddy’s world centered in on where her arms were round Arden’s waist, the feel of the other woman, the heft of the leather jacket she’d borrowed, even the insistent pressure between her legs that threatened to overwhelm her.
But Teddy knew the rules.
The rules they’d set out.
That she’d agreed to.
And no matter how Teddy felt, she wasn’t going to break the rules. That wouldn’t be fair on Arden, and it also wouldn’t be fair on herself, hoping for something that couldn’t be.
She just had to treasure the here and now.
Syncing with Arden as the bike took a bend, so in tune. So together.
If this was all they would have, then it was fucking special.
Teddy was so lucky to have experienced it, even just for one night.
She’d always remember Arden, her angel in leather, the Daddy Domme who showed her that she was enough, that she was cherished and loved, and that she deserved everything she’d ever dreamed of.