Chapter 3
Chapter Three
It’s hard for me to finish one slice of pizza. My tummy is doing flipflops. There’s a man in my apartment.
Eli manages to eat half the pizza. He’s a big Daddy Dom.
He probably eats ten times more than me.
I bet he works out two hours a day. Now that I’m so close to him, I can see that he’s even more muscular than I’d thought.
His arms are bigger around than my thighs, though that’s not saying much. I’m not a large girl.
“What do you do for work?” I ask when it occurs to me I told him about my job but didn’t ask him a single thing about his.
“I’m a pharmacist.”
“Oh, wow. Where?”
“Half the time I work at a pharmacy here in town. The other half I work at a different location out of town.”
I frown. “That’s weird.” It confirms what I knew. He’s here two weeks and gone two weeks.
He puts our plates in the dishwasher and proceeds to load the rest of my dishes from the sink and counter.
I jump up. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t, Little one. But I want to. How about if you color me a picture while I tidy up your kitchen a bit? I need something on my fridge. It’s bare.”
I glance at the table where my art supplies are. “But…” It feels strange letting him load my dishwasher.
“Pretend I’m the make-believe Daddy you had up until tonight,” he teases.
“He was terrible about cleaning up after me,” I respond, feeling proud for holding my own in our funny banter.
“I think you should ditch him for a more tangible Daddy who will actually clean your kitchen, cook for you, and spank your bottom if you don’t put your toys away.”
I purse my lips as I clench my butt cheeks together. In my head, my pretend Daddy did sometimes spank me when I didn’t clean up, but no one has ever touched my bottom. Not in my adult life at least.
Eli points toward the table. “Sit back down, sweet girl. You color. When I finish here, I’ll explain where I work when I’m not in town.”
Oh, good. I am confused, and he’s left that odd piece of information hanging.
I return to the table and choose a picture from my coloring book for him. It’s hard to focus, though. The man cleans my entire kitchen and wipes down the counters. I’m going to swoon. I think he should move in.
Silly idea.
I don’t realize until he finishes and comes toward me that I haven’t colored a single thing. I’m still holding the first crayon in my hand.
Eli sits next to me and looks at my blank page before giving me another of his sexy smiles. “That’s so pretty. I’ve never seen anyone use invisible crayons before.”
I laugh. He keeps making me laugh. It feels good. Too good to be true.
“What will I tell my friends when they come over and see that picture hanging on my fridge?”
I lift the blue crayon. “Tell them your neighbor has invisible crayons, of course. They have to use their imagination. See how well I stay inside the lines?” I point to the sky.
“I did this part in blue, except for the clouds, of course.” I move my finger down to the tree.
“This part is green. And the flowers are pink.”
His deep rumbling chuckle makes me squeeze my thighs together. His voice does things to me I’ve never experienced. Not in the presence of someone else that is. Butterflies are dancing in my tummy. I’ve felt them before but only when I’ve been alone in my bed with my sexy Daddy books.
Eli looks around and then points to a door across the room. “Is that your office?”
I nod. “It’s boring in there. It’s an adult room.”
“Ah. Creative. Do you wear adult clothes when you go to work?”
“Sort of.” I glance down at myself. “No one sees me, so I can wear whatever I want. But I put on adult clothes when I’m in my office or when I leave the house.
Like this. Nothing fancy. Jeans. T-shirts.
Boring tennis shoes. I worry I might slip into a more Little headspace if I don’t dress the part and put on a bra and panties. ”
I flush as those last words leave my mouth. Why on Earth did I mention my undergarments? Sheesh. I look down, holding my breath.
Eli tucks a finger under my chin and nudges me to raise my head again.
“Such a smart girl. I noticed you have a lot of pretty dresses in your closet. I bet you’re adorable in them.
No reason to be embarrassed. I’m in awe of how you’ve managed to arrange your life to accommodate both sides of yourself without a caregiver. It must get lonely.”
I shrug. It does, but I’ve never thought much about it. It has never occurred to me that there might be a man out in the world who would want to be with someone like me. I mean I know there are in books, but I’ve never considered such a thing in real life.
On top of that, it wouldn’t have mattered. I’m too shy to go out and look for one. He’d be a needle in a haystack. Apparently there’s a club nearby where I could have gone, but even if I’d known about it, I never would have had the guts to go. That would be way outside of my comfort zone.
“I like you, Grace. I wonder if you’d consider spending some time with me. Maybe you would like me, too.”
I lick my lips. “I like you already,” I murmur.
He smiles. “Good. But you don’t know me well. Let’s fix that, huh? I’m here for two weeks. We could spend evenings together. Get to know each other.”
“I’d like that,” I manage to whisper. This is surreal. In fact, without thinking, I reach with one hand to pinch my other arm hard. “Ouch.”
Eli grabs my fingers in his. “Why did you do that, silly girl?”
Embarrassed, I look down at the red mark on my arm. “To see if I was awake,” I mutter.
“You’re awake, sweet girl. I promise.”
“Where do you go when you’re not here?” I ask. I’m already thinking ahead. In two weeks, he will leave. What if I get attached to him? It’s a silly thought since I’ve only entered into this odd relationship with him a few hours ago, but my mind goes there anyway.
“Have you ever heard of Littleworld?”
I shake my head.
“It’s a trio of amusement parks on an island off the coast. I spend half my time working at the pharmacy on that island and half my time working here in town.”
“Amusement parks? I’ve never seen them advertised.” How could something like that be so close to me, and yet I’ve never heard of it?
“You wouldn’t, Little one. The entire island is private. It’s called Regression Island. It’s strictly for Littles and caregivers. They don’t advertise to the general public. They don’t allow anyone to visit who doesn’t adhere to the specific age-play practices of the island.”
I stare at him. “Wow. I had no idea.”
“Yep. There’s a zoo, a waterpark, and an amusement park. Collectively it’s called Littleworld. Many people live on the island fulltime. Some people go there for vacation. There’s a beach, too. The town itself has everything people need to live there.”
“And you live there half the time?”
“Yep. I’m one of the pharmacists.”
“It sounds amazing. Why would you want to come back here half the time?”
He gives me a huge grin. “How else would I have met you?”
I furrow my brows.
He chuckles. “I’m serious. Sometimes there are unattached Littles on the island.
They stay with sponsors. But most of the people who live there are in established relationships.
It’s not a great place to find a life partner.
So I spend half my time here on the mainland.
On weekends I go to the Dungeon. I’ve had one eye scanning around me at all times, always looking for the perfect Little girl for me. ”
I realize he’s still holding my hand, stroking my fingers. His next words make me stop breathing. “I think she’s been living across the hall from me right under my nose all this time.”