Indulging her Littles (Littles of Rawhide Ranch #20)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Addison

“You’re cheating!”

Pausing in the middle of the hallway, Professor Addison Renard looked around, trying to figure out exactly where the raised voice had come from.

Her curiosity was rewarded a moment later when another voice, deeper but just as loud, responded from the room to her right. “I did not! I would never cheat!”

“You cheat all the time! I’m not playing with you anymore!”

The voices were familiar, yet different at the same time in a way she couldn’t quite pinpoint. Running her finger down the list on her clipboard, she stopped when she came to Kylie Nichols’s name. And frowned as she tried to make sense of the information in front of her.

Kylie was one of her top students. Bright, inquisitive, engaging without being overly social during class unlike her BFF Eliza who, until last year, had been rather disruptive.

But Eliza had gotten herself a Daddy and an ADHD diagnosis, and the combination seemed to have curbed some of her… less desirable behaviors.

But Kylie was another story. Not once had Professor Renard ever had a reason to discipline the pretty blonde. And, to her knowledge, the other professors at Rawhide University could say the same thing.

Which made her raised voice, now bordering on hysterical, rather alarming.

Fishing the keys she’d been handed as temporary Resident Advisor for the girls’ dorms at Rawhide University out of her pocket, Addison unlocked the door and pushed it open.

It was, as the clipboard had told her, Kylie’s room.

But she barely recognized the woman standing in the middle of the chaotic space as her star pupil.

Her bright blonde hair was pulled up into high ponytails on either side of her head, and her outfit, well, it was nothing like the stiff schoolgirl uniform Addison was used to seeing her in.

For starters, she was wearing a t-shirt, which she never wore, even when she was dressed “casual,” and shorts.

The shorts were very short, leaving the expanse of skin from her upper thigh to her knees delightfully bare, while her calves were covered by colorful striped socks.

All in all, the look was… adorable was the only word Addison could think to describe it. Playful and fun in a way that was so very un-Kylie she had to blink to be sure she was seeing correctly.

Standing toe-to-toe with Kylie was Daniel Hollis.

A good head taller than Kylie, but lanky with it where Kylie was all curves and dimples, he had his hands on his hips as he glared down at her.

And unlike Kylie, there was nothing unusual about the jeans and t-shirt he wore.

Addison couldn’t see what his shirt said, but she had no doubt it was something hilariously nerdy, possibly some double-entendre that tied his interests in all things nerdy to his love of kink.

Positioned as they were, they looked more like siblings in the middle of a brawl than the best friends she knew them to be.

Moving quietly, Addison closed the door behind her before stepping fully into the room and clearing her throat. “What seems to be the problem here?”

The pair leapt apart, both of their eyes widening almost comically.

But where Dan simply looked embarrassed, Kylie looked as though she might actually pass out from the shock.

Every ounce of color drained from her face as she tugged at her shirt—which Addison could now see sported a pair of cartoon dogs, one blue and one orange with their paws in the air as they shouted “Hooray!”—trying to pull it down low enough to cover her legs.

“Professor Renard!” Kylie’s voice had risen to a high-pitched squeak. “What are you doing here?”

Raising a brow, Addison tapped her clipboard. “Your RA had a family emergency, so I stepped in. I was doing my rounds and I heard screaming. I came in to check that everything was okay.”

“Oh, god.” Now the color rushed back to Kylie’s cheeks with a vengeance. “I’m so, so sorry. We were just playing a video game and Danny was cheating again and—”

“I did not cheat!” Looking as red-faced as his partner, Dan once again fisted his hands on his hips and turned to glare at Kylie. “Just because you can’t figure out how to make a decent healing potion does not mean I’m cheating!”

“Screw you, Danny! There is nothing wrong with my potions!”

To Addison’s stunned surprise, Kylie stomped her foot. And it was in that moment she realized what it was about the entire picture that seemed so off to her. It wasn’t just that two of her best students were arguing over a video game.

It was that they were arguing like Littles.

Shit.

Panic welled in Addison’s chest, but she managed to keep it at bay by drawing in a deep breath and pinning the pair with a stern look. “I think some cornertime would do you both some good before you say or do something you can’t take back.”

“No!” Arms crossed, Kylie stomped her foot again, and Addison had the distinct impression she was about to be treated to a full on Little meltdown. “I don’t wanna stand in the corner!”

Moving purely on instinct, Addison tucked her clipboard up under her arm as she stepped forward, wrapping one hand around Kylie’s arm and guiding her firmly over to an empty corner, using her free hand to swat Kylie’s delightfully round bottom the entire way.

“You will stand here until I give you permission to move, or you will be one very sorry Little girl by the time I’m through with you. Am I understood, Kylie?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

The sulky tone was far from the respectful deference Addison was used to in a submissive, and unlike anything she’d ever heard from Kylie before, but at least she wasn’t being outright defiant any longer. “Good.”

Turning, she scanned the room for Daniel, smiling a bit when she saw he’d moved a large potted plant out of the way to make a corner to press himself into. “I’m going to step out into the hall for a moment. For both your sakes, your noses better still be in those corners when I get back.”

Praying they’d stay where she’d put them, she slipped back out into the hall and pulled her phone from her pocket. “Pick up, pick up, please pick up,” she muttered under her breath as the phone rang in her ear.

“Master Derek’s office.” Erika’s perky voice came through the speaker. “How may I help you?”

“Erika, thank goodness. This is Addison Renard over at the University. Is Derek available?”

“Let me check for you, Professor Renard. Just a second.”

That second felt like an eternity as she waited for Derek Hawkins, the owner and operator of Rawhide Ranch, to answer. And her knees went weak when his deep voice finally came through. “Addison. Is everything all right?”

“Yes. Well, mostly. Um, I have two students here who have been arguing and… Derek, I think they might be Littles.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” he said with a low rumble of a laugh. “We have plenty of Littles enrolled at the University. Who is it?”

“Kylie Nichols and Daniel Hollis.”

“Kylie?” Surprise colored his voice. “Is she behaving like a Little? In public?”

“No. In her room. I heard arguing and it sounded like it was getting out of hand so I poked my head in and she’s dressed like a Little. And she stomped her foot at Daniel.”

“Yes, well.” Derek paused, as if he were weighing his next words very carefully.

“This is on a need to know basis and it sounds like you need to know, but Kylie does identify as a Little. She’s been very firm that she does not want to spend time in the Littles’ program until after she graduates, though, so I’m surprised she’s engaging in that sort of play. ”

“Jesus.” Closing her eyes, Addison pinched the bridge of her nose. “And Daniel?”

“Has some Little tendencies but doesn’t, as far as I know, identify as a Little. My gut says he’s more of a Middle. From what I’ve heard, he’s very protective of Kylie.” Derek chuckled. “I’ve also heard they bicker like siblings.”

“Okay, well, what do I do about it?”

“About what?”

“The fighting! The foot stomping! You need to come take care of this, Derek, I’m completely out of my depth.”

“Addison… are you telling me you can’t handle two naughty submissives?” Amusement twined around the words and Addison felt her face heating at the implication.

“Of course I can. But they’re not just submissives. They’re Littles.”

“So you might need to be a bit gentler, especially with Kylie. I haven’t observed her much in her Little state, but I have a feeling she might be a bit sensitive.

She can still handle getting her bottom spanked if you think that’s what she deserves, but she will need plenty of physical and emotional reassurance when it’s done. ”

“Derek. You know I’m not exactly the caregiver type.” Quite the opposite. The one and only time she’d tried to step into that role had been a disaster. A fact Derek was well aware of.

“What I know is that you are a kind, caring woman who has dedicated her life to sharing her knowledge with the world. And that you don’t give yourself nearly enough credit. I have plenty of faith in you, Addison.”

“This is a horrible idea.”

“Disagree.”

She’d known Derek Hawkins long enough to know when he’d made up his mind and wasn’t going to budge. “Fine. But if I break them, you have to fix them.”

His laughter rang out through the phone, loud and clear. “Noted.”

The call ended and Addison tucked her phone back into her pocket. She gave herself a moment to drag in a deep, bracing breath before straightening her suit jacket and reaching for the door.

Kylie

Oh god, oh god, oh god. What had she done? Of all the people to catch her dressed like a Little girl and bickering with Dan, it had to be Professor Renard.

Gorgeous, stern, take-no-shit Addison Renard.

Kylie had been half in love with the tall, curvaceous redhead from the day she’d stepped foot in her classroom.

And because she’d heard Professor Renard did not tolerate brattiness, she’d made it a point to be as well-behaved as possible not only in her class, but all of her other classes as well.

And for what? For her to be outed not just as a Little, but a pouty, bratty, argumentative one at that.

This day couldn’t possibly get any worse.

“If you two can manage to keep a civil tongue in your heads, you may come out of your corners, now.”

Part of her wanted to hurry back to the middle of the room, to drop to her knees at Addison’s feet and beg forgiveness. The other part wanted to simply squeeze herself as far into the corner as she could manage.

It was the second part that won out, at least at first.

“Ms. Nichols.” Professor Renard’s tone held more than a hint of irritation and Kylie had to bite her lip to keep from whimpering. “Is this your way of telling me that you are refusing to engage in a calm, rational discussion with Mr. Hollis?”

“No!” Horrified by the implication, Kylie spun around. Professor Renard was standing there, her arms crossed and a single ruddy brow raised in question. Danny stood in front of her, his expression a mixture of amusement and sympathy. “I mean. No, Ma’am. Not at all.”

“Then why are you still standing in the corner?”

It’s always best to be honest, especially when you’re feeling very Little, Kylie. The adults around you aren’t mind readers and they need to know how to help you.

That was what her Uncle Sammy was always telling her.

Uncle Sammy wasn’t really her Uncle. He was Eliza’s, Kylie’s best friend and former roommate’s, Daddy.

But once Kylie had started spending the night every weekend and having regular playdates with Eliza, he’d offered to let her call him Uncle Sammy when she was feeling Very Little.

Which she only let herself be in the safety of their apartment.

Or with Danny.

Danny was the first person other than Master Derek she’d ever told about her Little side. And he’d immediately stepped in as a big brother of sorts, playing games with her and teasing her and taking care of her on days when she needed to let her Little out to play.

“Um.” Shifting from foot to foot, Kylie twisted the bottom of her shirt between her fingers. “I’m just… embarrassed, Ma’am.”

“What are you embarrassed about, Ms. Nichols?”

Being called by her “college student name” when she was dressed like this and still teetering on the edge of her Little space was very disconcerting. “I didn’t expect anyone to see me like this,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes and making it difficult to speak.

“Aw, Kylie. Don’t cry. You know I hate it when you cry.” Danny took a step in her direction, but Professor Renard snapped her fingers and pointed at the ground.

“Stay where you are, Mr. Hollis. Kylie, come here.”

The corners of Danny’s mouth dipped down into a frown, but he didn’t move. “She’s not going to come to you if you keep talking to her like that. Not when she’s Little.”

“I am not Little!” Which was mostly true, though she wasn’t entirely Big, either. She was stuck in some weird in-between place and she couldn’t seem to move fully into either headspace.

“How else am I supposed to talk to her?”

The purely baffled tone of Professor Renard’s voice surprised a giggle out of Kylie, who immediately slapped her hands over her mouth, horrified by her response.

“Oh god. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh! Please just leave so I can die of embarrassment in private.”

“Absolutely not.” Shrugging off her jacket, Professor Renard tossed it over the end of the bed before popping open the button of her long white sleeve.

Saliva pooled in Kylie’s mouth as the other woman deftly rolled the sleeve to her elbow.

“What you are going to do, is come over here and put yourself over my lap like a good girl, so I can spank that naughty bottom. I won’t ask you a third time, Kylie. ”

Going over Addison Renard’s lap was every fantasy she’d ever had come to life.

And her absolute worst nightmare at the same time.

“But-but-I didn’t do anything naughty!”

“If I have to tell you again, Kylie, I will be asking Mr. Hollis to let me borrow his belt. Naughty Little girls who do not do as they’re told go to bed with sore, welted bottoms. What’s it going to be, little girl?”