Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
“But I don’t understand. Why do you have to leave?”
Kylie Nichols, Eliza’s dormmate for the past two years sat on her perfectly made bed, her eyes brimming with tears as Eliza tossed her belongings into boxes. Their third roommate had graduated last year, and they were waiting to see if they’d get another, or if it was just going to be the two of them.
She wondered if Kylie would be moved to another room, or if she’d get the whole place to herself now.
“Because Professor Asshole said I had to and apparently he owns me now.”
Watery eyes going wide with horror, Kylie slapped a hand over her mouth to smother her giggle. “You really need to learn to watch your mouth,” she said when her laughter faded. “He doesn’t look like the type of man to put up with your brattiness.”
“He’s not, and you wanna know what the worst part is?”
“What?”
“He’s a fucking Daddy .” Infuriated all over again, Eliza threw a pair of white stilettos into the box hard enough to make the entire thing shake and nearly tip off the side of the bed. “Like a bona fide, put you in diapers and make you sleep in a crib Daddy from the sound of it.”
Sympathy filled Kylie’s face. “Oh, honey. Did you tell him that’s a hard limit for you?”
“It’s not a limit,” Eliza snarled. “I don’t have limits.”
Kylie’s sigh was one of pure frustration. “You know that’s not how this works. Everyone has hard limits, Eliza.”
“Well, not me. And certainly not for something as silly as being some dickhead’s baby. I just don’t like it, that’s all.”
“All right. But you can’t cry foul when he pushes you to do something you truly hate if you haven’t been honest about your limits.”
It was an argument they’d had dozens of times over the past two years. And if Eliza was being honest, it was the only reason she’d even added the few limits she had to her list. Just to get Kylie off her back.
And maybe a little because the thought of touching someone else’s excrement made her want to crawl out of her skin.
But it definitely wasn’t a hard limit. She could do it if she had to. It was just… a preference.
The door to their dorm room swung open again and Samuel stepped in, carrying more boxes. “How’s the packing going, Eliza?”
“Fine. This box is done.” She shoved the box she’d just finished at him, ignoring his raised brow.
“Professor Eaton, are you sure Eliza can’t stay?” Kylie, who had a way of winning over even the strictest of Doms, widened her eyes slightly and pushed out her bottom lip in what Eliza thought of as her “Please, Daddy” face. Because while Eliza was very adamantly not a Little, Kylie couldn’t say the same. Though she kept that information to herself. Nobody other than Master Derek and a few of their closest friends knew. Her Little snuck out on occasion, like when she was playing video games with their friend Dan or when she wanted something really, really badly.
Like right now. Eliza sent up a silent prayer that Kylie’s big brown eyes would stir something in Samuel she obviously hadn’t been able to stir herself.
For once, however, the recipient of that expression seemed immune to it. Samuel simply smiled and picked up the packing tape to close up the box Eliza had just finished packing. “I’m afraid not. But if you’d like, you can come visit Eliza at our apartment. Eliza will just need to ask permission, first.”
“Seriously?” Eliza groaned. “I need your permission to hang out with my friends?”
“Yes.”
That was it. No explanation, no negotiation, just “Yes, you belong to me now and I’m going to control every aspect of your life”.
Fucking great.
It took six boxes and a suitcase to pack up Eliza’s part of the dorm, which was more than she’d originally come to the Ranch with. She hadn’t realized how much she’d accumulated during her time here. Gifts from her friends, splurges from the gift shop. A testament to the life she’d built here, a million little reasons she couldn’t find the courage to tell Master Derek where he could shove this whole “guardianship” idea.
There were plenty of tears as she hugged Kylie goodbye, on both sides, which surprised Eliza somewhat. She’d never considered herself an overly sentimental sort, and she hadn’t even cried when she’d left home.
Then again, that had been as much of a relief as anything else. Getting away from her parents’ constant disappointment had felt like a new lease on life .
Right up until she’d proven them right. Again and again. First by failing out of two separate colleges, and then by not being able to keep a job for more than a few months at a time.
Was it any wonder they’d basically told her “Absolutely not” when she’d called them asking if she could stay with them for a couple of months, just until she got back on her feet?
“Are you okay, little one?”
They were back in the golf cart, on their way to the employee apartments. Swiping at the tears she’d only now noticed were streaming down her cheeks again, Eliza shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“It’s perfectly normal to be sad when you have a big change forced on you. Especially a change that requires you to leave people you love.”
“I said I’m fine.”
“All right. But I’m here if you decide you want to talk.”
That was never going to happen. But it was nice of him to offer, she supposed.
His apartment was more spacious than she’d expected, and she could begrudgingly admit it would be nice to have some space to spread out and watch tv that wasn’t overrun with other college students. That was assuming, of course, she was allowed to watch tv.
Clutching her brand new teddy bear to her chest, she looked around the apartment as reality set in. And in reality… she had no idea what her new reality was. There were bound to be new rules, new expectations, new everything . Less than a day into her new life and Samuel Eaton had already turned everything she knew about her life on its head.
Where would she eat? Would he have rules about what she was allowed to eat? Would she be allowed to watch tv? Join in the Ranch activities? How often would he allow her to hang out with her friends?
There was freedom on the Ranch, because she knew exactly where all the lines had been drawn, how far she could push without actually stepping outside those boundaries. Now those boundaries had vanished, and she was lost in a sea of the unknown with not so much as a life vest in sight.
She wasn’t even aware of how heavily she was breathing until he stepped in front of her, worry etched into the furrow between his brows. “Eliza. Look at me, little one.” When her eyes met his, he smiled, and the smile eased some of the pressure in her chest. “Deep breath in through your nose. That’s a good girl. Hold it for me, just like that. And let it out through your mouth. Very good, little one. Can you do that for me again?”
The band around her chest continued to loosen as he walked her through the breathing exercises. Until finally, she could breathe again on her own without feeling like she was drowning. Humiliation stepped into the void panic had left behind, and she was halfway tempted to run all the way back to Master Derek’s office and tell him she’d changed her mind and she was definitely leaving this time.
But then Samuel smiled again and brushed a lock of hair that had come free from her ponytail away from her face, and everything in her settled at that simple touch. “Why don’t you and your bear go have a lie down. We can unpack and talk about things when you’re feeling more up to it.”
“I don’t need a nap.”
“It’s a bit late for one, anyway. I was thinking you could rest for a bit while I finish bringing your boxes in, then we could go down to one of the restaurants in about thirty minutes, have a nice dinner together. How does that sound?”
“Italian?” Normally she ate in the cafeteria, so getting to eat in one of the upscale restaurants at the Ranch was a treat. And pasta was her favorite food group.
“Whatever you like.”
“Okay. Um. I should probably unpack, first.”
“There’s plenty of time for that. Go lie down and I’ll come get you when it’s time to go down for dinner.”
For once in her life, she was too tired to argue. So she carried her bear to the bedroom he indicated was hers and stretched out on a bed twice the size of her dorm room bed. Curling up on top of the plain-white comforter, she buried her face in the bear’s fur and promised herself that no matter what happened, she would not cry again.
He gave her the thirty minutes and was relieved to see she seemed more herself when he told her it was time for dinner. The panic attack from earlier had apparently worked itself out of her system for now, but it was certainly something for him to keep an eye on.
Tucking that bit of information in the back of his mind, he watched her as they made their way back down to the golf cart they’d commandeered for her move, and as they rode back over to the main building.
She really was beautiful. But beyond that, he was starting to see just how fragile she actually was. Not that she’d admit it, of course, and he had a feeling she’d tear him to shreds for daring to suggest it.
But beneath the bold, brassy exterior there was a very scared, very needy Little girl. He’d underestimated how difficult this would all be for her because he’d relied on Derek’s assessment that she took everything in stride. That nothing could rattle her.
He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
The Rawhide restaurants appeared to be as world-class as advertised, and even Eliza seemed to perk up as they settled into their booth.
“I would have thought the novelty of Rawhide’s cuisine might have worn off by now,” he said with a grin when she rubbed her hands together in what appeared to be absolute glee before picking up the menu.
“Normally, I just eat in the cafeteria with my friends. Which is delicious, don’t get me wrong, but the restaurants are next level.”
“Well, order whatever you like. It’s on me.”
She looked up, narrowing her eyes slightly. “You can’t buy me things all the time, you know.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not…” Cheeks pinkening, she glanced around before leaning in and lowering her voice. “I’m not really your Little girl. And you’re not really my Daddy.”
“On that, we very much disagree. The only difference I see in our dynamic is the lack of a sexual component.” For now. He’d already decided that he wanted to pursue something deeper than a guardianship role with little Eliza. But that could wait until they’d learned a bit more about each other. Until she’d learned to trust him.
“Okay, but still. You don’t want anyone thinking you’re giving me special treatment.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem.” As he’d promised Derek, it would soon be abundantly clear to both her and her fellow students that Eliza was being held to a much higher standard than the average Rawhide University student.
“If you say so,” Eliza grumbled with a roll of her eyes .
He was tempted to give her a pass. She’d had a long day, and it was clear the unexpected guardianship and move had worn her out.
But he was also a man who believed in beginning as he meant to go on. “That’s ten.”
“Ten what?”
“Ten with my hand when we get back to the apartment. I suggest you watch your attitude, because if we reach thirty I will not wait until we return home to punish you.”
Eliza snorted out a laugh. “Dude, I’ve been spanked in front of pretty much everyone at this Ranch. That doesn’t scare me.”
“Have it your way. But I would also remind you that we haven’t finished our discussion about your disrespect toward Master Derek.”
“You already spanked me for that!”
He hadn't been anywhere near finished with her punishment when she’d demanded to talk to Derek. But the last thing he wanted was for her to feel like she was being penalized for safewording, even if she hadn’t technically used her safe word.
And there was something he wanted even more than he wanted to make a point about her disrespect.
“How about this? We can call it even on your earlier disrespect if you answer one question for me.”
Wariness crept into her expression. “What question?”
“Why is it so important to you not to have limits?”