Chapter Eight
Rouge
I stretched my arms above my head and instantly regretted it. Pain rolled through every part of my body, making me groan. Last night came rushing back in pieces. I’d been attacked, kicked some guy’s ass, and called Leland Daddy. Groaning again—out of embarrassment this time—I gently pulled a pillow over my face.
I was so fucking stupid.
“Hey, sugar. I thought I heard you.” Leland’s voice startled me and I jumped. More pain. More embarrassment.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, baby. I’m sorry. How do you feel?” he asked, sitting on the bed beside me.
“I’m fine,” I mumbled. The familiar flames of my temper fluttered around in my belly.
Leland placed a hand on my belly and rubbed softly.
“No, Daddy wants you to tell him the truth. Are you feeling sore? Emotional? Maybe a bit grumpy?”
Pulling the pillow off my face, I was met with the sight of a shirtless Leland. Holy shit. He was panty-melting gorgeous. “I’m feeling angry.”
“Yeah? Do you know why?”
I thought hard on his question for a while. “I think I’m embarrassed.”
“Oh, sugar.” Leland slid his hand from my belly to my hand and held it in his. “What are you embarrassed about? A random man attacked you and you kicked his ass. You admitted what you needed to me and your friends. You told me about your biggest fear and are giving me the privilege of helping you work through it. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. You are such a badass.”
Some of the heat in my belly dissipated at his praise and I smiled at his words.
“So what could you possibly have to be embarrassed about? Maybe I should be embarrassed because I’m in the presence of someone so strong.” He dramatically fell to the floor on his knees. “I’m unworthy. I’m unworthy.”
Giggling, I relaxed. “I called you Daddy.”
“I know. I fucking loved it.”
“You did?”
“Yes. Sugar, when you called me that, it felt like everything in my life fell into place.”
“It did?”
“It did,” he confirmed. “I know we agreed to a dynamic for six weeks, but I really hope you’ll be mine for much longer than that.”
“Like a real Little girl?”
“You’re a real Little girl now, silly. I just want you to be my Little girl, officially and forever.”
“Why me?” I asked. I hated to voice the question, but I needed to know what he saw in me that made him want me so badly.
“You are so sweet and strong. Fuck sugar, I don’t know anyone as strong as you. You had every reason to give up and you didn’t. There aren’t many details I know about the cult, but I do know that you gave everything you had to get Emily out of that situation. She told me how badly you were beaten when you tried to escape your arranged marriage, but you didn’t hesitate o do it all over again to save Emily from hers. You have the most beautiful spirit. You are gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. You have more kindness in your little toe than most people have in their entire body. What’s not to adore, baby?”
“But I get so angry, and I say things that hurt people, or do things that hurt people… or me.” I struggled to sit up so he placed his hands under me and pulled me into a sitting position as gently as he could. It was still very painful.
“You want to know a secret?”
I nodded, excited to learn something new about Leland.
“I used to drink really badly. Really badly.”
“You did?”
“I did. My parents passed away in a house fire when I was eighteen. While looking for something to help me cope, I started drinking. I was never an alcoholic, but I hurt some people that love me because of the way I was handling my pain.”
Reaching out, I took his bearded face in my hands. “I’m so sorry, D-Daddy.”
He placed his large hands over my own. “I love hearing that from your sweet mouth, sugar. My point is that we all have battles we’re fighting, but that doesn’t make us unloveable.”
It was such a hard concept to understand, but Leland seemed so sure.
“Okay,” I agreed. He hadn’t been wrong so far. I was just going to have to trust him.
“We do need to talk about one more thing, baby.”
I waited for him to speak.
He moved his hands from mine, down to my forearm and lifted it. “The self-harm of any kind stops. I know you’re cutting and pulling your hair, are there any other kinds you’re engaging in?”
Looking down at my arm, I swallowed the anger I was feeling. It was okay to need help. I didn’t have to be embarrassed. “No, Sir.”
“Why do you do it, Little one?” His tone was sincere and that helped me have the courage to be honest.
“The pain feels like a factory reset. I can feel so angry and then d-do it, and the anger goes away for a bit. It doesn’t really make sense,” I struggled to explain.
“That’s what a spanking does for people, so I will take care of you anytime you need a reset from now on.”
“Yes, Sir. I got a tiny reset from when Blade spanked me, but it was only once a week and it didn’t last.”
“Well, it’s a good thing Daddy can do it a lot more than once a week, isn’t it? No more hurting this beautiful body. Do you understand?” His tone was firm, but not unkind.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Try again, Sugar.” His goofy smile and hopeful eyes made me have the warm and fuzzies, which was a completely new feeling. I didn’t hate it.
“Yes, D-Daddy.”
***
Leland
The only thing stopping me from being completely elated about today was my Little girl’s injuries. She was still in a considerable amount of pain.
“Ouchie, ouchie,” she cried as I tried taking off her tank top and the shirt of mine she’d slept in. I had slipped it on over her other clothes, not being sure what she was comfortable with me seeing.
“I know, baby. I’m so sorry.” I was being as gentle as I could, but every movement seemed to hurt her ribs.
“When I’m all done, Kay made me pancakes,” she repeated, probably to encourage herself.
“That’s right. She made them just for you before she left.”
“They really stayed? All night?”
Rubbing her back from where I sat on the edge of the tub, I nodded. “All night. You’re special to us all, sugar. Put your arms on my shoulders and step out of your shorts and panties.”
She slowly obeyed, her face turning crimson. I had asked her about nudity this morning and she was fine with it, as long as it wasn’t for punishment and was still non-sexual.
“Good girl,” I praised, hooking my fingers in the fabric.
I slowly slid them down, enjoying the sight of her plump pink pussy, a very wet pink pussy. Tucking the sight away for later, I kissed her belly before shutting off the water.
“Alright, Daddy’s not going to pretend this is going to be fun. It’s really going to be ouchie.” I hadn’t wanted to give her a bath, but she’d begged me. It was easy to understand why she wanted last night's attack washed from her body.
“I can do it.”
“I know you can, Little one, you’re so brave.”
I took her hand and she squeezed my fingers before working her way into the bubbly water. It took several minutes and a few tears, but finally she was settled on her bottom.
“Leland?”
“Hmmm, I don’t know who Leland is.”
“Daddy?”
“Yes, sugar?”
“What if I changed my mind?”
“About what?” I soaped up a soft cloth for her.
“About the six weeks.”
My stomach fell to my feet as I worked not to show any negative emotions. I thought this morning had been going so well.
“Well, you’re always in control and free to change your mind at any time.”
“What if I didn’t want to be your submissive for just six weeks? What if I wanted to be your Little girl for... maybe always.”
Relief crashed through me and I released the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. “That would make me very happy, Rouge.”
She smiled at me. “Me too. I want that. With you, Leland. Please?”
I chucked. “Sugar, you don’t have to beg me. Nothing would make me happier.”
I started washing her bruised body just to have something to do with my hands. Suddenly I had so much energy.
“So, am I like your g-girlfriend now?”
“Oh, Little one, you’re so much more than my girlfriend, now.” I dropped the cloth and stroked her cheek gently. “You’re my everything.”
“It will still be hard. I’m still angry a lot.”
“We’re going to keep working through it, baby.”
“I haven’t been as angry, though. It’s weird. Normally, I’m angry all the time, but the last couple of days I’ve only been angry a few times.” Her nose scrunched as she reflected.
“Because you stopped believing some terrible lies about yourself and that helped your inner-critic settle.”
“I did believe some lies,” she admitted. “Like that I was a w-whore and that I wasn’t w-worthy of love…. Or of being a Little.”
“Do you still believe those things? Because those lies make Daddy so sad. I bet they were hard to carry around, huh?”
“Yes,” she agreed. “But Sunday when I was angry about never having a donut, you said something that I keep thinking about and it’s really helped.”
“What did I say?”
“That it wasn’t my fault I’d never had a donut. That it was the adults in my life that had wronged me and I realized everything I was mad at myself about, was out of my control. I wasn’t a cheap whore, that’s just what D-David said to me, maybe to make himself feel better for all the times he raped me. I’m not worthless. My parents abandoned me, but that doesn’t make me a bad person, it makes them bad people. And I am worthy of being a Little. Just because the other Little girls I know don’t seem to have the baggage I have, doesn’t mean I don’t deserve it. It just means I was dealt a different hand in life.”
“Sugar, if you weren’t so sore, I’d snatch you out of this tub and kiss you silly. I’m so fucking proud of you right now.”
“Well,” she said, playing with the bubbles in the water and blushing beautifully, “Maybe you can’t get me out of the bath, but maybe you can still kiss me silly?”