Chapter 17
Bryson
“What?” my Little imp asks, batting her eyes before covering her mouth and giggling.
“You naughty, naughty girl. What am I going to do with you?” This nightie is sexy as fuck. It’s nearly see-through, and I wouldn’t really categorize it as Little attire. It’s the sort of thing any woman would wear to entice a man.
My cock is rigid. This lingerie is not helping.
“Give me orgasms?” she suggests, her small fingers reaching for the necklace she no longer wears. When she realizes it’s not there, she lowers her hand and balls it into a fist.
I don’t comment. I’ve already started thinking about a replacement. “Millions of them. That goes without saying. Why do you have sexy clothes in your playroom, Lils?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. I just do. Sometimes I like to wear them when I’m in here.
” She clasps her hands behind her and twists her torso back and forth, causing the material to sway around her breasts.
“I pretend I have a Daddy and he’s watching me.
I like the way he looks at me when I’m wearing sexy stuff. ”
I grab her hips and pull her against me. “You do have a Daddy, and he is watching you, and his cock is harder than fuck seeing you in this pink translucent material.” The negligee is sexier than when she was naked. If that’s even possible.
She must be feeling much closer to normal because she dares to tease me by setting her palms on my chest and sliding them around my neck and into my hair. The Little imp giggles.
I shake my head, but there’s no way to keep from smiling.
I adore this woman. I don’t even give a fuck that she’s Little—at least part of the time.
I suspect her new embrace on life includes the fact that she’s always going to have a fraction of her Little with her.
Both last night and today, she was youthful.
She’s embraced that side of her. Now I want to see more.
Plus, I need to get my hands off her. So I spin her around so she’s facing the room. “Find something to entertain yourself, naughty girl. I’m going to watch you.”
She takes a tentative step forward, sending me a coy look over her shoulder. The Little imp might have a deep Little side, but her adult is devious and shining through.
Lillian slowly pads away from me, but all she does is wander around the room, touching things.
This room is a Little’s slice of heaven.
I assume most of the contents were left here by Simone.
I doubt Lillian has accumulated all this in the short time she’s been here.
I don’t think she knew herself well enough to do so.
I am aware that she has money. Lots of it. She has a trust fund from her grandparents. So does Simone. It means she has the luxury of taking her time, figuring out what she wants to do with her life. There’s no rush for her to get a job, even though she has tried.
I lean back in the loveseat, adjusting my cock. If I don’t get a grip, I’m going to come in my jeans. “What do you usually do when you’re in here?”
She shrugs. “I color or do puzzles or play with stuff.”
“What stuff, Lils? Can you pretend I’m not here?” I so badly want her to show me her Little, but she’s afraid to let her guard down while I’m watching.
She shakes her head, causing her hair to swing around her shoulders. It’s messy after everything we’ve done. I love it.
I’m doing everything I can to ignore the barely existent nightie that’s doing nothing to hide her curves. It hardly covers her naked bottom, and her breasts look fucking amazing bouncing lightly with every step she takes.
My mouth is watering. I want to suck her tits so badly. I want to ravage her. She’s not ready for that. I have to control myself. I know she thinks she wants to have sex, but I won’t risk her regretting it. It’s too soon.
“Do you know why I like this room?” she asks so softly I almost don’t hear her.
“Tell me, sweet girl.”
She continues wandering, picking up dolls and toys and putting them back down. She’s obviously gathering her thoughts, so I don’t interrupt her.
Eventually, she licks her lips and draws in a deep breath.
I watch her from the side. She’s not looking at me. She hasn’t since she started absently exploring as if she’s never seen any of these things before. It’s odd. I’m curious to know what’s got her so clammed up.
“We weren’t allowed to be kids long enough. Simone and me,” she murmurs. “I didn’t realize it until recently. I think Simone knew she was Little from about the age of sixteen because she wanted to play. I suspect I have some of that in me, too, which is why we both have Little tendencies.”
I swallow hard. I shouldn’t be shocked, and I’m not. She’s told me they had an odd childhood. I’m just sad for the girls who weren’t really allowed to be young when they were.
“There were always lessons,” she continues.
“Piano, tennis, ballet… Even when we were really young. There was no running around outside, getting dirty, playing in the mud. There was no laughing and fingerpainting. No board games and coloring books. I suppose we must have had some of those things when we were super young, but I don’t remember them, which means they were taken away from us too soon.
We were supposed to be proper young ladies in elementary school. ”
I fist my hands on my thighs, trying not to react strongly and interrupt her.
She picks up a doll, sits on the floor, and proceeds to take its dress off before choosing another outfit from the shelf and putting it on the doll.
“There’s something so satisfying about toys,” she muses.
She’s not fully Little. Her voice is adult.
Her words are insightful. This isn’t a giggly playtime. It’s a purging of time lost.
I want to hold her, but I don’t move.
“Coloring… It’s so simple. But it helps me relax.
It takes me out of all the shit in my head.
Shit that tells me I need to sit taller, keep my elbows off the table, cross my legs just so, smile slightly but not laugh, not fidget, keep my voice at an acceptable volume, speak minimally, pretend to be interested in other people…
” Her voice trails off as she removes the second outfit from the doll and starts putting jammies on it.
My heart hurts. I’m humbled that she’s sharing this with me. I know it’s huge.
“It’s taken me all this time to relax, let my shoulders sag, eat on the couch, suck through a straw. Do you know how satisfying it is to make that slurping sound at the bottom of a fast food cup?” She finally turns to look at me.
I smile. “It is pretty satisfying. You’re right.”
“If you wait a few minutes for the ice to melt, you can do it again.”
I chuckle. “True.”
“I love those sounds. Forbidden sounds that would make my mother gasp. I never disobeyed her often enough to know what she would have done. It wasn’t a thing in her house.
We did as we were told, and that was that.
I was jealous of Simone when she left, but I secretly grinned for hours that night. Lucky bitch got the fuck out.”
I’ve never heard Lillian cuss this much. She’s really angry. “But you stayed another four years.” I’m curious why she did it.
She shrugs. “I didn’t think I had Simone’s strength.
Her spine was always straighter than mine.
Emotionally, I mean. She also took more shit than I did because she was the firstborn.
My parents put so much pressure on her. I mostly tried to stay out of the way and be quiet.
After she left, I’ll admit there was a honeymoon period when, for once, I felt important to them.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that wasn’t a good thing, but I still didn’t have the guts to leave. ”
“What changed your mind?”
She stops playing with the doll and sits very still before finally turning to look at me. “I told you about Herman, right?”
I frown. “Herman?”
“The man they wanted me to marry.”
My brows lift. “They had someone specific picked out?” On our first date, she mentioned her parents wanted her to get married, but she breezed through that as if it weren’t that important.
She sets the doll down and crawls across the room until she’s in front of me.
Kneeling. If this situation weren’t so serious, I would be in a far different headspace.
Lillian has no idea how submissive she is, kneeling in front of me.
She sets her hands on my thighs and tips her head back to look at me.
“Herman Westheimer. He’s the most boring man I’ve ever met, and…”
My jaw is tight, but I manage to say, “And?”
Her expression changes. Softens. She bites her lip playfully for a moment before releasing it. “Don’t take this the wrong way… Well, there’s no way for you not to take it the wrong way, actually.”
“Lillian…” She’s freaking me out a bit.
“He’s too old for me.” She winces. “And before you ask, age is a number. It’s not that. It’s his behavior. He acts like he’s sixty.”
“How old is he?”
She cringes.
I start laughing. I can’t help it. I know what she’s going to say. The guy is probably younger than me.
Lillian rises and climbs onto my lap, straddling me again. She likes to do this. I like it, too, but the temptation of her naked pussy against my crotch is almost more than I can bear.
I grab her hips to keep her from squirming. “Sit still, naughty girl, and answer my question.”
She sighs dramatically. “He’s thirty-six. But I mean it when I say he’s old. You can ask Simone.”
I chuckle. I’m not offended. She’s right. There are plenty of men in their mid-thirties who are old. Thank God I’m not one of them. I’m going to need to stay young for a long time to keep up with this woman.
When I pull myself together, I ask, “How serious was this?”
“They were planning an engagement party.”
“You’re kidding.” I didn’t realize things had gone that far.
She shakes her head. “No. I knew in my heart there was no way I was going to marry that idiot. I wasn’t the least bit attracted to him, and I doubt he gave a shit about me. It was simply understood that our marriage would be beneficial to both families.”
“So you left?”
“Oh yeah. I snuck out in the middle of the night and never looked back.”
“Have you heard from them? Do they know where you are?”
“I haven’t heard a peep. They never contacted Simone after she left. I’m hoping they think I’m soiled goods now, not worth coming after. I suspect they know where we are. Or at least, they know we’re in Seattle. But they haven’t tried to call or text.”
I grip the small of her back and take deep breaths. I don’t like this situation. “And this Herman guy? You don’t think he’s pissed?”
She shrugs. “He might be, I guess, but honestly, why would he care? I’m just some girl his parents told him to marry.”
I stare at her, thinking. Wondering if she’s being too lackadaisical about Herman and her parents. “Camden knows about this?”
“Yeah. He was worried at first, but it’s been weeks. Not a peep.”
“That’s all well and good for him. He has his Little girl safely in his home with security and an alarm system. Meanwhile, my girl is living in this unsecure apartment building.” I’m frustrated and nervous now.
She slides her hands up and down my chest. “It’s a safe building,” she tells me gently. “No one can just walk in the front doors. Plus, I have an alarm, and I always lock the door.”
I search her eyes. Am I overreacting? My skin is crawling. I knew she left home, but I didn’t know all the details. She’s never wanted to talk about it before. I get why. What a mess.
“Please don’t freak out. I’m fine. If Camden were worried, he never would have let me stay in this apartment.
It’s not like my mom is going to fly here and kidnap me.
My dad barely has the balls to tie his own shoes without her permission.
Herman is a wimp. There’s no way he would come halfway across the country to drag his wayward fiancée home.
I’m nothing to him. Just the daughter of his father’s business acquaintance. ”
I draw in a deep breath. Maybe she’s right. But I don’t like that it’s been nearly two months and neither her parents nor the fiancé have tried to contact her. That has my hackles rising.
I try to shake off the unease. Lillian is right. Camden has known about this Herman character for weeks. He would not have let Lillian stay in Simone’s apartment if he hadn’t thought it was safe.
Gripping Lillian’s bottom, I change the subject. “I need to feed you, sweet girl.”
She gives me a huge grin. “Be careful. That’s a very Daddyish thing to do.”
I chuckle. “Baby, I may not have all the Daddy qualities, but I’m learning. And I’ve already told you. I’m most definitely your Daddy. It doesn’t matter that it’s not a role I’ve ever held before. It is my role now.” I stand, once again carrying my naughty girl.
She’s going to kill me with this lack of clothing, but what an amazing way to die.