Chapter Twenty-Two
ASHER
Asher cursed inside his head. They should not be talking about this right now. He needed to get the conversation back on track about why she thought there was something wrong with them being together.
But when Daisy asked what the consequences would be, he could see the curiosity in her eyes. Had she never had a Daddy before?
“There are several punishments. It all depends on what your hard limits are. But it could be a spanking, writing lines, corner time, figging, edging, and a lot of other things,” he explained.
“Edging?” She tilted her head to the side.
Asher took a deep breath in. “It’s where I pleasure you and take you so close to the edge but stop right before you come.”
Her eyes widened.
“Has anyone ever given you an orgasm before?” he asked.
He was going to hurt whoever had given her pleasure. Asher just needed to make sure he asked casually enough for their names, so she didn’t expect anything.
“No one,” she replied. “Well, besides myself.”
“No boyfriend? One-night stand? Daddy?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I haven’t had a boyfriend or a Daddy. Don’t see much with a one-night stand, either. No one really likes that I move around a lot, and they especially don’t like it when they see Chilli.”
Asher clenched his jaw and slowly exhaled. “They are wrong.”
“Huh?”
“They are wrong for not liking you because of Chilli. They lost out on something great. Part of me is glad they did because I want you all for myself,” he gently said before he could stop himself.
“Asher,” she whispered.
“I want you, Daisy. I want you the way you are. I don’t want you to try to change yourself because you think I want that. I want you with Chilli. I want you with your stuffed alligator. I want you with all your quirks,” he said.
Tears pooled in her eyes, and it broke his heart.
“I want you. I want your Little side. I want everything and anything,” he explained.
“I want you to rely on me. I want you and me to be together and explore what we have between us. I want you to take a chance on us so that we can see where this goes. I want to discipline you when you break the rules, but I really want to guide you in life and help you to thrive. I want to make you feel at home and to trust me.”
“I—” She paused, taking a deep breath. “Asher, I don’t know what to say.”
“Then don’t say anything. Just think about what I said and what you want.
I don’t want to pressure you into anything.
But I would love to be your Daddy if you will allow me to.
I want you to think about it. I know you are still trying to decide whether you want to stay, and that’s okay.
I understand, and I’m not trying to pressure you into staying in Springfield,” he said.
Asher gently wiped his thumb across her cheek, moving the tears away.
“Everything is going to work itself out. Just think about it,” he said.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
He leaned forward, kissing her forehead. “Anything for you.”
She melted into him, and he couldn’t help the smile on his face. Everything with her just felt right, like they were meant to be.
“Now, do you want something to eat? How are you feeling? What caused you to have that episode?” he asked, pulling away from her. “What caused it is the most important.”
“I feel fine now,” she mumbled.
“And what caused it?” he asked once again.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she whispered. “I’m not trying to keep it a secret, but I’m trying to wrap my brain around it. It’s a lot. I need to do this before I can say anything to you.”
“Okay, I’ll be patient,” he replied. “But if something like this happens again, you will tell me, even if you haven’t thought about everything. Your health is important.”
She nodded.
“Words, baby.”
He needed to hear that she understood.
“Yes, Sir. I understand,” she said.
“Good girl.” Her eyes lit up.
“Now, do you want some food, or do you want to take a nap?” he asked.
Just as he finished, her stomach grumbled.
“I think I know what you want.” He booped her on the nose. “You stay right here and relax while I go get you a little snackie. Do you want anything specific?”
“Cookies?” She sat up straight as she looked at him.
“Hmm, do you have apples and peanut butter?”
“I do, but I don’t want apples and peanut butter. That’s not really a snack.” She mumbled toward the end.
“How about a little apple and peanut butter, and one cookie on the side,” he reasoned.
“Two cookies,” she demanded.
Asher cocked his hip to the side and placed his hand there. “Do you want to rephrase that?”
“Two cookies?” she asked.
“Since you asked so nicely this time, you can have two cookies and some peanut butter and apples,” he replied and got up from the couch.
Daisy didn’t know what she was doing. Why did she say yes to thinking about what he’d said? She should have said no and packed her things.
But she couldn’t do that.
She had promised Janelle and Rainey that she would give Springfield a chance, but part of her was now regretting it. She shouldn’t have so easily agreed when Asher was trying to be with her.
“Chilli, I think I’ve gone mental,” she whispered.
Everything in her wanted to say yes to Asher. To be his Little. She had never felt like this with someone before, and it was slightly driving her insane.
“Here you are. I want to see all of this gone,” Asher said as he set the plate down on the table.
Daisy stared at the small plate. Something inside of her warmed and tugged at the same time. Was this what it was like to have a Daddy to take care of you?
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Perfect,” she whispered, a ball forming in her throat.
She was not going to cry right now.
“Daisy?” He gently said her name. “Can you look at me?”
She shook her head. One glance at him, and she was going to be a big ball of tears.
“Come on, Little Flower. Look at me for a second.” He grabbed her hand. “Everything is going to be okay. I promise you.”
But she found that hard to believe. She didn’t want to cry.
And yet Daisy found herself focusing on Asher.
“There you are,” he whispered, tears springing to her eyes.
She quickly closed them, taking a deep breath to try and stop herself from bursting into tears.
“It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to let out your emotions,” he gently said.
Daisy shook her head.
“It’s okay, but if because you think it will get on my nerves, I want you to stop.
I’ll always be here for you. If you want me to hold you as you cry, then you do that.
I’m not going anywhere,” he said, squeezing her hand.
“Now, why don’t you snuggle on the couch while you eat your snackie?
Is there anything you want to do afterward? ”
“No,” she whispered.
“Do you have any more work to do?” he asked.
“No, I don’t. I took today off,” she replied. “Just needed a day to think about everything.”
Which didn’t turn out amazing. Her conversation with Rainey, as much as she loved hanging out, wasn’t the best. It made her get inside her head and think about everything.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked. “You don’t have to, but sometimes just saying the words can help whatever you are trying to think about.”
She so desperately did, but it involved him. How was she going to do something like that?
“Hmmm, if you want to, you can talk in hypothetical terms,” he suggested. “Like hypothetically, my friend has someone he really likes. He wants to get to know her, but he doesn’t want to overwhelm her.”
“Doesn’t want to overwhelm her?” she asked before she took a bite of her apple.
Asher has been so kind to spread a thin layer of peanut butter across the apples, so she didn’t have to fight trying to scoop it up to get the perfect amount on each one. It was so annoying to do that because she always ended up with more apple than peanut butter, or vice versa.
“Yeah, he doesn’t want to overwhelm her with how much he wants to take care of her,” he replied. “Why don’t you try?”
Daisy looked at her plate and took a deep breath. This was all hypothetical to him; she could do this.
“Hypothetically, if someone had moved a lot and had thought about moving again, but two friends told her not to, what would you do?” she whispered.
It was so painfully obvious they were talking about her, but she was just going to pretend it was a conversation that would disappear from her mind. It was all hypothetical, which meant it didn’t really happen.
“Hmmm.” Asher rubbed his jaw. “Does she have any desire to stay in the town? Is that why her friends are telling her to stay?”
She shrugged. “She didn’t before, but recently she has made some more friends who were just like her. And she might have met someone who piqued her interest.” She mumbled the last part.
Daisy took a deep breath and slowly let it out, looking away from Asher. She needed advice, but she knew all her friends would tell her to stay, rather than listening to her.
“Do you know if this person has any hesitations as to why she doesn’t want to stay?” Asher asked.
She held onto her peanut butter and apple while she thought about his question. She had so many hesitations, but she didn’t want to blurt them out and really let him know that it was her who they were talking about.
Daisy could have died from embarrassment right now. She had never been good at talking about herself. Now she was doing it with the person she had a crush on... someone she wanted to be her Daddy.
“I don’t know,” she muttered. “Maybe she’s worried that if she says anything or stays, she won’t end up with anyone, or things will fall apart. She’s worried that she’ll be left alone and have to move.”
“Anything else?” he asked.
“And... and maybe she’s worried that he’ll think she’s more trouble than she’s worth, like a lot of other people have done, and break things off.” Daisy set the apple back on her plate, her appetite gone.