Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Mace
When the sun comes up, I slip into my room and carefully sit on the edge of the bed. I’ve been awake for hours. I slept hard, holding her in my arms. I’m not sure I’ve slept that well in years. I’m always restless at night. But last night was different.
I can’t think of any other way to describe it than being at peace.
I hate that my friend and mentor is dead.
I’m furious, and I will avenge his death, even if it’s the last thing I do.
But he sent me the best gift in the world.
It was his dying wish. And he wasn’t oblivious to either of our feelings for each other.
Even though Autumn and I spent a long time talking after I curled up with her in bed, it wasn’t late. So I woke up long before now. I’ve already worked out, checked with the team in Indianapolis who’s working on this case, and did some more online shopping.
I kept a close eye on Autumn on the monitor the entire time. She never moved an inch. My poor girl was so tired and really needed to catch up on her sleep.
Autumn finally stirs, blinking her eyes open slowly. The first thing she does is smile, which lights up the entire room. “How long have you been watching me sleep?” she asks in a husky morning voice.
“Not long. I just got here.”
She glances down at my chest. “You’re dressed.”
I chuckle. “I’ve worked out in my home gym, made breakfast, ordered several more girl things for delivery, and checked in with my team.”
She giggles. “Girl things?”
“Yep.”
“Adult girl things?”
I shrug. “Some of both. Even though you have a Little side that needs exploring, that doesn’t mean you’ll want to stay in that headspace all the time.”
She narrows her gaze. “I get to choose?”
“Baby, you get to choose everything. My job will be to ensure your needs are met, no matter what they may be. And over time, they might change. That’s okay, too.” She has so much to learn.
“Seems to me like you’re too bossy, overbearing, and controlling to concern yourself with what I want.”
I wince and shake my head. “Never, Autumn. I will put my foot down on issues regarding your safety. Always. But I will never tell you how to live your life. We’ll explore your preferences one day at a time.
Some Littles like to spend most of their time in that headspace.
Some prefer to adult more often. You have to find a balance. And I’ll help you do so.”
“You’re so confident.”
“Usually, yes.”
Her head tips to the side. “Somehow, I can’t see you letting me control much of anything. I only saw your bossy side yesterday.”
“Did you at any point wish I would stop?”
I sigh. “No.”
“Baby, trust me when I say I’m observant. I will always be watching for clues and signs that you need me to switch things up. If you respond positively to my bossy side, that’s what you’ll get. If you shoot daggers at me and pull away, I’ll know you need something else.”
“Right now, what I need is to pee.”
I chuckle and stand. “Then you should probably do that.” When I tug the blanket back, she yanks on the hem of the shirt, trying to cover her thighs as much as possible.
She’s so cute. I will miss this modest phase she’s in. It won’t last forever. Once I’ve had my mouth on her nipples and pussy, she won’t go to such lengths to ensure she’s fully concealed.
I don’t say a word about her modesty this morning. With her hand in mine, I help her slide off the side of the bed and nod toward the bathroom.
She scrambles in that direction and closes the door as soon as she’s inside. While she’s gone, I make the bed.
A few minutes later, her voice startles me. “How anal are you, exactly?”
I turn after fluffing up a final pillow. I didn’t hear the door or any other sound to indicate she’d reemerged from the bathroom. When I process her question, I smirk. “I was in the Army, sweetheart. It’s ingrained in me.”
“Yeah, I guess my father was that way, too. For the record, I never kept my room to his standards, not even when I was young. I doubt I could come close to cleaning to your specifications.”
I can’t resist pulling her into my arms and holding her against me. “We’re taking our relationship one hour at a time, okay? Don’t worry about pleasing me. Be yourself. I want to see the real Autumn.”
She narrows her gaze. “Can I have clothes?”
Chuckling, I say, “Do you want clothes?”
“Yes. I feel naked, wearing nothing but your T-shirt.”
“Sometimes you might like to feel naked.”
I absolutely love it when she bites her lip. She does it when she’s thinking hard. Finally, she releases it. “Maybe, but not this morning.”
After releasing her, I take her hand and lead her toward the closet. “What headspace are you feeling this morning? Little or adult?”
Her breath hitches when we step into the walk-in closet. “Holy shit, Mace. Did you have another girlfriend you evicted yesterday after I arrived, or did you seriously buy all of this for me since I got here?”
“No other woman has ever lived here with me, Baby girl. No other woman has even spent the night. You arrived with nothing. All I did was order things I thought you might like. We can return anything you don’t care for.
I didn’t remove any tags. You can play dress-up and make a pile of what doesn’t suit you. ”
She wanders in farther. I stifle a chuckle the moment she realizes there are two different sections of clothes for her.
She spins around to face me. Her eyes are wide. “Mace…”
I shrug. “I wanted to get things for both sides of you.”
“But you ordered all of this before you knew I might be Little.”
I shake my head. “Not true. I ordered all of this before you verbally admitted you might be Little, sweetheart. Big difference.” She’s going to freak out when she sees the room I decorated with her in mind. I’ve been adding to it since I moved in.
Autumn turns toward the clothes. She glances back and forth between the left side of the rack and the right. Eventually, she inches toward the Little section.
Her fingers are trembling as she lifts a hand to touch the dresses. “They’re just like in my books,” she murmurs.
“I ordered a variety of ages so you can experiment.” It’s nerve-wracking, waiting to hear what she will say. It’s not necessary. I don’t need to worry. My girl can be any age she wants to be. I won’t be offended. And I hope she won’t be disgruntled with me for providing a range of options.
I come up behind her, brush her hair over one shoulder, wrap my arms around her, and kiss her neck. “I’ll let you pick. I’ll be warming up your breakfast in the kitchen, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispers.
I point to the drawers under the hangers. “Bras, panties, and socks are down below. Again, just make a pile of what you don’t like.”
“You’re insane,” she says.
“Perhaps.” I kiss her neck again and leave her in the closet.
I’d love to stay and dress her myself, but I need to slow the fuck down. I pushed her last night. I don’t want her to feel rushed. And I haven’t seen her naked yet. I’ve touched her pussy, briefly, but I didn’t get to look at it directly.
By the time she joins me in the kitchen, I have a plate of food ready as well as a sippy cup of juice.
When I look up, my breath hitches. She’s so pretty, no matter what she’s wearing. She looked radiant in nothing but my T-shirt. She looked incredibly professional in the pencil skirt she arrived in. Now, she’s wearing a combination of things she took from both sides of the closet. Smart girl.
“So, let me get this straight…” she says as she pads toward me. “You used the clothes I was wearing when I got here to get all my sizes, including shoes, and ordered me everything from bras to jeans?”
“Yep. Did I do okay?”
She glances at herself and smooths her hands over the knit sweater she’s wearing. It’s white with small pink bows down the front. She’s paired it with pink leggings, pink socks, and white tennis shoes.
Without a word, she comes over to me, wraps her arms around me, and hugs me tight. “It’s like an adult dress-up closet in there. I love it.”
I blow out a relieved breath and rub her back before threading my fingers in her hair. “You look very pretty.”
She tips her head back and sets her chin on my chest. “I need to do something with my hair. It’s frizzy from not using the right products.”
“How about you sit at my computer this morning and order everything you’re missing? In the meantime, would you like me to braid it?”
“Depends.”
“What does it depend on, sassy girl?”
“If it’s terrible and I redo it, will your feelings be hurt?”
I laugh. “I’ll do my best not to pout.” Spinning her around, I point toward the island. “You need to eat, Baby girl.” I grab her hips and move her forward until I can lift her onto the stool.
She gasps when she sees the sippy cup. Her head jerks toward me. “Is there anything you don’t have?”
I shrug. “If I don’t, we can order it.”
“You didn’t buy all of this in the last twenty-four hours.”
“No. I’ve been accumulating things for a Little girl for a long time, sweetheart. I’m a Daddy Dom. No matter who ended up claiming my heart, they would have been Little.”
She picks up the cup and spins it around in her hands. “It’s lavender, my favorite color.”
“I might have known that.” I grin. I can’t decide if she’s going to be excited when she sees the room I’ve put together with her in mind, or if she’s going to run from the house and never look back, thinking I’m far too creepy for her.
I hold out two sets of silverware next. The adult set is silver. The Little set is lavender and plastic. More like a spork and the sort of knife that won’t actually cut anything, including her skin.
I relax a bit when she giggles and snatches the purple set. “When you go full Daddy Dom, you go all out.”
“You haven’t seen the half of it yet,” I warn her.
She takes a bite of scrambled eggs with the spork and moans. She even tips her head back as if my eggs are orgasmic.
I fist her hair and pull so she’s looking up at me. “If you make that noise while you eat, I’m not likely to let you have clothes next time.”
Another giggle. “Maybe put your hairdressing skills to work while I stuff my face. I’m starving.”
“You should be. You ate almost nothing yesterday.”
“I feel slightly more human today. As long as I don’t go too far into my head.” Her voice dips at the end, and I know she’s thinking about her father.
I wrap my arms around her from behind and kiss her ear. “I’m sorry, Baby. I know you’re hurting.”
She sniffles. “Tell me something happy, so I can eat.”
I release her, sit on the stool next to her, and lean against my elbow. “Let’s see. Do you like to color?”
She narrows her gaze at me. “Who doesn’t?”
“I don’t know. Crazy people, I guess.” I grin.
“You saying you have some supplies?”
“Oh, Baby, I have all the supplies. I’ll show you after you eat.” I nod toward her food. “Do you want a bib over your white sweater?”
She hesitates, staring at me. Her spork is in her fist, frozen in midair. “Do you have one?”
“Why do you keep doubting me?” I tease. I stand and head for one of the kitchen drawers. When I return, I’m holding a large pink bib, the kind that’s made from a dishtowel, with a hole cut out and Velcro on one side. I place it around my girl’s neck and fasten it.
After once again kissing her temple because I can’t help myself, I head for the bathroom for hair supplies. “Be right back, sweetheart.”