Ashley licked her lips and forced the thoughts of her passionate night out of her head. She was thirsty, and why was it so bright? Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she moved to shut the curtains but froze when she saw two tall glasses of water sitting on the bedside table. A couple of aspirin sat next to the water, and curiously, there was a candy bar. She raised an eyebrow at the sweet but eagerly reached for the first glass of water and drained it in a matter of seconds. She paused when reaching for the second and snatched up the aspirin because, come to think of it, she did have a splitting headache, which surprised her, seeing as she'd only managed to drink two cocktails the night before.
"Lightweight," she murmured to herself and downed the pills and glass of water before standing on shaky legs. She shuffled forward, head down and eyes averted from the bright sunlight, and had only just jerked the curtains shut when a knock sounded at the bedroom door.
"Daddy?" The hopeful question left her mouth before she could stop herself and Ashley blinked in surprise. Shaking her head, she rubbed her temples and yanked on a spare robe from the guest closet. She was definitely hungover, or still drunk, for that matter. It was the only explanation for feeling like she did, for saying what she'd just said.
There was no reason for her stranger to be at the door, not when the room was devoid of his presence. The only proof she had of him was a sore ass and the bruises that were blooming over her thighs, but even as she thought these completely logical thoughts, there was a tiny part of her that held on to the hope that she would open the door and come face-to-face with a set of stormy gray eyes. She hesitated, hand an inch from the door handle, before another knock prompted her to reach forward and swing open the door.
"Hey, sleepyhead!" Natasha practically bounced on her toes with a bright smile and a plate of waffles in her hands.
"Oh hey." Ashley forced a smile to her lips and gave her friend a weak smile. "Morning."
Natasha froze and raised an eyebrow. "Morning?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
Ashley nodded and moved back toward the bed with a sigh before flopping down on it and pulling the covers up to her chin. "Yes, good morning," she said, stifling a yawn and eyeing the waffles. "Are those for me?"
"You're sad," Natasha said, ignoring her friend's question and bustling forward.
"I just woke up. What are you talking about?"
Natasha set the plate on the bedside table and turned to her friend. "What happened last night?"
A flash of being held down by her stranger, one hand fisted in her hair while the other curled possessively around her neck while he fucked into her from behind, flitted through Ashley's mind's eye but she cleared her throat and smiled blandly at Natasha.
"Nothing," she lied.
Natasha crossed her arms. "Liar."
Ashley flushed and nodded at the waffles. "Can I have my breakfast, please?"
"Yes, after you tell me what happened last night."
"Nothing happened last night," Ashley insisted, but she could only carry her lie so far with Natasha looking at her like she was, like she knew Ashley was full of shit and she wasn't afraid to call her on it.
Natasha opened her mouth, and Ashley blurted out what she knew her friend would eventually pull from her. "I slept with someone!"
Natasha smirked. "I knew it." But then she reared back with a frown. "Is that why you're sad? Who was it? I'll have his balls."
"I don't know who he was, and he's not why I'm sad," she insisted, though her voice sounded weak and tinny to her ears. She didn't even believe herself, so she wasn't surprised when Natasha snorted and sat on the bed beside her.
"Tell me who it was, and I'll make him pay. Did he hurt you?" she asked in a voice far calmer and more deadly than the petite woman had a right to unleash. There was a steeliness in her friend that told Ashley she was capable of carrying out her threat and if she wasn't, there was the matter of her fiancée, Silas, who was more than equipped for the task.
Ashley jerked back, hands fisting in the blankets around her. "No! He didn't hurt me. Last night was good."
"Then explain now."
"It was just different."
"Different, how?"
She blushed, thinking of all the things she'd done last night, all the new things she'd done and said while under the spell of the man she'd been with. There hadn't been a thing she would have denied him. Not when he'd made her feel like he had. Everything had been intense, beautiful, so perfectly erotic that she'd felt like it had been a dream. She winced, moving to the side, the soreness between her legs telling her it had all been real, so she ducked her head and gave Natasha a shrug.
"Just different," she mumbled.
"Ash…" Natasha put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it gently. "You can talk to me. You know that, right?"
"Of course," Ashley whispered, and her eyes welled up with tears at the soft tone in Natasha's voice. "I know."
"Then, talk to me."
She bit her lip and then nodded, a movement so slight, she wasn't sure she'd made it until she was saying the words, "He, ah, well, spanked me."
"He, what?" Natasha asked, her hand stilling on Ashley's shoulder.
"Spanked me, but I liked it," she added in a rush before Natasha could jump to conclusions. "It was all consensual. He was good about that. Checking in and stuff." She looked down at her hands that she was wringing in her lap. "We did roleplay."
"What kind of roleplay?"
"I don't know what you'd call it, honestly, but it was just for fun, you know?"
Natasha's hand rubbed at her shoulder again. "I can imagine. What was the roleplay, Ash?" she asked in that still gentle voice that seemed to cut right through the dull headache she'd woken up with that morning.
"I called him Daddy."
Natasha swore, and Ashley looked up at her worriedly. "It wasn't gross or forced, and I wan—"
"Shh, shh," Natasha soothed, her arms coming up to hug her close and pet her hair. "I know it wasn't gross. I know you wanted it, too. That's okay, Ash." She rocked her close, and Ashley leaned into the smaller woman with a relieved sigh she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. "It's okay," Natasha said again, her hands smoothing back her hair and rubbing her shoulders. "Let's lie down, yeah?"
"Yeah," Ashley mumbled, curling into herself. Natasha settled her beneath the blankets and then was at her back, arms wrapping around her with a gentle kiss pressed to her temple. "It's okay, sweet girl. Rest now."
Ashley lifted her head with a drowsy look. "I should go home soon."
"Shh, there's nothing for you to do today. Lie down like a good girl."
Ashley hummed at that and lay back down, feeling content. The empty feeling inside of her was slowly being filled and things didn't feel so bleak. Maybe Natasha was right and all she needed was more rest.
"Okay." Ashley closed her eyes and was lulled to sleep by Natasha's soft humming of a lullaby she'd long forgotten.
* * *
Ashley fiddled with the hem of her cardigan. She was sitting beside Natasha at a diner in Queens. A duffle bag of her things they had hastily gathered from her place before slipping into the diner was on the floor between her feet.
"I'm fine, you know," Ashley said, toying with the laminated menu in front of her. Natasha let out a snort but said nothing and, instead, nudged the full coffee cup their waitress had just delivered in front of her.
"Drink your coffee," Natasha murmured, picking up her menu and busying herself with perusing the small diner's selection.
Ashley pulled a face but did as she was told. There was something comforting about it. "Bossy," she muttered, raising the cup to her lips.
Natasha hummed but said nothing else and kept her eyes on the menu; a smile tugged at her lips. Settling in beside her, Ashley went over the morning that had taken an unexpected turn. After her nap, she'd been able to think more clearly, the fog of the previous night not so thick and debilitating. She'd told Natasha of the stranger she'd taken to bed, o
r rather the one who had taken her. Albeit, she had omitted the finer points and highlights of the evening, but she had been honest. And that had brought Ashley to a startling discovery.
She was a little, or more specifically, a middle. She chewed on her lip and looked down into her coffee cup. Before last night, she'd never given much thought to urges she'd had. Her love of technicolor, stuffies, glitter gel pens, and scratch and sniff stickers had been seen as childish but just kitschy, not an indicator of her predilection for kink. She blushed at that, because what a kink it was for a girl who had never engaged in anything racier than girl on top. Her lovers had all been passive men who seemed lukewarm at best when it came to sharing her bed. Nothing like the man who had tasted and touched every last inch of her. He had devoured her, consumed her lust with a need and vigor that left her feeling thoroughly used and well fucked.
But it had also left her feeling empty and alone. Like she was crashing from an all-night bender and sugar high all at once. Her heart squeezed. Why had he left without a word to her? He'd known what she was, or at least that was Natasha's assertion, and she was livid about it. Ashley was simply confused and filled with a longing ache in her chest she had never known before. Everything felt too raw, too bright and saturated for her to process. Natasha called it sub drop and had gone on a tirade of what she'd like to do to the man—Daddy Dom—who had let her friend fall without catching her. She snuck a sidelong look at her friend and smiled, seeing the studious way Natasha stared at the menu. When the waitress approached, Natasha gave her order, "Sliced fruit, two orders of eggs and bacon, please, and a slice of apple pie." She collected the menus and handed them to the waitress with a perfunctory nod.
"I think that should do it. Don't you?" Natasha asked, giving her knee a squeeze.
Ashley nodded. "Yes, thank you." Her friend gave her another sunny smile, and Ashley's heart was full of gratitude at her friend's steady presence beside her. At seeing her state, Natasha has declared that she was moving into the guest bedroom until she had recovered. Ashley had balked at first but, suddenly, Silas had been there, agreeing with Natasha.
"I can't impose," Ashley had tried, but he'd just shaken his head and given her a genuine smile.
"Natasha told me what happened."
She looked at Natasha in shock and opened her mouth to deny it all, but Silas had held up a hand and said, "There's no need for embarrassment with us. This is a safe place for littles."
His words had shocked her into silence until her friend had slipped up beside Silas. "I'm a little, too."
Ashley gaped. "You are?"
Natasha nodded. "How do you think I know what I know? And that means I know what you're going through, and that means you're staying. No arguing."
A desperate look at Silas had confirmed that the couple was not taking no for an answer. "It's for the best; trust us and let us take care of you, yeah?"
"Yeah," Ashley echoed, feeling like she had suddenly fallen down the rabbit hole. Everything was new and different than last night; she was new and different, and there was a whole world for her to understand. A kinky world, at that, and it excited her, although she wished she didn't feel so fragile, like a hollowed out egg on the verge of shattering at the slightest pressure, which is why she gave in to Silas and Natasha's wish for her to stay. She needed a soft place to land, and her cold, noisy, and downright crowded walk up was not the place to do it. And with that, her fate for the foreseeable future had been sealed. Not that Ashley would complain at having a well-appointed and plush place to live, with Central Park just a stone's throw away.
She glanced down at her coffee cup again. Yes, she was lucky to have the friends she did. Ones who understood that she needed someone close by, a shoulder she could lean on while she sorted out her head and heart. She made a face at that. Heart. That had no business being tossed in the mix when it came to a one-night stand. Even as she thought it, Ashley knew she was just being angry and petty. Not that she minded. Natasha outright encouraged her to it, in what Ashley supposed was being indulgent. It was welcome to not have to guard her words or temperament when her emotions seemed to spike and bottom out all within a span of minutes. She leaned forward, fingers rubbing at her temples. If this was what sub drop was like, she wasn't sure she would be able to survive another encounter with a Daddy Dom. Ashley groaned and let her forehead fall forward onto the table with a thud.
"How do you do this?" she asked her friend from her face plant into the table.
"It's different when they stay," Natasha told her, hand coming up to rub her back soothingly. "You'll see."
Ashley made a strangled sound in the back of her throat that could only be interpreted as no, and Natasha chuckled at that.
"Our food is here," she said, handing Ashley a set of silverware and nodding at the waitress approaching with a laden tray.
"I'm not that—"
"You'll eat," Natasha said, cutting her off with a stern look. "And I mean everything, or no pie."
Ashley frowned but took the silverware with a jerk of her hands. She hadn't anticipated eating, but she would be damned if she missed out on apple pie. "Fine."
"Good girl."
The two words made her stomach clench and her spirits lift a little. Even if they were coming from her friend's mouth and not the one she truly wanted to hear them from again. The man. No, not just the man, but Daddy. It was hard to think of him as anything but Daddy. He was her first, after all. No matter how he'd left her, and he had, when she'd needed a guiding hand, there was nothing that could change what he'd given her that night.
And try as she might, Ashley knew she'd spend more time than she liked to admit imaging him, the assured way he held her, kissed her, spoke to her and looked at her like she'd been the most important person in the world. No, the only person in the world. It had been pure magic. Or it had been until it hadn't been. Sighing heavily, she picked up her fork, and under Natasha's watchful gaze, she cut into her eggs and bacon because, at least, there was pie, and that was something.
The next two days passed in a blur of moping, sleeping, and eating. Interspersed among all of that were gifts and enough hugs and cuddles from Natasha to dull the ache that seemed to have taken up a permanent residence in Ashley's chest. It was on that third day that the sun didn't seem so offensive, or her bed so lonely that she burst into tears at the thought of it, and she felt like she could finally breathe again.
Relief flooded her at the realization.
"Thank God," she all but whisper-screamed and dashed into the en-suite bathroom for a proper hot bath. It was time to join the land of the semi well-adjusted and living. She would be lying if she said Daddy hadn't been in her thoughts. He had been and had been so on a continuous loop since she'd awakened the morning after their night together. Even now, as she showered and dressed, the man with electric gray eyes who had made her want to lose herself, moved through her memories. Everywhere she looked, she saw the ghost of him, of them, and how they'd been together. Her eyes landed on the space in front of the bed. The rug she loved, fluffy as a cloud and soft as anything lay there. He'd had her kneel there at the foot of the bed, his long cock thick and heavy against his thigh as he had stood in front of her. Daddy had reached for her hand then and guided her to touch him. She'd been shy at first but had grown bolder when she saw the reaction it elicited from Daddy. He'd been gorgeous in his arousal, eyes fluttering closed and mouth slightly parted as a groan slipped out. His body had shuddered beneath her touch, and Ashley had eagerly licked the length of him and taken him as deeply as she could. There had been no denying that she was as hungry for the man in front of her as she was for the praise he showered on her.
His hands had been gentle on her, fingers carding through her hair while she sucked the whole of him down. "Little one," he'd rasped, and it had been like she was on fire. The power was hers. This man, Daddy, was at her mercy, was wrapped around her little finger, and Ashley found that nothing had ever tasted quite so sweet as Daddy's cum. S
he flushed, darted out of the room and away from the beautifully lewd memories that threatened the delicate sense of balance she had achieved. Emerging from the room and still fighting off thoughts of Daddy, Ashley nearly ran smack dab into Silas, who was carrying a bouquet of flowers down the hallway.
"Oh! I'm so sorry." She reached out a hand to help steady the flowers, but Silas waved her off with an easy smile.
He held up the blooms, daisies and baby's breath. "No worries. I was bringing these to your room."
Ashley blinked and then dropped her eyes to the flowers in Silas' hands. "Really?"
"Yes, really," he told her with an earnest smile. "You deserve nice things and not just because you're Tash's friend."
"Thank you, Silas." Ashley was touched by his kindness, by the warmth and openness in his eyes. "That means a lot to me."
Ashley: Little Girl - Book Two Page 2