by Pepper North
Silence filled the air once again before the officer spoke again. “I have your purse. I’d like to interview you officially for the case that is mounting against your boss. Would you be able to come to talk to me?” Officer Hamilton asked. His tone had softened from the impersonal official approach that he had used when first speaking to her.
“We can be there tomorrow at eleven. Will that work for you?” Bart answered for her as he rocked her back and forth slightly.
“That will be fine. Keep a low profile. I didn’t have all the facts I have now, and without your sworn statement that you remember what happened, I had to release him. Eddie Shaffer will be more dangerous now. Keep your eyes open. Would you like a police escort into town?” he asked.
“If we have any problems, we’ll call you,” Bart answered before disconnecting the call.
“Wow!” commented Priscilla wryly. “Those cookies are magic. You ate part of one and look at all we know now, Margarita.”
“My grandmother is the only one who calls me, Margarita.” Rita’s offhand comment underlined the randomness of her returning memories, making them all smile.
“I’ll just call you, Rita,” Priscilla assured her.
Chapter 17
Rita clung to Bart’s hand as he thanked Mitch and Priscilla for welcoming his Little. He knew that she considered him to be the one thing that she could rely upon as her mind began to remember everything. Boosting her back into the truck, Bart allowed her to think without interruption. He’d be there when she needed him.
Once back at his house, Bart helped her slide safely from the cab before leading her into the house. He sat her in a kitchen chair just long enough to make her a bottle before guiding her to the nursery. Sitting in the rocking chair, Bart pulled her onto his lap and pushed gently with his legs to sway back and forth. Rita curled against his chest to nestle her head under his chin.
Minutes passed. Bart could almost hear the gears in her head grinding together. His hand brushed over her head through her soft brown hair. He loved that she looked to him for security and protection when she was utterly befuddled. There wasn’t anywhere else that he wished to be.
“I remember a lot, but there are bits here and there that I don’t know. It’s so frustrating,” Rita finally shared.
“It will all come back. Try thinking about something else for a bit. Give your mind a rest,” Bart suggested shifting her to lie back in the crook of his arm. He picked up the warm bottle of the milky formula and held it to her lips. “Drink, Ritagirl! Just relax and drink for Daddy.”
To his delight, her eyes closed as she began to suck the delicious formula from the bottle. He rocked her slowly in the restful quiet of the nursery. By the time the bottle was almost empty, his Little was asleep. Suspecting that rest would enable her mind to sort itself out into a more comprehensible order, Bart relaxed and enjoyed holding her.
He would hate to admit that he was afraid that she wouldn’t need him when all her memories returned. Trying to memorize her face, Bart allowed himself to study his sweet Ritagirl. She’s mine, he decided. Bart knew that he would do anything possible to help her through whatever threat had spooked her into running away. He could only hope that she would want to stay with him when everything was settled.
Chapter 18
“He had drugs,” Rita whispered an hour later.
Rousing from his thoughts, Bart’s rough voice answered her, “Who?”
Those beautiful brown eyes opened to meet the blue eyes that captivated her. Her voice stayed soft. “Eddie Schaffer, the new owner of the bar. I walked in on him, snorting some powder. He made me leave with him. I didn’t have a choice. He had a gun and threatened to shoot people in the bar.”
“So, you put yourself in danger to save the others,” Bart said, sadly shaking his head.
“I didn’t have a choice,” she admitted, searching his face to see if he was angry with her.
“I know, Ritagirl. I’m proud of you for thinking of others. I’d rather you watched out for yourself, but I have a feeling that you don’t do that often,” Bart said, running his hand through her silky hair.
Her eyes closed in appreciation of his caress. “I don’t want to leave here,” she confessed.
“I know, honey. But with someone like Eddie Shaffer, it’s best to take him out of the equation quickly. He won’t give up,” the handsome man warned.
“I know.” Rita curled up to sit up on his lap. “My head feels better now, but there are still a lot of things out of place. Can I tell you everything tomorrow?” she asked, staring into those blue eyes that looked at her like no man ever had.
“Yes,” he answered as he leaned in to kiss her sweet lips. Chasing the flavor of the formula that clung to her lips, Bart explored her mouth, leaving them both breathing heavily.
As he sat back, she asked, “That’s it? You don’t have any questions?”
His slow smile brought an answering curve to her lips. “I’m your Daddy. I’ll always have questions. You’ll tell me when you can,” he confidentially answered, stroking her arm with the side of his finger.
“Can we go see Gumdrop?”
Her question started him. His smile morphed into a grin of delight. “Gumdrop would love to see you, Ritagirl. Shall we go now?”
“I’d like that,” the Little girl answered with twinkling eyes.
Chapter 19
Several horses turned to look curiously over their gates as the two entered the barn. Rita’s eyes were glued to one stall. The gentle mare nickered happily at the sight of the Little girl who had treated her to sugar cubes. Sticking her head over the half gate, Gumdrop watched as Rita walked slowly to greet her as well. The Little girl had listened to her Daddy warn that she needed to move slowly, so she didn’t spook the horse.
“Hi, Gumdrop!” Tentatively, Rita reached forward to stroke the mare’s forehead. When Gumdrop whinnied and nosed back into Rita’s caressing hand, making her giggle in delight. “You like me!” she said in amazement, looking back at Bart.
“Of course, she likes you. We need to give Gumdrop a little activity. I don’t want you to ride her for a few days so we make sure we don’t jostle your head, but we should take her to the corral for some exercise. Would you like to walk her around?” Bart asked as he plucked a bridle from the rack against the wall.
The vet knew that Gumdrop would be fine to wander around free by herself in the corral. He wanted Rita to feel needed and to strengthen the growing bond between the horse and the young women. Leading Gumdrop to the fenced-in area, he handed the bridle to Rita and urged her to walk slowly around. The Little began whispering to the horse on her second step. Gumdrop’s ears perked up as the new mare listened carefully.
After watching several laps, Bart left the two alone to go muck out the stables. The men who stored horses in the barn took turns cleaning. He’d missed several rounds because of his work in the city, so Bart worked his way through all the stalls. Between each one, he stopped to check on his Little girl and Gumdrop.
As he cleaned, Bart checked on the horses and made a mental note of any concerns. It looked like they needed to have a farrier come take care of the horses’ feet. Several needed some attention to their hooves and horseshoes. When finished, he washed his hands before pulling out his phone and sending a text. Luckily, there was a farrier in a nearby town that he trusted.
Removing his cowboy hat to wipe his brow, Bart exited the stable to see Rita perched on the top railing of the fence. Gumdrop stood in front of her with her graceful arched neck and head cocked slightly to the side as if she listened intently to whatever Rita was saying. He walked slowly to the corral, not wishing to startle either beautiful creature.
Gumdrop noticed him first. The mare bobbed her head in a greeting that caused Rita to turn around smiling. “Hi, Daddy! Gumdrop and I are best friends. I think she understands everything I say.”
“Of course, she does. Gumdrop is a very intelligent horse. Be careful on the fence, honey. I don’t
want you to fall off. Do you think Gumdrop has exercised enough?” Bart asked, wrapping his arm around Rita’s waist.
“Yes. We got tired,” Rita answered with a yawn.
“Let’s put Gumdrop back in her stall. It’s time for dinner and bedtime for you and me,” Bart said, helping Rita slide down to stand.
“Okay, Daddy. I promised Gumdrop a sugar cube. Is that okay?” she asked, leaning slightly against his solid body.
“I think Gumdrop would consider that way more than okay,” Bart laughed as he took the mare’s reins and escorted the two beautiful ladies into the barn.
Chapter 20
Waking the next morning wrapped in her handsome Daddy’s arms, Rita smiled happily. She never would have imagined that she’d actually find someone like Bart, who was looking for the same type of relationship, and the attraction was mutually strong. Cautiously, she crossed her fingers, wishing that something wouldn’t go terribly wrong in their relationship. Waking up each morning next to Bart would be a dream come true.
Pushing her attention from the still-sleeping man to test her memory, Rita tried to think back in time. There were still some fuzzy memories, but her brain seemed to be sorting itself back into order. She remembered standing in the poolhall, trying to figure out how to get away from her awful boss with no one else getting hurt. Her heart raced as she remembered how scared she had been.
Bart stirred against her. His blue eyes flickered open to look at her with concern. “You okay, Ritagirl?”
“I’m scared of that man,” she confessed.
“We are going to be very careful to avoid him today, honey. I’ll be with you all the time. Soon, he’ll be behind bars, and you won’t have to worry about him,” Bart said before leaning in to kiss her sweet lips. He didn’t have to ask who she was afraid of. He already knew.
He rolled back to look at the time. “Time to get up, Little girl. We need to be on the road in an hour.” Bart flipped back the covers, letting the cool air wrap around them as he sat up.
Within a short amount of time, Bart had his Little girl dressed and fed. He’d allowed her to wear the freshly laundered clothes that she’d been wearing when she’d been injured except for the jeans. Those had been rejected for being too uncomfortable over her diaper. A pair of leggings from chest had taken their place. Those were super stretchy and relaxed. In fact, if Rita was perfectly honest, wearing her bra wasn’t nearly as comfortable as she had been yesterday without it.
Starting to walk out of the house, Rita stopped just inside the door. “Daddy, can I go back to my room for a minute?”
“To the nursery?” he asked, lifting one quizzical eyebrow.
“Yes!” she answered simply and then squirmed as he continued to hold her hand. “I forgot something I want to take with me.”
“Oh?”
“I just thought Zeebee might want to get some fresh air and sunshine. Those are important for zebras,” she replied very convincingly.
“Zeebee, huh? Go get your stuffie. There’s plenty of room in the truck for one Daddy, one darling Little girl, and one zebra who’s risking rickets from a lack of sunshine,” Bart said with a laugh.
“What’s rickets?” Rita had turned to go back for her toy and then hesitated to ask the question.
“There’s plenty of time on the way to the police station for us to discuss it. Go get Zeebee. Walk!” he ordered when she hesitated again.
At his strict command, Rita turned immediately and started walking. About halfway to the nursery when she was out of his sight, she stopped and stuck her tongue out at the handsome man. She didn’t have to jump when he said so. Now smiling as she walked as slowly as possible back to her nursery.
When she got there, Rita decided that Zeebee would get cold without any socks. Opening a drawer in the dresser against the wall, she searched through the contents. No socks. Methodically, she slid each drawer open, taking her time as she looked for socks.
After several minutes passed, Bart called down the hallway, “Ritagirl? Did you get lost?”
Rita sniffed in indignation and went to sit on the floor next to the toy bin. She picked out a book and started to read it out loud to Zeebee and all his stuffie friends. She ignored the footsteps that came down the hall and just kept reading. “And all the mice ran quickly away from the big, black cat. They were…”
“Little girl. What are you doing? It’s time to go,” Bart said in a low tone that seemed to brook no monkey-business.
“I’m not going,” Rita said, turning the page of the picture book. “Look, Zeebee! It’s that mean alligator again. We don’t like him.”
“We are going! This is not a choice. We need to answer the police officer’s questions so he can handle Eddie Shaffer and put him away, so you’re not threatened by him. Stand up and grab Zeebee. We need to be on our way,” he said firmly. A faint crease appeared between his eyebrows.
“No. I’m going to finish this book. You can never leave a book in the middle. That’s like the law. You have to finish the story.” She finally looked up at him with a distant air and added, “I may read another one after that.” Rita sniffed loudly and turned back to her book.
“Oh, no, Little girl. That is not the way you want to talk to your Daddy,” Bart warned.
When she looked up, Rita noticed that the crease between his eyebrows had deepened to a definite wrinkle. “You didn’t talk nice to me. You barked an order at me. I don’t have to do what you say.” As she talked, that wrinkle became a crevasse.
Maybe I pushed too hard? That little voice in the back of her mind asked.
“The moment you called me Daddy, you put me in charge,” Bart’s tone didn’t lighten. “Let’s go, Rita. We have an appointment with Officer Hamilton.”
“I’ll be ready in a little while,” she answered, looking back at the book. She tried to ignore Bart. Peeking from the corner of her eye, she saw him open the drawer under the changing table’s padded top. He withdrew something that she couldn’t quite make out. She saw him pick up a jar and begin to turn back to look at her.
Dragging her eyes back to the book, she began to read, “The alligator thrashed his tail…”
The book was firmly taken from her hand and closed with a snap. “What…?” Rita started to demand as Bart pressed her over to lie onto her tummy. With one hand pressing firmly into the small of her back, the large man held her securely against the carpet. His other hand stripped the clean leggings down over her hips. Her diaper was unfastened and whisked away.
“You can’t spank me. You’ll hurt my head,” she reminded him.
“Little girl, you need to learn that Daddies have many ways to teach their Littles good manners,” he said ominously, setting the shiny metal object onto the carpet in her view. It was contoured to be tapered at the tip and widen in the middle before narrowing slightly once again. It rested on a broad base.
“What’s that for?” she asked in a trembling voice. She watched him open the jar of lubricant with one hand, and quickly she knew precisely what punishment he planned. Her bluster and anger had evaporated, abandoning her to her fate.
Tethered firmly to the soft carpet, Rita began to apologize. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have ignored your instructions. I’m ready to go now.”
“We’ll be delayed just a few more minutes,” he said, sliding the anal plug into the lubricant and scooping up a finger full of lubricant. His other hand released her for mere seconds to separate her buttocks slightly as his palm pressed against her tailbone. That finger of lubricant disappeared from her view.
“Noooo!” she wailed as that finger spread the cold lubricant over her most secret opening. Before she could take another breath to beg him to just give her a warning, that finger pressed inside her bottom. “Daddy! Daddy, no! I’ll be good.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Bart said, calmly. His finger didn’t move inside her bottom. It just pressed deep inside.
Long seconds passed. “Please, Daddy?” Rita tried again, sure that sh
e had been punished enough. To her relief, that finger glided back out of her bottom. That comfort only lasted a few seconds when, to her horror, she watched his fingers pluck the metal flange from the slippery lotion in the jar. “No, Daddy. I’m sorry.”
“I know you are, Ritagirl,” he said as he spread her buttocks just a bit further. “Relax your bottom. It will make it easier,” he suggested before continuing to lecture her. “Little girls always need to test their Daddies. It’s what they do.”
Her eyes widened as the plug began to invade her narrow passage. “It’s too big, Daddy.”
“Relax. The plug will fit easily into your bottom. This is the smallest size. We’ll work you up to larger sizes,” he assured her.
“What? Why?” she demanded, turning to look over her shoulder at him. His eyes were focused on her bottom. Just how intimately he was looking at her, crashed over her body. He’s in total control, she realized. Her head turned back to the front and drifted down to rest on her hands.
Her body went limp under his controlling hand as she drifted into a mindset that she’d never experienced. She heard his praise of “Good girl” as he pressed the plug slowly into her body. It’s progression inside moving more smoothly as her resistance dropped. She moaned as the broadest section of the plug entered her bottom, and it slid into place with the wide flat section stopping its progress.
The plug dominated her thoughts and attention. Rita focused on the cold feel inside her. She felt her Daddy rub her buttocks fondly, slightly jostling the plug inside her. He shifted quietly beside her before he rolled Rita over and lifted her to sit on his lap.
She curled against his broad chest, clinging to him desperately. As he rocked her back and forth, she could feel the plug moving inside her body as a constant reminder that she was Little. The feel of his strong body against her gave her stability and reassurance.