“Not saying it’s bad or anything, Duchess,” he quickly reassured her. “Just want to know if it hurts you.”
Did it hurt her? Not exactly.
“My voice suffered trauma when I was a kid,” she told him. “Then I stopped speaking for a long time. It’s never been the same.”
“That’s why you don’t talk in front of most people?” he asked thoughtfully. “But you’ll talk or whisper to people you trust?”
There were two different issues there. She winced. “When I was in school, I went through some stuff. It left me with a lot of issues around trust.”
He froze. “Fuck, baby.”
She shrugged. “Easier not to talk. I know I sound weird. So I only speak to people I know won’t . . .”
“Hurt you?” he growled.
Yeah. Exactly. She nodded.
“Fucking hell.”
“When I’m in Little space, it’s easier,” she admitted.
“Thank you for telling me,” he said, surprising her. “No secrets between us. I’m yours. You are mine. No more hiding.”
He wanted to know everything? Her breathing started growing rapidly.
“Easy,” he told her. “I don’t need everything all at once. You feel safer in Little space?”
She nodded. She also felt safe around him.
“Sometimes, I think life would be easier if I spent all my time in Little space.”
“That’s why you went to your job even though you hated it,” he guessed. “You were worried you’d never leave?”
“Yeah.”
“So, you’ve never had a Daddy?”
“I told you I haven’t been in a relationship,” she whispered.
“You don’t need to have a relationship to have a Daddy or Mommy or Caregiver. Not a sexual relationship. They can be someone who looks out for you, gives you rules and consequences, gives you the care you need without anything else.”
Oh. She hadn’t quite realized that.
“I’ve never had a Daddy.”
“Would you like one? Only, one that comes with a relationship too, obviously.”
She sucked in a breath. It was her wish come true. A stern but loving Daddy. But what could she give him in return?
“What would I give you?”
He raised his eyebrows at that. “Your submission. Your care. Your attention. You give me you.”
Her breathing quickened. “There’re things about me, my past . . . it’s not pretty.”
“Like I said, I’ve got enough baggage to fill a passenger plane. Your past doesn’t scare me. Does mine scare you?”
She shook her head. How could it? When it had led him to her. Sure, there would be bumps. He had issues, just like she did. But if he was here and hers . . . that was all that mattered. All she’d dreamed of.