Total pages in book: 184
Estimated words: 188108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 941(@200wpm)___ 752(@250wpm)___ 627(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 188108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 941(@200wpm)___ 752(@250wpm)___ 627(@300wpm)
But apparently their shopping trip had been successful.
Well, sort of.
Alexei didn’t consider this ratty toy successful.
He was sitting on a chair in the living room while Roman and Salem were on the couch. Tamsyn was getting changed in a downstairs bedroom. She’d wanted to do everything herself, and it was easy to see that Salem hadn’t liked that much, but he’d given in as long as she wasn’t going up and down the stairs alone.
“I tried to convince her to get one of the other stuffed toys,” Salem said. “But she wanted this thing. I think the girl at the counter actually discounted it so heavily that we were paid to take it. Apparently, it wasn’t even supposed to be out on the shelves. I’m guessing someone else felt sorry for the ugly thing.”
“It is . . . different,” Roman said.
“Whatever you do, don’t call it ugly in front of her,” Salem warned. “She loves it and I was just happy that she was embracing her Little side. I managed to buy a few other things, but not much. I’m going to do some online shopping for adult clothes too.”
Roman frowned. “She agreed to that?”
“No,” Salem replied. “I’m still doing it.”
Alexei grinned. “You’re starting to act more like me.” He placed his hand over his chest. “I’ve never been more proud.”
Salem rolled his eyes at him. “Anyway, I have some other things to tell you. I had to spank her while we were out.”
“Had to?” Roman looked shocked. “Why would you have to spank her?”
“Because she broke the rules. She wandered off when I told her to stay put. Unbuckled herself from the cart when I wasn’t looking to go to the bathroom.”
“Naughty.” Alexei was sad he’d missed that, he’d have enjoyed spanking her bottom for that misbehaviour.
“Oxford found her,” Salem added.
“What? That asshole.” Alexei wasn’t a fan of Oxford. The other man was an uptight prick. He was extremely black and white where Alexei liked a bit of gray in his life.
He’d thought that Salem was too black and white for him when he’d first met him. But he’d soon learned that Salem had quite a bit of gray in him.
There was nothing that Salem wouldn’t do for those he loved. Including murder.
Alexei appreciated those sorts of qualities in a friend.
“He wasn’t happy that a Little was wandering around on her own,” Salem told him. “I thought he was going to kick us out.”
“It’s not the club, though,” Roman protested. “There’s no formal rules, are there? And it’s a place that caters to Littles, they’re going to break the rules now and then.”
“I don’t think that any Little that belonged to Oxford would dare disobey him,” Alexei muttered. “And then there are those assholes he’s friends with.”
“His friends?” Roman asked.
“He has several friends in high places,” Salem said. “But let me get to the rest of this before she comes out.”
“She’s taking a while, do you think she’s okay?” Alexei asked. He felt this strange humming beneath his skin. This need to get to her . . . to see her . . . to touch her.
It was odd.
He’d never felt this way about a woman before in his life.
About anyone before.
However, he didn’t really like having her out of his sight.
“After her spanking, she went into sub-drop,” Salem explained.
Surprise filled him. “After her spanking?”
“Why did she go into sub-drop?” Roman asked. “Is that normal? During just a spanking?”
“I don’t think we should say something is normal or not normal,” Salem explained. “What can be normal for one person isn’t necessarily normal for someone else. Although she said she’d never experienced it before. Perhaps it won’t happen again or maybe it will happen each time she’s punished or in a scene . . . I don’t know, but we need to watch out for it.”
Alexei nodded.
“What do you do for sub-drop?” Roman asked. Rather than looking worried about it, he seemed interested.
“Aftercare. Lots of aftercare. Holding her helped. Talking to her. Keeping her close to me. Keeping her warm and feeling secure and safe.”
Roman nodded. “All right. I’ll remember that.”
Hmm.
Roman would make a good Daddy. He seemed very good at helping her to feel safe and secure. It was Roman who’d been formulating a better eating plan for her. Who had noticed how cold she often got and had increased the heating in the house. Who had basically forbidden her from roller skating to work. But had also brought several gym mats to put on the tennis courts so she could practice her roller skating there.
Yeah, he might not realize it, but Roman was a Top.
The door opened and Tamsyn stepped inside.
For a moment, he thought it was a joke. But then he took in the look on her face. She looked so happy.
Beaming.
And he found himself smiling back at her. Even though what she was wearing was truly an assault on the eyes.