Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

A ddie’s mind was still reeling as Bear held her hand and led her to join the other girls. She felt nervous. Not only was this the first time she was going to spend any length of time with all of them, but they were all aware she’d had a minor meltdown behind the receptionist’s desk.

She couldn’t help but smile as Bear led her into the common room. It was filled with chaos in the form of six women dressed in frilly party dresses, wrangling a giant pile of blankets. It looked like they were making a fort.

Eden spotted her first. “Yay! You’re here.” She skipped over and wrapped her arms around Addie, whispering in her ear, “Daddy told us not to talk about what happened earlier, so we won’t. We’re just going to have fun.”

“Thank you,” Addie responded when Eden leaned back. “Your dress is so pretty.”

Eden beamed. “I have tons of them. We all do. Do you want to borrow one?”

Addie glanced around at everyone again. She did feel like the odd man out since she was still dressed for work in jeans and a thin sweater. “Sure.”

Eden grabbed her hand and skipped toward the hallway where the apartments were located.

“ Eden ,” Gabriel admonished. “No running.”

“Daddy, I’m not running. I’m skipping.”

He groaned. “And where are you skipping to?”

“Our apartment so Addie can borrow one of my dresses.”

“Okay, but come right back.”

“We will, Daddy.”

Addie’s adrenaline was pumping as she followed her friend around the corner, coming up short when Eden stopped at the first apartment on the left. Eden hurried straight through and into the master bedroom, where she opened the closet to reveal a row of pretty dresses. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Pink,” Addie declared. For once in her life, she was going to wear a pink dress, even though it would likely cause her to feel smug toward her mother all evening.

“How about this one?” Eden grabbed a hanger and held up the prettiest dress Addie had ever seen. It was much prettier than the ugly thing she’d worn to her own wedding.

She clapped her hands together. “I love it.”

Eden pulled it off the hanger and handed it to her. “You can change in the bathroom.”

Addie felt giddy. She hadn’t felt giddy in years. Even though her ex-fiancé had shown up a short while ago, she pushed it to the back of her mind. She wasn’t going to let anything keep her from having fun tonight.

After quickly removing everything but her bra and panties, she pulled the pink dress over her head. It had spaghetti straps and layers of tulle under pale pink shimmering satin. Her bra was black, and the straps looked silly, plus she couldn’t zip it up.

Addie opened the door a crack and peeked out to find Eden leaning against the bed, waiting for her. “Can you help me?”

“Of course.” Eden shoved off the mattress and stepped into the bathroom.

“I can’t zip it up, but also, my bra looks ridiculous. Do you think I could just take it off?”

“Definitely. A lot of the time, when any of us are in Little space, we don’t wear a bra anyway. I’m not wearing one.” Eden pulled out the front of her baby blue dress to indicate she was bare beneath.

Addie immediately lowered the front of the dress, popped off her bra, and tugged it free. She giggled as she pulled the pink satin back up over her chest.

“Feels kind of freeing, doesn’t it?” Eden asked.

“Very.” Addie shivered as her friend zipped up the back. “I feel somehow more Little.”

“Yep. That happens. Most of the time when I’m here in the clubhouse, Daddy dresses me. He doesn’t offer me a bra.”

He dresses her … Why did that make Addie’s heart race? As she stared at herself in the mirror behind the bathroom door, she went into her head, picturing Bear choosing her clothes and putting them on her. Butterflies danced in her tummy at the thought of standing naked in front of him while he lowered a dress over her head.

Eden giggled. “You should see your face right now.”

Addie smiled. “I think I’m aroused by this entire thing,” she admitted.

Eden hugged her from the side. “And now you know the appeal of age play. Ready?”

Addie gathered up her clothes and shoes. “Should I just go barefoot? My Converse sneakers would ruin the outfit.”

“Barefoot is perfect. We can drop off your clothes in Bear’s apartment before we join the others.”

“Oh. Right. Okay.” He had indicated in no uncertain terms that she would be sleeping in his apartment tonight. It was reasonable that she would leave her clothes there. This was all happening so fast that she felt like she’d slipped into another dimension.

Bear’s apartment was the fourth one on the left side of the hallway, and Addie set her pile on the couch before rejoining Eden, who waited for her in the doorway.

“Does anyone lock their doors?”

“Not usually. No one can get into the clubhouse who isn’t a member or with a member. Whenever I enter the apartment with Daddy and hear the snick of the lock behind me, I instantly get horny.” She covered her mouth as she laughed. “It can only mean one thing.”

Addie skipped alongside her friend as they returned to the common area. The other five women were in the process of making a giant blanket fort. Two of the Daddies, Atlas and Talon, were helping.

Addie looked around for Bear and found him setting the table in the kitchen area. He gave her a slow grin, letting his gaze roam up and down her body. Apparently, he liked her clothing selection.

“Okay, Littles.” Talon’s voice boomed as he reached into the middle of the construction and attached the corner of one of the blankets to the top of a chair. “Dinner first. Gabriel cooked. After dinner, you can hold your secret Littles club meeting in your soundproof fort.” He chuckled.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Daddy…”

Talon grabbed her around the waist and kissed the top of her head. “I’m just teasing you, Buttercup. Come eat, then you can play.”

Eden and Addie hadn’t even joined the fray yet, but Eden took her hand and led her toward the table.

Bear held out a chair for her, leaning in to whisper in her ear as he pushed her up to the table. “You look so pretty, Angel.”

She blushed. “Thank you.”

Bear picked up her plate. “Gabriel went all out for Little night. Chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and veggies with dip. Can I make you a plate?”

She glanced around, noticing all the other Daddies were filling their Littles’ plates. “Yes, Sir.”

Bear leaned close to her ear again. “Addie, I like the sound of that. I’ll like it even better when you’re comfortable enough to call me Daddy.”

She shivered, partly from his words and partly because his lips tickled her ear.

It was odd watching someone fill her plate. When he was done, he asked if she wanted water, milk, or juice. She chose juice, and he brought her a sippy cup.

Is this how it always is around here? The men doting on the women, cooking and serving them?

It was baffling but also kind of awesome. Her mother had taught her that she would be expected to run her household after she was married and play hostess for Joseph’s guests. The idea had never sat well with Addie, but this new world she’d fallen into was the polar opposite.

The women talked while they ate. They seemed to all be in a very Little headspace and didn’t break out of it. Their banter was silly and refreshing as they discussed the games they might play that evening or the movies they might watch.

The food was delicious, and when they were done, Addie stood and picked up her plate to take it to the dishwasher.

Bear took it out of her hand. “I’ve got it, Angel. Go play.” He kissed her forehead. It felt so nice when he did that, and she wondered when he might kiss her properly. She was looking forward to finding out how it would feel.

Addie joined the other women, and she quickly fell under their giggling spell as she crawled into the blanket fort. They all sat cross-legged in a circle. Ivy was holding a thick notebook and whispered, “Does anyone need to add anything to the notebook tonight?”

Harper raised her hand and whispered, “Meanie-pants Daddy has a new enema nozzle in the clinic. It’s wider than the last one. Avoid getting your bottoms cleaned out if you can.”

Addie gasped and stopped breathing. She was sure her eyes were bugged out of her head.

Eden grabbed her hand. “Maybe we shouldn’t have started with that detail. Addie is new to age play. I don’t think she’s ready for talk about enemas.”

Harper winced. “Shoot. Right. Sorry, Addie.” She lifted the notebook. “We keep all kinds of secret Little notes in here if you want to look through them, including comparing things that happen to us when one of our Daddies takes us to Doc. He’s my Daddy.”

Addie leaned into the circle. “You have a clinic in the compound?”

“Yep.” Remi nodded. “If you get a fever, expect to be hauled off to the clinic, where you will end up with a thermometer in your bottom.”

Addie’s breath hitched again. She thought her heart might beat out of her chest. She was crossing into new territory. She’d read about Littles. She’d even read a lot of books in which Littles ended up at the doctor. But each time she found out another aspect of this lifestyle was real, she was shocked all over again.

Even more stunning was that she was squirming. Visions of Bear carrying her into that clinic, pulling her pants down, and holding her bottom open while Doc took her temperature made her palms sweat and her panties wet.

When Addie had left her apartment this morning, she hadn’t expected to be in any sort of situation where someone might see her panties, so she’d put on plain cotton panties. Pink, because she’d started buying pink things.

They were simple and boring, and she’d bought them because her mother would never have approved. When she’d lived at home, her mother had insisted she own lingerie sets, with matching panties and bras made of uncomfortable lace that served no purpose whatsoever because not one human ever saw them.

One of the first things Addie had purchased after arriving in town had been plain panties and bras that didn’t match at all. Now, she felt kind of weird about it since Bear would undoubtedly see them, perhaps even tonight.

Eden rubbed her back. “Are you okay? We’ll change the subject.”

Addie shook her head, sending her silky hair flying. “I’m fine. Talk about whatever you normally talk about. I don’t want you to censor yourselves just because I’m here.”

Carlee narrowed her gaze. “You sure?”

“Positive. I’ve read books; it’s just that I didn’t realize people did the things in my fictional romance novels.”

Everyone giggled. It was refreshing.

“We do all the things,” Harper said, “especially if your Daddy happens to be the club Doc.”

Addie was kind of glad that wasn’t the case. Surely, the club secretary would not drag her to the clinic to get her temperature taken. Would he?

Addie listened as the rest of the women giggled about nicknames they had for the Daddies and previous shenanigans. Apparently, they’d once hidden in a huge tree behind the clubhouse, and when the Daddies had found them snickering up on the high branches, they’d all gotten spanked.

The more they talked about spanking, trips to see Doc, and all the ways they submitted to their Daddy Doms, the more Addie squirmed. Was she cut out for this lifestyle? She wasn’t sure, but her panties were wet, and she kind of wished she’d kept her bra on because her nipples were hard points that kept rubbing against the front of the dress.

“What do you think, Addie?” Eden asked her.

Addie realized she’d gone into her head and hadn’t heard the question. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention. What do I think about what?”

“We were just trying to decide if we should spend the evening being angelic or naughty. We don’t want to make you uncomfortable, though. If you’re not ready to test out your naughty side, we can behave this evening.”

Addie sat straighter. She thought about it for a moment and then grinned. “I never got into trouble as a child. Heck, I never even got into trouble as an adult. I think it’s time for me to raise some Cain.”

Ivy gasped. “You’ve never even gotten into trouble as an adult?”

Addie blushed. “Well, I did take off from my own wedding a few months ago.”

There was a collective gasp. All eyes were wide.

“What?” Eden asked. “Oh… Was that man out front your fiancé?”

Addie nodded. She didn’t feel nearly as upset by the events now that a few hours had passed. She thought she could talk about it, and who else would she tell but these six women who had taken her in as one of their friends?

She nodded. “I don’t know what he’s doing here in town, but I have to assume he knows I’m here. He must be looking for me.”

“Are you married to him?” Carlee asked. “Or did you leave him standing at the altar?”

“I left him at the altar, kicked off my stupid shoes, and ran out a side door. I conned a limo driver into taking me to the airport. The first flight out was to here, so I took it.”

Harper covered her gasp with a hand over her mouth. “That’s so…brave.”

Addie winced. “I think I was a coward. I should’ve faced my mother and told her I didn’t want to marry Joseph a long time ago. I was dragging through my life as though I’d been floating along next to my body.”

Elizabeth frowned. “Why would you tell your mother you didn’t want to marry your fiancé? Why wouldn’t you tell him ?”

The laugh that bubbled out of Addie’s throat was cathartic. Now that she was finally discussing the saga out loud instead of in her head, it all seemed so ridiculous. “I don’t even know him very well. We only met about a dozen times. I’ve never even been alone with him.”

All the girls gasped again.

“Seriously?” Eden’s voice rose. “It was like an arranged marriage?”

Addie nodded. “Basically. My mother and Joseph’s parents thought it would be a good social move to unite our families. It was just expected of me.”

“Do you think Joseph was mad, and that’s why he’s looking for you?”

“I don’t know. I seriously don’t know enough about him to know what his moods might be. I don’t even know if he’s mild-mannered or might be fuming angry.”

Eden leaned in closer, eyes wide. “It’s like a scene out of a movie. I wish I could’ve been there to see you running toward the limo, holding your dress up. Was it all poufy? Did it stick out the car door when you slammed it?”

Addie started laughing so hard that tears ran down her cheeks. When she was finally able to catch her breath, she shook her head. “No. Worse. I didn’t even get to pick the dress. If I had picked it, it would’ve been pale pink with delicate lace sewn into it. It would have had layers of tulle under it.”

“Kind of like the one you’re wearing tonight, only long,” Remi said, pointing at Addie’s dress.

“Yes. Instead, it was this ugly skintight satin that looked like it belonged on a model. I’m no model. I hated it. It was just one more thing that helped me make up my mind at the last second. I was staring at myself in the mirror in the bride’s room, and I hated the woman I was looking at. She was weak and stupid. She needed to find her spine. I left her there and never looked back.”

Eden grabbed her hand. “We’re so proud of you.”

“Yeah,” Ivy agreed, “and whatever your ex is doing here, I’m sure the Daddies will figure it out and make sure you’re safe.”

Safe … Was Addie unsafe? She had no idea. She couldn’t picture Joseph being violent. She’d never seen him raise his voice or even utter an opinion about anything.

It bothered her that he’d obviously come to the shop under a false pretense. There was no way he or his father owned a beat-up old bike, and he’d never once gone by the nickname Joe. That meant he’d known she was working here, and he’d come to find her.

Addie shuddered before shaking the fear from her mind. Tonight was all about new friends and new experiences. She wouldn’t let Joseph’s appearance in town ruin her night.

Pasting on a smile, she said, “Let’s do something naughty. I could use the distraction.”

Everyone grinned, and they all scooted closer together, leaned in, and whispered.

“Here’s the plan…” Ivy began.