Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Faith didn't know what was more panty-dropping—Bex's smile or her accent. She'd noticed the woman as soon as she'd walked into the restaurant with Mandi. It was her first day at Rawhide Ranch, and Mandi had wanted to introduce her to Tay, and get some food, so they'd come down to the restaurant early, only to find Tay talking to someone else.

Bex had long dark hair, pulled up into a tight ponytail, and her clothes showed off the kind of curves Faith longed to bury her face in. She was drop-dead gorgeous, clearly very confident, and now she'd pulled out a chair for Faith .

Faith had no idea what to make of that.

"Thank you," she whispered, and took the seat, avoiding Mandi's look.

"This is Faith," said Mandi, introducing her. "And I'm Mandi."

"Nice to meet you," said Bex. "Are you residents here?"

"I am," said Mandi. "Tay's my roommate. But Faith here is visiting."

Faith looked up and found intense dark eyes watching her. "Hi," she offered nervously. She didn't know what had come over her. Usually she was chatty as anything, talking away, but there was something about this woman that radiated calmness and security and it was making Faith oddly anxious.

Usually, calm people evoked the same emotion in Faith. But not this time. This time it put her on edge, as if Bex saw something in her that Faith… well, that Faith didn't know what someone like Bex could possibly see in her .

"Hi, Faith," said Bex. "I'm visiting too. Are you in the Guest Wing?"

"Yes, I'm on the third floor," she said.

"Nice to meet you," said Tay, interrupting for a moment, and Faith pulled her eyes away from Bex's stare. "Are you veggie?"

"What? Oh, no, I'm not."

"Excellent," said Tay. "I'll make you all the same pasta." And then they headed to the kitchen before anyone could say another word.

"I hope you like pasta," said Mandi. "And I do promise you Tay is an excellent chef."

"I'm sure they are," said Faith, and snuck a look back at Bex.

Bex was still looking at her.

"So, what do you do?" asked Mandi, seemingly oblivious to the tension between Faith and Bex. That broke the spell slightly, and Bex turned towards Mandi as she answered.

"I'm a management consultant," said Bex. "Newly over here; living in Billings at the moment."

"Oh wow. Faith lives in Billings, too, don't you, Faith?"

Faith nodded wordlessly as Bex turned her gaze in Faith's direction once more. She could feel a flush staining her cheeks and asked hurriedly, "How do you like Billings, Bex?"

"It seems lovely, although"—Bex leaned in conspiratorially—"I must admit I spend most of my time working, so I haven't gotten to explore too much."

"You should show Bex around when you guys go back," said Mandi, and Faith realized Mandi may not have been as oblivious to the tension as she'd originally thought. "Faith works in Clay Studio."

"You're an artist?" asked Bex. "That's pretty cool."

"I work on a lot of their outreach programs," Faith explained. "And lead some of the classes."

"You must be pretty good," said Bex, admiringly. "Do you throw—is that the word?—clay very often?"

Faith threw clay pretty much every single day—she'd been wondering how she'd cope for even just a weekend at Rawhide without being able to do so. "I have an Instagram with some of my pots, if you'd like to see?"

Bex shuffled her chair round the table so she could get a closer look. Bex's thigh grazed hers and Faith found she could barely focus on getting her Instagram page up on her phone. It was as if every inch of her had been electrocuted. Goosebumps, hairs on end, butterflies in her stomach, everything she'd always read about in romance novels.

Both Mandi and Bex made oooing noises over Faith's work, and that warmed her. Most of her friends from home weren't all that interested in what she made. And while her colleagues were interested, everyone was so busy at work, they often didn't have time to talk about what they were working on outside of the programs.

"I really love it," she said. "There's something about it just being you, the clay and the wheel which is really calming. There's nothing much else that quiets my brain. Well, aside from—" Her words cut off and she could feel the flush in her cheeks deepen.

Bex laughed then, a deep sound that had Faith's nipples tighten and her pussy clench. "I think most people feel that way about those kinds of asides." She wasn't laughing at Faith, Faith knew that, but there was an edge in her words that had Faith avoiding her gaze.

The pasta came then, and it smelled incredible. A tomato sauce with a deep, rich flavor was ladled atop ravioli that tasted wildly good. Tay popped their head round the door of the kitchen, and nodded when they noted everyone was eating away quite happily.

"So, what is everyone here looking for?" asked Bex as she ate a forkful of pasta.

There was a long pause, and Faith nodded towards Mandi, to let her answer first. It'd give Faith longer to come up with an answer that wouldn't scare Bex away.

"Well, I found what I was looking for," said Mandi. "I work in the Littles' Library, and then I found my Mommy Domme in the Head Librarian here. We don't live together just yet, but that's the plan eventually." She smiled. "I came here looking for my Little side; through one thing and another, I'd kind of lost her, and Rawhide helped me find her again."

"How about you?" Bex addressed the question directly to Faith. "Are you a Little as well?"

Faith blinked, and Bex's smile faltered.

"Crap, did I fuck up?" She stopped speaking, eyes wide. "Shit, I'm not supposed to curse, am I?"

Faith couldn't help it, she burst out laughing, and the panic in Bex's eyes subsided somewhat.

Mandi looked rather amused. "Littles aren't allowed to curse, but"—she lowered her voice conspiratorially—"I still do sometimes. Mommy calls me her sweary princess."

"It's been a struggle," admitted Bex. "Americans curse a hell of a lot less than Brits do, and I do have a tendency to swear more than most."

Faith laughed. "It's okay, we won't tell on you. And you didn't mess up; I guess I'm just not used to people asking me that in a non-kink setting."

"A non-kink —you did read all that info I gave you about Rawhide, didn't you?" joked Mandi.

"Yes, but this isn't a dungeon or a playroom, it's a restaurant," said Faith. "And to answer your question, Bex, no, I'm not a Little. Just a run of the mill sub."

Bex met her eyes with a quiet smile. "Just a run of the mill sub, eh? They're usually the most fun to play with."

That damn flush was back, painting her cheeks, and making her want to squirm under the heat of Bex's gaze. "Oh yeah?" Faith gathered up all of her courage and tried her best to sass Bex back. "Well, that's only if the Domme isn't so up themselves that…" Her voice trailed off. "I mean that's only if…"

That flush in her cheeks felt almost painful this time. This was not fun. She pulled a face and looked at Bex. "I'm not very good at being funny, I'm afraid. But if I were, I'd say something sassy now instead of getting all flustered."

Bex's lips twitched, and she nudged Faith with her hand. "You're all good, hun. I'm not particularly funny myself. And getting a sub all flustered for the right reasons is utterly delicious." She paused, and then blushed herself. "Just like you."