Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

Deke

"Consider yourself lucky you're in no shape to be punished tonight, little lush. Because you definitely will not like the spanking you've got coming nearly as much as you liked your first one." Just thinking about the scene I walked in on tonight has me getting angry all over again.

In all honesty, I wouldn't punish Windy tonight even if she wasn't still overly chilled and borderline ill. The fear I felt seeing her curled up in that ice bath is too fresh. Our dynamic, the Daddy/Little girl one, requires a level head. Right now, I'm definitely not in the right headspace to dole out a spanking.

"Okay, Daddy." Her husky little voice calling me Daddy soothes as much as it inflames.

Leaving her on the bed, I collect the things I know she'll need for the next few days. Soccer gear into the duffel with the university's logo on the side. Clothes to wear to class in a drawstring bag hanging over the back of her chair. Textbooks and her laptop into her backpack. She won't need pajamas or clothes to hang around the house in, because once I get her to my place, she's going to find out what being my Little girl really means.

While she's been running from me the past few days, I've been making plans and preparing. Shopping and ensuring my house is ready for her. It's clear to me Windy's struggling to handle things, and now that I've pieced a bit of the puzzle together, she doesn't have to do it alone.

"Need anything I'm overlooking?" I ask.

"No, Daddy. But can I please take my—" She gestures with her chin, her arms still swaddled in towels and blankets, at the pillow wedged against the wall behind the bed.

"Sure, Sweetheart. We can take your special pillow," I promise.

"It's Kickles," she responds, and I'm confused why she'd name a pillow until I reach over her to grab it. The pillow-shaped blob is actually a much-loved stuffed soccer ball with the World Cup logo embroidered on the side. It's cute, and totally a Windy kind of stuffy. Every new thing I learn about my sweet girl convinces me that she's a natural Little and absolutely perfect for me.

"Of course we can take your Kickles. Anything else?" I smile when she shakes her head and damp tendrils of hair tangle in a halo on the pillow.

"Umm, maybe I can get dressed first though?" She's adorable. Stubborn and still in so much trouble for risking herself, but adorable.

"Daddy will dress you before we leave. You stay just like that, warming up for now. We're just lucky you weren't in that water any longer than you were. You could have chilled yourself into serious complications, little girl."

Am I harping on it? Of course I am. Who wouldn't after the week this has been? I push her stuffy into the bag with her books and zip everything up before grabbing sweats and a track suit from her drawers.

"I'm gonna wear both?" she asks.

"Absolutely you are. It's cool outside and you're still chilled. Consider yourself lucky I don't bundle you in a parka and carry you out of here like an Arctic explorer."

She giggles and that tight knot in my chest eases a fraction. I root around the tangled blankets and towels to get to her feet so I can rub my hands over the chilled skin to bring some heat to her. Tiny toes and high arches speak to her delicate size compared to my oversized self, but there are calluses and tough spots where blisters on top of blisters have healed. Her feet remind me of how hardworking and dedicated to her sport she is. A perfect match for a guy like me who has devoted so much of his life to a game.

When I feel like I've warmed her feet as much as my hands can manage, I pull on a couple of the thickest fuzzy socks I could find in her drawer. They've got printed Chibi versions of Marvel characters dancing all over them and I can't even pretend not to be charmed. Windy is such a Little at heart, and was even before she knew such a thing existed.

"They're silly. I know." She's too chilled to blush. The way she bashfully bites her lower lip isn't deliberately sexy. My body still reacts, as inappropriate as the timing is, to her awkward shyness. It's an effort to remain focused when all I want to do is peel away the towels and blankets and give her skin-to-skin body heat to warm her up, but this isn't the place to risk it.

Next I wiggle the thick pale-blue sweatpants over her feet and up her calves, working blind to dress her without unwrapping her from the warm cocoon. There'll be plenty of time in the future to enjoy her athletic curves, but right now I need to get her dressed warm enough to handle the trip to my house.

"No panties?"

She's awful sassy for a girl with a butt roasting coming her way.

"You won't need them," I grunt.

"Unless…" I pause, the words choking in my throat. "You need to use your safeword? I know we haven't… haven't talked about all of this."

"I don't need it, I promise." Her lips distract me, the small smile she's giving me tempting me to abandon everything and get lost in loving her.

"Then let's get you dressed and home. We've got a long night ahead of us to sort this mess out and get you well enough for practice tomorrow."

"And we have a travel game. We're leaving Friday after classes end for the day," she reminds me.

The women's team is traveling to Missouri this weekend for their game. Windy doesn't know it yet, but since her game is in the afternoon Sunday, I plan to drive out there in the morning so I can be there for her. My boys play Saturday here at home, so while it'll be a late night and an early morning, there's no way I'd miss her first game since becoming mine.

"Just enough time to get to the bottom of this shit with Franklin and show a certain Little girl the punishment that being careless with her safety and hiding her problems from her Daddy earns."

Her mouth drops open and her eyes go wide. "You… you know about it? What Director Franklin wants to make me do?" she stammers.

"I know enough." Frustration turns my words harsh. The whole situation frustrates me. I'm pissed that someone I respected would sink so low that he'd push harmful drugs on student athletes. Met-88 was banned in sports for a reason, it's got serious side effects. It isn't even available for medical purposes in the United States. I know, because I had to go down a research rabbit hole when I first learned what he's been up to.

I'm not sure where he's getting the drug, but wherever it's coming from isn't legitimate. Which means it could be laced with fuckall anything and there'd be no way to know. Young people, student athletes and their families, entrust their safety and their futures to the program. I'm appalled and sick to my stomach thinking of the danger players could be facing.

My anger must be visible on my face, because Windy shrinks away from me. If it weren't for the hold I've got on her while I tug her clothes on, she'd probably pull away from me entirely. I school my expression, hoping to show her I'm not angry at her. It's this fucked- up situation and how upset I am that she's wrapped up in it that has me furious.

"I never took the pills he gave me! I wouldn't, I swear!" Windy pleads, fresh tears spilling from her red-rimmed eyes.

"I know you wouldn't, sweetheart. But you're still getting a hot ass for hiding from me when he gave them to you. For whatever reason. Now let's go. We're not having this conversation here."

I unwrap her to finish pulling her clothes on before tugging a knit beanie over her head. Thankfully, she kept her hair in a bun and out of the water, otherwise I'd have to take the time to blow-dry it before taking her out in the chilly evening air. Windy slides her feet into a pair of oversized soccer-cleat-shaped slippers that startle a laugh out of me.

"Umm, are these okay? Do I need regular shoes?" she asks.

Internally, I vow that soon she won't fret about her childish likes and dislikes. I want Windy to be comfortable showing me the natural Little that exists inside her. I want to nourish it and see her embrace it.

"As long as you stay on the sidewalk and out of the grass, they'll be fine. My truck's in front of the building," I tell her.

"Oh gosh, Deke! Everybody's going to talk if they see your truck out front!" Panic flares in her eyes and it gives me another piece of the puzzle about why she's been ghosting me.

"Deke? That's not who I am to you. Is it?"

"Da-a-ady!" she whines. I wouldn't be surprised if she threw in a little foot stomp, not that it'd be very effective in those silly slippers.

"See? You know my name. Don't you worry about who sees my truck. It's my job to worry about gossip and rumors. You worry about that backside of yours and whatever other punishments I might come up with." The threat works, her hands dropping to cover her tush like the spanking is going to start any second.