Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Jessica, flushed from both the cold and the laughter that had echoed through the snowman competition, lingered near the fireplace with Rowan and Sebastian while Forrest excused himself to speak with Derek.

Forrest’s heart was heavy, not with dread, but with the weight of the responsibility he and his friends were about to take on. What they were about to explore with Jessica wasn’t something to be taken lightly. He knew it and had to make sure the others knew it, too.

Forrest found Erika at her desk, and when he explained why he needed to speak with Derek, he was quickly ushered into the owner’s office where he found the handsome older man casually sipping at a steaming cup of coffee behind his impressive desk. His stare followed Forrest as he approached, and he greeted him with a knowing smile. Derek was a man with vast amounts of experience, even more than Forrest, and he’d been around long enough to understand the nuances of new relationships, especially those like Jessica’s, where the lines between trust and vulnerability were razor thin. Forrest was more than a little nervous about his discussion with the man.

“Good afternoon,” Forrest greeted, holding his hand to shake. “Forrest Fischer, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Derek’s face remained stoic, no expression leaking through, and his grip when he shook Forrest’s hand was firm. Maybe a tad too firm.

“Erika informed me you wanted to talk about one of our resident Littles,” Derek asked, indicating a chair across from him.

Forrest took a careful seat. “Yes, thank you for taking the time. Sebastian, Rowan and I seemed to have formed a connection with Jessica, and she’s approached me with a proposition.”

“Oh?”

Forrest suppressed the urge to wipe his suddenly sweaty palms on his jean-clad thighs. There was no reason for him to feel as if he was asking Jessica’s dad for his blessing to date her, yet here he was feeling the same nervous energy he did when he’d taken his first girlfriend out on a date.

“I used to do demonstrations and worked as an instructor with a couple of clubs and for some individuals,” Forrest began.

“I’m aware of your reputation, Mr. Fischer. However, I don’t know what that has to do with Jessie.”

Derek’s careful use of Jessica’s nickname and his stern frown did nothing to help Forrest’s agitation, but this meant something to him and his friends. And their Jessie had asked this of him, so he would do what needed to be done.

“She’s ready to delve into the kink side of the lifestyle. Explore a more submissive mindset and do a few scenes.” Forrest kept a careful eye on the Ranch owner’s facial expression, but Derek must be one hell of a poker player because he gave nothing away.

“Mr. Fischer, I know this is your first visit to Rawhide, but here, our guests and residents are free to explore with whomever they see fit. Jessie doesn’t need my permission. If she’s approached you, I can’t stop her.” Derek’s tone was gruff and curt as if he felt Forrest was wasting his time. But something... something told him this was a test, and he better be damn careful how he responded or he might lose any chance he and his friends had with Jessie.

“My friends and I, well, Jessie opened up to us some about her past. Told us about her father’s abusive nature. Someone with Jessie’s experiences and traumas needs to be handled with care. She’s never done this before, and we don’t want to do anything that could harm her, trigger her, or make her feel unsafe in any way.”

Derek’s face finally softened as he nodded. “Good. I’m glad you’re thinking that way. Jessie is special. Even after her extended stay, she’s still leery of me. She keeps to herself and has made only a few close friends, so I’m glad to see she’s venturing out, and trying new things. But I caution you. It’s important to be careful, especially with someone like Jessie. So, what’s the plan?”

“We’ll need a safe space, somewhere private, but with supervision. We want to make sure there’s always someone nearby, just in case.”

Derek set his cup down and thought for a moment. “That’s doable. We’ve got rooms available for private scenes, and getting a Dungeon Master to supervise is as simple as asking one of many people on staff to step in. The rooms are designed to be comfortable and intimate and will have everything stocked that you might need.”

Forrest let out a small breath of relief. “That would be perfect.”

“And you mentioned your friends will be involved too? Jessie is okay with this?”

“Yes, we’ve made it clear to her from the beginning that we are all interested in her. And we’ve shared before. But we are planning to have an in-depth discussion with all parties present before we truly begin. She needs to be aware of our boundaries, her possible triggers, safe words and anything else that might be important.”

Derek smiled, his expression reassuring. “Good man. It’s all about communication. Make sure she feels like she’s in control. If you need anything—anything at all—you can come to me. And I warn you, if you hurt our Jessie, you’ll have a whole Ranch full of angry Littles to contend with.”

Forrest grimaced at the threat. He was sure it wasn’t an empty one either.

“Thank you, Derek,” Forrest said, grateful that the conversation had gone as well as it had. “We’ll talk through everything tonight and see what Jessica’s comfortable with.”

With that settled, Forrest returned to the others. Jessica was still nestled between Rowan and Sebastian, her legs curled under her on the large plush couch, her smile soft as she listened to one of Rowan’s fanciful stories about a past trip the three men had taken together. Rowan had a way with words, and he always made the most mundane experiences sound like wonderful adventures.

Jessica’s guard was down now, and the wariness she had worn earlier was nowhere to be seen.

Sebastian was the first to notice Forrest’s return, his blue eyes locking with his in a silent exchange. Forrest nodded slightly, and Sebastian seemed to understand immediately that it was time for a serious discussion. He leaned forward slightly, his voice gentle as he cut into the conversation.

“Jessie, sweetheart, we need to talk to you about something important.”

Jessie blinked, sitting up a little straighter. Her gaze moved between the three men, her smile fading into a more focused expression. “Okay... is something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Forrest said, stepping closer to take a chair in front of her. “But we want to talk about something before we move forward with... you know... exploring things together.”

Rowan’s hand rested on her knee, a reassuring touch. “We want to make sure you’re comfortable with everything, Jessie.”

Jessica’s brow furrowed slightly, but she nodded. “Okay... what do you want to talk about?”

Forrest took a deep breath. “We need to talk about safe words, for one. We want to make sure you have a way to stop anything if it ever gets to be too much. Have you ever used one before?”

Jessica shook her head, biting her lip. “No... but I know what they are. I’ve heard about them from the other Littles.”

Sebastian’s voice was low and steady, the voice of reason as always. “We’ll need to pick a word that’s easy for you to remember, something that you can say even if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Something like ‘red’.”

Jessica considered it for a moment. “How about just going with the traffic light system? Red for stop, yellow for slow down and green for go? It’s simple and I understand what it all means.”

Forrest smiled, his heart swelling with pride at how thoughtful and brave she was being. “That’s perfect, babygirl.”

“And how about things that we should avoid?” Rowan chimed in, his tone light but serious. “We don’t want to accidentally do something that could trigger you or make you feel uncomfortable.”

Jessica’s hands twisted in her lap, the sleeves of her sweater showing signs of wear from her nervous habit. “Um... I guess... I not sure I’d like restraints very much. Just the thought of being unable to move scares me. And anything with too much impact. I’ve never... you know, been hit in a way that was good.”

Forrest’s heart clenched at the quiet admission, his protective instincts flaring. “We won’t do anything like that, Jessie. We can even take spanking off the table completely. You’re in control, okay? If you’re not comfortable with something, we stop. No questions.”

Jessica nodded, her fingers still playing with the edge of her sleeve. “I do want to be spanked.” Her words were so soft, that Forrest could hardly hear her. “I want to feel a good kind of pain.” She shrugged, looking up at them through her lashes.

“Okay, babygirl,” Forrest responded. “We can try a naked hand spanking. Take it from there, how does that sound?”

She nodded again. “And I’m not sure how I feel about... certain touches. I mean, I’ve never really done anything like that before, so I don’t know what might set me off.”