Chapter 5

When she reached her car that evening, Maya called Deke. It went straight to voicemail. Disappointed, she started her car and backed out of her parking spot. A wild thought went through her head. She could go see him.

After checking her watch to make sure the mall would still be open when she got there, Maya headed that way. With her flowers buckled safely beside her, Maya navigated through the light traffic to the mall. She had no idea where the Stuff-It store was located inside.

Taking a wild guess, she parked in the front and ran in to check the map displayed just inside. Maya hurried up the escalator and found it on the second floor. She broke into a run seeing a tall figure pulling down the security fence around the store entrance.

"Deke!" she called.

"Maya? Hi. Did I miss a call from you?" he asked.

"Yes, but that's okay. I wanted to surprise you."

"You did that." Deke swept her into his arms and hugged her close. "Come inside. I'll show you around."

"I'd love that."

As she stepped inside, Maya looked around at all the stuffies displayed around the store as he finished securing the barrier. Dressed in all sorts of outfits, they all looked like they were headed to a party. "This is so much fun."

"I thought you'd like it here. Pick out a stuffie and we can put him together," Deke suggested.

"Oh, you have to be tired of making stuffies," she forced herself to say.

"I could never be too tired to make a new friend for someone. What do you think? A traditional bear or something crazy like a penguin?"

"Tawny would eat a penguin, I'm afraid."

"Who is Tawny?"

"He's my lion stuffie. He's very fierce."

"Ah. Maybe we could appeal to his tender side. What do you think about making him a tigress friend?" Deke suggested, pointing to a gorgeous black-and-gold tiger with very long eyelashes.

"Oh! I think he'd love her."

"Let's get started then."

Twenty minutes later, Maya stroked the tigress's soft fur in delight. "How much do I owe you?"

"Twenty kisses."

"No, Deke. I mean real money."

"I'll start you a punch card, so you won't forget." He stepped behind the cash register to pull out a fancy card. "I'll stamp this every time you give Daddy a surprise kiss."

"A surprise kiss?" she repeated.

"Exactly. It's always fun to get something as a surprise."

"Like my flowers?" she suggested.

"Exactly, and your stuffie. Twenty surprise kisses will make me feel happy, over and over again," Deke told her. "You could give me one now, and I'll pretend to be surprised."

Maya rushed forward to press a kiss against his lips. She was as daring as she could be, dipping into his mouth with her tongue to make it last several long seconds.

"That was a surprise," Deke told her with a grin. "Let me mark that one on your card."

While he carefully initialed her card, Maya gathered her courage. She blurted, "Would you like to come to my apartment to meet Tawny and help me introduce Tawny and my new stuffie?"

"I would love to. That tiger needs a name," Deke pointed out.

"I know. I haven't thought of a perfect one yet. Maybe Tawny will have a suggestion."

"I like that idea. I'll finish closing up here and then we can be off."

"Don't rush. I like looking around in here," Maya told him.

"All the Littles do. And the kids, too," Deke shared as he pulled the cash drawer from the register.

"Do you have a lot of Littles come in every day?" she asked.

"A lot of adults come in alone to make a stuffie. I've always figured that at least a few are Little."

"And you never found your Little here?" she asked, trying to quiet that uncomfortable feeling inside her tummy.

Deke set the till down on the counter and pulled her close. "I'd never felt anything like the way you pulled me toward you. I never dated a customer who I met here. If there were Littles here, my Little wasn't one of them. I had to wait to find you. You don't have anything to worry about with me working here, Precious Girl."

"Okay. Sorry if I sound silly."

"You don't sound silly at all. I like that you're jealous at the idea of me meeting Littles." He pressed a kiss on her forehead. "Let me put the money in the safe and we'll head home to meet Tawny."

"Take your time," she told him.

A few minutes later, he came out in his coat and suggested, "Let's go out the back and get my car. I'll drive you to yours and then I can follow you home."

"That's a great idea."

As they reached his car, a bunch of teenagers hung out nearby in the circle of one of the lights. "Hi, Deke! Are you working tomorrow?"

"I don't think so," he said, waving back at them as he helped Maya into the car.

"Friends?" she asked when he slid into the driver's seat.

"They're friends of the owner, Rose. She introduced us, so now, I guess they're my friends as well," Deke explained as he started the car.

"That's nice. You can talk to everyone," she said longingly.

"You can as well. Roll down the window and shout hi."

"I can't do that. They'll think I'm weird," Maya protested.

"Nothing and everything is weird to a group of teenagers hanging out in the mall parking lot. Try it."

Swallowing hard, Maya rolled down her window and shouted, "Hi!"

The teens turned to look and waved. "Hi, Deke's girlfriend."

Maya laughed and waved back. Collapsing against the seat, she looked at Deke who slowly reversed the car out of the parking space. "If only making friends in real life were that easy."

"It could be. Why not say hi and see what happens? Some people will be too busy, and that's a loss for them. Others will be so happy that someone spoke to them that they'll be wonderful."

"I've always been shy," she explained.

"And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. You get to be however you choose. If you want people to be friendlier, then try being their friend first. Maybe they're an introvert as well. There's your car," he said, pointing to it.

"You'll follow me home?"

"I will. Shall we buckle your tigress into the passenger seat so you can discuss names on the drive home?" Deke suggested.

"Yes, please, but she'll have to share the seatbelt with my flowers."

Deke chuckled. "Of course."

* * *

Maya unbuckled their seatbelts before hugging her new stuffie to her chest. She smiled up at Deke as he opened her door and offered her a hand out of the car. Rocking up on her tiptoes, Maya pressed a kiss to his lips before stepping away. "I'll give you my card inside."

"Minx. I'm going to enjoy all these kisses. Best Daddy idea ever."

Deke grabbed the bouquet of flowers from the passenger seat before holding his hand out for hers, and they walked to the apartment building entrance together. With one hand, he gallantly took her key ring and fitted her small mailbox key into place. Opening it so she could grab everything inside, he held the hinged door out of the way before locking it securely. At her door, he used the key she showed him to open that as well.

Maya looked around quickly as she walked in. She normally kept her apartment tidy but wanted to make sure she hadn't left anything embarrassing out. To her relief, the living room looked spotless.

"Please sit down and make yourself comfortable. Let me grab Tawny. Would you hold her?" she asked as she handed the tigress to Deke.

When she came back into the room, Maya held a stuffed lion against her ear. "Tawny, you can ask Deke yourself. Come meet him and a new friend I made today."

Perching on the edge of the couch, Maya sat Tawny on her lap. "Tawny, this is Deke and Princess."

"Ah, I see you settled on a name," Deke commented.

"Yes." Maya moved the lion a bit closer so he could sniff Princess's paw. To her delight, the gallant lion kissed it before sitting back with a twinkle in his eye. "Oh! I think he likes her."

"Of course he does. Tawny is a very intelligent lion," Deke complimented as he made eye contact with the beast.

"Would you let him sniff your hand?"

Deke held his hand out so the lion could check him out. "Hi, Tawny. I have looked forward to meeting you."

The lion growled in response but didn't attack.

"Tawny! That's not nice," Maya rebuked him.

"It's okay, Maya. He needs me to show him that I'm going to take care of you properly. Let's give him some time. I'm glad he doesn't just accept every Tom, Deke, and Harry."

Maya stared at him for a second before laughing. "Let's let Tawny and Princess get better acquainted."

She moved the two stuffies to the chair next to the couch where they could talk. As she returned to the couch, Deke guided her to sit on his lap. Instantly, she ricocheted to standing.

"I can't sit on your lap. I'll hurt you."

"You most definitely can, and you won't. I'll spend the next two weeks at the gym doing squats and leg presses to bulk up if I look that wimpy."

"Oh, no! I didn't mean that. It's just that I'm not a thin person. I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't. Trust Daddy," he requested, scooping her up easily to set her on his lap. "Are you uncomfortable? Because I love having you this close."

"No." She paused before asking, "Should I call you Daddy?"

"I'd love for you to do that. How about if you start when we're alone?"

"Okay… Daddy."

"That's my Precious Girl. Just so you know, I am not uncomfortable at all. I love having you close to me," Deke assured her.

"I like it, too."

Deke leaned in to kiss her lips softly before deepening their exchange. By the time he lifted his mouth from hers, they were both breathing hard. "What time can I come pick you up tomorrow morning?" he asked.

"If we're going to have a picnic, should you come about ten or eleven?"

"I can. Then can you spend the rest of the day with me?"

"I'd love that," she said with a smile.

"Then I will be here at ten. We'll go play at the park and have lunch out. Then maybe you'd like to come see my house."

"And the nursery?" she asked.

"That's where I need some help. I got a bunch of color swatches and I'm not sure how to paint the area. Would you come tell me what you think? It's important to me that you're delighted with the finished project."

"If I get scared, can we leave?" she asked.

"Of course. I always want you to tell me when you're scared."

"Okay," she whispered.

Before she could open her mouth to ask him if Deke would like to see the rest of her apartment, Maya yawned widely. "I'm so sorry."

"You're tired, Little girl. You should be in bed after working all day. How about if you go take a shower and put on your nightie now? I'll tuck you in bed before I leave."

"Oh!" Her mind raced as she considered how intimate him seeing her in her nightie was. Could she be that brave?

"I thought you might need a good-girl spanking."

"A spanking?" She stared at him in horror.

"A good-girl one."

"What's the difference between getting a spanking when you're good and when you're bad?" she asked, fascinated.

"A bad-girl spanking is a punishment. You won't sit comfortably for several hours and will feel the swats the next day. A good-girl spanking is a reward. You'll feel the sting of my hand on your bottom, but you'll be rewarded when your stress ebbs. There usually is a reward when you're good."

"A reward?" She felt like an idiot just parroting back a few words of his explanations, but she really didn't know.

"You've read some age-play novels?" he asked. "What reward do good girls get?"

"Maybe they get to have a treat or play a fun game. That doesn't make sense right before I go to bed."

Maya forced herself to concentrate. What could be a reward that one of the Daddies gave his Little? Her gaze shot upward to meet his knowing gaze.

"An orgasm?" she squeaked.

"That would be a good reward, wouldn't it?"

"I'm not sure I can have one."

"Are you a virgin, Maya?"

"My mother would kill me, but no. I had a torrid affair with a young man when I first moved into my apartment."

"Torrid, huh? How long did it last?"

"Oh, just that one night. He had to go home the next day," Maya explained.

"He lived out of town?"

"No, just down the street. He was here doing laundry because the machines in his apartment complex were broken. I was secretly glad he didn't call again. He was horrified to find out I was a virgin. That was way too much responsibility for him."

"He's a total jerk. Did you get tested after that?"

"Tested? You mean for a sexually transmitted disease?" Maya asked.

"Yes."

"I did. I'm not that na?ve. Everything was fine."

"I'm glad. I've been tested, too."

"I'd like to take things slowly. Could I have my spanking tomorrow?" she asked and nervously bit her bottom lip.

"Of course. Go shower and put on your nightie. When you're ready for me to tuck you in, call for me."

"Okay, Daddy."