Chapter 15

Mandi couldn't think,could barely take in enough breath, she'd come so hard. And when Mommy Amelia clambered up the bed to take her in her arms, she let go of everything and just nuzzled in for cuddles.

"There, there, babygirl," Mommy said. "I've got you. You're all good. Safe with me."

She nodded and then leaned up to kiss her. "I—" She stopped. No matter how much she wanted to, Mandi knew she couldn't say what she was thinking. That it was just sex and the adrenaline rushing through her body. She couldn't have fallen this fast.

She shouldn't fall this fast.

Mommy Amelia sat back and looked at her. "What's going on?"

"It's just, you're amazing. Amazing. And sexy and kind and the best Mommy a little girl could ever ask for. But I'm only here for a week. A week. And then I have to leave you behind, and I…" Mandi started choking up, and Mommy Amelia looked as distraught as she felt. "I don't know if I'll want to say goodbye."

"Oh, sweetheart, I don't think I'll want to say goodbye either. But you have a world outside the Ranch."

"Do I?" She drew the covers up over her knees. "Sure, I have my own duplex, but I don't have many friends—I let my ex isolate me, which was my own fault—and…"

"Your ex was an abusive—" Mommy Amelia caught herself before she swore. "He wasn't nice to you, and isolating a partner from their friends and family is classic abusive behavior. You're not allowed to blame yourself for that."

Mandi nodded slowly. Logically she knew that was true, but it didn't feel true, not deep down. Deep down she felt like she should have been stronger. Should have challenged him more. Stood up for herself.

Mommy kissed her. "It's okay," she said. "These things take time. But you'll make new friends. You have already done that here."

"I have." Mandi felt wistful. She knew that part of her wished she could be like Sadie and stay here forever. Work in the library, go to bed with Mommy Amelia. Have the life that treated her so harshly stay outside the wrought-iron gates of the Ranch. But life never quite worked out the way that she wanted it to.

She looked at the other woman, brushed ruffled blonde hair from her face. "I'm so glad I met you."

"Oh, darling, me too," said Mommy Amelia. "And I"—she paused, suddenly catching sight of the clock on the wall—"am very late for work! The library opens in half an hour and we're not showered or dressed, and you need to have breakfast!"

"I can do breakfast," said Mandi. "You jump in the shower, I'll prep breakfast, and then I'll run down and join you in the library as soon as I'm showered and ready."

Mommy Amelia leaned over and kissed her deeply. "You are an absolute star. A treasure. My princess. Thank you!"

She jumped out of bed, shed her pajama pants, and Mandi allowed herself an appreciative look at the other woman's rear end before it disappeared off into the bathroom.

Pottering around the room, she found some granola and yogurt in the fridge, and made up bowls with fresh sliced berries on top, all ready for when Mommy reappeared in the bathroom doorway, a towel wrapped around her body, her short hair still wet.

"Oh, babygirl, this looks amazing. Thank you so much." She pulled Mandi close to her, and kissed her, the scent of coconut enveloping Mandi. It was a nice, refreshing scent that Mandi inhaled deeply. She kissed Mommy Amelia back and smiled.

"Eat up; you don't want to be late!" It felt so nice and cozy; like this was their life, not just one morning of a stolen week together. Mandi's smile became forced, but she tried her utmost to mask and not to let on again. She didn't want to ruin the little time they had left.

Mommy Amelia ate up quickly, put her bowl in the dishwasher, and then kissed her thoroughly, taking Mandi's breath away, before practically running out the door.

Mandi ate her breakfast more slowly and then dragged herself over to the bathroom. She was going to have a shower, because she'd told Mommy she would, but she couldn't have felt less motivated.

And then she stared.

Somehow, as they'd been out and about in the main Ranch, she'd somehow missed seeing the bathroom itself. A large soaking bathtub—big enough for two—stood in one corner, and the other was taken up by one of the largest walk-in showers she'd ever seen. Large and square, with marble walls on two sides, and sheer glass on the other two, it looked like it had a rainfall showerhead!

Mandi couldn't strip quick enough. She turned up the heat until the entire shower was steamed up and then luxuriated under the fall of the water. She closed her eyes, and let the hot water soak into her muscles, loosening the stresses, tensions and worries she'd been carrying, and then washed them all the way down the drain.

Okay, so she might only have six days left, but she wasn't going to waste a single one. She was going to have the best time and savor every second she got to spend with Mommy Amelia.