Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

L eaving Dottie in the dining room instead of taking her up to his house with him was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. When she'd looked up at him with those pretty brown eyes, silently begging him not to leave, he'd nearly given in.

But she was here for a reason. And while he fully intended to make her his by the time this was all said and done, she wasn't going to get the help she so clearly needed if he pulled her out of the program to be his own personal pet.

No matter how much he wanted to do exactly that.

He could already see how much good the program was doing her. One spanking and some firm boundaries had made a significant impact on her behavior in less than twenty-four hours.

Which made him wonder if maybe the problem wasn't so much her as it was her environment. As much as he loved Jerry and Sheila, they'd always been more hands off with Dorothy than Luke felt they should have been. It was entirely possible they were merely reaping what they'd sown. Not that it excused any of her behavior, but it could certainly explain some of it.

With that thought in mind, he pulled his phone from his pocket and opened Jerry's contact information to call. His friend picked up on the third ring, his tone wary and guarded when he answered. "Hello?"

"Hey. Just thought I'd call and give you an update on Dorothy."

The silence coming from the other end of the phone was oppressive. Eventually Jerry sighed, and Luke could have sworn he almost sounded annoyed. "Go ahead."

"She's settling in well. Honestly, other than the tantrum in your office she's been relatively well-behaved. I think she'll do well in the program."

"Really?" Surprise colored Jerry's tone. "I thought you'd have a fight on your hands, at least at first."

"From what you and Shelia were telling me, I expected the same."

"We appreciate you taking her on. You're a good friend."

"It was no problem. I'll check in again in a few days, let you know how she's doing."

"Thanks." Another silence, even heavier than before. "Will we be able to talk to her?"

The question went a long way toward alleviating his concerns about his friends and their relationship with their daughter. "I'll see what I can do. We generally don't allow any external phone calls the first four weeks."

"Oh. I understand." He cleared his throat, and his voice was thick when he spoke again. "Well, could you tell her we love her, at least?"

"Will do. Bye, Jer."

He ended the call and tossed his phone onto the desk. Guilt niggled at the back of his mind. He probably should have told Jerry he'd taken such a… hands-on approach with Dorothy's introduction to the program.

Ah, well. No sense in rocking that particular boat until he'd actually claimed his pretty cow. One fight at a time.

Alice liked to talk. A lot. By the time they were returned to their room—after a detour to the shared bathroom during which Dottie did not need to have her tail removed, thank god —Dottie knew everything there was to know about her roommate-slash-mentor. And she couldn't help but feel like she came up short, in comparison.

Where Dottie was here because she basically hadn't been given a choice, Alice genuinely seemed to be working toward a better life. Her Master had told her about the program when she'd flunked out of college, and they'd both agreed she needed a bit more help than he was capable of giving her. All Alice could talk about was how much she loved her Master and how excited she was to graduate the program and finish her degree.

"How do you know he'll still be around when you get out of here?" Dottie asked as they lay curled up in their respective beds. Their ears had been removed so they wouldn't bother them as they slept, but the tails and hooves remained. "Three months is a long time to wait for someone."

"It's not prison, silly," Alice said with a giggle. "The first month was hard, because we didn't get to talk at all. But during the second stage you get phone calls, and you can request couples therapy or family therapy if you want. We've been doing counseling together and our relationship is stronger than ever."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. He tells me every time we talk how proud he is of me."

There was so much love in Alice's voice, it made Dottie's stomach hurt a little to hear it. She didn't think she'd ever loved anyone the way Alice obviously loved her Master. "Sounds like you've got it all figured out."

The bitterness she could taste in her throat must have been obvious in her words, because Alice immediately rose from her bed and crossed the room to crawl into Dottie's, her hooved hands resting on Dottie's naked hip. It should have been sexual, being so close to another human without a stitch of clothing between them. But it didn't feel anything of the sort. It simply felt like… comfort.

"I know it's hard, when you first get here," Alice said softly. "But it gets better. Everyone here just wants to see you succeed, and once you accept that, it gets so much easier. I promise."

"Sure."

Even in the dark, she could see the sympathy in Alice's smile. "Well, now that I've dumped all my junk on you, why don't you tell me about yourself? What made you decide to come here?"

She wasn't eager to air out her dirty laundry to a complete stranger. But then again, who else did she have? All her friends were back home, along with her parents who she'd never really felt like she could talk to anyway, and Uncle Luke had walked out on her. Might as well try and make a friend or two while she was here, right?

When she opened her mouth to explain, however, all that came out was a loud wail, and the next thing she knew she was sobbing into Alice's ample breasts.

"Oh, baby girl. Come here." Wrapping her arms around Dottie, Alice rocked her gently, whispering to her that she was going to be okay, that everything would be all right.

"No it won't!" Dottie cried. "My parents h-hate me and they don't w-want me anymore!"

"Your parents? What do your parents have to do with you being here?"

The whole sordid story poured out of her then. How she'd gotten in a bit of trouble here and there, and the next thing she knew her parents were calling her Uncle Luke to come and get her and put her in his program. By the time she finished, Alice's mouth was hanging open in shock.

"I can't believe your parents put you in the program. Maybe they didn't know how it works when they asked him to take you."

"No." Dottie shook her head. "They know. Luke is my father's best friend. They had to know."

"Really?" Alice fell silent for a moment before she finally shrugged. "Well, you know, most of us spend most of our lives hiding who we really are from our parents. I guess you won't have that problem." Lifting a hooved hand to her lips, Alice giggled. "It would kind of serve them right if you showed up to Christmas dinner in your cow gear and let some guy in leather milk you right at the table."

The image was so ridiculous, Dottie couldn't help but laugh along. "Oh my god, my mother would have a coronary."

"Seems like it might be worth it."

"Oh, it absolutely would be."

"So now I'm curious," Alice said once their laughter finally died down again. "How are you enjoying your stay? Do you like being a cow?"

"I don't know yet." Embarrassed heat rose to Dottie's cheeks. "I like the things Uncle Luke does to me. I like the way he touches me. And being milked was… interesting."

"Oh, it's my favorite." Alice's eyes lit up at the mention of being milked. "I haven't been able to produce yet, which has been kind of a bummer, but I love the way it feels. And I love being able to lose myself in that mindset of being a cow. In those moments, I don't have to worry about therapy or what I'm learning here, I can just… be Alice the cow, being milked by a rancher. It's kind of lovely, really."

"I hadn't thought about it like that."

"It takes a while to get there, if you get there at all. But if you do, there's really nothing like it." Alice yawned widely, giving her head a little shake. "It's getting late. We should get to bed. But promise me you'll come to me if you have any questions, yeah? I know your situation is a bit different, but we're all here for the same reasons. And wouldn't you just love to get out of here and prove you're not the fuck up your parents think you are?"

"I don't see that happening."

"I do. You've got spirit, Dottie-girl. And I can't wait to watch you rub their noses in your success."

"Rise and shine, little cows!"

The far-too-cheerful voice roused Dottie from what had been a surprisingly peaceful sleep. She'd expected to toss and turn all night, but once Alice had climbed back into her own bed, sleep had come quickly and easily.

Which meant the exhaustion that had been dragging at her most of yesterday was now gone, and she had plenty of energy to roll her eyes at the woman with the high blonde ponytail and sparkling white smile. "What time is it?"

"Time to get up," the woman answered, her smile not dimming in the least even as she tapped a wicked looking crop against her tall leather boots. "Let's not dawdle. You've got a big day ahead of you!"

Irritation pricked at the base of Dottie's skull. Everything about the woman seemed designed to grate on her nerves. Most especially, the fact that she wasn't Uncle Luke.

"A big day of what? Eating grass and being milked?"

Across the room, Alice was dragging her hoof across her throat in a clear signal to cut it out, but Dottie didn't care. Uncle Luke might have lulled her into compliance yesterday with his threats and explosive orgasms, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Which had nothing to do with the knot in Dottie's stomach. Nothing at all.

Lying gets you punished, little cow.

Ugh. How was he in her head already?

"No grass, but you do need to be milked. Little cows such as yourself need to be milked twice a day to stay happy and healthy."

"Yeah, no, I'm good." Wiggling back under the covers—a bit of a feat with her hooves on—Dottie rolled toward the wall and closed her eyes.

A moment later a cool breeze brushed over her skin as the covers were whisked away. "Since this is your first day, I'm going to give you one more chance to get up on your own. Come on, Dottie-girl. You don't want to start your day with a welted flank, do you?"

She did not. But she also did not want to get up and subject herself to whatever it was Ranch Hand Barbie had up her sleeve.

"How about you go take care of Alice over there and leave me the fuck alone? I'll wait for Un—for Luke."

" Master Lucas is busy. Trust me when I tell you that you do not want me to call him in to deal with you."

"Actually, that's exactly what I want. So if you could go ahead and do that for me, that would be great." Even if it meant being punished, at least it would be by him and not some complete stranger.

A sharp stinging sensation exploded across her right ass cheek. Squealing at the hot burst of pain, Dottie rolled over and glared up at her attacker. "What the fuck was that for?"

Barbie simply raised an eyebrow. "You are being a very naughty little cow. It's time to get out of bed."

"No. I will not."

The crop swung toward her again, too fast for her to evade it. This time, the flap of leather stung the inside of her thigh, which was so much worse than her butt.

"Ow! Stop that!" Rubbing at the spot as best she could with her hooves on, she blinked back tears. She tried to tell herself they were just tears of anger, because Barbie really was pissing her off, but again she heard Uncle Luke's voice in her head reminding her that lying would get her punished.

"All you have to do is get out of bed and allow me to remove your tail and I won't have to punish you again. Come on, little cow."

"Get the fuck away from me!"

Before Barbie could respond, a shadow filled the doorway. Dottie's heart leapt with joy a moment before it plummeted into her stomach.

She might be happy to see Uncle Luke, but he did not look at all happy to see her.

"What the hell is going on in here?"