“No worries. That’s the cool thing about this group. Everyone can do what makes them happy.” Becky took the teddy back and placed him on the floor next to her.
“So I didn’t stick my foot in my mouth? I’m size eight, and it tastes really awful without some A-1.”
Everyone at the table, along with Becky, laughed with her.
“I get that all the time,” Gigi, the redhead who looked like she could be on the cover for the next Pippi Longstocking book, giggled. “Seriously. I’m constantly doing damage control for my mouth, which is different than my day job.”
“What do you do for a living?”
Her eyes flashed with humor. “I write press releases and public statements for big companies, actors, and politicians.”
“Holy crap.”
Gigi shrugged and smiled. “Yeah, I’m better in writing.”
“I have a few more suckers if anyone wants one.” Alex pulled out three more pops and held them out, as the women swarmed to grab them from her.
“Just make sure you brush well afterwards, and floss. And no carbohydrates within an hour of bedtime,” her dentist friend, Becky, lectured them kindly. “If you can get some swishing in, that would be helpful too.”
They all laughed. “Yes, Mom.”
The mortified look on Becky’s face made them crack up even louder, and they playfully teased her about putting dental gear on her bear.
A tap on Alex’s shoulder stopped her laughter, and she hid the reflexive urge she had to clench her fists and turn into a potential attacker.
A large man wearing an ascot and what looked like a school uniform stood behind her with a smile as he looked her up and down in obvious interest. “I just wanted to see the face that belonged to the most beautiful body in the room.”
She laughed. “Is that your attempt at a come-on?”
Her friends giggled.
The man flushed. “I mean, you look like an angel that fell from heaven.”
“Great. So now I’m Satan.” She rolled her eyes and affected a casual stance, ready to throat-punch the guy if she needed to.
The poor man blushed and his whole body shrank, seeming mortified by all the laughter at him.
Connor and a female dressed in a pinstripe suit were on their way toward them. Connor did not look happy, and she wasn’t sure if it was directed at her or the dweeb with the bad pickup lines.
“Alex, this is Bradley,” Becky softly supplied. “He’s no threat. He just, well, he’s Bradley.”
The woman in the pinstripe suit came over and took him by the ear, and he winced. “I was looking everywhere for you, young man. Why aren’t you back at the Mother/son barbecue?” Poor guy looked humiliated, but his interest tented out in his pants when the woman rebuked him in front of her and her new friends.
“Sorry, Mama.” He looked up at her with puppy dog eyes, and the woman released her hold and placed her hands on her hips.
“Well, I know someone who needs a wooden spoon taken to his bare bottom tonight.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Hey, Bradley,” Alex said, diverting the attention back to her. “Don’t call me an angel again, and I’ll come over and toss a football and do some climbing with you later, ‘kay?”
His eyes lit up, and he gave her a quick hug before waving goodbye and following his mommy out the door.
Connor was still seething, his fists clenched at his sides, his eyes dark.
“Oh, back off, you big lug. I can take care of myself and you damn well know it.”
A collective gasp of surprise went around the table.
“Girl, you got balls.” Everyone giggled at Gigi’s remark. “Sorry, that was my foot again. But it’s true.”
“Two minutes,” Connor whispered. “I’ll be in the back. Don’t be late.” His eyes flashed with a combination of humor and warning.
“Gawd, is that your daddy?” Calli squeaked. “He scares me, and I sky dive.”
“He’s hot,” Mackenzie murmured, twirling her hair bow. “Do you guys blur the lines, or is he just a Daddy daddy?”
What’d she mean by that?
“That is none of our business,” Becky scolded. “But I’m curious too.” Her eyebrows raised in a high question above her forehead.
“Um, yeah, I guess we blur the lines. We’re still new to this. Sometimes he’s Daddy. And sometimes he’s, mmm, Daddy.” Did that make sense?
They all nodded at her.
“It’s all good, however you want to play it,” Gigi smiled. “Because of my job, I can only play like this during special events, munches, etcetera. We don’t cross any sexual lines, because he knows my desires to have a firm line. I get to really let go and trust him with complete vulnerability. Which means I have to get sex from my other sir.”
“You have two, um, what are they called?”
“Daniel is my part-time daddy. He gives the paternal affection I crave and the release. He comes over sometimes after a rough week, or in instances like this, the pageant. I try to immerse myself totally into a younger mentality.”
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to take you out of your zone.”
“It’s all right. It’s like being the Hulk, one or the other. I can do both. I just prefer to keep my lines separate.”
“I’m a bit of a line straddler myself,” Calli piped in coyly. “I love gray, and the duality of both mindsets. It’s kind of like watching The Walking Dead while reading Mary Poppins.”
“I’m a lifestyle submissive,” Becky said quietly. “When I’m not at my practice, fixing enamel and annihilating plaque buildup—it’s my superhero job,” she giggled, “when I get home, I drop the bag, the coat, everything at the door, and I serve him. We’ve tried a little bit of everything: master/slave, domestic discipline, dom/sub, Daddy/little. It just depends on the cycle we are in, and what mood we are both in. Whatever it is, we both enter it fully for a period of time, until it feels like it’s time for something new. This weekend I am a little, with the after-hours benefits of having a kinky master who likes to make me scream. I, um, like it too,” she flushed.
“This is amazing. What about that dude?” Alex asked.
“Bradley was a high-powered corporate lawyer who was suicidal and using prescription meds the wrong way to keep himself happy. Don’t worry, he’s already out about it. He gave a huge lecture last year. Not a dry eye in the room,” Gigi continued. “Now he helps the DA with big stuff. When he leaves his job for the day, or for a long weekend, he immerses himself into his little role. It lets him escape for a while. He says it’s better than he’s ever felt in his life. And by the way, his caseload is five times worse this year. Between you and me, if you ever get framed for a murder, he’s the guy to have in your ring.”
Alex’s head swam. This was the best information she had received on the subject—and it was firsthand from real people in the scene. She couldn’t help but feel guilty about being here undercover. It felt like she was lying to these people, her new friends.
“Then there’s Charlotte,” Becky whispered.
Identical groans rang out around the table. Charlotte was last year’s pageant runner-up, right? The one with all the death threats.
“God, that woman is a grade A be-otch with a pedigree from Asshole Kennel State.” They all laughed at Gigi’s remark. “Over there. The blonde with the big daddy and the even bigger boobs—the one talking to Mr. Helms.” They followed her gaze to the very put-out looking blonde with her hands on her hips. She looked like she was reading Mr. Helms the riot act. Connor stood unobtrusively along the back wall behind them, observing.
“Did you hear about the death threats?” Mackenzie said quietly, looking around the room as she spoke, and they all nodded.
“I don’t think they’re true. I think Charlotte’s just looking for attention, and is afraid someone else is going to take her crown,” Gigi grumbled.
“It seems likely,” Becky said, nodding, “but they have to take these kinds of threats seriously. T
hat’s why there’s extra security, and why they moved the whole thing at the last second to this hotel. We were supposed to have the Regal, the whole damn thing at our disposal.”
Gigi’s eyes darkened and her face flushed with anger. “No one knows if it’s a real threat or even if it is confined to her or other littles from the group, so they’re trying to keep everyone safe and happy, which in my world, is never possible,” Gigi groaned. “I’m getting grumpy, can we change the subject?”
“Yeah, let’s color.” Calli handed out an unused box of crayons.
Alex looked at her watch and realized it had been almost twenty minutes longer than Connor’s two-minute request. Well, it had been a demand. But then again, he knew they were there for a job. He wasn’t going to fault her for that. “Girls, I gotta go. My, um, daddy is still waiting for me. Breakfast tomorrow, pool, big girl hike around the trails behind the hotel?”
“I’m in for all of that!” Calli squealed.
Gigi said she would bring a picnic, and Becky and Mackenzie offered to help her prepare.
After hugging her new friends, Alex went in search of Connor. She was almost to the back wall when she heard loud muttering and cursing from behind the chocolate fountain.
“I don’t care what they said. We are not giving our consent to stop the whole function!” The blond pigtails and flashing blue eyes were venomous as Charlotte confronted Mr. Helms from the meeting. “Max and I understand the threat, but we are not going to allow it to ruin my chances to win—”
“She means our love of the group and the important funds it will bring to the cause, right, baby?” her daddy, Max, smoothly cut in, gripping her elbow.
“Yeah, that too,” she grumbled.
“You do understand, you’re not the only one at risk here too. Those threats were for the winner of the pageant. That could be any of our littles, not just you,” Mr. Helms patiently explained.
It almost seemed like a cartoon. Alex waited for Charlotte’s head to turn in circles while smoke spewed from her ears. It didn’t happen, but dang, Charlotte would have made a great cartoon character.
“I will not stand here and listen to your idiocy anymore. My money is in this group. My money helps fund a good portion of these parties, and you sure as hell will not be cancelling this without my approval.” Her voice was shrill enough to be heard throughout the room, and all chat stopped. “And for the record, I am the only Little Miss Leather and Lace. Those threats were made at me. And I say we go on with the pageant. Let’s go!” She yanked the arm of the other man and pulled him out of the room, muttering about him not being a very good daddy, and needing to call her husband to tell him she had arrived at her women’s ad hoc committee meeting safely.
“That’s the bitch we’re protecting?” Alex mumbled under her breath.
“Yeah, and watch your language, little girl.” Connor’s strong grip held her shoulder tightly.
“What are you going to do about it if I don’t? Daddy?”
He chuckled. “I’ll figure out something. But first, we’re going to dance.”
“Oh, God, no.”
Taking her hand, he pulled her into the middle of the dance floor and held her against his chest for a slow waltz sung by a cricket. “You can consider this part one of your punishment.”
“For what?” She grumbled and accidentally stepped on his toe. “Sorry.”
“It’s all right.” He twirled her around, and then pulled her back into his arms. “For keeping me waiting so long. I’ve wanted to do this all night.”
She stomped on his foot again and winced for him. “You wanted to get your toes smashed in so you can’t walk tomorrow?”
Laughing, he placed his hands on her shoulders and firmly held her still. “Stay put. Lift.” He picked up her left foot, took off her low-heeled, clacky, hard-soled pumps, and tossed them against the wall. He did the same with the other foot, leaving her bare toes wriggling. “Next time we dance, I’ll get you some ballerina shoes.”
She snorted and yelped when he flung her around into another whirl. “What makes you think there’s going to be a next time? I suck at this. And you cannot be that masochistic, otherwise I’d be the one spanking you.”
He grinned and turned her back to him, swatting her still warm backside, and she yelped. “You’ll be fine, little girl. Just follow my lead.”
“Okay. But I still don’t see why it’s such a big deal. We should be doing something productive.”
He picked her up and placed her feet on top of his and started slowly swaying back and forth with her cheek against his. “What better way to compare notes and continue observing, than on a dance floor,” he whispered into her ear, causing her heart rate to increase again. He smelled so good—crisp, clean, manly, and his freshly starched button-down shirt added to the seductive sensory overload.
“Good idea.” They swayed back and forth along the side of the room, while other couples danced, chatted, ate, and played.
One young woman had her tutu around her ankles and was standing in the corner while her daddy quietly lectured her about something. Her bare bottom was pink, just like the tulle from her skirt.
“I got a glimpse of last year’s runner-up. She’s a piece of work,” Alex whispered as she continued to nuzzle against his firm chest. “What’d you think of her?”
“Yeah, I met her too. Her partner is new. He said she broke it off with her old daddy when he threatened to tell her poor husband what she was up to behind his back. Not the nicest lady in the world.”
“That’s an understatement,” Alex growled. She quietly told Connor about her conversation with the other women.
“So what do you think our next move is?”
“You’re asking me?” She met his gaze, confused.
“Yeah. You’ve got great instincts.”
She hmmphed and he massaged her back and pulled her closer into him. They were like one being now. “Tell that to the captain.”
“I have. You just needed a good partner who could complement your abilities.”
“And spank me when I get in over my head?” She frowned.
He nibbled on her ear and gave a quick blow before saying, “Only if you like it.”
Gawd.
She cleared her throat and tried to look up past his strong chin and the hint of dark stubble, past his firm lips and the slightly off-centered nose that made him even sexier. Taking a deep breath, she met his gaze and smiled. “I think we need to continue staying as involved in as many different activities with as many different people as we can. We can split up for some of it. Reconnect. And then repeat. We still have forty hours.”
“Forty-eight,” he corrected her. “The crowning of the pageant princess is Sunday night, and we want to be there for that, just in case.”
“Good call.”
“I think…” She swallowed hard and tried not to blush—it didn’t work. Her face heated fast. “I think we should integrate ourselves a bit more.”
“Meaning?” His eyebrows rose as they glided through a song sung by a crab about a mermaid that needed kissing.
“We should do some scening, um, in front of people. Let them know we’re real, ya know?”
“Are you asking me to bend you over and spank you right here?”
“Maybe.” She looked at the young woman who had been in the corner. Her tutu was still around her ankles, but now she was sitting snuggled up on her daddy’s lap as he rubbed circles on her back. Why did that turn her on even more than Connor nipping at her ear? “I don’t know. I’m just going on instinct here, okay?”
“Well, I like your instincts.” He picked her up and spread her legs around his waist. “Come on, little girl. I’ve been wanting to spank that sweet little ass of yours all night.”
She giggled and ground her pelvis into the buttons on his firm torso. “I thought you wanted to dance.”
He set her down, took an empty chair, and pulled her over his lap. “This is a different kind of dance.”
* * *
Connor watched out of the corner of his eye as the crowd started forming around them. He peeled up her fluffy skirt and massaged her bare bottom. “You okay with an audience, Pip?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I’ll guess we’ll find out.”
“Don’t forget your safe word if it gets to be too much.” He squeezed her firm globes, wishing they had some privacy. The way Alex was reacting, exhibitionism might turn her on. But he was a selfish man, and didn’t want to share her glorious cheeks with others. The rounded globes that were the perfect size to fit in his hands, blushing when he smacked them. They were his to enjoy. He let out a low growl when the music quieted and the audience built around them.
Alex turned her head and smiled at him. “I guess I should have asked if you were okay with an audience.”
“I’m okay.” He tapped her bottom and it jiggled, causing heat to build in him.
“Just remember. They can look, but they can’t touch. You’re the only daddy that gets to touch me like this.”
“I’m honored.” He stroked her flesh.
“Well, you should be. I’ve got a great ass. Ow!”
“Watch your language, little girl,” he smiled and smacked her left cheek.
“Yes, Daddy.”
He blocked out the rest of the people and set himself to enjoying his task—to redden the most beautiful ass in the entire world. The crisp smacks echoed throughout the room, louder than the soft music playing in the background. With each firm swat, her bottom flattened then jiggled, and more heat rose from her skin. Her pelvis rocked against his lap as she enjoyed his hard touch.
Tipping her over a bit more, so he could reach the underside of her cheeks, he brought his hand crashing down onto the space where her cheeks and thighs met, and she groaned and shimmied across his lap. Oh, yeah, this was good. His body was on fire, needing desperately to quench itself with her. But not now. Right now it was all about her. Her gorgeous bottom on display, a dark pink rapidly changing its hue against the perfect backdrop of firm, toned, well-muscled glutes. The room around him was silent except for his methodical slaps and her grunts and moans and the thing he could only describe as well-voiced husky arousal.
Undercover Daddy Page 10
