Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
And the giggle escaped.
“They’re very curious.” And had clearly already cornered him judging by how funny he found that topic. “They didn’t like being told it was none of their business either.”
“They need a more productive hobby than guessing everyone’s kinks.” I’d even caught a glimpse of some kind of list they’d printed out. “They also don’t hear the word no nearly often enough.”
“Um.” Doing a poor job of holding back a grin, he rocked back and forth on his feet. “That’s because they weren’t taught to stop with the word no.”
For fuck’s sake.
“Do not tell me the town’s busybodies have a safeword.” Shaking my head got a snicker out of him. “I refuse to hear it.”
“Are you safewording?” The cheeky question and grin made me think I was seeing his little side peek out even more strongly. “I didn’t hear a special word.”
The singsong tone to his sentence had me glaring at him. “Being cute is not going to help you get your way. I’m going to bury my head in the sand and ignore their nonsense.”
Pressing his lips together, he nodded and seemed to be trying to look innocent. It didn’t work, but I appreciated the effort. “You think I’m cute?”
His act over the safewords was manufactured to tease me, but this question felt more genuine, so I answered that way. “Yes, I think you’re very cute and I think you like playing and all the mischief around here.”
Littles generally did, which was how they seemed to be getting away with so much insanity.
Nodding eagerly, he seemed to sink deeper into his little side as he stepped closer to me and whispered. “They’re nice. They have toys at the diner they’ll bring out if you tell them you’re Team Binkie and the lady who runs it will give you special desserts too. They think you can be little and a good grown-up too.”
Clearly, the people he normally lived around did not see things the same way.
“Well, they’re insane but they’re not stupid.” That got a snicker from him. “Being little is a wonderful way for some people to relax. It doesn’t mean they aren’t good grown-ups when they’re big.”
Understanding that seemed to be the only thing I liked about the town so far.
“Being big is a lot of work and stressful.” The way he dragged out the word made me smile and that got another excited wiggle from him. “Do you have ways of being happy and not being boring big? Some of them think you’re always boring big, but I know you’re not.”
Good grief. They were already gossiping about me.
“I don’t want to know what the men at the diner said about me.” Not yet anyway. “They’re naughty.”
He nodded but his excited grin said that was what he liked about them. “But I’m a good boy.”
And one who’d clearly needed to de-stress.
“So far all I’ve seen is a big who worries a lot and a little who likes the naughty men in town.” My stern glare and raised eyebrow had him shaking with barely suppressed laughter. “But yes, I have ways of being happy and I’m never boring.”
I just wasn’t going to share my personal life with the overly nosy locals.
“What kind of happy?” Wiggling back and forth again, his gaze darted over to the dessert table that was quickly being raided now that the guests of honor had arrived. “I like cake.”
He was wonderfully subtle, but luckily for him, I was good at reading cues.
“I saw a couple of different kinds. Let’s go check them out.” And being the intuitive Dom that I was, I caught his swinging hand and started moving us in the direction of the goodies. “Do you want a couple of different kinds of cupcakes or one big piece of cake?”
When he aimed wide eyes at me, I lifted one eyebrow. “I saw the size of the cake. Don’t even try it. I don’t care how big a piece the lady at the diner gives cute littles.”
Oh, that got me a pout.
“You know about little cake?” My new friend’s adorable glare distracted me for a few seconds from what he actually wanted to know.
“I’ve seen little cake. Yes. It comes with sprinkles. My cousin came with me on the council trip. He’s little and he’s been having fun manipulating the men at the diner and getting entirely too much dessert.” Sighing dramatically, I rolled my eyes. “I mistakenly assumed he’d stay big in town and I let him run off without supervision.”
That had been a strategic error I hadn’t figured out the consequences of yet.
“Oh.” Scrunching up his face, my new little friend took a few seconds to think before he nodded. “Okay.”
That was it?
Well, it wasn’t the most dramatic reaction he could’ve had, and I had to admit I completely approved of having a possessive mate.