Page 6 of Promising Little Poppy

Poppy’s big, green eyes looked up at Derek, awaiting his next words like she was starved for her next breath.

“Your previous relationship that ended with you coming to college at the Ranch, was it ever part of a dynamic like what is predominant within the BDSM community?”

Of all the questions Poppy expected from Master Derek, that was not one that had ever crossed her mind. “No, Sir.”

She found herself again averting her gaze, looking away from Derek as if ashamed that she had lived at the Ranch for over three years while never having a dynamic prior to her arrival.

Truthfully, she still hadn’t.

When Poppy left her old life, it had been out of necessity. It was a means to an end. A way to survive.

Alone and afraid, she’d ducked into a twenty-four-hour diner late one night on the sleepy streets of Johnson Creek, North Carolina, scrounging in the bottom of her purse for enough change to have a hot cup of tea. By the time she’d left the diner the following day, the sun had risen, she had been well-fed, and had been handed a new start at life with the help of an all-expense-paid full scholarship to Rawhide Ranch University.

The older woman working at the diner was the type of person who hid in plain sight but always had a handle on the customers who walked through the door. With her teased too-high hair, raspy smoker’s cough, and a red lipstick that was all sorts of wrong for her skin tone, she didn’t look like any sort of guardian angel, but Poppy knew that if angels existed, that waitress simplyhadto be one.

It was Vera from the diner who’d served Poppy her tea that night.

It was Vera who’d slid into the booth right next to the stranger Poppy had been and hugged her as she cried when Poppy discovered she was still just a few cents too short to pay her tab, forgetting there was a different sales tax in the small town she had stopped over in. Vera had held her as she sobbed,as she word-vomited all over the older woman, telling her how afraid she was, how lonely she was, howaloneshe was.

All night long, the two women had sat in that booth getting to know one another. Vera had shared her own struggles that brought tears to Poppy’s eyes, struggles that still made her sick if she thought about them too hard. They’d talked about Vera’s life now—married for nearly forty years to a man she called the Daddy of her dreams.

And when Poppy had asked, confused as to what the older waitress meant by Daddy, Vera had introduced the young woman to the concept of BDSM and confided that Rawhide Ranch was the very place that not only had helped her escape a violent and abusive path, but helped her to find the gentle, kind man of her dreams nearly five decades earlier.

As the sun rose that morning, Vera had called the Ranch’s college on behalf of Poppy, securing her a tuition-free college experience. And now, three years later, she was still at Rawhide Ranch University where, in exchange for completing various assigned tasks, she received an accredited college experience on her own timeline at no cost.

Derek brought Poppy back to the present with his voice, the memories of Vera fading into the background as the office came back into focus. “Poppy, I know it’s often hard to believe, but there is nothing in this world you need to be ashamed of when speaking with me. People move and grow at all different speeds for all sorts of reasons, that’s just a part of life. I know you’ve done many of the basic lifestyle classes here at the Ranch outside of your coursework at the college. I also know you haven’t taken it any further and there isnothingwrong with that. But I can’t help but ask, are you truly interested in experiencing a dynamic or learning more about the different facets of what a dynamic can offer?”

She nodded her head before the words were out of his mouth. “Absolutely, Sir. I just haven’t found the right person yet.”

It was Derek’s time to nod his head, agreeing with Poppy that it was important to build a dynamic based on trust and understanding. “I understand and respect that. It can be hard to trust someone to take care of you and provide for your needs and desires, especially when you have experienced situations in your past that have been hurtful. But, Poppy, I can see you have so muchpromise. You just need a little bit of help getting on the right path. Would it be okay if I made a suggestion? And please know you can say no without any repercussions.”

He waited patiently for permission to continue. Poppy took several moments to consider, afraid of what the Ranch owner was about to say but equally curious. She was so tired of constantly feeling defeated. Of feeling like she could do no right no matter the circumstance.

She weighed the options in her head, deciding that nothing could possibly be worse than keeping her life on the same trajectory she was on now. Poppy was tired of not only feeling like a letdown, but tired of letting herself down as well. With a renewed determination she only partially felt but was determined to foster, she looked Master Derek in the eyes. “Yes, please, I would like to hear your suggestion.”

Derek began to speak and Poppy’s mind started to race. Not for the first time today, the owner had managed to stun her into near silence. She had expected Master Derek to suggest she needed to work harder. That she needed to learn to focus and double down on her efforts to exist as a student and future member of whatever workforce she decided to enter.

Instead, words she’d never expected to hear from the owner entered the air and she almost laughed right in the man’s face. “Have you ever thought about trying out a Caregiver and Little dynamic?”

CHAPTER 4

CJ

As hard as she tried to pay attention to the young woman tasked with giving her a personally guided art tour of the local artisan pieces that hung proudly throughout the Ranch, CJ could not bring herself to stop worrying over what she had agreed to.

Her plan to spend a few quiet weeks in the solitude of the Ranch had been drastically altered when, after she changed out of her salad-dressing-covered clothes, Master Derek had ushered her into his office, sat her down, and point-blank asked if she would be open to a temporary dynamic while at the Ranch. While it wasn’t unheard of for relationships to develop over time at Rawhide Ranch—the owner having a bit of a magical knack at matchmaking—it wasn’t as often that Derek would approach someone with such a bold offer from the get-go and he made that perfectly clear.

“Excuse me, CJ,” Sadie said, pulling CJ’s attention back to where the pair stood in front of a large oil painting of cattle standing proud in a wide, open field.

Giving a small, sheepish smile, CJ replied. “I’m sorry about that, Sadie. This painting is just so incredibly beautiful I got lost in thought while admiring it.”

The other woman gave her a sly, knowing grin. “That’s okay, it’s just that my Daddy messaged me and said we should meet them by the check-in desk. Let’s go!”

Bounding off in the direction of the check-in desk, Sadie had an infectious pep in her step that made CJ smile wistfully.

When Derek had offered her the chance to be a Caregiver for her time at the Ranch, she hadn’t had to think hard before giving him an answer. She had filled him in a bit on a few of the relationships where she’d taken on the Daddy role in the past that had proven to be quite fulfilling. She felt comfortable and well-versed in the lifestyle. It was something that always gave her a sense of purpose, something that made her restless soul feel settled. And she could admit that the curvy blonde with the big, green eyes had intrigued her from the very moment she’d first caught a brief sight of her on the day she had checked into the Ranch. She’d just never expected to see the woman again.

The Ranch was vast in size and, while only partially developed, there was still a multitude for guests and residents to do at any given time.

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