Page 31 of Teaching His Babygirl

With a deep, steadying breath, I quietly pad to the living room where Colt is talking to someone. When I enter the room, their conversation halts, and Colt strides across the room to me. He wraps me up in his arms, and I breathe him in. His masculine scent soothing and familiar. He pulls away but threads his fingers through mine as he leads me further into the room.

“Darlene, this is Jasper Raines. You met him yesterday.”

I nod, vaguely remembering the friendly officer that arrested Leon. “Hello, Darlene.”

“Nice to see you again, Officer Raines.”

“Jasper, please.”

“Jasper…”

Colt gives my fingers a reassuring squeeze. “Jasper came by to talk about what happened yesterday with Leon.”

Fingers of fear shiver up my spine. My grip tightens on Colt’s hand. He leads me over to the couch and sits, pulling me into his lap so he can hold me close. I stiffen in his lap, unsure about showing such a blatant confession of our relationship in front of a virtual stranger. After what happened yesterday, I’m even more aware of how it’ll look to other people if they know about us.

Especially if they find out the nature of our relationship, I’ve never been ashamed of being a little before… but yesterday has rocked my confidence. I can feel myself systematically pulling away from both Colt and that part of myself.

“It’s okay, babygirl,” Colt whispers in my ear. “Jasper is a member of The Playground…”

Understanding dawns, and I realize with a start that I’ve seen him there. He was dressed as security like Ransom.

“That’s right, sweetheart. You don’t have to be afraid of me,” Jasper says, coming to sit on the chair across from us. “I’m a daddy dom like Colt. You’re safe with me. I want to help get to the bottom of this and make sure that Leon is brought to justice.”

I shiver at his name, unsure of how I’ll ever return to work if just hearing his name is enough to frighten me. What if he ruined the classroom I love? What if I can’t be there without feeling this fear?

Colt’s arms tighten around me, and my brain calms slightly, knowing he’s here. He runs his fingers through my hair, soothing my frayed nerves. “I thought you might be more comfortable talking to Jasper here at home instead of down at the station…” Colt trails off.

I know exactly what he isn’t saying. And he’s right. I am more comfortable talking with Jasper knowing he’s a daddy dom too. Knowing that the man who will be hearing about one of the worst things to ever happen to me won’t judge my lifestyle. He’ll understand things unlike anyone who isn’t in the lifestyle.

“You’re right,” I say to Colt before turning to Jasper and asking him what he needs to know.

“Just start from the beginning and tell me what happened. Take your time, sweetheart. There’s no rush. You’re safe here.” Jasper speaks in soothing tones like he would to a frightened animal. I suppose I could be seen as the same since I’m tensed and ready to jump at the slightest provocation. I’m still in fight or flight mode, and right now, flight is the only thing on my mind.

“He stayed after class…” I start my side of things, then worry floods me. What did Leon tell them? I can vaguely remember him shouting about me assaulting him. Screaming that I should be arrested.

“I hit him,” I say, suddenly cutting myself off. “Are you going to have to arrest me? I hit a student—a minor. I’m going to lose my job…” My breathing turns erratic at the implications of what I did. The thoughts pile up until I’m struggling to catch my next breath.

Colt croons quietly to me that I’m okay and to just breathe, but how can I be okay? He doesn’t know. Jasper could be here right now to take my statement before locking me in cuffs and dragging me down to the station.

As if he knows that nothing Colt says will calm my spiral, Jasper gets on his knees in front of me and grips both of my hands between his strong ones. “Breathe, sweetheart,” he calmly says. “You’re not going to jail. First of all, he isn’t a minor. Secondly, you won’t be losing your job.”

I stare at him wide-eyed. “Are you sure?”

Colt holds me a little tighter. “He’s right, Darlene, you didn’t do anything wrong. It was self-defense, and anyone who thinks otherwise will be put in their place quickly.”

My building anxiety shrinks down to a manageable level again. It’s definitely not gone, but it’s calmed enough that I can finish giving Jasper my statement.

I tell them how he claimed to need help on his project, but as soon as we were alone, it was like a switch had flipped. His All-American boy next door mask that he wears disappeared completely and was replaced with a look of disgust. I tell them about how he backed me into the wall and caged me in with his arms so I couldn’t get away. How he threatened to tell everyone about my sick relationship with Colt if I didn’t sleep with him.

Leon went into great detail about all the things he wanted to do to me… those things were the hardest to open up about, and even with Jasper and Colt’s praise at my bravery, I really wanted just to skip all of that. I push through, telling them the worst of it, and by the time I’m done with my side of things, I’m utterly exhausted.

Jasper asks a few more questions, then leaves with the assurance that everything is going to be okay and that I don’t have to worry about Leon anymore. Colt walks him out, talking in low tones. Part of me wonders what they are talking about. The other part can’t be bothered to find out.

“Are you hungry, babygirl?” Colt asks once he shuts and locks the door.

My body must still be in shock since I don’t feel any hunger pangs even though I haven’t eaten since breakfast yesterday. I shake my head, “Not really.”

He frowns at me. “You need to eat something. How about I make you some soup and a grilled cheese?”

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