Page 17 of Smoke

“I’m not sure I can kiss you any more without hurting you, baby.”

“I don’t care,” I argued.

“I do.” He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.

“What do we do now?” I asked.

“Well, hopefully we can get Elliot to release you and then we can go home and get you comfy.”

Laughing, I winced. Ouchie. I did hurt. “No, I meant about us.”

Smoke’s eyes were full of compassion and he stroked my back gently, ignoring the question. “I’m sorry you’re hurt, baby.”

Resting my head against his shoulder, I took his hand in my good one. “It’s not your fault, not even a tiny bit. Not yesterday and not the day Phillip hurt me.”

As expected, he tensed at the mention of his father’s name. I brought his hand up to my lips and kissed it. “I’ve never blamed you, Dawson. You’re the only one who's ever been there for me.”

“I wish I could have stopped him that night,” Dawson admitted.

“I know.” I squeezed his hand.

“But to answer your question, I think we could explore our relationship. I would love to pursue you, spoil you, and taste you.”

Squeezing my legs together again, I nodded. “I’d like to do all of those things.”

“I’d like to meet your Little too,” he said, raising his brow at me almost as if to challenge me to lie to him again.

“I’ve never introduced her to anyone,” I admitted.

“Oh, honey, that must be so hard for you.”

“Yeah. She’s just… she’s so tiny and I didn’t want her to get hurt.”

He kissed the top of my head and repositioned me on his lap so that we were belly to belly. My knees rested on both sides of his lap.

“I love that you protected her so well, baby, but it’s not healthy to keep her locked up like that either.”

“I know. I let her play in...” I trailed off, embarrassed.

“You let her play where, Ash?”

“In the closet in my bedroom. She has a cozy little nest in there.”

Dawson didn’t look judgemental, his eyes were soft when he spoke. “Well, I am so glad she has a safe place to play. Maybe we can give her a bit more space, yeah? We can turn your room into a playroom or nursery. Whatever you both need. I think the other Little girls would love to meet her.”

I thought over his words.

“A-rre… is…” I struggled.

“What do you need to ask me, baby?”

“What does she call you?” I asked instead of what I really wanted to ask.

“Well, I really hope one day you both will call me Daddy, but she could call me Uncle Dawson if she wanted. There’s no rush to figure things out, baby, but I want you to understand that you both are safe here. Even if we don’t work out, which I really doubt, that doesn’t mean you won’t live with me, that doesn’t mean you would lose your friendships with Rogue, Eloise, or Ally or your relationships with Blade, Bash, or Leland.”

Smiling, I felt a lot lighter. He was right. We would still have a family in Strickland. It was time to let her be free. “Can you help me?” I asked. I knew how hard it would be.

“I would be absolutely honored, baby.”

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