Page 31 of Stripping Little Seraphina
I sniffled, hugging my stuffy tighter. “Thanks, Jo. I was so scared you’d… I don’t know. Think less of me. Disown me.”
“Never,” she promised. Then her voice softened even more. “Are you planning to tell Mom and Dad?”
I froze. “Not yet. I don’t think I can. They already want me to marry a nice man. I don’t know if I can handle them knowingthistoo.”
“That’s fair,” Josephina said gently. “But when you’re ready, I’ll go with you. You don’t have to face them alone. You know, they don’t need to know about the Little part, right? It’s not like they tell you about their boring ass vanilla sex life.”
I snorted in response.
“Seriously, sis. I think the extent of what they need to know is that you don’t want a nice boy, but a big bad dominant woman. Well, I guess we could leave the bad part out. Other than that, it’s your world, Sera. Don’t let them stop you from living in it. Even if they don’t like it. It’s not like they can put you back where you came from.”
Cue another snort. “Jo…”
“Be you, Seraphina. Wholeheartedly.”
Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks, but this time they were warm and grateful. “You mean it?”
“Of course. You’re my sister. I love you.”
“I love you too, Jo.”
We’d been talking for almost half an hour, the nerves melting into comfort, just talking, laughing a little, letting the heaviness ease, when Josephina’s voice shifted—light, but with an edge of curiosity.
“So,” she said, “this all sounds like a lot of big steps for you. But I have to ask—what sparked it? You don’t usually just… spill your secrets out of nowhere.”
My stomach flipped. My mind immediately conjured Daddy’s steady eyes, her hand rubbing circles on my back until I drifted to sleep. The memory of her lips on mine earlier made me press my stuffy tighter to my chest.
“There’s someone,” I admitted softly.
Josephina made a low humming sound. “Someone… special?”
I hesitated. “She’s… my Dominant. Sort of. Not officially. But she’s been guiding me. She’s the reason I feel safe enough toevensaythese things out loud. She doesn’t let me hide, Jo. But she doesn’t shame me either.”
Josephina whistled under her breath. “Wow. Sounds like she’s already important.”
“She is,” I whispered, throat tight. “But it’s complicated. I don’t know if I can trust her all the way yet. She says she’ll show up for me, but I’m scared to believe it. And still…” I trailed off, heat rising in my cheeks. “I want her. Not just as a Dominant. As… more.”
Josephina’s voice softened into that older—by a whole ten minutes—sister mix of gentle teasing and fierce protectiveness. “So, you’ve got a crush on your Mistress.”
“Don’t call it that,” I muttered, hiding my face even though she couldn’t see me. “It makes it sound like I’m some lovesick kid.”
“Well,” she teased lightly, “youarea Little, aren’t you?”
“Jo,” I groaned, embarrassed.
Her laugh bubbled through the line, then quieted. “Hey. Seriously? I think it’s beautiful. You deserve someone who sees you—all of you. If this Mistress does that, maybe she’s worth the risk.”
Her words hit me square in the chest. My eyes burned again, but this time with a different kind of ache. “You really think so?”
“I do. But only if she proves herself. You don’t settle for halfway, Sera. You let her earn you. Don’t be afraid to take things slowly.”
Silence stretched between us, heavy but warm. Finally, I whispered, “Thanks, Jo. I… needed to hear that.”
“Anytime. And when it comes time to tell the parents, I’ll be right there with you. But for now? You hold on to the people who make you feel safe.”
I smiled through my tears. “Goodnight, Jo.”
“Goodnight, baby sis. Sweet dreams.”
