Page 74 of Daddy's Little Patient

“You ghosted a Little? Who the fuck ghosts a Little?”

“Whoa, dude, chill. It wasn’t a big deal. Everyone’s gotten ditched before. I’m sure she cried into a couple cosmos with her girlfriends and got over it.”

“If you’re talking about Cricket, I can tell you she absolutely did not.”

Mitch gaped at him like a fish out of water. A fish he wanted to gut for hurting his precious babygirl like that. Lucky for that asshole, Owen’s phone pinged with a text.

Looks like we’ll be able to head out first light tomorrow. See you at 6.

As much as he wanted to plant a fist in Mitch’s face, he wanted to go home to Cricket more and she’d be upset if he got into a brawl. Probably fuss over him and scold him, and she didn’t need anything else to deal with.

So Owen bolted what was left of his beer, slammed the bottle down on the table, dropped a few bills to more than cover his tab, and stood.

“I’ve got an early flight home tomorrow. I suggest you think harder about your choices and what kind of man you want to be. Because if I hear you fucked with another Little girl, I’m not going to be the only one you’ll piss off.”

Even in the dim light of the bar, Mitch paled. Probably because he realized Owen was talking about Gavin and Taj and Knox and the rest of the Enclave crew. And everyone knew those guys were not to be trifled with.

Chapter Forty-One

The loneliness hit Cricket at the same time as consciousness. Uncle Linc and everyone else had been so great and tried so hard for the past several days but it wasn’t the same as having Daddy with her.

She should press the button in her mitt to let Uncle Linc know she was awake, especially before she got too teary. It was super icky having her mask on while she was crying. Hopefully Daddy could come home today otherwise she’d mope and sulk and be no fun and no one would want to be her friend anymore.

Just as she was about to though, Cricket heard and felt the dropside of the crib go down. Huh, good timing. Uncle Linc wasn’t her Daddy, but he would make a good Daddy to some Little girl.

Then she rolled over, and—

“Daddy!”

Of course her exclamation was muffled but she could tell Daddy could still hear her and understand her. He always seemed to.

“Good morning, babygirl.”

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! I missed you! Daddy!”

Her Daddy leaned down and kissed her forehead while she pulled at her mitts that were clipped to the side of the crib. She wanted to get out so she could give him the world’s crushiest, squeeziest hug, just the way he liked them. And of course she wanted to be hugged back. Feel his hard body against her own softer one, smell him, kiss him, maybe do some other fun stuff because he’d been gone for days.

“I missed you too, Cricket. You have to settle down though, we have to do your morning procedures.”

What? Usually she loved them, even if she sometimes acted like she didn’t—mostly because she was impatient—but today she didn’t want to go through her usual routine, at all.

“Can we skip them, Daddy? Please? Just for today? Pretty please with some beaver meat on top?”

Daddy laughed at her and kissed her forehead again.

“You know just what I like, babygirl, but no. I’ve been gone for a while and I don’t want you getting started off on the wrong foot just because I’m back. It’s really important for Little girls to have routines, and I wouldn’t be a good Daddy if I didn’t make you stick to them.”

“But you’re the best Daddy,” she told him, her heart overflowing with love and adoration for the man looking down at her.

He really was.

“Then let me be the best and take care of my precious Little girl.”

* * *

In truth, putting Cricket into her mask and bedtime bondage turned him on more than taking them off, but there was a different kind of pleasure to be found in how wiggly and excited she was that he was home. It didn’t hurt that he got to manhandle her to get her onto her tummy and bound to check her temperature.

Her diaper was dry which he’d remedy in a bit, but as he’d told her, routine was important. First he removed her overnight plug, then took one of the sterilized thermometers, lubed it up and spread her cheeks to push the substantial glass tube inside her.

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