“So, how’s it going?” asked Lily. “The two of you are suited, that much anyone can see, but there’s a difference between being suited and actually having a connection.”
“We have a connection,” said Guilia, relieved to finally talk through her emotions with someone else. “I can’t help but think of them the entire time, and it makes me wonder how long I’ve been feeling like this.”
Lily stifled a laugh.
“Che cosa? What?”
“Oh, Guilia, the both of you have felt like this for a very long time; anyone who’s spent more than ten minutes with the two of you knows that. But I am glad it’s working so well for you.” Lily sighed then. “I will admit that it’s been so long since I’ve had asub of my own, that seeing the two of you together today brought all kinds of feelings flooding back.”
Guilia didn’t quite know what to say to that, so she reached out and patted Lily’s hand awkwardly.
“It’s quite all right. I trust that it’ll happen, I just need to be patient. I know my woman is out there for me somewhere.”
Guilia knew how that felt, knowing that their person was out there, but everything not quite lining up in time. “You will,” she said, firmly.
Lily’s smile looked slightly forced, and she changed the subject with a wry grin. “Now, how about you?”
“Me?”
“You. How are you adjusting to being in Daddy mode? And how on earth are you managing to keep it from bleeding into your work life?”
It had actually felt very natural to Guilia; Tay wasn’t Little all of the time, and so it made sense that she herself was not in Daddy mode all of the time either. “I think I’m always Daddy,” she said slowly, “but I’m not always being actively Daddy. Kind of like being in a dynamic with someone 24/7, but not talking about it in front of the vanillas.”
“I hardly think our kitchen team could be considered vanilla,” said Lily with a laugh. “But I get what you mean. That makes sense. I think I would struggle to separate it. When I’m someone’s Domme, whenever I’m with them, I like to be in that headspace. It grounds me.”
“Itisgrounding, si? Having someone trust you so much that they literally put themself in your hands. It is a responsibility that I do not take lightly, and it is one that I treasure dearly.” Guilia had spent so much of her time with Tay focusing on what they needed, on how they needed a brain break, that they hadn’t clocked how centered they felt after the scenes. “I feel so muchbetter. As if there had been a puzzle piece missing from my life, and now it’s slotted into place so everything makes sense.”
Lily smiled, and in that smile Guilia recognized the woman she’d been a week ago. Longing for connection, for a dynamic that would ground her and reassure her of her place in the world. This time, when she squeezed Lily’s hand, it was not awkward in the slightest. “You will find your puzzle piece, Lily, I know it.”
“Thank you, my dear.” The Brit cleared her throat. “I guess I should head home, but this has been really lovely, Guilia. We should do this more often.”
“Yes,” said Guilia, and was surprised to realize that she truly meant it. “I would very much enjoy that.”
As she made her way back to her suite, she passed couples curled up together, and groups of Littles laughing and running around. Guilia spent so much time either in the kitchen or in her suite, that she’d forgotten the other benefits of Rawhide Ranch. The benefits of a close-knit community, of family beyond blood.
She wasn’t likely going to forget this again, and she would make sure that she and Tay spent time out of their suite.
Their suite.
Guilia was already thinking of it as their suite.
At some point she was going to have to speak to Derek about the fact that Tay would inevitably move in with her. Perhaps they were moving fast, but everything felt as if it were already preordained. As if the universe had just been waiting for the two of them to get their shit together and realize what they wanted.
And what Guilia wanted was Tay. She knew that without a shadow of a doubt. She wanted Tay’s laughter and mischievousness, and she wanted their vulnerability. She wanted each orgasm they experienced to come from her, and she wanted that they never wanted for love again.
CHAPTER 23
Tay
When Tay entered their room in the Littles’ Wing, Holly was lying on her bed, reading a book.
“Hey there,” they said, almost feeling shy after two nights away.
“Hey yourself,” said Holly, and then swung her legs around so that she could sit up and look at Tay. “Is everything okay?”
Tay sat on the bed heavily. “I think I might be in love with Chef Guilia.”
Holly didn’t say anything, which seemed unlike Holly.
