Page 41 of Defended
Chapter 14
The only downside to wearing Kawan's clothing home was that Peggy took one look at her and immediately knew that she'd been over at a man's house, not just a friend's. But she hadn't wanted to put her clothing back on either. Especially because she'd seen the gleam of pleasure in Kawan's eyes when she'd asked if she could wear his clothes home and return them on their next date.
Which would be next Saturday. Something that she felt excited about right up until she walked through the front door of the apartment.
"What the hell?" Peggy burst out as soon as she saw Melody, her eyes widening with shock. She stood in the middle of the living room, hands on her hips. "Why didn't you just tell me you were out getting laid? Who was it? Is that why you didn't want to come to the party? Why would you feel the need to lie about that?" Her gaze dropped to the clothes clutched in Melody's hand and a scowl darkened her face. "Is that the corset we bought? Oh my god, did you go back to Black Light without me? How did you get in? Wait, were you meeting up with that pedophile behind my back!"
"He's not a pedophile!" Melody said, after quickly slamming the door shut behind her. That was all she needed their neighbors hearing. Good grief. She planted her fists on her hips, glaring at Peggy. It took a lot to finally trigger her temper, but that had done it. "Do Ilooklike a child to you?"
"Oh yeah, because pedophiles never pretend to have normal relationships." Peggy rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you're so naive sometimes. Why else would he want you to dress and act like a child?Hischild. Incestandpedophilia, it's two-for-one."
"That's not what it's like!"
It wasn't.
Last night had been wonderful. She'd felt cared for, protected, and incredibly sexy. Even though she'd called him Daddy, even though he'd spanked her, even though she'd felt almost girlish at times, there had been nothing incestuous or pedophiliac about it. This morning Melody had felt better... well, better than she could ever remember feeling.
Happier.
More centered.
More secure.
And Peggy was ruining it.
Peggy rolled her eyes again. "It's disgusting. It's one thing in those books you read, those are just fiction, but doing it in real life... just ugh. Grow up, Melody. The only people who want to fuck someone pretending to be a child are pedophiles."
"That's not true!" Melody barely managed to keep herself from stomping her foot. She could feel herself getting red in the face as tears started to form at the backs of her eyes. Dammit. Whenever she got really angry, she felt like crying and she hated it. People didn't take weepy women seriously. "You're turning it into something that it's not. You've dressed up like a Catholic school girl tons of times, was that pedophilia?"
"No, that was different, that'snormal." Peggy glared at her with disgust, crossing her arms over her chest as she went on the defensive. "Lots of people fantasize about that."
Melody glared right back at her, tightening her fingers around the corset and skirt in her hand. She'd known this was going to happen. This was exactly why she hadn't told Peggy where she was going.
Well, that and because she'd been trying to be sensitive to Peggy's feelings, since she'd just been dumped.
Would be nice if she could get the same in return.
"Well, then I guess I'm not normal," Melody snapped back. She couldn't do this right now. The morning had started off so nicely and now... this. Stomping away, she headed for the hallway and the safety of her bedroom.
"You're definitely doing a good job of acting like a baby right now," Peggy called after her. The pressure inside Melody's chest increased as she held back a frustrated scream.
* * *
Sometimes Kawan sworehis mom was psychic, because she somehow always knew when he had a new woman in his life. He couldn't dredge up even a small amount of surprise when his phone began to ring and her name came up on the screen. Since he'd finished up cleaning the kitchen, had already gone for his run, and showered, he had just been trying to figure out what he was going to do with the rest of his day, and he didn't have a good reasonnotto pick up the phone.
If he didn't answer, without having a good reason not to, he'd end up feeling guilty for the rest of the day.
Sighing, he picked up the phone.
"Hello,Umma," he said. Although English was his and his sister's first language, his parents still preferred to be calledUmmaandAppa, the Korean versions of mom and dad. "How are you?"
"Appaand I are doing well," his mom said, her voice cheerful. "I just wanted to call and find out if you're going to come visit us again soon." Despite the cheer in her voice there was a little hint of warning as well, letting him know that the only acceptable answer would be 'yes'.
Kawan stifled a sigh. His parents lived in North Carolina, just far enough that a day trip would be inconvenient and spending the night would be best. It was a problem he'd anticipated when he'd moved north. Still, he had just visited them the weekend before he'd moved.
"I was just down there,Umma," he reminded her. "It might be a few more weeks before I can come stay for the weekend."
She made an unhappy humphing noise. "Very well. I will wait."
