Page 74 of Defended
Chapter 24
"Ooo, let's look at the lingerie! I need something naughty for the weekend." Sienna's eyes lit up as she veered toward the section full of lace, silks, and corsets.
It kind of surprised Melody because she would have assumed that Sienna would shop online or at a kinkier store... but then she remembered that Daddy had mentioned something about Black Light doing a theme night this Saturday. She hadn't been paying much attention, because he'd said he'd pick her clothes.
Unfortunately, she couldn't ask Sienna to remind her what the theme was because...
"Ugh, I wish I needed something naughty for the weekend," Lisa said, sounding envious as she followed Sienna toward the lingerie.
The three of them had gone out to happy hour, Melody nervously braving trying to bring two of her friends together again. She didn't exactly have a lot of free evenings, so it had seemed like the best way to spend time with both of them. Thankfully, Lisa and Sienna got along much better than Lisa and Peggy had.
It was a little weird, bringing her work world and her kinky world together, but it also made getting to know Sienna outside of club stuff a lot easier. If it had been just the two of them, they probably would have spent most of their time talking about the sexy stuff. Sienna was really good about answering Melody's questions, and it was really nice having someone else to talk to who understood what it meant to have a Daddy.
But with Lisa there, they ended up talking about work, life, past experiences, and all sorts of things that she hadn't actually talked to Sienna about before. Which made her realize how much she really liked the other woman, outside of all the kinky stuff they had in common.
"Ooo, this is pretty," Sienna said, picking up a silky blue baby doll and holding it in front of herself. There was white lace over the blue silk on the bust and a little bow that tied the sides together. The silky empire skirt would go down to about mid-thigh, but plenty of skin would be visible since there was only the one tie between the breasts.
It also finally reminded Melody of the theme for the weekend—Silk and Seduction night!
She wondered what Daddy was going to get for her.
"I love it," she said, rather enviously. Maybe Daddy would pick out something like it. There was a faint little voice in her head though, Peggy's derisive tones:Oh sweetie, not with your body.
It would be really nice if she could get Peggy's voice out of her head one day.
Then she realized, it wasn't just in her head. She could actually hear Peggy's voice.
Melody whipped around and her heart sank when she realized she was right. Coming into the section, although she didn't seem to have noticed Melody yet, was Peggy and another woman. Her ex-friend looked the same as ever, put together and laughing, her red hair pulled back in a curly bun.
For one long moment, she felt a kind of yearning, as she watched Peggy laughing with abandon. Shemissedlaughing with Peggy. Missed the camaraderie and the late nights and the gossip sessions. Yes, she had new friends, but that didn't stop her from missing her old one, no matter how it had ended. There was still a little part of her wondering why it had to end.
Then Peggy's eyes met Melody's and the laughter slid away to a sneer... oh yeah. That's why it ended. Because that was the same expression Peggy had on her face when she'd told Melody to get out. Because she hadn't been able to handle that Melody might want to make her own choices about her own life. Because Melody had finally bucked Peggy's control.
Looking at Peggy now, feeling herself shrinking back as Peggy's eyes narrowed in displeasure, it suddenly hit home how much she'd allowed Peggy to control her life just because she hadn't wanted to make waves. Which made the fact that she liked handing control of her life over to Daddy sound strange, but it wasdifferent.
Daddy still listened to and respected what she wanted and needed. Peggy had always bulldozed through any of Melody's protests. Daddy accepted the decisions Melody needed to make for herself. Peggy had kicked Melody out of the apartment as soon as she hadn't liked one of Melody's decisions—about something that had been none of her business. Daddy's control was something Melody willingly gave him. Peggy had taken it.Melody had let her. But not anymore.
It didn't stop her from missing her friend, but she knew she was better off with Peggy out of her life.
If she'd had any doubts, she didn't anymore... not with Peggy looking at her with such antagonism.A hot feeling of shame flushed through her, followed by fear, because Peggy never minded making a scene. Peggy was all about confrontation. And looking at her right now, all the feelings of missing her and wishing things hadn’t changed between them melted away, and all Melody wanted to do was run.
“Pretty sure women pretending to be babies aren’t supposed to be wearing lingerie,” Peggy called out, her voice full of censure and mocking. Melody froze in place, the hot shame rushing up from her chest to her cheeks, and she could feel them turning red.
“Ew,” said the woman next to her, wrinkling her nose. “She pretends to be a baby?”
“And calls her boyfriend ‘Daddy’.” Peggy’s voice went higher on the last word, like a little girl’s, but full of malice.
It felt like everyone in the store was suddenly staring at them—at Melody. Judging her. Although the strangers didn’t bother her as much as her friends being there. She could only imagine what Lisa must be thinking. And poor Sienna, she had to be freaking out, worried she was about to be outed.
She wanted to run, but her legs wouldn’t move. She wanted to snap back at Peggy, but her mind had gone utterly blank and she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. All the times she’d imagined running into Peggy, she’d never imagined anything like this… if it were just her, she could run, but she was with Sienna and Lisa. If they even wanted to admit they were with her right now.
"So what?" Sienna's voice rang out just as loudly as Peggy's did. "I call my fiancé Daddy too. It's hot. A lot of men like to be called Daddy."
The utter lack of shame in her tone penetrated the humiliated haze that had gathered around Melody. Not only was Siennanotembarrassed about Melody being outed in public, she was joining her.Someone else somewhere in the store laughed.
"It's not just that though," Peggy said, sounding scandalized, but her eyes flared with temper. She didn’t like that Sienna was standing up for Melody, the same way she hadn’t liked it when Melody stood up for herself. It occurred to Melody that Peggy wanted to embarrass her, wanted to watch Melody run away. Because she was a bully. "She acts like alittle girlwhen she calls him that. Like a baby."
"Well, if only I had some pearls to clutch, I'm sure I'd be able to react appropriately." Lisa said with a snort, sounding completely unfazed by the revelations being tossed around her. In fact, when Melody looked at Lisa, the other woman was actually rolling her eyes. She didn't care at all.Melody could feel the coil of tension inside her begin to unwind.
