His Little Ametrine (Eleadian Mates #9)

Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Raevion

“What are you doing, Little one?” I ask the next morning as I enter Sara’s nursery. I’ve never been as happy as I am at this moment. My heart is bursting.

Sara’s been awake for about five minutes. Normally I would have gone to her the moment she awoke, but I saw her on the monitor and hesitated. She’s been kicking her legs and reaching with her arms for the bobbles I strung across the upper railings of her crib.

Ever since we got home yesterday, she’s been working hard every waking moment to get stronger. She’s shown incredible improvement even in that short time. A few times, she’s managed to grab on to one of the hanging rings for several seconds.

None of that is what made me hesitate and watch her for the past five minutes. I paused because she’s singing. Her range is very limited, and she’s being careful to keep her voice controlled. I’m sure she’s frustrated, but it’s better than yesterday, which gives me hope.

My girl is going to be very disappointed if she isn’t able to sing like she could before the trip. I will be just as sad because she has an angelic voice that brings me to my knees.

I’m certain if she had remained on Earth, she would have had a promising musical career. She just hadn’t been discovered by the right person yet. Eventually it would have happened for her.

Instead I found her. She has no idea yet how ironic that is or what her new life could look like. I haven’t told her for two reasons. One, I want her to regain her strength first. And two, I’m praying to the heavens that she regains her full singing voice.

She’s going to be frustrated when she finds out there is no way in the universe she will ever perform in front of live audiences like she had hoped for her life. That just isn’t something Little girls do on Eleadia. It’s out of the question. She doesn’t yet grasp that absolutely no female on this planet maintains a job outside the home. It’s not how we operate, and it never will be.

Our females are submissive. We coddle and protect them. We cherish them and treat them like spun gold. We do not let them out of our sight. They don’t drive or hold jobs. They don’t cook and clean.

However, Fate does not make mistakes, and I’m beyond certain She didn’t this time either. There’s a reason the manager of Club Zoom hired Sara to sing in the club that night. Perhaps Zack felt the pull of the higher power, too. A power that would have eventually put Sara in my path because she was always destined to be mine.

I’m fascinated by the fact that Sara went to the club many times begging Zack to let her sing. She even offered her talent for free. She wanted to be heard by hundreds of people in one place. It was a great opportunity for her. Zack turned her down time and again, finally relenting on a night after I had arrived. Fate.

I’m smiling as I slide into the room and quietly shuffle closer to my Little songbird.

When she spots me, she turns her head and smiles. “Did you hear me singing, Papi?”

“I did, Baby girl. You’re like an angel.”

She frowns. “I don’t have my full range back yet. Do you think I’ll get it?”

“I’m confident, Little one. It’s stronger than yesterday.”

She awkwardly lifts her arm and snags one of the rings spinning above her. “Look what I can do.”

I set my forearms on the side of the railing and watch her, grinning like I’m the luckiest man in the universe, because I am. “I saw you in the monitor, Baby girl.” I point toward the corner of the room, reminding her that I can always see her.

“Oh right. Will you help me? I want to sit up. I want to get stronger.”

I detach the hanging toys from the railing closest to me and lower the side. “Of course I’ll help you, Baby girl. I don’t want you to get frustrated, though. You’re way ahead of schedule.”

“I want to run, though,” she argues.

I lift her into my arms and nuzzle her neck, inhaling her sweet scent. Heavens, I love her. As I lower her onto the changing table and pull the restraint over her torso, I give her an admonishing look. Or I try to. “No running, Little one. I’ll spank your bottom if I catch you running.”

She frowns. “No running? That’s silly, Papi.”

I tap her nose. “It’s not silly. It’s a rule. Except when we’re at the park. You may run in the grass. Not in the house. There are too many obstacles. You might fall and bonk your head on the corner of a table or chair or the wall.” I remove her diaper and clean her up while she glares at me.

It’s almost cute. I want to chuckle at her reaction. To see how she’ll react, I decide to lay down several more rules. “No going outside without Papi either. Don’t ever open the front or back door unless I’m with you and I’ve given you permission. No climbing on the furniture. You may only be up on the sofa or chairs if I’m holding you, and I lift you there. As you get more mobile, I want your bottom always on the mattress in your crib or the floor if you’re in your playpen. No climbing out of either of them. No standing inside.”

Her gaze narrows. “Surely you’re kidding.”

I shake my head as I grab her hands with mine and bring her knuckles to my lips. I kiss them, hoping to ease the blow.

She shoots daggers at me with her eyes. “Don’t you dare try to distract me with your kisses. I thought you were kidding when you told me I’m not permitted to touch the stove. Surely you don’t expect me to do all those things.”

“I wasn’t kidding, and those are Papi’s rules. If you break them, you will end up standing in the corner, nose to the wall, bottom red and heated.” I know she’s shocked, but it’s better to rip this bandage off now. She needs to understand.

She shakes her head. “Those are the silliest rules I’ve ever heard. I’m not a baby, Papi.”

I unfasten her waist and lift her into my arms. “You’re my Baby girl. Those rules are for safety, Little one. Every Papi on Eleadia has the same basic rules. My goal is to keep you safe.”

“Are you going to wrap me in bubble wrap?” she asks, sarcasm oozing from her voice.

“Mmm…” I pretend to mull over her question. “It’s not a bad idea.”

“Papi!” she shouts as she grabs my pinky with her entire fist. “I could get hurt doing all kinds of things. People get hurt sometimes. I could choke on my food.”

“Not if I don’t feed you solids,” I point out.

She gasps.

“I’m teasing, Little one. But it is true that I won’t introduce you to our foods for quite some time. And even then, I will start out with one soft food at a time. I want to be absolutely certain you have no allergies and are able to chew and swallow solids without choking.”

Her pretty voice rises. “I’ve been chewing and swallowing without choking for twenty-five years.”

“You haven’t swallowed anything you had to chew for six months. We will take our time with that.”

She humphs. If she could cross her arms and stomp her feet, I’m certain she would. “I’m not allergic to any foods, and my teeth work fine.” To demonstrate, she chomps them at me.

I chuckle. “You’ve never had any of the foods we have here on Eleadia, Little one.”

“Really?”

“Yep. We don’t have the same plants as you.”

“Do you have hamburgers and French fries?”

I can’t keep from laughing. “No, Baby girl. We don’t eat meat at all. We’re a plant-based society. We eat healthy. That’s partly why we live so long.”

She pouts, pushing out her bottom lip. “I’m going to miss hamburgers. You didn’t tell me that before we left Earth. I might have changed my mind about coming.”

She makes me chuckle again, and I roll her up closer so I can kiss her forehead as I enter the kitchen. “You might have noticed denying me wasn’t an option. I’m sorry about your burgers. I’ve heard about them. Eating animals is so foreign to us. It’s one of the weirdest things we’ve learned about your planet. That and the horrifying ways humans have destroyed their precious Earth without a care in the world for the future. I’m not entirely sure it’s salvageable even with the help of my people.”

She draws in a slow breath. “I think you’re right about that. Humans are stubborn and make very bad choices. They only care about themselves. It’s hard to get them to care about the planet at all.”

“Well, Eleadians care about far more than ourselves, and do you know what we care about the most above all other things?”

She shakes her head.

“Our females.”

She sighs as I grab a bottle and sit in the rocking chair. “I know I’m small, but I promise I won’t fall from climbing onto the furniture, Papi.”

I love her spunk and sass. She’s not going to get what she wants, but sparring with her is fun anyway. “It’s true that you won’t fall. Do you know why?”

She rolls her pretty brown eyes. “Because you’re not going to back down on that silly rule.”

“Nope. But if you’d like, I’d be happy to spank your bottom preemptively so you’ll know what it feels like to have a hot, red bottom.” I hadn’t planned on swatting her so soon, but she’s pretty strong. She can hold her head up without difficulty. She can also use her voice to let me know if I’m spanking her too hard.

She stares at me pensively as I offer her the nipple, and I know she’s deep in thought while she drains the bottle. At least she doesn’t argue with me while she’s feeding.

When she’s done, I set it aside and continue rocking her.

“I think you should spank me,” she says without hesitation. She obviously didn’t let that thought go while she ate.

“Yeah? You want me to spank you now?”

She nods.

I frown. “You don’t want to wait until you’re stronger?”

She shakes her head. “No. Do it now. I want to know what it feels like. You’ve mentioned it several times. The anticipation is killing me.”

“No one has ever spanked you, Baby girl?”

“Not since I was a toddler.”

I sit her up taller and rub her back, supporting her while I test her ability to remain slightly upright. She impresses me.

“What if I don’t like it?” she asks in a soft voice.

“You will, Baby girl. Probably more than you should.”

She frowns as she stares at me. “What does that mean?”

“It means every time I’ve mentioned swatting your bottom, you’ve gotten aroused.”

She squirms on my lap. “Have not.”

I laugh. “You can add lying to the list of rules.”

“Lying is at least a reasonable rule.” She manages to hug herself.

I reach up and tug her arms down to her sides. “And don’t forget that you’re not allowed to play with your nipples.”

Her eyes go wide. “That’s silly, and I wasn’t playing with them.”

“No touching them at all, Baby girl. Once you get them pierced, they will be even more sensitive than they are now. You aren’t permitted to pleasure yourself. Papi decides when you get to experience pleasure.”

She stares at me, not blinking. Eventually she licks her lips. “You can’t keep me from touching myself if I want to.”

I lift a brow. “Wanna bet?”

She swallows. “Are you going to stay up all night every night watching me on that monitor in my room?”

I chuckle and shake my head. “Won’t need to. As soon as you’re fully mobile, I want you in my bed. I’ll hold you in my arms all night. You won’t have the mobility to touch yourself.”

She’s breathing heavily, and I love the scent coming from her. The idea of sleeping in my arms makes her extremely horny. Good. She licks her lips. “So I won’t sleep in the crib anymore?”

“You will still nap there. But if I ever catch you playing with your nipples or your pussy, I’ll start restraining your wrists to the sides of the crib when you nap,” I warn her.

She gasps. “You wouldn’t.”

I smile. “Try me.” I slide my hand up to her breast and thumb her nipple. “If you’re really naughty, I’ll put you in your bouncy seat, restrain your arms, nick these little buds with my quill, and leave you writhing.” This idea hadn’t ever actually occurred to me before now, but based on her reaction, I will for sure implement this punishment at some point.