Come on, Lulu. Where are you?
Sweat makes my forehead and lower back itchy. No amount of crisp air conditioning can cool my stress and anxiety. The only one who can cool me off is Lulu.
The mid-day sun blinds me as the trees begin to break, blinding me for almost a moment too long. "Fuck!"
Nothing exists beyond the fact that my woman is stumbling along the side of the road. The stark fear in her eyes is obvious even across lanes and through my windows.
Yanking the truck into the ditch, I barely have the behemoth in park before I'm leaping out of my seat. "LULU! Baby, what happened?!"
Forcing myself to remember not to hurt my girl, I come to a skidding halt in front of her. She's trembling even in the horrid heat. I recognize this version of Lulu as the one I met that day she came in for an interview. Then, like she did then, my Little girl steps back but this time I'm here to catch her before she falls.
"Woah, baby. Hey, it's Daddy," I say softly, crouching to catch her eye. The absolute desolation in her dry eyes scares me. "Daddy's here. Come on, let’s get you home."
"No!" She screams and tries to pull her hand from mine. "Please no!"
Horrified by her reaction, I pause but I don't release her. There's no guaranteeing that she won't fall if I let go.
"Our home, Lulu. Your home is with me at Reclaiming Red. You understand?"
As if I popped a balloon, Lulu deflates with a long breath. "Okay," she whimpers. This time instead of letting her walk, I swoop her off her feet and carry her to the truck my damn self.
No way am I going to chance her getting hurt.
As soon as I have her seated in the shaded passenger seat with the air conditioning blasting on her, I realize how awful she really looks. Without the sun blinding me, I can see how bloodshot her eyes are, and the way her dirty clothes cling to her sweaty skin.
"Drink," I whisper, voice too thick to use fully. The water in the bottle I lift to her lips splashes over the side when she continues to shake.What the hell happened to her?"Good girl."
I reach around and buckle her in like any good Daddy does, but I can't appreciate that this is my first time doing this for my girl. Something traumatized her, and I don't know when orifI'll get the answer to what it was. She's not in a mental state where I can demand she tell me.
I guess I'm a soft Daddy. Only for Lulu though.
Leaving her for the few seconds it takes to rush around to the driver’s side is almost unbearable. My jaw cracks with the strong desire to ask a million questions but they all fly out the window when I jump in beside her.
With her knees curled up to her chest, Lulu rests her chin on them and stares blankly at the dash. I don't know what happened, but I know something bad occurred. So I say the only thing that makes sense. "You're safe now. I got you."
I figured she would stay quiet the whole drive home but once again, she surprises me. "Where are your parents?" she asks quietly.
Sadness swamps me fast but I push it down. "They're dead. The money they left is actually what I used to build Reclaiming Red. I know they would be proud."
"How did they die?" she murmurs.
I glance at her and find her watching me with empathy. "Old age mostly. They had me later in life. How did your mom die?" I know her father left after her mom died and honestly that man better be as far away as possible from Lulu.
"Cancer. How old are you?"
I wish I weren't driving so I could hold her. "I'm thirty-six, baby. Does that bother you?" Our seventeen-year age gap could be a problem for her, but in our kink community age gaps are common.
The blush on her cheeks is cute and puts me at risk of crashing the car. Especially when she shakes her head and says, "I kind of like it. Did you go to college?"
I go on to tell her about getting my degree in psychology and finding a lot of interest in trauma responses. She listens with rapt attention and when I ask her about if she wants to go to college she shrugs and tells me she hasn't thought much about it.
It's an oddget to know youconversation considering she's clearly struggling with whatever happened while she was gone. I'm so fucking antsy to know what's going on, but if she just needs to talk about anything else to get her through the night, I'll happily gather all the information I can about her.
Her questions don't stop even as we pass through the gates of my property. Not even me telling the guards what happened or the new rules seem to faze her. She's on a one-track mind to ignore it.
Lulu is no longer allowed to leave the property without someone telling me. Not because she can't leave, but because I need to know my woman is fucking safe.
Blowing out a breath and banning the F-word from my mind until she goes to bed, I park the truck in front of our home. "Stay there," I say before hopping out. When I open the door to help her out, my gut twists when I see she's in the same position.
