Page 21 of Daddy’s Oath (The Daddy Guard #2)

Chapter Twenty-One

Lana didn’t even realize when it happened.

Perhaps it had been when Ace swung on the rope, into the pit, letting go and doing a cannonball dive into the foam blocks. Or maybe it was whenever she’d jumped in after him. It could have happened while they jumped on the in the bouncy castle or did the inflatable obstacle course.

It was difficult to pinpoint.

But somewhere along the way, she’d started to have fun.

Three hours later, when they finally left the warehouse, she was so excited she was gripping Ace’s hand tightly and yanking on his arm as she spoke.

“That was the greatest day ever!” She nearly yelled the words, making her giggle even more.

“I’m glad you had fun. But the day isn’t over yet.” He nodded his head toward the other Littles who were lined up by the bus, stepping into the vehicle in an orderly fashion while Auntie Athena supervised. “Are you sure you don’t want to ride with them?”

“I had fun playing with them. But I want to be with you.” She squeezed his hand a little harder. As strong as he was, he probably didn’t even notice, she figured.

“Sounds good to me,” he said. “But I’m so glad you started playing with them. Seems like you made a lot of new friends today.”

“I did! And Auntie Athena said some of them will be back at the nursery tomorrow, so we can play!” She then slouched a bit, grumbling, “I guess I won’t be going back to work yet.” Fearing she’d offended Ace, she stopped walking and turned to look in his eyes.

He stopped, too, looking down at her. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t mean to be rude. You’re trying really hard and I’m being impatient.”

Ace waved off the concern. “I know that. But you loved your career. And your apartment. Your whole life was ripped from you and that isn’t fair.

You never have to apologize for being upset, honey.

” He smiled as he gently caressed her cheek.

“But tomorrow is Saturday. Even if things were normal, you’d be off work.

So you might as well have some fun and go play at Auntie Athena’s. ”

This brought Lana’s happy mood back. “I can’t wait!”

“Don’t worry,” Ace said, taking her hand and leading her toward his vehicle, “there’s fun to be had tonight!”

Lana wondered just what kind of fun Ace had in mind. Because she sure knew what she was thinking about.

And it was naughty.

Back at the Daddy Guard’s mansion, Lana found another Little eagerly awaiting her return as she stepped into the den.

“Hi! It’s so good to finally meet you!” the woman said.

Her hair was in pigtails, her dress was short, and the way her pink, ruffled panties bulged spoke of a thick diaper beneath them. So did the crinkling sound that accompanied her movements.

“Sorry I’ve been busy. I had a yucky doctor’s appointment and other boring stuff I had to do today. But I’m back and ready to play! That is, if you are.”

“Honey,” a man said, “it might be best if we introduced ourselves first.”

“Oh, yeah,” the now clearly embarrassed Little said. “My name is Iris. This is my Daddy, Jack.” A dog barked and then ran onto the scene, having seemingly come from behind the couch in the den. “And this is Benson. Don’t worry. He’s not mean. He just wants to kiss you.”

The dog was already jumping up on Lana, his tongue darting in and out of his mouth.

Lana laughed. She’d never met a mean Golden Retriever, but she appreciated the heads-up from Iris.

After hugging the dog, he finally got down and stood there, wiggling his butt and wagging his tail, while Lana scratched between his ears. Once satisfied, he happily walked back behind the couch and disappeared.

“Now that you’ve met the guard dog,” Jack said, “how are you settling in, honey?”

“I’m fine, sir. Thank you for letting me stay here,” Lana replied.

“Well, this place belongs to the entire Guard. But I promise you none of them mind.”

“That’s right,” Isaiah called out from deeper in the den. “The more cuties running around here, the better!”

Some of the other Daddies voiced their agreement.

Standing behind Lana, Ace said, “Ease up, boys. She’s mine.”

Some laughed. Others groaned in disappointment. But Lana just blushed.

Was she really Ace’s? Or did he just mean at the moment?

“Okayyyy,” Iris said, obviously annoyed by the interruptions, “the introductions are over. Now can we go play, Daddy?”

Jack chuckled. “Well, you can. But you need to go ask Lana. If I understand correctly, she was at Auntie Athena’s all day, so she might be tired.”

Lana’s response surprised even herself. “I was, but I’m not too tired.” She couldn’t believe how deeply she’d fallen into Little Space, especially after it had been a slow start.

Now, though, all this just felt right. But she was a bit hesitant to leave Ace. Not out of fear or anything. She just really wanted to be in his presence.

As it turned out, she wouldn’t have a say in the matter.

“Playing with Little Iris would be a lot of fun. It would give me and your Uncles a chance to talk,” Ace spoke up.

Lana loved the way he’d referred to the other Guard members. But did they need to have a serious conversation? Was something the matter?

She’d find out one way or another.

“Sounds good to me,” she said. Turning to Iris, she said, “What do you like to do?”

“Oh, just wait until I show you!” Iris told her. “Come on. We’re going to have a blast.” She took Lana by the hand and then said, “Benson! Come here, boy. Let’s go have fun!”

The retriever let out a little “woof” and then got up, walked a few paces, stopped to stretch and then shake, before trotting happily toward the women.

Iris led the way upstairs and to a large room on the third floor. “Check it out, this used to be the ballroom. Can you imagine? A house having a ballroom?”

“Whoa!” Lana turned a slow circle, taking it all in. The space was massive, though the ceilings weren’t very high. Still, it could hold a lot of people as it was just one big open room with no walls. Pillars interrupted the flow every six feet or so, but people could still easily dance.

Closing her eyes, she smiled as she imagined some fancy 1920s soiree. Or maybe it wasn’t that formal. Images of people in tuxedos and fancy gowns morphed into flappers and guys in suits boozing it up while others danced to a lively band.

If those walls could only talk…

“This is my playroom now,” Iris explained. “Well, not just mine. I’ll share it with the other Littles who eventually move in, when the guys all find theirs.” She giggled and raised an eyebrow. “Like when you and Ace end up together forever.”

Lana covered her mouth. After laughing, she asked, “Is it that obvious?”

“That you’re crazy about him or that he’s crazy about you?”

“Both.”

Iris nodded. “Oh yeah. I was only around you two for a few seconds. But I saw the way he looked at you. And your response was… well, let’s just say, yeah, it’s obvious.”

The answer made Lana feel a little better. Maybe it wasn’t all in her head. If Iris saw it, too, then there was a chance Ace really was into her.

Right now, she had other things on her mind, though.

“I’m excited to play with you,” Lana said. “But I kind of want to hear what the guys are talking about. I know eavesdropping would be naughty. And you might think less of me. But?—”

“I freaking love being naughty!” Iris said.

“Really?”

The other Little bobbed her head gleefully. “It’s a long story. But before I met Jack life was kind of… tough. Anyway, now that I have a Daddy and friends, I’m sort of living as my true, authentic self. And as it turns out, I kind of get into trouble. Like a lot.”

This gave Lana hope, too. It sounded as if it had been difficult for Iris to fully embrace Little Space, just like it was for her. But eventually, she pushed through it.

Maybe Lana would, too.

“Want to know something cool?” Iris asked.

“Yeah!”

She leaned in, as if someone might be listening. In a quiet tone, she explained, “There’s a secret passage that leads down to the den.”

Lana gasped. “Seriously?”

“Uh-huh. When this place was built, during Prohibition, the movie stars who lived here with sneak booze in and stuff. Like up here, to the ballroom. And they had escape routes in case the cops raided them.” She chuckled.

“Kind of ironic now that there’s a bunch of former cops living here.

Anyway, if you want to listen in on your Daddy’s conversation, I can get you down to the den without anyone knowing. ”

Lana was about to agree to the mischief when she realized exactly what Iris had said. “He’s not my Daddy. At least, I don’t think he is. I mean, he called himself Daddy earlier. And I called him that. But we just met and it’s…” She groaned. “Complicated.”

Iris waved it off. “He’s your Daddy. You’ll make it official, soon. Now, come on. Let’s get down there before we miss the good stuff! I bet they’re talking about something really juicy.”

With that, the Littles joined hands and happily skipped deeper into the giant room with Benson dutifully following alongside them.

“If you think this place is cool now, wait until you see this,” Iris said as they stopped in front of a door. “The coat closet.” She opened it to reveal a seemingly ordinary, boxy space with a fine layer of dust covering the two shelves and bar that ran across the top.

Once again, Lana could imagine all the old-fashioned jackets and things hanging in there while people danced and drank up there. It was neat imagery, but she didn’t understand why Iris wanted to show her a musty old closet.

Until…

Iris stepped in and ran her hand beneath one of the shelves. A moment later, Lana heard a click.

Then the right edge of the back wall moved slowly toward them.

“Is that a… secret passage?” Lana nearly yelled.

Iris took hold of the wall and swung it toward them, straining a bit under its weight.

The hinges strained, too, squeaking loudly.

“Sure is. It kind of sticks sometimes. It’s like a hundred years old.

” She flipped a switch that was just inside the door.

Old sconces on the wall buzzed and then hummed with low light.

It looked like something from one of those old black-and-white horror movies she loved to watch, Lana thought.

“Come on,” Iris encouraged.

Lana couldn’t believe what was happening. She’d seen sets like this built in at the studios for treasure-hunting movies and things like that. But this was real!

She wondered who all had made use of the mysterious space. Had Theda Bara herself been on those creaky old stairs?

There were several turns, and it was a tight fit in places with the two of them and Benson having to walk single file, but they didn’t have any trouble getting to the bottom.

Once it dead-ended at another wall, Iris whispered, “Shh. We have to do this part carefully.” Her index finger pressed a small, barely visible button and the panel before them popped outward.

Iris carefully nudged it open a bit more, but only a crack, stopping before it opened too far to reveal them.

While she couldn’t really see anything, Lana could hear just fine.

The secret passage had taken them straight to the den.

And they were just in time to eavesdrop on the Daddy Guard’s planning session.