Page 18 of Tying Little Tay (Littles of Rawhide Ranch #13)
Guilia
Having Tay’s Little friends around was actually pretty lovely.
Guilia hadn’t been sure how well she’d cope with all four of them—despite her assertion that she’d lived at Rawhide Ranch for five years.
She’d been living at the Ranch, yes, but working in the kitchens.
In fact, she barely came into contact with Littles, other than the ones she worked with.
So this was certainly a new experience for her.
And it was an experience that she was enjoying.
They were all sweet, and seeing Tay interact with their friends gave her an insight into her Little that she hadn’t seen so much before.
Tay was bubbly and friendly, but also caring. Somehow they managed to balance Mandi’s anxiety with Holly’s pep and Sadie’s sass, without any of them ever brushing each other up the wrong way. It was a remarkable skill, and one that Guilia suspected that Tay had honed in their childhood.
Despite their penchant for pranks, she’d long noticed Tay’s people-pleasing leanings. Wanting everyone to be happy and being on edge if they weren’t. Almost as if they were waiting for someone to lash out at them; not physically, but emotionally…
But when they were in Little space, it was like all of that just melted away. It was as if they were getting to experience the pure joys of childhood delights for the very first time.
If nothing else, Guilia wanted to be able to facilitate that for Tay.
Everyone was eating their fruit, but Tay hadn’t touched their water.
“You have to drink up, tesore, it’s hot outside.”
“Could I have something else?” They grinned at her cheekily and Guilia swore that her heart skipped a beat.
“Of course you can… once you’ve finished your water.”
There was a pause as green eyes met hers, testing, seeing if Guilia was going to bend. She didn’t say anything else, didn’t push or argue, all she did was raise an eyebrow and wait for Tay to drink up.
Silence fell across the table as the others looked between the two of them, clocking the silent battle. Then, without breaking Guilia’s gaze, Tay lifted the tumbler to their lips and drank.
“ Ben fatte, tesore, good job!”
They rolled their eyes at Guilia, but there was no malice or cheekiness to it.
The tips of Tay’s ears had gone slightly pink and Guilia could tell that they were delighted with the praise but didn’t know how to show it.
But they finished all of their water and were rewarded with some fresh lemonade from the fridge, along with the other Littles.
“Are you coming back to our room tonight?” asked Holly, when she, Mandi and Sadie were getting ready to head off.
Tay sent Guilia a look. “I… I was thinking that I might stay here tonight as well… Is that okay, Hols?”
“As if you need to ask,” she said, and hugged Tay. They looked at Guilia over her shoulder, and Guilia realized that the two of them were going to have to start thinking about the future now, even if it felt very quick.
Tay clearly didn’t want to bring it up first, but when the door closed behind the Littles and they started tidying away the sand pool, Guilia broached the topic.
“I’m loving you staying here with me for a bit, but is it okay with you?”
They pulled on one of the ringlets that had fallen over their eye and switched their weight between each foot. “I mean, I really like it, but if you’d rather I went home…”
“That is not at all what I meant.” Guilia pulled Tay toward her and kissed them, cupping their face in her hands.
As she continued talking, she dropped kisses all over those delicious freckles.
“I think that I would like it if you spent the next few days with me. It will be good for both of us to see what it’s like working and staying together. ”
She was deliberately avoiding the phrase “living together” but Tay could see what she meant.
“And if we are… intime—intimate—then I would much prefer you spent the night.”
“I would like that very much.” They blushed, and their freckles stood out even more. Guilia was worried that she might be getting a little bit obsessed with Tay’s freckles. “Falling asleep with you was… is… nice. More than nice. It’s amazing. I slept really well.”
“Do you not, usually?”
They threw themselves onto the couch, flopping their arms on the floor and pulled a face at Guilia. “Is this where Daddy tells me that I need to be in bed at a decent hour every night?”
“Stop avoiding the question, tesore.”
Tay sighed and ran a hand across their face. When they dropped it, they weren’t in Littlespace anymore. “Sleep and I have a love-hate relationship. I like to sleep, and I like to sleep well, but my body clock is a bit fucked because of work. So sometimes I just… don’t.”
That would explain why sometimes Tay was silent in the kitchen, almost sleepwalking through their day.
“Okay, so what helps you sleep?”
“I slept really well last night,” they admitted. “Kink usually helps me sleep, because it empties my head, gives me a brain break.”
“That makes sense, so who’ve you been playing with since you’ve been at Rawhide Ranch?”
Tay was silent, and Guilia’s mouth dropped. “Tay, tesore, are you really trying to tell me that one of the only ways you can sleep is by doing kink… and in the time you’ve been here, you haven’t done any kink?!”
“That’s not true, I did kink last night!”