Page 38 of Releasing Reenie

I was just about to walk away when the door creaked open. Luna answered, wearing a pair of black-and-pink-checked onesie pajamas, her colored hair held back with a skull- printed bandana, and some sort of green goo on her face.

I schooled my features, smothering a laugh. I was clearly interrupting her nighttime routine.

“The last time I saw Mistress Maureen, she was in Master Derek’s office. She might still be there, she might not.”

Shit. That wasn’t the answer I’d been expecting. I’d already spoken to Master Derek, offering him my perspective on the situation while Mira was in the shower. It hadn’t seemed like he was in any hurry to deal with it at the time. I’d assumed he’d at least wait until morning.

“Do you know what she was doing there?” I demanded, my voice coming out harsher than I’d intended.

Luna could handle her own though, and sent me a scathing look in return. “I told her it was a bad idea,” she offered. “I told her to sleep on it, but she insisted.”

Luna’s words were like a punch to the gut as the realization hit me. Shit. She was going to do it again. She was running away from her problems, climbing out the proverbial window again. Jesus. Anger burned in me. First, because she’d learned nothing in the last three years and then there was the fact my second chance was climbing out the window with her.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I had to stop her, had to catch her before it was too late. “Thanks, Luna!” I cried, as I all but ran down the hall toward the elevator. When I found her, and I would, I was going to shake some damn sense into her.

A few excruciating minutes later, I burst past Erika and into Master Derek’s office to find him and Maureen standing six feet apart, looking as if I’d just interrupted a very intense conversation.

“You can’t accept her resignation!” I demanded.

Both of them turned to stare at me , cocking their heads to the side with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

“I’m not… resigning,” Maureen said with a sigh.

I wished I could read her mind right then because I couldn’t read her expression.

“No, she’s definitely not,” Master Derek agreed, then added, “thank goodness,” as if it were an afterthought.

“Oh. Good, then. Sorry. Carry on. I’ll just… uh… go.” I hiked my thumb over my shoulder toward the door, but didn’t actually move, as if I was still afraid that if I did, she’d disappear without a trace and I’d never see her again.

“I’ll talk to you soon, Trent,” Maureen said, just as Master Derek said “Well, actually…”

I wasn’t sure what his “actually” was about, but the alarmed expression on Maureen’s face told me she did as her attention jerked from me back to him. Her mouth fell open, and she blinked rapidly.

“Sir, I…” She swallowed hard and shook her head. “I’d rather it be you or… someone else.”

Whatever she was talking about, it was a lie. I could tell by the way her neck flushed and the color crept up into her cheeks. By the way she sucked gently on her lower lip. By the way her panicked gaze darted between the two of us.

Derek shook his head. “I don’t think it should be me, darlin’. And while there are other people I’d consider, my gut is telling me this is right.”

Furrowing my brow, I cut in. “Would someone please tell me what is going on here?”

“Have a seat.” Derek gestured to a chair opposite the one Maureen was standing near.

“Maureen?” I questioned, checking in with her. Whatever Derek was thinking, if Maureen wasn’t on board, I wouldn’t be either.

Her chest heaved with a sigh and annoyance, followed by resignation, flitted across her features. “It’s fine. It’s… he’s probably right.”

“Okay.” I nodded, then looked back to Derek.

He inhaled deeply, with a firm nod then opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word out, Maureen interjected.

“Trent, I want… would you please consider… would you… spank me?”

Unequivocally, without question, I knew the answer was yes, and that I wanted that more than anything. That it was basically a dream come true, no matter the reason. But, I would only say yes if it was what Maureen actually wanted. I needed to find out what was going on.

“You know I’d do just about anything you asked, Reenie, but why? Are you being forced?”

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