Page 12 of Protecting Little Phoebe

To his surprise, she gasped and hid the horse behind her back. Then she shied back from him. As though… as though she was afraid of him?

Shit.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to have him out.”

“Hey, you don’t have to hide him,” he told her gently.

She eyed him suspiciously.

“I wasn’t going to take him from you.”

Hmm, she didn’t flinch or change expression so that didn’t seem to be her worry.

“Or make fun of you,” he added.

This time, she winced. That was it. Had someone made fun of her for needing a soft toy? There could be assholes out there. People who didn’t understand the Daddy/Little dynamic.

And Phoebe was so open and unguarded with her Little and her feelings. He could see how she could be easily hurt or ridiculed. Anger flooded him at the thought of someone putting this girl down or making her feel less.

“Please bring him out again.” He kept his tone soft but injected a firm note in his tone so she knew he meant business. “I would like to meet him.”

“Really?” she asked. “He… he doesn’t really like meeting new people. Not everyone understands him.” Her voice was growing younger, and she raised her hand to her mouth, chewing on her thumbnail.

Barren knew it wasn’t his place, that he was overstepping. But her distress wasn’t something he could ignore. The Daddy part of him was yelling at him to fix this. To help her. So he grasped hold of her hand before he could talk himself out of it, pulling it from her mouth. “Don’t chew your nails.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. But before she could say anything, he spoke again. “I would like to meet him.” There was no mistaking the stern note in his voice.

Slowly, she reached back and drew out the tan-colored horse. It had a large white patch on its back, and it looked soft and well-loved.

“Well, hello, and what is your name?” he asked the horse, not looking at Phoebe.

“This is Snickerdoodle,” she told him. “He’s a bit shy.”

“That’s all right, Snickerdoodle. Nothing wrong with being shy. Can I pet him?”

This time, he glanced up at Phoebe. Her lips were parted, and she was staring at him with a look of wonder on her face. It was pretty obvious she wasn’t used to such acceptance. Had she ever had a Daddy? Was that why she was on her way to Rawhide? Was she looking for a Daddy?

He had to stifle a wave of irrational anger over that thought. After all, hadn’t he gone to Rawhide hoping he might find a Little? He should be happy that she was going somewhere where she’d be safe and accepted.

Then she slowly nodded.

“Thank you,” he told her solemnly as he reached out and lightly patted Snickerdoodle. “It’s good to meet you, Snickerdoodle. You’re a very handsome boy.”

“He likes being called handsome,” she told him.

“Just the truth.”

She tried to put the horse behind her again, but he reached out and placed his hand on the toy, stopping her.

“Does holding Snickerdoodle make you feel better?”

“Yes,” she replied. “He’s my best friend.”

“Then don’t put him away,” he told her.

“Someone else might come.”

He glanced around and then back at her. “Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon. And if someone comes, you can put him away then if you’d like. But I want you to feel settled and it’s obvious he helps. Not that you need to feel upset for asking me if I liked spanking.”

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