Page 94 of Vengeance of Childhood Proportions

Her cheeks flushed, but she kept her mouth shut.

“Do you know what I see when I look at you? I see power. I seepassion. I see the same woman who held her chin up as she dared to drink a sip of a Dirty Shirley, even though she doesn’tlike alcohol. I feela lotof things when I look at you, Phoebe Snetsinger, butnone of them are pity.”

She winced, and her eyes left mine. “I don’t like it when you call me that, Sir.”

I stepped forward, placing my fingers under her chin to tip her face up towards mine. “I know. And to be honest, I have gotten so used to calling you ‘my little owl’ that your name felt weird on my tongue, too. But it doesn’t change my original order, pet. You know what to do to make me stop. Until then,Iam in charge. You gave me that authority when I put that collar around your throat. Now, you have three choices: one, take off your wig; two, give me a reason why you can’t; or three, use your safe word. The choice is yours, pet.

“What will it be?”

Chapter Sixty

Holly

I staredup into Master Mal’s dark green eyes. My heart was racing and I felt queasy, but my legs were steady. Master Mal had called mestrong. This wasn’t the first time he’d done so, but maybe I should consider believing him. I’d removed my owl mask, but the wigs meant more to me than concealing my face had.

But wasn’t this what I wanted? To be with him? For him to seeme, even if he never linked me with Holly Marteen? I was so close to my finish line. If I could just cross it, I would be free to bemewith Master Mal. I would have to conceal my past from him, but maybe it was time to reveal a little more ofme.

I closed my eyes, taking in deep centering breaths. His gaze was so intense, hiding depths I was not prepared to analyze tonight. I needed darkness to figure out what it was I was going to say. He knew too much about Holly Marteen to reveal the full truth.

I wasn’t prepared to give him details, anyway.Neitherof us would be able to handle that. More and more lies. I felt like Pinocchio. How long was my nose now? How long was too long? Lying should be so natural to me by now. I’d been doing it long enough. So why did it feel so wrong when it came to Master Mal?

I opened my eyes. He was still standing there, naked from fucking me up against the wall and completely unabashed.Hewas the one currently exposed while I was fully dressed. So why did it feel the reverse? Why was my heart screaming at me to tell himeverythingin that moment, and damn the consequences?

I needed to step back. I needed him to be not so…Master-y right now. I needed him to just be Mal. If I was going to do this, I needed it to not be an order. I needed to do this forus, to strengthenus. I couldn’t explain the distinction, but it made sense to me.

“Raven,” I said softly, still staring up into his eyes.

Immediately, he stepped back. He removed his hand from my chin, holding both out wide at his sides. It reminded me of his posture at the bar the night of our reunion. It wasn’t submissive, though he was showing himself to be unarmed and unassuming. If anything, it was protective. Like he was opening himself to me completely to embrace, for him to guard.

My choice. Alwaysmychoice.

I stepped forward, reaching for one of his hands. I held it tightly in my own, bringing it to my chest. “I need you to just be Mal right now, Sir. Please. If I’m going to… I need you to beyou.” I shook my head, knowing how utterly ridiculous that sounded. Of course, he washim. Unlike me, he didn’t have any alter egos. “I mean, I just… No rules right now. No Doms. No punishments. If I’m going to talk, I need to do it my way.”

His other hand cupped my cheek. Slowly, he bent to kiss my mouth. “How about this? I’ll go put our dinner in the fridge while you go start us a bath. I’ll try to be less…Dom, and I can promise you no punishments. The only rules I will insist on pertain to your safety and mental wellbeing. I’ll hold you in the tub so I can still care for you, but you’ll face away from me, so you don’t need to worry so much about meeting my eyes. Does that sound like a good compromise, Little Owl?”

I let out a sigh. “Yes, Sir.”

He thumbed the black leather at my throat. “But I’m leaving this on. You need the reminder of who you belong to, even if you can’t see me.”

I didn’t have the words to describe the relief that filled me at those words. “Thank you, Sir.”

“You can drop the ‘Sir’ for now. You requested Just Mal,” his eyes held amusement, “and Just Mal I shall be.”

I smiled. “Thank you…Mal.”

He scrunched his nose. “I still don’t like it, but it’s survivable. Do you prefer ‘Little Owl’ or ‘Phe’—”

“Little Owl,” I answered immediately, not letting him finish my alias.

“Good.” He dropped his mouth to kiss me again. “My last order for the night, pet: lose the clothes!”

Chapter Sixty-One

Holly

Once again,I found myself staring into the mirror in Mas—fuck! InMal’s massive master bathroom. Shit, he was right. That really didn’t sound right.

I didn’t know FBI agents got paid so well, but I was glad because his house was lovely. I estimated the enormous acrylic bath tub to be around seven feet long. I’d previously counted sixteen massage jets and knew it had ambient lighting with various color options. There were two built-in black neck pillows. The feature I found most intriguing, though, was the front and left walls of the tub were transparent, giving an uninhibited view of the bather.

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