Page 33 of Sadie's Little Christmas

“Go on. I’ll admit I’m usually the one who puts the handcuffs on. This will be my first time bottoming for another man. I’m all a-tingle,” he deadpanned.

The detective jerked back. “The fuck is wrong with you!”

“Is that a no?”

Stepping back, Forrester snapped, “Expect my phone call.”

“You expect mine.”

Frustrated, the detective turned on his heel and stormed for the door. He very nearly ran into Headmaster Jenkins on his way out.

“Who was that?” Jenkins asked, eyebrows arching at the force of the man’s slamming exit.

“One of our local detectives, and a man without any kink tolerance whatsoever. I’m going to need our lawyers to make a phone call to his captain, I think. What’s up?”

“Looks like Marcus might be coming down with something. He’s spent the last hour in the toilet, so he doesn’t think it’s a good idea for him to play Santa and spread whatever he’s got tothe Littles. What are the odds, huh? First year you ask someone else to play Santa for you, and he gets sick.”

If he played Santa, that would give him all the excuse he needed to not just check in on Sadie but to hold her on his lap.

“No problem. I should do it anyway.”

“Are you sure? I could probably get one of the others to do it if you’d—”

“No.” Derek was already grabbing his hat to shoot out the door, his heart kicking up and his blood already heating in his veins. “I’ve got it.”

“Okay,” Jenkins said, but he didn’t leave. “You should also know, I ran into Erika—literally—on her way to hyperventilate in the bathroom.”

Derek straightened abruptly. “Is she all right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jenkins hurriedly assured. “She wasn’t prepared to see police this morning, that’s all. With what happened to Sadie being so close to what she endured, I think she had a flashback.”

Poor Erika. Guilt stabbed him with tiny pricking needles. He really was off his game this morning. The first thing he should have done was to check and make sure she was okay. He’d known Erika had been shaken when she’d seen Sadie step out of the cab. Of course, she was. Anyone who’d gone through what she had with her so-called ‘dom’ would surely be remembering all sorts of ugly things right now.

“I’ll talk to her,” Derek said, sweeping his hat off his head and running his fingers through his hair.

“Already done,” the headmaster said. “If her butt’s not on a bench outside one of the counselor offices, waiting her turn on their couch, she’ll be picking me a pair of switches as soon as she gets off work. I don’t care if she’s my submissive or not. She won’t sit the rest of the night.”

Derek arched an eyebrow. “She took that from you?”

“It calmed her down a bit, actually.”

“I’ve neglected her.” He didn’t like knowing there was anyone on his Ranch who wasn’t getting his or her needs met. Funny, how he hadn’t realized how close together the two women’s stories were. Only somewhat stranger was the realization he hadn’t responded to Erika’s bumps and bruises the way he had Sadie’s. The desire to protect her, so nothing like that ever happened again, yes, but not the driving need to shelter, provide, and possess her the way he did Sadie. He had disciplined Erika the same way he’d done for countless other submissives here when and if they made a mistake or he thought they needed it. Not once had he ever taken it to that next level or tried to turn their solid working relationship into something intimate. He had never been her Daddy. He’d been Mr. Hawkins when she sat at her desk and Master Derek when she bowed her head and hiked her skirts to bend herself over it.

“You’ve been busy running this place,” Jenkins corrected. “Don’t make me have to send you for a pair of switches, too.”

Startled, Derek almost laughed. “So, now I’m your bottom?”

The headmaster startled even harder. “What?”

“Never mind.” Derek brushed it off. It wasn’t important. “Thank you for picking up the slack.”

“No, wait,” Jenkins persisted, following him as far as his office door. “What do you mean ‘bottom?’ Since when have you ever bottomed for anyone, Derek? Derek!”

But Derek was too busy thinking ahead. He really didn’t have the time to play Santa Claus, but then he didn’t have the time to spend all morning mooning over the Little he couldn’t seem to get out of his mind. This would give him a good reason to see her again without making a fool of himself or annoying Nanny J in the process. To hold her and dandle her upon his knee while he asked if she’d been a good girl.

She’d probably say no. Or if she didn’t say it out loud, she’d sit there and think it.

That’s what men like her roommate and Forrester had done to her. It was up to him to show her how special she really was, and not just because she could take it up the ass for Daddy in one of the most mind-blowing hot scenes he’d enjoyed with a submissive in a long time, but because she was made for him, in every way—her intelligence, her humor, her sexy need to be used hard, and the Little side she wasn’t yet comfortable acknowledging. She was a mess, but she wasn’t beyond help or hope, and he knew he was up to the challenge of helping her find herself again.

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