Sadie's Little Christmas - Maren Smith Page 0,8

this time. The problem here was the longer he thought about it, the harder his gut tried to convince him he was right—she had been aroused. She wasn’t just a submissive, she was his kind of submissive—a Little in at least some part of her and a pain slut who might be the perfect counter to the beast he didn’t dare expose to any of his baby girls.

That right there was what made him the most nervous. He’d just met this woman. Was he reading the situation right? Or was this just wishful thinking on the part of his inner Daddy Dom, the half that looked at her and was infuriated anyone could or would so badly mistreat another human being? Or was it the demon in him, attracted to the marks some other beast had left on her body, aching for the chance to play with her himself?

Perhaps, even, leave a few marks of his own?

He glanced up briefly when the bell rang over the intercom, signaling the start of the next brief break between classes. Sitting up that much straighter as bouncing, laughing Little boys and girls came bounding out of the classrooms into the hall, Derek set his jaw and his will. This was his home, and he had worked all his adult life to make it a safe place for the most precious of all submissives. Whatever else Sadie was, she was in his care now, and he would protect her.

Even if the one he had to protect her from the most was himself.

***

Rooted to the floor and still in the corner where Derek had pinned her, Sadie watched Nanny J escort Derek out the door. Shutting it behind him, after a brief pause, she then locked it. Sadie felt the sharpness of that soft click all the way to the bottom of her trembling stomach.

Although not as tall as Derek, Nanny J towered over her by a good five inches when she came back to stand directly in front of Sadie. She wasn’t smiling, but her eyes were neither angry nor stern. If anything, as her silent stare moved over Sadie’s marred face, they grew sad.

Sadie wasn’t a hugger. She never had been, didn’t particularly want to be, had never seen a point in just bounding up to people and invading their personal bubble to embrace them, but when Nanny J opened her arms and pulled Sadie to her chest, all but forcing her to rest her head on the other woman’s shoulder, Sadie didn’t struggle. She swallowed hard, her eyes stinging with tears she hadn’t realized were threatening and now refused to be blinked back.

“I’m so very sorry this happened to you,” Nanny J said, not just holding her tight but rocking her.

Damn it, here came the next stinging wave. It took everything Sadie had to swallow them back.

“I’m okay,” she replied. Slightly muffled against Nanny J’s soft white shirt, her voice quavered.

“I promise you, my dear, no one will ever hurt you like this again. Not here. Not if I can help it. And you’d better believe Master Derek won’t let it happen, either. He’s very protective of the Littles under his care.”

“I’m not a Little,” Sadie said, the words coming out too soft and stifled by the shirt to be worth hearing.

Drawing back, Nanny J held her at arms’ length, her hands warm on Sadie’s shoulders as she looked her over again.

“It doesn’t really matter. Whatever you are, however you identify, I promise, if you’re here, you’re under his care, and he takes that responsibility very seriously.” Straightening with a sharp breath, the other woman took her by the hand and led her to a nearby desk. Sitting in it, Sadie felt all of twelve years old again, and Nanny J could easily have been any one of her teachers when she sat on top of the desk, folded her arms across her chest and briskly said, “Tell me, what was it about what you saw that frightened you?”

Sadie’s stomach plummeted all over again.

“Nothing,” she hedged, but it was the truth. Nothing about what she saw had frightened her; it was what she’d felt. Folding her arms tight over her stomach, she hugged herself for comfort.

“It’s okay to say you don’t want to talk about something,” Nanny J said, her sharp eyes noting it, “but please don’t lie to me. Lies between friends only hurt the relationship.”

Friends? She’d only just met this woman. Sadie would have pointed that out, but the words