Page 39 of Vengeance of Childhood Proportions (Till Death Do Us Part #7)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Mal

To my frustration, my little owl did not pick up. I was refusing to call her ‘Phoebe’, even in my head, until she told me her name herself. But that didn’t keep my green-eyed monster from rearing his head every time I thought about the fact that I’d had to learn her name from Mira .

Though I wasn’t a big coffee drinker, I stopped by the break room to get myself a cup before heading back upstairs. I still had seven minutes before my twenty-minute minimum deadline was up. I was debating on stealing one of Jessica’s yogurts when my phone rang.

Absentmindedly, I answered, “Mallory.”

“Sir?”

My ears perked up at her soft voice. “Hold on a second, pet. Let me get to my office.”

“Yes, Sir. I’m sorry I missed your call. I was taking a shower.”

I chuckled but waited the few steps to get into the privacy of my office before answering. “Coincidentally, so was I.”

Her laugh lightened the load on my shoulders. “You sound tired, Sir.”

“I’m fucking exhausted,” I told her honestly, “and I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you why.”

“And I don’t want to know, Sir. I only care that you’re getting sleep. I can’t do much from here, but maybe I can order you dinner or something? Send it to your office.”

I smiled at the mental image of my little owl with her mask trying to get through security downstairs. “Who is supposed to be taking care of whom, pet?”

“We take care of each other, Sir,” my little owl told me with confidence. “At least, I hope we can.”

“I would fuck you up against the wall if I was with you right now. Do you have any idea how fucking perfect that sounds?”

My watch buzzed, and I looked down to see a text message from Carr saying that Mira and Hagley just arrived at security.

I cursed. “I’m sorry, Little Owl. I have to go. I will take a raincheck on dinner, because I’d rather have you than a delivery meal.”

“You mean dinner with me?” she inquired.

“I said what I said,” I told her darkly. “I’ll take your pussy over any meal any day.”

I pictured her blush and started to get hard. Fuck, I could not go into this interview with an erection.

“I miss you, Sir.”

“I miss you, too. Have you been taking care of yourself? Eating, drinking, exercising?”

“Yes, Sir. Master Kade—” She stopped talking, and I waited. “I mean, I lift weights nearly every day.”

“Pet, does Master Kade remind you to exercise daily? Does he watch out for you in that way?”

She hesitated. “It’s not for the reason you may think. He teaches me to defend myself and says strength training is part of it.”

“Little Owl, is Master Kade there?” I tried to keep my voice even.

There was a noise and then, “What the fuck do you want?”

“Thank you,” I told the other Dom. “For training her. I’m glad she can protect herself.”

“Didn’t do it for you, asshole.”

That was a bit hypocritical, but I swallowed the retort. “Didn’t think you had. You have my gratitude all the same.”

There was some more rustling and then my little owl was back. “Um, he’s grumbling about dickheads and where they can shove their gratitude. What did you say to him, Sir?”

I chuckled. “That’s between me and him, pet.” My watch buzzed again and I cursed. “I have to go, Little Owl. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the club tonight.”

“Can you try?” she asked.

The pleading in her voice had me letting her slip-up go. “I’ll try,” I promised. “Please be safe, Little Owl. I’ll call you later if I can. At the very least, I’ll text you ‘goodnight’.”

“Bye, Sir.”

“Bye, pet.”

More than frustrated, I exited my office to go interview the weasel of a principal.