Page 71 of Vengeance of Childhood Proportions (Till Death Do Us Part #7)

Chapter Sixty-One

Holly

Once again, I found myself staring into the mirror in Mas—fuck! In Mal ’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.

I had a feeling that was for Master Mal’s pleasure.

I didn’t mind that he’d had other submissives before me. What I cared about was how different he was with me than them. I didn’t have to have met any of them to know that either. I knew because of how different I was with him .

When Mal stepped up behind me this time, he placed his hands gently on my now-naked shoulders and bent to kiss my cheek.

I leaned back against his hard chest. Yes, he was very different with me.

That knowledge gave me the strength to meet his eyes in the mirror before bringing my hands up to my scalp.

Typically, people only used six or eight pins to secure a wig. After nearly losing a wig while dancing one evening, I now secured mine with twelve. Mal waited patiently behind me, his hands rubbing my shoulders in comfort as I removed pin after pin after pin.

Once all twelve were in a pile on the counter, I lowered my hands. My heart wasn’t racing as fast as I thought it would be, but I still had butterflies in my stomach. After a moment of slight hesitation, I nodded to him in the mirror.

Mal dropped a kiss to my right shoulder before lifting his hands up under the back strands of the blonde wig to gently pull it off my head. The warm sand cap on my head still covered my natural hair.

After placing the wig gently on the counter, thankfully opposite the pile of pins, Mal reached up for the skullcap.

We stared at each other in the mirror for a long time. So long that the tub reached its automatic fill level and turned off.

Mal placed the cap on the counter. “I wasn’t expecting it to be so short.”

My hand reached up, a little self-consciously to touch my buzz cut. “It’s easier this way.”

“With the number of wigs you have, I have no doubt.” He kissed my temple. “Let’s get you in the tub. You look cold.” His eyes indicated to my breasts in the mirror.

I couldn’t help my smile. That had less to do with the room temperature and more to do with proximity to him.

Mal got into the tub first and got settled against the furthest neck cushion before I got in, settling between his large, muscular thighs.

He turned the jets on low and even set the ambient lighting before turning off the overhead lights with a switch on the wall by his right shoulder.

I’d already turned on the water heater when I’d started to fill the tub, so we didn’t have to worry about the water running cold.

I tucked my head under his chin. Mal crossed my arms over my belly before crossing his arms over mine as if to secure me to him. His grip was tight but reassuring.

Neither of us spoke for a long while. To be honest, I didn’t really know how to start or what to say. As if he sensed that, Mal said, “It’s darker than I assumed.”

“My hair doesn’t see much sunlight,” I replied softly.

I appreciated his efforts to break my silence.

Closing my eyes, needing the metaphorical distance, I said, “When he first started to show me attention, he would tug on my hair. I’d tell him to stop, but every time he saw me, he’d pull on it.

Like he was fucking five years old!” Swallowing, I admitted, “I thought it meant he liked me. I didn’t have a lot of experience with…

men ,” I quickly added, misleading him on the age I was when my attack occurred.

I’d already implied that the asylum was a former sex club once before, so I continued with that.

“I knew his type, though, and I wasn’t the typical girl he went after.

” I felt fine saying ‘girl’ because it could also mean ‘submissive’.

“When he approached me, I was…flattered, but I still said ‘no’. Like I said, I wasn’t his usual type.

I didn’t think he was the sort of man I should go out with. Only… He didn’t take no for an answer.”

Mal’s arms tightened around me. “Christ, pet. What about the Dungeon Master? The owner? Any other Dom?”

I shook my head. “No one knew about what happened until it was too late. Master Kade…” My voice trailed off. “Well, he got me out.”

“What happened to the club? To the Dom?” His voice was hard, and I knew he was holding back his anger to keep from upsetting me.

“He’s…” In an abandoned fishery waiting for his execution , I finished silently in my head. Because it wasn’t like I could say that out loud. “He’s in jail,” I lied, and swore the tip of my nose tingled.

“Was he blacklisted from the community?”

I didn’t realize that was a thing, but answered, “Yes,” anyway. “Or,” I corrected, “Master Kade told me so. I don’t really know much about that or how that works.”

He rubbed his hands up and down my arms, making the water swish more than the jets already were. “You said he used to pull on your hair. Is that why you keep it short? You never said anything about hair pulling being a hard or soft limit for you. I haven’t done it before because of the wigs.”

I shook my head. “It’s not a limit for me. I’ve had my hair pulled since and it never triggered me.” I gave him a coy smile. “I might not get anything from impact play, but I have found I enjoy a firm hand.”

He chuckled, pressing his lips to my temple. “I had figured that part out.” More sober, he said, “I still don’t understand the wigs and contacts. If he’s in prison, who are you hiding from?”

“It’s not about hiding,” I told him honestly.

“I just… I needed to not be me for a while. When Master Kade took me to Snow Chains for the first time, it was supposed to be for sex. I was determined to move past what had happened, even if I had to force myself through it. But I saw the pole dancers, and I was hooked! Dancing became the mental escape I needed, and I guess the wigs, masks, and contacts became my physical escape. I wasn’t H—” Fuck!

I clamped my mouth shut. “I think they became more of a habit than anything,” I quickly added.

When he didn’t pick up or acknowledge my near slip, it hit me hard how much I wished he had .

How I wished I was brave enough to sit up on my knees, turn around to face him, and say, “I wasn’t Holly.

I didn’t want to be Holly anymore, and the costume gave me the courage I needed to face such a cruel world. ”

Instead, I sat quietly as he spoke. “I’m so fucking sorry that happened, pet.

I am eternally grateful to Master Kade and everything he did for you.

Though I am still pissed about his hand in our misunderstanding about impact play.

” He kissed my cheek. “You are truly incredible to overcome all that you did, Little Owl, and I am so fucking proud of you.”

“You’re not… I mean, you don’t think I’m tainted now. That all the things that are different about me and our relationship and our contract aren’t…” I struggled, not entirely sure what it was I was asking him.

Mal raised a wet hand out of the water to tip my face back towards him. He claimed my mouth. “Never. I think our relationship is pretty damn perfect just how it is.”

“Even though we don’t know each other that well?”

“Well, I think if we knew everything there was to know about each other in a little over the month that we’ve been sleeping together that we’d have to be two of the most boring people on the planet.”

I chuckled. “Fair point. I just need to know that you’re… okay with… I mean, that you’re able to… Fuck,” I cringed. “I have no idea what it is I’m trying to ask.”

“Little Owl, if you think what you told me turns me off you, then you haven’t been paying attention.

I find you utterly beautiful and completely ravishing.

Nothing you could say or do would ever change that.

Am I okay with what happened to you? Fuck, no.

I never will be. I’m tempted to track this guy down and end his miserable existence. ”

Too late , I thought dryly.

Mal kissed me again. “Don’t ask me if I’m okay with what you just told me, pet.

I’ll never be okay with anything that hurts you.

Can I live with it?” He shrugged. “What choice do I have? I can’t go back and change it, no matter how much I wish I could.

But I can promise you this: I’ll be here for you, no matter what.

To support you, to hold you,” he dropped his hand down to my bottom and pinched my cheek, “to tease you. Whatever you need from me, Little Owl. And if you need more nights like this, where it’s just us with no expectations or formalities, then that’s what we do. ”

I warmed inside to the point that I thought I might be heating the water instead of the other way around. “I think we should do this sometimes. Not often, but special occasions or when one of us needs it. Personally, I’m not seeing a big difference between Master Mal and Just Mal.”

He chuckled, his chest vibrating against my back. “I’m afraid you’re stuck with just me, love. Not really sure how to be anyone else.”

I bit my lip. “Are you okay with me still figuring out who I am?”

“As long as you’re open and honest with me about your needs, absolutely.”

I sat up in the water. Turning around, I straddled his thighs. His cock was still flaccid from just coming downstairs, though it twitched at the contact with my mound. My arms around his neck and his hands on my hips, I said, “Right now, I need you to kiss me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Giving me orders, Little Owl?”

I smiled. “Just Mal, remember. I can order Just Mal around all I want.”

He laughed, matching my smile. His hands moved from my hips to squeeze the globes of my ass. “Don’t think it works that way, pet, but in this case, I think Just Mal is willing to make an exception.”

Just Mal settled me even closer on his lap before bringing his lips up to claim mine.