Page 27 of Finding Little Fiera

“It is, too. You said you wished you hadn’t kissed me and that I should tell Master Derek I want a new Daddy.”

He had a scary scowl. Pointing to the chair she’d just vacated, he ordered, “I said no such thing. Now, sit.”

She didn’t want to mind him, but her legs apparently had a stronger sense of self-preservation. As if by magic, she found herself seated back in her chair. Not knowing what else to do, she stared at her lap again and waited.

“Let me try again. I enjoyed our kiss. You have the hottest damn mouth I’ve ever tasted. What I was trying to say is, I didn’t want you to feel I was rushing into a relationship you aren’t ready for. That is all. I have no desire for you to speak with Master Derek. I simply wanted you to know you have that option if you want it.”

“Why would I want a different Daddy?” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

His lips twitched at the corners. “We’re on the same page then. That being said, I don’t want to rush anything. We need to get to know each other much better. Important things often take time to grow. If, hopefully when, we kiss again, it won’t be a surprise. Did I communicate better that time?”

Blushing, she nodded. “Yes, Daddy. I’m sorry I jumped to the worst conclusion. I guess it’s because in the past, the worst conclusion was usually the outcome I got.”

Mace held a hand out to her. “I would very much like for you to sit in my lap, babygirl. Would you like to do that?”

Was he kidding? That was the kind of contact with a Daddy she craved most. The kind she’d never had before.

In answer, she moved onto his lap. With his arm around her, she felt just like a real Little. His thighs were firm and strong.They probably got that way from riding horses most of his life. Lucky horses. She wouldn’t be opposed to him riding her.

And just like that, her pussy pulsed, and her nipples tightened. Great. The last thing she needed to do right now was squirm on his lap.

“You said in the past, the worst conclusion you could think of was usually the right one. What did you mean by that?”

Okay, her squirminess was officially gone. That happened any time she had to think about Erwin the Vermin.

“Erwin, my last Daddy… well, my only Daddy before you, blamed me for everything. It didn’t matter what it was. Whether it was a big thing or a little thing, if he didn’t like it, then it was my fault. It took me a long time to realize he was gaslighting me. Eventually, I just agreed with him from the start because that was easier than arguing with him.”

He stiffened behind her, his arm tightening around her waist. Did he think she was lying or making excuses? He wouldn’t be the first person who took Erwin’s side. Erwin was two different people. There was the person he showed to everyone else, and the one he showed to her.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that. Did he punish you for those things?”

She relaxed against him. He believed her. He didn’t even know her, not really. And he still believed her. “Oh, he punished me all right.”

She didn’t like to think about Erwin’s punishments. With him, every mistake, or imagined mistake, received a life sentence of punishments. He never forgot. He never forgave. Even after she’d apologized a hundred times, usually for something she didn’t do, he’d pull something from the past to blindside her.

When she didn’t say anything else, Mace prodded. “Did he spank you? Or give you corner time? What did he do?”

Was his voice tighter? “He never spanked me. He said he’d read some of the novels on my eReader and knew that I liked spanking, so that wouldn’t be a punishment.”

Mace growled out a word that would get her mouth washed out with soap. “I’m gonna go ahead and say your last Daddy wasn’t a Daddy. He was a dick.”

She giggled. For the first time in over a year, she giggled about Erwin the Vermin.

Mace pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m going to ask you something I know in advance I’m not going to like the answer to. If he wouldn’t spank you, what did he do to punish you?”

Shame heated her face. She didn’t want her new Daddy, temporary though he was, to know what a spineless idiot she’d been. How could she have put up with the way Erwin treated her? She should have been stronger and kicked him out of her life sooner.

Her voice lowered to a whisper. “He liked the silent treatment. Sometimes he didn’t speak to me for days, even though we were living in the same house. I cooked all the meals, did all the washing and cleaning, and paid the bills. He sat in front of the television and ignored me. He called it giving me time to reflect on my poor choices.”

“Fuck. No wonder you tried to put logs on the fire. What else did he do?”

Fiera was ready to change the conversation. She shrugged a shoulder, as if what she was about to share was no big deal. “Stuff to embarrass me in public. Like, you know, telling people all the things I did wrong when we were out shopping or at restaurants, or calling me names and laughing at me in front of anyone who would listen.”

“Hold on. The people in your hometown listened while he mocked you and laughed at you?”

She didn’t want him thinking badly about her friends back home in Wilder, even though he’d never meet them. “Oh, he never talked to the people who live there. But Wilder gets a lot of visitors and through traffic because we’re close to Yellowstone National Park. He talked to them.”

“I think I’m going to look ol’ Erwin up and have a nice long chat with him one day soon.”