Page 25 of Cage

“Good girl. That’s good, firefly. Keep counting.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut.

How humiliating. Did his family notice that I was panicking? Cage is probably embarrassed to have me here.

“Look at me, baby.” His voice is quiet and gentle, yet I want to obey him. To please him. Why do I want to make Cage happy?

Slowly, I lift my lids and meet his gaze. He doesn’t look scary right now. Instead, his forehead is creased with concern.

“That’s better,” he murmurs. “That’s a good girl.”

My bottom lip trembles, but I fight the urge to burst into tears.

“I want you to listen to me, Ember. Are you listening?”

I nod, keeping my eyes on him.

“The next time you feel yourself getting anxious, I want you to come to me. Tell me. Touch me or give me a look. I don’t care. Let me know because expecting yourself to just get over it isn’t healthy. I don’t want you to have to deal with it alone. Okay?”

There he goes, being so kind and sweet again.

“It was just a lot. Being around a lot of new people is hard for me. I didn’t mean to ruin your night.”

Cage chuckles and squeezes my knee. “If you think that could possibly ruin my night, you have a lot to learn about me, firefly. I know it’s hard to believe, but having someone to take care of is where I thrive.”

Ouch. When he said someone and not me specifically shouldn’t hurt like it does. I’m nobody to him. That’s fine. He’s only my bodyguard. Nothing more. Besides, I don’t want just anyone. I want a Daddy.

The memory of Rowena leaning against Theo while sucking a pacifier pops into my mind.

“How come Rowena uses a pacifier?”

There’s an obvious answer to that, but that kind of stuff doesn’t actually happen in real life. Not that I haven’t thought about it.

“Because she has anxiety too, and it helps with that,” Cage replies.

“Oh. That makes sense.” I nod, a pang of disappointment in the pit of my tummy.

“She’s also a Little,” he adds. “Just like you are.”

Every nerve in my body tenses. Oh, God. Am I that obvious? Maybe that’s why I got picked on so much in school. No matter what I try to do, I can’t hide that side of myself well enough.

“No, I’m not.” Deny, deny, deny. Maybe if I deny it enough, it will happen.

I’ve tried that before, though. My Little side is part of me in a way I can’t control. As badly as I wish I was normal, I know I’m not. I never have been. He’ll think I’m a freak if he knows the truth.

My breathing becomes shallow as I start to panic all over again.

“Ember Elizabeth, lie to me one more time and see what happens,” Cage says firmly.

My attention snaps to him, pulling me out of the dark hole I was heading down. My chin drops. “You can’t threaten me.”

What was he threatening me with? Was he saying he would spank me? Of course he wasn’t. Duh. I’m so stupid to even think that’s what he was implying.

“Baby girl, I can do whatever I want.” He smirks and reaches out to tap my nose. “Lying is against the rules. So, let’s try that again. Rowena is Little, just like you are. Am I wrong?”

“You can’t do whatever you want.”

Great. Awesome, Ember. Phenomenal response.