33. Chapter Thirty-Two
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
MARGERY
M argery’s heart stopped beating as she took in the sight before her. Daddy was bleeding.
Daddy. Was. Bleeding.
Her whole body froze as he continued to walk. Her eyes were trained on his arm. It looked like it was still bleeding. What had happened? How did he get hurt? How long ago was it?
Tears pooled in her eyes as he sat on a chair. He didn’t look fazed by what was going on. How many times had he gotten hurt like this? Why wasn’t he showing he was in pain? Did it not hurt?
“Little one? Can you look at Daddy’s eyes and not his arm?” he gently said.
But Margery didn’t look away. Blood continued to track down his arm.
Was Daddy going to die? Was he going to get an infection and die for real? Margery wasn’t ready to lose him. She had just found out he was alive. She wasn’t ready to let go of him. Not when he promised the rest of their lives together.
“Margery,” he calmly spoke. “Can you look Daddy in the eyes?”
She blinked several times, letting the tears fall down her face. Just thinking about him dying made her realize that she wanted to be with him. She didn’t want to let him go.
“Are you going to die?” she whispered, her voice so broken.
“Oh, Little one. Come to Daddy.”
Margery shook her head and took a step back. She didn’t want to watch him die. It was not on her list of things to see today.
“Clinton. Help.”
Before she knew what was happening, strong arms wrapped around her. She screamed and started to kick her legs.
“You’re okay,” Uncle Clinton whispered in her ear.
“No. No. No. I don’t want to watch him die. Take me back. Help me,” she begged.
Margery continued to kick her legs, trying to get out of his grip. She didn’t want to be anywhere near Daddy right now. She wanted to be as far away as possible.
Who wanted to watch a loved one die?
She didn’t. Some people might want to spend the last couple of hours with them, but she didn’t. There was no way she wanted that. Not when she had just got Ethan back.
Clinton gently placed her on Daddy’s lap. Before she could move, Daddy had his arms around her.
“No. No. No,” she chanted over and over again .
Margery tried to get out of his grasp, but when he groaned in pain, she stopped. Her eyes went wide as she stared at him. She had completely forgotten about his arm.
“Margery. I need you to calm down for Daddy.”
She cried out and shook her head.
“Look at Daddy. Now,” Daddy’s instructed.
Her eyes found his, and he gave her a gentle smile.
“Such a good girl. Daddy’s good girl. Now, take a deep breath in for Daddy. Hold it. And let it slowly out. Such a good girl. Let’s do it again. Deep breath in. Hold it. And slowly, let it out. You’re such a good girl.”
She started to melt into his embrace. She absolutely loved being called his good girl. The way his voice went deeper. Butterflies in her stomach was the only way to describe it accurately.
“But what if you die?” she whispered, feeling herself starting to panic once again.
Daddy cupped her face and gently rubbed his thumb over her cheek. Margery leaned into his hand, trying to keep herself from being alarmed. But it was hard when she continued to think about him leaving her again. He hadn’t denied it either, which made her think he was dying. If he wasn’t, wouldn’t he have said something already? Why wasn’t he saying anything?
“Ah, no panicking. You’re okay. Daddy isn’t dying. He just got a boo-boo and needs Uncle Dahmere to check him out. But Daddy isn’t dying. I promise,” he cooed at her.
She stared at him for several seconds. Was he telling the truth, or was he just saying that to keep her calm?
She shook her head and let the tears fall once again. She didn’t like this. There was no reason for Daddy to lie to her. Okay, maybe there was.
“I promise, Little one. Daddy just has a little boo-boo. Nothing else.”
She looked down at Daddy’s arm and saw all of the blood soaking his shirt and running down his arm. It didn’t look like he was okay. It looked like he had lost a lot of blood, and something was wrong.
“How about this? How about we make a pinky promise? You can’t break pinky promises. If you do, the other person gets to break your pinky.”
Her eyebrows went up.
“Promise?” she whispered.
“I promise, baby, and if I lie, we have five other witnesses.”
Her eyes went wide as he mentioned the other people. She had completely forgotten there were other people in the room. They were all so quiet.
Everyone gave her a smile as she looked around the room. Actually, not everyone. Matthias was the last person she looked at, and he definitely wasn’t smiling. If anything, he was scowling and glaring at her.
“Now, let’s pinky promise so Uncle Dahmere can check over my arm,” Daddy said as he pulled back both of his hands. She saw the smallest of winces when he moved his left arm.
“I’m sorry I keep hurting you. I don’t mean to,” she wailed. He had winced and groaned in pain several times. Why did she have to keep hurting him? Why couldn’t she just get over it so he could stop moving ?
Because she cared for him and didn’t want anything bad to happen.
“I wouldn’t have moved my arm if I didn’t want to. You needed Daddy, and a little pain never killed me. You’re okay. You haven’t hurt me. Everything is fine.”
Daddy ran his good hand through her hair, trying to calm her. Margery closed her eyes for several seconds and took deep breaths like he had told her before. She needed to stop freaking out so easily. Especially if she was going to stay here. Who knew how many times he was going to come home like this? She couldn’t worry and be like this every single time.
But she also couldn’t see herself not worrying. He was the love of her life. His job was dangerous. She knew anytime he went out; there would always be a reason to panic and fret about him.
“I pinky promise that I’m going to be okay right now. You can break my pinky if I lie,” Daddy said as he held his pinky out.
“Won’t do her any good if you’re dead,” Matthias mumbled, but she clearly heard it.
Margery sobbed. Even Matthias thought that Daddy was dying.
“Way to fucking go. You don’t say that to a Little who is clearly in distress. That’s the kind of thing you keep to yourself.” Uncle Clinton hit Matthias on the arm.
Daddy cupped her face once again. “I’m not going to die. I promise you that. I will always be here. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Margery figured Daddy wasn’t lying, but Matthias also looked dead serious. And the fact that Uncle Clinton said it wasn’t something to tell a Little made her think that it was true.
“Uncle Math is just being a turd. He just wanted the attention on him and not you and your Daddy. Don’t pay any attention to him,” Uncle Clinton gently said. “How about you guys pinky promise so Uncle Dahmere can look at your Daddy’s arm? That way, your Daddy can take care of you after. None of us will be around, it’ll just be you two. I know you would like that.”
She looked back at Daddy, and he gave her one of his most soft and patient smiles. Margery didn’t even know how she could tell it was a patient smile, but deep down, she knew it was. He must be in so much pain, but he was making sure she was okay. He was putting her in front of him and what he needed.
“Okay, Daddy,” she whispered. “Pinky promise.”
Margery held out her pinky, and Daddy connected it.
“There, now, if I somehow break it, you can break my pinky.”
If Daddy did end up breaking the promise, she would gladly break his pinky. Margery giggled at the thought. She would have never imagined she would want to do that ever in her life, but there she was thinking about it.
“And what’s that giggle for?” Daddy tickled her side.
“I’m going to need you to sit very still, Margery, while I look at your Daddy’s arm. Do you think you can do that for me?” Uncle Dahmere asked at the same time.
She looked over at him to see he was starting to pull back the sleeve .
“No looking either. You just look your Daddy in the eyes and talk to him. Pretend I’m not even here.”
She nodded and looked back at Daddy, worry churned inside of her at the thought of him being in pain.
“Can you tell Daddy why you were giggling? What was going on inside of your head?” Daddy queried.
Margery’s attention was brought back to him. She was trying her best not to think about what Uncle Dahmere was doing to his arm. She was curious, but she knew it wouldn’t be good for her to look. That was one way for her to start panicking all over again.
Maybe even worse if she saw how he got it.
What had happened to make him bleed that much? Did she want to know? Or was it going to make her get even more worked up?
“Little one. I’m waiting for your answer. Does Daddy need to spank you to get your mind back on me?”
Margery quickly shook her head. There was absolutely no reason he needed to spank her. Especially in front of everyone else.
“I was just thinking about if the promise got broken, I would enjoy breaking your pinky,” she rushed out.
There was no way she was going to wait to see if he would actually spank her or not. It wasn’t on her agenda.
Daddy blinked at her several times. Is what she said bad? She didn’t think it was.
“Did Marg really just say that?” Uncle Clinton asked.
“Eyes on me,” Daddy finally spoke.
Margery hadn’t even realized that her eyes had started to wander. She just wanted to look over. She kept forgetting there were other people in the room.
“Such a good girl,” Daddy praised her. “My good girl.”
She continued to look at him, trying her best to keep her attention on him.
“If the promise does get broken, you can break both of my pinkies. And there’s nothing wrong with you getting satisfaction from that. You should because it would have been me who broke the promise and knew the consequences.”
Margery nodded, not feeling bad any longer. That was what she had been worried about.
“Part of me wants you to make another promise and break it so I can see her break your pinkies,” one of the men she didn’t know spoke. Daddy narrowed his eyes on her, and she smiled. That time, her gaze had started to drift, and she knew. She wanted to see who the person was.
“That’s just Ren, another of my men,” Daddy explained.
Margery wanted to know who he was, but that was going to have to wait. Uncle Dahmere was still working on Daddy’s arm, or she thought he was. Daddy hadn’t winced once, which made her think he wasn’t doing anything.
It was so tempting to look away and see what Uncle Dahmere was doing.
“You look away, and you’ll be getting yourself a spanking,” Daddy informed her.
She held her breath for several seconds. She was not expecting Daddy to say that out loud. Not in front of his men. Was he not embarrassed?
“Breathe,” Daddy reminded her. “What’s wrong? Why are you holding your breath? ”
Margery didn’t want to bring it up. What if he had also forgotten that they had people around them? She didn’t want to bring any attention to that in case they didn’t catch on.
“Margery. Tell Daddy why you were holding your breath.”
Everything in her wanted to see if the other people were paying attention. Should she whisper? Was that what Daddy would want?
“Come on, Little one. Tell Daddy. You’re okay, and you’re safe. Why were you holding your breath?”
Clenching her jaw, she closed her eyes for a second before opening them.
“Did you mean to say that out loud?” she whispered.
She wanted to be safe rather than sorry. What if he hadn’t meant it to be said out loud? She didn’t want him to get angry if she brought attention to it.
“Did I mean to say what out loud?” he asked.
“About you spanking me,” she whispered once again.
Understanding flew across his face, and he gave her a gentle smile. With his unhurt hand, he cupped her cheek.
“Little one, all of my men are Doms in some way. But the men in this room, all of them are Daddies. They know Little girls get into trouble; they can’t help it. It’s nothing they haven’t heard before. We’re not going to be embarrassed about it. But if you really don’t like me saying those kinds of things out loud in front of them, I’ll keep it to when we’re just together. You just let me know what you’re comfortable with.”
Margery was trying to get her brain around what he had just said. She knew Uncle Dahmere and Uncle Clinton were Daddies, but she didn’t know about Matthias or the other two men.
“You just let me know whenever and don’t think about what I would want. Think about what would make you comfortable. I can find some pretty good ways to let you know you’re on thin ice without actually saying it. But I want to do what will make you comfortable, not me. Understand?”
She nodded. It made sense, and she was glad he clarified it because she would have thought about what he wanted and not necessarily what made her comfortable. Margery wanted to make Daddy happy.
“Words, Little one. You know Daddy likes words.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
His body relaxed underneath her as she spoke those words.
“I told you, Little lady. Your Daddy and I are very similar. We both like words; I tried to warn you,” Uncle Clinton said.
“Did he?” Daddy asked.
Margery nodded her head. “Yes, he did,” she quickly added.
She had a feeling if she continued to forget to respond verbally there were going to be consequences. She didn’t want that. But she was going to have to talk to Daddy because when she felt Little, sometimes she didn’t feel like speaking. Margery didn’t want to get in trouble about that.
“I can see something swirling in your eyes. When we’re alone, you can tell me,” Daddy whispered. “And as for Uncle Clinton reminding you, I would pay attention. He and I are similar. You probably don’t want your butt to be on fire for not answering.”
Her eyes went wide as she stared at Daddy. She was expecting maybe some corner time or lines for not verbally responding, but a spanking? Margery was not expecting that, nor did she want it.
“Seems kind of harsh,” she mumbled.
Daddy chuckled and nodded. “It’ll make you learn. Verbal responses make sure that there will be less miscommunication. I would like to avoid having that as much as possible.”
Margery hadn’t thought about it that way. She figured it was just some dominant thing to say. She didn’t actually think there was a reason behind it. Even in the books she read, they never explained that it could possibly help with communication.
“Have I told you how much of a good girl you are?” Daddy asked.
How much longer was Uncle Dahmere going to take? How bad was Daddy’s arm? Was he going to lose it? Was Uncle Dahmere assessing the damage to see how much he was going to take off?
“Ah, Little one. No need to panic. You’re okay. Take a deep breath for Daddy. Hold it for a couple of seconds, and now let it out. Such a good girl. Let’s do that one more time. Deep breath in. Hold. And slowly let it out. Such a good girl. My good Little girl.”
Margery was trying so hard to be brave, but it was getting increasingly harder. She wasn’t much of a crier, but right now, she wanted to break down in Daddy’s arms. She wanted him to hold her until she stopped. But she needed to be brave for him.
“You’re such a brave girl. My brave Little girl. But soon you won’t have to be so strong and you can let Daddy take care of you. Once Uncle Dahmere is finished, it’ll be just you and me.”
It sounded so appealing. She couldn’t wait until she could let all of her emotions out.
“We’re almost done,” Uncle Dahmere announced.
Margery took several deep breaths in. She had made it this long, she could make it a couple more minutes. Or at least that’s what she was telling herself. Margery honestly didn’t know how much longer she could keep it up. She was starting to crack.
“You are such a good girl. Daddy is so proud of you. I think once this is all over, you should get a good girl reward.”
Margery’s eyebrows went up as he said that. What did a good girl reward entail? But before she could ask, Daddy started to chuckle.
“I see that caught your attention, and it should have. Your good girl reward can be anything… within reason. Want a bowl of ice cream? You’ve got it. Don’t want ice cream but want a full body massage? You got it. That will be one-handed, though. I’m sure Uncle Dahmere will tell me not to use my arm for a couple of days, but that’s okay. Just means it’ll be a long and nice massage. Or, if you don’t want either of those, and you just want pleasure, I can do that, too.”
Margery let out a soft moan at the thought of him pleasuring her. She had been turned on so many times and hadn’t been able to find release. Every single time she had tried, it never worked. There was something missing, and she knew what.
Him .
“Hmmm, I think my girl likes the idea of the last thing I said. Well, once Uncle Dahmere is done, I can give you pleasure, and then we can snuggle and relax.”
And once again, she was brought back to reality. There were several other people in the room, no doubt listening to their conversation. Without thinking, Margery put her head against Daddy’s chest; how could she have forgotten again? Daddy was just so good about making her solely focus on him and nothing else. Making her forget about everyone else.
“Don’t worry. None of them are paying attention. I promise you. They didn’t hear a word I said or saw your reaction. I wouldn’t do that to you. Not unless you wanted it, but we haven’t talked about that.”
That didn’t help Margery take her head out of his embrace. Was he saying that so she didn’t panic? Or was he telling the truth? Margery couldn’t decide either way.
“I know you want to be in the loop about things. I want you to know we are actively trying to find who. But tonight, someone threatened that they are coming after you,” Daddy gently said.
Margery’s breathing picked up. Someone was after her? Was she going to die?
“Nothing is going to happen. I’m not going to allow it to. I want you to know that. We are finding the people. They won’t get close to you but I wanted you to know. I didn’t want to keep you in the dark.”
“Thank you.” There were the nerves in her voice.
She already had Daddy stalking her once. She didn’t know she wasn’t in any danger at the time, but this was different. She was in real danger.
“Little one, nothing is going to happen. We aren’t going to allow it to, I promise.”
But would he be able to keep her safe the whole time? He wasn’t always going to be with her. How was he going to keep her safe then?
“Marg, talk to me,” Ethan gently said.
She blinked several times, not knowing what to say. What did he want her to say?
“What?” was the first thing to come out of her mouth.
“Just talk to me. Anything at all.” He looked worried.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re going to be safe. No one will be able to get to you.”
“But you won’t always be with me.”
“If I’m not then two of my men will. They will always be diligent and keep an eye out.”
While that eased her worries, it also didn’t. Two of his men. Margery knew he had a lot of men, but she didn’t know them. There was no way she was going to be comfortable.
“I can see the worry on your face. It won’t be random men of mine; it’ll be people you know. I promise.” Daddy ran his hand up and down her spine.
She kept her face in his chest, aware of his even breaths. Margery was trying to copy his pattern to keep herself calm.
“You are such a good girl,” Daddy whispered. “I’m so proud of you.”
And there went her heartstrings again, tugging with every word he said.
“All done. It was a nasty graze, but you should be good. Don’t do anything too strenuous with this arm for a couple of days. Let it have time to start healing. Thankfully, it’s not your dominant arm, so it won’t hinder you too much,” Uncle Dahmere explained.
Margery pulled her head out of Daddy’s chest and looked over. Uncle Dahmere had bandaged Daddy’s arm and nobody could see anything. She was partially glad because she knew every single time she saw it, she would freak out. This way, she knew it was there, but she couldn’t see how bad it was.
“Keep it covered when you’re active, but let it air dry when you can. You know the drill, but I have to remind you, or else Brad will be on my ass about not properly informing you.” Uncle Dahmere rolled his eyes.
“Don’t want your ass beat?” Uncle Clinton chuckled. “I would pay to see that.”
“Never going to happen,” he growled.
“Thank you for staying with Margery while I was out. You guys can go. We’ll see you tomorrow,” Daddy spoke before anyone else could.