Mastered by Malone (Haven, Texas 6)

He stared down at her breasts, not saying a word. She knew they were small. But then she guessed they were proportional. She was small all over. Some people might be envious of her size. But for her, it was a constant battle to stay in a healthy weight range and t

hese past few months had not helped that one bit. Anytime she got anxious or nervous or afraid, the first thing she did was stop eating. She’d lost close to fifteen pounds since the night she’d walked in to find her coworkers had all been murdered. And she didn’t have a hope in hell of gaining it back anytime soon. So, yeah, at the moment she was leaning towards gaunt and ill rather than svelte and sexy.

Not that she’d ever really been sexy.

“I know they’re small. Even before I lost all this weight, they were small. Not much I can do about it, I guess.”

She braced herself. Was he disappointed? Did he wish they were something more? Surely he’d noticed she had nothing there.

“How much weight have you lost?”

All right, that wasn’t what she’d expected him to focus on. “Um, about fifteen pounds last time I checked. Might have changed since then.”

“All right, then.” He nodded then leaned forward and reaching out, took hold of her chin in one hand, and cupped her right breast with the other hand. “I don’t care about their size or your size. So long as you’re healthy. And we’re going to work on that, aren’t we?”

She sucked in a breath as he twisted her nipple, it was painful. But, oh, how her clit throbbed in reaction.

Holy shit. This man was dynamite to her senses. How the hell was she ever going to survive her time with him? What if he ruined her for all other men?

But, then again, she’d kick herself if she didn’t give this a chance. Because tomorrow wasn’t a guaranteed thing for her. So she was going to grasp everything she could today. Including having Alec Malone strip her naked and play with her nipples.

“We are, Sir?”

“We are. Or have you forgotten your new rule for eating already?” He gave her a stern look.

“No, Sir. I haven’t.”

“Good.” He ran his thumb over her nipple. “These are gorgeous. Pink and perfect. I’m going to enjoy playing with them. I want you to stand now and go to the bottom drawer of my desk on the left-hand side. You’ll see a black box in there, bring it to me.”

He held out a hand to her. She put her hand in his, feeling the warmth and strength in his palm, the calluses that proved he wasn’t a man who sat around in his office, making everyone else do the hard work. He helped her stand and then turned her, giving her a sharp smack on her butt to get her moving.

Felt a bit weird, walking around with no top or bra on. Thankfully, he’d already pulled the blinds, so she didn’t have to worry about someone walking past and seeing her. The door to the office wasn’t locked, though. She glanced over at it worriedly.

“What’s your job?” he demanded suddenly.

She jumped and turned to look at him. “Um, to obey you. Please you.”

“And what should you be doing?”

“Getting the black box. Sir.”

“What should you not be doing?”

“Sir?”

“You don’t need to worry about someone walking in here. First of all, no one would without permission. Second, you’re only doing what I require of you. That’s your job. To please me. So why should you worry about who sees you?”

She gave him an incredulous look. Perhaps because one of his brothers could walk in and see her boobs? What would she do? Say? How could she look them in the eye again?

“What’s my role?” he demanded. “What do I do for you?”

Why did he keep talking about their roles? “Guide, teach, protect, and discipline.”

“That’s right. And protecting you doesn’t just mean I protect your body. It means I look after your emotions and your feelings. I’m not going to let anyone disrespect you or hurt you. You’re safe with me.”

Safe with him? She’d never been safe with anyone. The closest she’d ever felt was with her cousin. And this was nothing like that.

“Repeat it.”