I smile and squeeze his hand again. “Good.”
“Can I call you Master?”
No shit, my cock’s as hard as iron right now. “When we’re alone, yes. If you want to.”
He nods. “I want to.”
Ah, this boy is going to be the death of me, I can tell already. He’s managed to burrow inside my soul without even trying. I know I shouldn’t let my heart get ahead of my brain—or the literal situation—but it’s difficult not to picture us spending holidays with my parents, or going to church together.
Or getting married in a church.
Of putting him on his knees with a collar around his neck, attached to a leash wrapped around my hand.
Fortunately, our server arrives with our miso soup and derails my train of thought and wildly expanding fantasies.
For now.
* * * *
The walk back to our residence hall is a little slower because we’re both full of sushi. I let the comfortable silence lay between us until Ward speaks. “It still amazes me how much they deliberately lied to me about for all of my life.”
“Your parents?”
“Everyone. Them, the church, my teachers.” He snorts. “They told us the Earth was only six thousand years old. That dinosaur bones were actually just a test from God. I knew that was BS when I was in high school, but I had to pretend to go along with it so I didn’t get into trouble.”
“Traditionally, authoritarian regimes like to keep the masses stupid and superstitious so they’re more easily controlled. You tell them that you’re the only authority they can trust, and build upon that. It’s a playbook as old as human civilization. Doesn’t matter if it’s governments or religions, the result’s the same.”
“Is it normal for me to feel so…angry?”
“Probably. But I’m not a psych major.”
We walk for another minute. “Would you be angry?”
“Yep. I was lucky, though. I was raised by a science teacher and a man who understands how the world works. Beyond Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy when we were really little, they didn’t bullshit us. They raised us knowing it was okay to ask questions or to not have answers.”
“Even about religion?”
Not the first time he’s asked a variation of that question, but…Igetit. He still finds it hard to believe more than one way can be “right” when it comes to faith. “Even about religion.”
He stops and turns to me, staring up into my eyes. “I don’t want to be lied to.”
“Neither do I, buddy.”
He chews on his lip again. It’s completely adorable the way he does that. “What do we need to buy?” While he keeps his voice low, his gaze steadily burns into mine.
I smile. “Let’s detour by the drugstore.”
He nods, and we change direction, heading a block over. I keep my eye on him for any sign of nerves because the last thing I want to do is bork this and scare him off. I’d rather hold off and delay this than do that.
But he looks me in the eye as we head inside, then falls back a step to let me lead the way to the “family planning” section.
Which is an antiquated way of saying things, I guess.
I grab condoms and lube, and a couple of other items that will be convenient to have on hand, and head for the checkout.
While my budget will take a hit, I plan on buying, but Ward pulls out his wallet and pays cash for it all.
I let him. If he’s going to take initiative like this, it’s a good sign.
