“Please leave.”
“Twelve seconds.”
“I fucked up, Sir.”
“No cursing. Call me Daddy. Believe me when I say you are in enough trouble.”
Shaking my head, I rubbed my eyes. Being alone with King made me cry way too often for my liking. It was as if everything I’d been trying to do the past several years had been at the expense of my emotions. I’d been working to live instead of enjoying all that I had. My mind thought of endless reasons why things didn’t align the way they should instead of being grateful. It was a slippery slope.
“Did you think it would be funny for Daddy to go for a swim in your tub?”
“No, Daddy. I thought maybe if I actually misbehaved that you’d see I wasn’t worth your time. I thought it might clear some of the crap that’s pushing down on me. I apologize, Daddy. It didn’t help either one of us.”
“No, it didn’t.”
Kingston helped me out of the tub, drying my hair and then wrapping a towel around my waist before leading me into my room. He dressed me without fussing, focusing on my comfort even though I felt like I hadn’t earned it. Watching him walk into my closet, he returned with clothing I didn’t recall seeing.
“Do you have a magic portal to your closet through mine?”
“Not exactly. I brought an extra bag a few weeks ago in case I needed something.”
Wearing navy lounge pants that looked tailor-made like all the rest of his pants and a gray henley shirt made him even more handsome. Even simple clothes flattered his muscles and overall physique. Sighing, I knew without a doubt I wouldn’t like the plans for the rest of our day.
“Do you work tonight, Daddy?”
“No.” He sat on the edge of the bed and held out his palm. “Get over my lap.”
“I thought you weren’t going to punish me.”
“One.”
“Clarify.”
“You are not making demands here, little prince. Lap. Now.”
Folding myself across King’s thighs, I tried not to think about what was going to happen next. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Are you poking and testing strictly because you’ve never been in a Little headspace around someone else?”
“That’s part of it.”
“Very good. Are you pushing me away because you’re afraid to show me your beautiful soul underneath all the other things that have been bogging you down?”
“That’s also part of it,” I admitted.
“Do you trust me to take care of you?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Every single part of you?”
He gently stroked my hair as I laid there tracing patterns on his knee. “Yes, Daddy. Every single part.”
“I’m proud of you, Reed. It can be scary to allow someone to see all the bits and pieces that make up you. I’ll never judge you. Not when I’ve been judged my entire life. It’s something the three of us have in common.”
“I never thought about it.”
“Do you know how many times I’d approach someone in a bar and be told to crawl back into the fashion magazine I fell out of?”
