“Oh. Okay.” I nodded, the heat returning to my cheeks.
“I know some other Daddies who are looking for boys.” He slid his knuckles over my cheek, and I leaned into his touch. “They can help you spread your wings and learn coping strategies.”
“Coping strategies?” I asked tentatively.
“You have a lot going on in your life. They can take care of you. That’s what you need, Max. Someone to take care of you.”
I nodded. “Yes, I’d like that a lot.”
“Okay. I’ll reach out to some guys today. We can even video call them later if you want to talk with them.” He slid his palm over my jaw, and I nearly let out a whimper, but I clamped my lips together.
“So soon?”
“Yes. You need someone, boy. I wouldn’t feel right letting this go.”
“Okay,” I said simply. I found it was easier to agree with things, even if right now my heart and body wanted JP. He was right, though. I’d fucked up, and we couldn’t risk pissing off Mr. Elwood. I needed this job, and he needed his, too.
“You’re such a good boy,” he whispered, leaning forward to kiss me so gently that I wondered if we actually touched mouths.
I shivered. “Thank you, Daddy.”
7
JP
Max turned and nuzzled himself sideways against my chest with both of his legs slung over one of mine, stretching his feet toward the arm of the couch. I was comfortable, no doubt about it, and I happily sat and held him close. One of my hands had a mind of its own and inched down his side to rest on the slight curve of his waist. He was thin enough that I could cup him and actually have my hand feel the bend to both sides of his body. He leaned heavily against me, a barely audible exhalation sending a rush of tingles through my chest, and his eyelids closed so that his lashes rested on his cheeks. My body went light, the blood in my veins replaced by helium, and I fought not to give away my pleasure in this simple moment.
It had been a long time since I’d felt this way, if I ever really had. When I was younger, even just a couple of years ago, sex was always a frantic search for relief. There hadn’t been as much touching and caressing and enjoyment in my partners.
I’d been so arrogant in thinking I would be able to get off and move on without a hitch. Maybe if this stolen gentle time had never happened, I could have pushed him from my mind without a problem. I should bring it to an end right now. I dropped my cheek to the top of his head, gave in, and enjoyed his body heat. Passing him to someone else wouldn’t be pleasant; however, I’d always done what I needed to do, damn the consequences. This silly pseudorelationship was never meant to be.
Still, I casually rubbed my hand up and down his side, and a shiver racked him that had my cock taking an interest. Tension coiled in my groin and my cockhead throbbed. Our barely there teasing, him simply letting me hold him, went on for long enough that I was eventually hard as fuck, and he had a cute bulge in his pants I wanted to play with. I crept my hand down his hip and licked my lips. Maybe I could give him a real lesson in cocksucking.
My phone sounded off from the kitchen and he shuddered, burying his face against my chest. Warm puffs of air tickled through my shirt. I wanted to touch him for real, and I gave in, slipping my hand under the hem of his shirt to skate it along to the soft skin on his flat belly. He sucked in his stomach until it was a concave valley of silky flesh, and I rubbed my fingers there. Another shiver, a sharp inhale of breath, hips gently rocking.
Fuck me, he was edible, and I couldn’t fucking keep him. And yet, with him right here in the house, in front of me, I couldn’t talk myself into leaving him alone. He would either have to leave or belong to someone else for this to work. I could keep my hands off other people’s property.
My phone in the kitchen went off again, this time the chime for a message.
Smirking, I wriggled my fingers until he was kicking his legs and twisting against me, and then a small, surprised laugh burst out of him and he glanced up, dark eyes shining with hesitant amusement, almost like he was worried he’d get into trouble for being happy. My heart twisted and I breathed out. Yes, even if I couldn’t keep him—which I knew damned well I couldn’t—he needed someone to help him get himself together and explore his needs. Someone to care for him.
Extracting my hand from under his shirt was a monumental effort. “Okay, Max,” I murmured. “No more porn this morning, or I’ll….” My good mood withered away completely. I would do absolutely nothing to him for watching porn because I would not be reprising the role of Daddy with him ever again. “No more, okay?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
My heart hitched at the smooth, easy response. True sadness settled into me and I was surprised by the intensity of it. I liked the complicated puzzle that Max presented; sweetness was hidden in him and needed someone to help it see the light of day, and he was smart and eager. I ran my thumb along his cheek but steered well away from those lips that had sucked me last night with so much enthusiasm. I didn’t shove my digit between the softness to feel the heat of his mouth, the way I would have liked. I didn’t strip him bare and set him to work that way, simply for the pleasure of seeing his pretty skin all day.
Fuck, this could have been so much fun if things were a little different. Stupid in the end, most likely, though satisfying for both of us.
But all the reasons diddling Maxwell Kalinski was a bad idea last night were still true this morning. Vane might be able to get away with his confabulation of half lies he’d told everyone and come out smelling like a rose, but his gray morals made it even more imperative everyone around him looked good. I highly doubted me schtupping hisnewassistant would end in the same accolades he’d managed to have sprinkled on his affair turned engagement.
Oh well. There would be someone else eventually. Holding the weight of Max against me, though, made waiting for some anonymoussomeone,somedayseem even worse. Why the fuck had I done this to myself? And to him.
At the core of it all, I still wasn’t sure I could trust Max. He blinked dark eyes at me, and my stomach trembled with the questions I saw boiling there, begging for answers. Maybe if I knew he would keep his mouth shut until some time had passed, that he wouldn’t toss me under the first useful bus that came by, in order to advance himself in some way, I would still do it. So much of life came down to trust. My fantasy situation—the one where I had everything I wanted—wasn’t the true one, though. Vane would still be madder than a wet cat over it all, since he had trusted me to do the best things for him, Midberry would be irritated in that snarky way of his, and his assistant, Mark, would take me sidestepping out of my role as bulldog for city hall as a personal slight.
Holding Max tighter, I enjoyed him for as long as I could before my phone sounded off from the kitchen yet again with another text that had me gritting my teeth.
“Work.”
