Oh. So, he’d seen me, too. In fact, the way he was looking at me gave me the impression that he’d been watching me for a bit,which sent a shiver down my spine that was cold and creepy feeling, nothing like the deliciously warm shivers I got every time Edward looked my way.
I couldn’t, though—couldnot—compare every other man to Edward, or else none of them wouldeverlook good. So I tried to pretend I didn’t want to turn and run the other way and gave him a little wave, trying to smile.
He didn’t smile back, just skimmed his eyes up and down my body in a proprietary way that made me feel kind of gross… which probably meant I reallywasn’tcut out to have a Daddy.
When I’d been looking at stuff online and imagining what I wanted for myself, I’d always thought it would feel nice to have a Daddy be possessive of me. That it would feel amazing to be special to someone like that. That if I ever got a Daddy of my own, I’d want nothing more than to have him stake a claim and make sure everyone knew I was his. To feel… to feelowned.
But when Daryl’s lips finally curved up in a lascivious-looking smirk and he beckoned to me in a clear command to come closer, his whole demeanor like he thought hedidalready own me, I realized I was wrong. I didn’t like it at all.
I flushed, an uncomfortable heat prickling my skin, and instead of going to him, I inched behind Sam, as if his bouncy little body might protect me from feeling stripped bare by Daryl’s assessing gaze.
“Wait, is that him?” Sam whispered… really, really loudly.
“Yes,” I said as Daryl frowned, his eyes flicking away from me to narrow menacingly at Sam for a moment.
Oh, shoot. Daryl didn’t seem like the type who’d be as nice as Edward had been about Sam treating him rudely, and it wasn’t fair of me to cause problems for Sam by hiding behind him this way. And even though I didn’t really want to, I did want to be a good friend and keep Daryl’s attention off Sam, so—
“I suppose I should go say hi?”
Sam wrinkled his nose, and just then, a pretty little twink type in a tiny pair of painted-on shorts and a Hello Kitty T-shirt—one so tight that I could see his nipples through it—bounced up to Daryl and held a beverage cup out to him.
“Oh, good, you don’t have to,” Sam said, waving a hand dismissively. “He’s already got a boy.”
And I would have happily let the Hello Kitty boy have him, but Daryl hadn’t even looked at him. His eyes stayed locked onto me as he ignored the offered drink that he’d probably told the boy to go get for him in the first place, and then he stood up, ignoring the suddenly crestfallen boy completely, and started moving through the crowd toward Sam and me.
That… wasn’t very nice of him.
Although I couldn’t help thinking maybe the boy would be better off offering a drink to a different Daddy. Or even finding one who’d gethima drink, instead.
“I don’t think I want to meet Daryl after all,” I admitted, scooting a little farther behind Sam, despite my good intentions earlier to keep Sam out of Daryl’s way.
Sam was shorter and didn’t make much of a shield. Except he kind of did, since he got so loud and seemed to say whatever he wanted and sort of puffed up like a blowfish when he got all worked up, the way he’d been doing to Edward ever since he’d realized Edward had “stolen” my hotel room.
“You don’t have to,” Sam said decisively, right as Daryl finally reached us.
He ignored Sam completely.
“You’re Rene,” Daryl said, his voice way more nasally than I’d expected. Before I could even answer, he grabbed my arm and physically pulled me out from behind Sam, looking me up and down with that creepy proprietary look again. “You’ll definitely do. Not sure I like what you’re wearing, but you’re still hotter than that one.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, in the direction of the dejected-looking Hello Kitty twink.
“Oh my God, let go of Rene!” Sam said, fearlessly shoving Daryl’s chest even though Daryl was twice Sam’s size. “You arenota real Daddy!”
Daryl laughed, a mean-sounding one. “Wrong, Ginger,” he said, not even budging from Sam’s shove… and not letting go of me, either. “Nothing I like better than to hear a boy call me Daddy while I teach him how I like my dick sucked. Ain’t that what you little boys all like? Sucking on things? Having a man take you in hand? Dressing up in tight, sexy clothes one size too small, so Daddy has to spank the slut out of you and teach you how to behave?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head frantically and trying to yank my arm away from him. That… that wasn’t it at all.
Daryl hadn’t been this crass online, and I couldn’t speak for all boys, butIdidn’t want a Daddy who’d doanyof the stuff he’d said. Not like that, anyway.
“You give Daddies a bad name! How did you even get in here?” Sam shouted, looking like steam was about to come out of his ears. “I work for The Plazerra, and I’m officially banning you!”
Daryl smiled, but it just made him look scary. “We ain’t at The Plazerra right now, boy. And even though I don’t mind double-dipping my wick sometimes, you’re not my type, so fuck off and go find another Daddy to play with while I get to know pretty little Rene here a little better.” He turned his eyes back on me, and added a leering, “Been looking forward tothatever since his profile popped up.”
I flinched. I couldn’t help it. I’d been flattered when a Daddy actually reached out to me on Cuffd so quickly after I’d gotten up the guts to post my profile, and it had made me feel like maybe I really could have some of what I’d been reading about online when Daryl had told me I should make my profile private until he taught me a little about being a good boy.
But now, the idea of whathemust have meant by that versus what I’d been thinking just made me feel stupid.
“I don’t think I want to get to know you anymore,” I said, trying to pry his hand off my arm as my heart did its best to pound its way right through my rib cage.
It was okay, though. It would be fine. He wasn’t at all like I’d expected and nothing like I wanted, but I’d said no and we were right in the middle of the park with a bunch of other people around, so nothing bad could happen, right? Even if… if Daryl was holding on to me too tightly and being horrible to Sam and actually starting to scare me a little.
