“You’re mine, Ryan.” I felt his frame start to relax, so I leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “You’ve always been mine. All of my life, I’ve been waiting for your soul to find its way to me.” I pressed my lips against his ear and lightly kissed it. “And I’ve never, ever been just fucking you, Ryan. You mean everything tome.”
I could tell that he was coming back around to me the way his eyes darted around and skated by my chest.Pull him back.I patted my chest so he’d settle his eyes there.Come on, Ryan. Right here, my boy.I patted my chest again, and his eyes stopped zipping around and relaxed on mychest.
“Good boy, Ryan.” The corners of his mouth perked up ever so slightly, but it was progress. “When did Leonard callyou?”
“He didn’t call. Justtexts.”
“I need to see your phone,” I told him. “You’re not in trouble, my boy. I need to see what the text saidexactly.”
Ryan nodded, and I followed him down the hall to his bedroom. As he handed me the cell phone, he said, “There’s more than onetext.”
I looked down at the phone and opened the text string from Leonard. Jesus. I sat down on his bed as I read through the texts. There were eleven texts and five explicit pictures to be exact. Eleven texts that spanned from early morning to just a little while ago. The pictures were all of Leonard. Images either of his body to show off his grooming standards for a submissive, or showcasing his body in extreme play. The images were meant to rattleRyan.
Ryan had been subjected to this shit all day long. He hadn’t replied to a single one of them; he just ignored it quietly. It was no wonder where his head was at. I opened up his contacts list and found Leonard’s name and quickly hit the “block” option, then removed Leonard’s info from Ryan’s phone, forwarded the text string to my phone, and deleted the text string from his phone. He didn’t need this sitting around to gaze at when he felt down or second-guessingthings.
“Why didn’t you call me,Ryan?”
“You said something came up and that you’d call when youcould.”
“Ryan, my boy, you are always allowed to call or text. Rest assured that at my first opportunity, I will always reply toyou.”
“I’ll remember that, thankyou.”
My head was reeling from the content of the messages from Leonard. I would deal with that later, but at the moment, Ryan was my onlypriority.
“Are you tired, myboy?”
He nodded as I gently rubbed under his eyes and felt the puffy bags. I motioned with my head for him to get inbed.
“Are you staying?” he asked as he laiddown.
“Of course.” I pulled my clothes off except my boxer briefs and got into bed beside him. “Roll over, Ryan. I want to holdyou.”
Ryan obliged, and I put my hand under his shirt against hisstomach.
“Ryan, why didn’t you answer the phone earlier when I tried to callyou?”
“I was afraid,” hemurmured.
“What were you afraidof?”
“I was afraid to hear that it was over and that Leonard had beenright.”
“Leonard couldn’t be more wrong, and it’s not over between us. You’re mine,Ryan.”
I kissed his neck and pulled him closer. Leonard had been way out of line. I would have words with him in themorning.
* * *
Before I left Ryan’s,I confirmed with him the time that he’d be over to my house that afternoon. As soon as I sorted out this shit with Leonard, I needed to sit down with Ryan and talk to him about my long day yesterday. He had been so wiped out last night that he hadn’t even asked me where I had been all day. I was certain that he had been curious, but perhaps he felt that he was just being polite by not asking. He had slept mostly through the night and only woke up briefly at one point. All it took to settle him down was a gentle kiss on his shoulder to remind him that I was there, and I tugged him a littlecloser.
“3:00 this afternoon,” he said with a smile. “Will you give me a session this afternoon?” he eagerlyasked.
“We’ll see. I believe that can be arranged, but first, I needed to talk to you about my dayyesterday.”
“Is itbad?”
I smiled at him and then kissed him. I patted his side and shook myhead.
