But somehow, it suited him. Better than it should have. Better than I’d seen it suit anyone else.
I let the moment settle before I spoke, voice calm and even. “You can read,” I said. “Watch something. Sit outside. Explore the yard.” I met his eyes. “This property is yours to move through. You can do anything here you want to do.”
I meant it. Because freedom wasn’t just about space. It was about knowing you were allowed to take up room in it.
“Can…” Charlie took a deep breath, eyes meeting mine for a fleeting second before dropping to the floor. He clasped his hands in front of him before speaking again. “Can you tell me what to do?”
“I could.” My words were slow. “But I’m not.”
That got his head snapping up, looking at me with part in shock, part in begging.
“D-dominats so that. Tell-tell the Omega what to do.”
Maybe that book wasn’t the best one to read, given how easy he would, and was, taking the advice of whoever wrote it.
“That comes with trust. I’m not going to demand you to do things that we haven’t agreed on prior.”
“I don’t know what to do. Please, Sir. I don’t….I feel….” He snapped his mouth shut, giving his head a small shake.
“Come here, sweetheart.” I barely got the words out before he was moving closer. Without orders, he fell to his knees right before me, his shoulders shaking.
“You aren’t in trouble.” I rested a hand under his chin, lifting his face. “First off, thank you for trying to tell me something you don’t have words for just yet. Second,I won’t tell you tasks to do without your consent. There’s a long list of things we need to go over, and I don’t have trust that you’ll answer those things the way you’d need to. You’d go off of what I’d want, which isn’t how that process works.”
When he went to open his mouth to speak, I raised an eyebrow, causing him to close his mouth again.
“Good boy.” I let my thumb run across his cheek. “Trust goes both ways. Remember that, Charlie. A few days isn’t going to be enough time to earn that, or enough time for me to show you that I can be trusted with what you need. Especially when you aren’t comfortable sharing your needs with me. And I don’t expect you to. I am going at your pace on it all, because there are no other options but to do so.”
There was no other way forward. Charlie had to take the lead. Even if I already understood the shape of what he needed, it had to come from him.
He had to ask. Had to reach. Because this wasn’t about me knowing—it was about him choosing. And when he did, I’d be there.
I’d give him what he asked for. And everything he didn’t know how to ask for yet.
All of it. And more.
“Tell me what you feel.”
“Lost. Just….lost, Sir.” The way he spoke it was as though he truly felt it soul deep. He wasn’t at the Lockswell Boarding House, where every second of his day was planned out. “I don’t know what to do. I…need….” He trailed off once again, eyes closing as he sought out the words he wanted to say.
I waited him out. I’d wait forever if need be.
He lifted his gaze slowly, like it cost him something.
“I need structure,” he said. “Rules. Please, Sir. I need tasks. To serve you or not—I don’t care.”
That last part wasn’t true. But I let it pass.
“I want tasks,” he added, voice steadier now.
I nodded, letting the weight of his words settle between us.
“Thank you for telling me,” I said. “I know that wasn’t easy.”
He didn’t respond, but I saw it in the way his shoulders eased just slightly. “What’s something you’d like to do for me?”
“This,” he said. “Just this, Sir. Kneel at your feet while you work. If I may.”
I studied him for a moment. His posture was perfect. His tone was respectful. But beneath it, I saw the need for closeness, for purpose, for safety in routine.
