Page 23 of Just a Little in Love

He nodded. Rowan had never thought about it, but it was true. He would never touch one of the stuffies at the club. He played with the construction toys, and he liked to color, but that was it.

“Does your dad know?”

“No. No one except the club.”

“I have another question then. I think you’re calling me Daddy because you feel safe to do so. Is that right?”

“Yes,” Rowan said. And wishful thinking. But if he was honest, Daddy Gabriel had been Daddy in his head for a long time.

“Then how about this? I’ll go get us a drink while you use the bathroom. Then you need to call your dad because you promised. Then I think you should just relax and spend the day here. Let your little side play. See how you feel. Experiment. You know I’ll keep you safe. But if you agree, that means I’m the Daddy as well.”

“But you’re not a Daddy,” Rowan said.

Daddy chuckled. “I’m a Dom, which means I’m hardwired to take care of you and expect obedience in return. We’re not going to do anything except relax and play. Maybe watch a movie.”

Rowan smiled, feeling like he’d just been given a gift.

“What’s your safeword?”

Rowan gazed at Daddy Gabriel. “Pineapple.” And he’d never gotten to tell anyone. Master Paul had never even asked which should have told him it was wrong.

Daddy Gabriel didn’t even blink.

Gabriel listened for the bathroom door to close, but just in case, he took his phone out onto the small balcony at the back of his lounge. Patrick answered on the second ring.

“How’s Rowan?”

“He told me the same as what you did, plus there was a similar incident of Rowan supposedly mixing up vitamins and his mother’s sleeping tablets. I think the cops are trying to establish a pattern of behavior. They have to know they don’t have a chance of proving anything was done to Rowan. He needs someone to talk to quite urgently, and I was hoping you had some kink-friendly names.”

“Absolutely. I’ll text two recommendations. And apart from that?”

Gabriel sighed. “I asked him if he’s attracted to being a little because it’s what he wants to do or because it's what his friends do. I know he started as a sub.”

“And what did he say?” Patrick asked. “Charlie’s wondered for some time if he’s a middle or simply joining in because it’s a non-threatening atmosphere.”

“That was what I wondered,” Gabriel admitted, “but he told me he has to feel safe before he allows himself to be a little, but I honestly don’t think he knows how much of a little he wants to be because he’s never felt safe enough to find out. He says the pads aren’t his thing but take the shame out of the equation and I’m not so sure. I’ve left him checking in with his dad, and then we’re going to spend the day relaxing and see how he feels.” Gabriel hesitated. Honesty as a Dom was paramount, and Patrick had always been a good friend. “He calls me Daddy. And I allow it.”

Patrick was silent for a few heartbeats. “Look, Gabriel, you’re an intelligent man. I don’t need to spell out the dangers involved in pursuing this if your heart isn’t in it. We both know how vulnerable Rowan is.”

“You just said you didn’t need to spell it out,” he said, dryly.

Patrick huffed down the phone. “This isn’t Charlie and me, is all I’m saying. Charlie was capable of making adult decisions. I’m not sure Rowan is in that head space yet.”

“Oh, I know he isn’t,” Gabriel agreed, then paused because he remembered how utterly lost Rowan had been last night, and how much Gabriel had ached to be his compass. “I’m also fully aware even though in the lifestyle friendships can be very intense, I left the friendship zone a couple of weeks ago. Do I know if I can offer a permanent whatever this is? No. But nothing in life is certain. At the moment, Rowan wants to be here with me, and I will do my damnedest to keep him safe and build him a proper support network.”

Patrick was silent for a heartbeat. “How can we help?”

Gabriel swallowed. “By teaching him that being a little, being vulnerable, isn’t wrong. I’m awed that he finds my place safe, but he needs to be proud of who and what he is, and that bitch has made him apologize practically for being alive for the past twenty years. He asked me this morning if the girl being sick was his fault.” Gabriel's hand shook as he held the phone. “His fucking fault? I want to strangle them both. The dad may be stepping up now, but that still doesn’t excuse his neglect. Give them thirty minutes with Master Carrington and no limits.”

Patrick chuckled because Amos Carrington was a sadist and normally refused to take on any sub that didn’t have clear limits. He always said he was a la carte, not a free for all buffet, and he’d been known to scare the crap out of submissives to teach them a lesson in communication.

“I’m here. We both are.”

“I think he needs a lawyer,” Gabriel said. “I know that’s his dad’s purview, but he needs to make his own medical decisions. Apparently, his mom was still accompanying him everywhere.”

Patrick hummed a little. “Let me see who I know.”

“I also think he needs a second opinion on whatever he has going on medically, but that’s a way off.”

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