Page 29 of Just a Little in Love

Rowan shook his head, and his cheeks pinked a little. Gabriel kissed his head again and made sure his arms were curled around Rowan.

“But wouldn’t you need a boy that can do other things?”

Gabriel thought about that. “You mean the things I do in the club?” Rowan nodded. “Possibly. As we’re talking honesty and I’m having a come-to-Jesus-moment, have you ever seen Master Ezra and his submissive Rachel?”

“Some,” Rowan admitted. “When I’ve been on the door.”

“And you know Rachel is what is sometimes offensively called a pain slut?”

Rowan shrugged. “I suppose.”

Gabriel smiled. “Well, the thing is that Ezra isn’t a sadist. He likes to have rules, and enjoys Rachel submitting, but his idea of punishment would be smacking her ass.” Gabriel inhaled and for a moment got lost in that visual, except it wasn’t a female brunette lying across his knees, it was a certain young man with huge blue eyes and pale skin that would look perfect with some red handprints on it. He adjusted himself discreetly. “So, they have an arrangement. Master Deacon is a sadist that enjoys what he does but isn’t interested in anything except the basic after-care. Deacon whips Rachel up into a frenzy, then unties her and passes her off to Ezra to enjoy the fruits of his labor, so to speak.”

Gabriel doubted if Rowan’s eyes could get any wider. “I wouldn’t say I’m in any way a sadist. I enjoy what I do, but I’m also looking for a different level of relationship as well.” He chuckled a little self-consciously. “I want a boy to spoil. To care for. And to be honest, I’ve never found anyone that matches both those areas of my life, so I was wondering if I needed to make that match. In the same person, anyway. But that would take an enormous amount of trust from the person that I enjoyed the other part of my life with. The boy that I took home with me.” The one I kept there.

Rowan was listening very intently. “Which boy would you take home?” he almost whispered.

“The one that needs my care.” Gabriel had just lectured Rowan about honesty. He needed to step up. “It would be you, Rowan.” Then he knew he had to be a hundred percent honest. “I can’t guarantee forever.”

“No one can,” Rowan said quickly. “I doubt any married couple imagines they will get divorced.”

Gabriel hugged Rowan in relief and pleasure. Rowan was intelligent, and that was as much a turn-on as his need to submit. “Now, if we are to try this out it means I will be a little more assertive, but I will be clear in my wishes and I expect you to ask and not assume.” He paused but knew this was important. “As my sub, you are charged with taking care of my most precious possession.”

Rowan’s mouth opened a little, but he didn’t speak. Gabriel simply waited.

“How will I know what your most precious thing is?” He looked around the room as if expecting to see some masterpiece hanging on the wall, or an antique gracing the corner.

“Rowan,” Gabriel said gently. “In this scenario you are my most precious possession, and if I find you mistreating my property you will be punished.” Rowan gasped. “For instance, I expect you to drink every drop of the water I give you. If you ever try and pull the same ridiculous stunt you pulled with Master Paul where you let yourself get so dehydrated, I will smack your ass so hard you won’t be able to sit down for a week.” Gabriel arched an eyebrow. “Is that clear?”

Rowan gaped, and very gently Gabriel hooked a finger under Rowan’s chin to close his mouth, then just because he wanted to, he brushed a kiss on his forehead. Well, he wanted to kiss other areas as well, but that was another conversation and Rowan was in too vulnerable a place right then.

“But don’t worry. If I give you an instruction you’re not clear about, you may ask.”

Rowan nodded but at Gabriel’s stillness he quickly caught on. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Good, now what books do you like?”

Rowan seemed non-plussed at the question, but Gabriel knew Rowan was likely exhausted. He was going to suggest a movie but selfishly Gabriel was extremely comfortable with Rowan curled up in his arms. He reached over to the nightstand and picked up an old copy of Emily Jade’s The Last Mage. He’d put a few different books out in case Rowan might like to read one. Gabriel simply started reading. He doubted Rowan was awake by the time he got to the end of chapter one, and thinking that seemed like a good idea, Gabriel closed his eyes.

Chapter fifteen

Gabriel was awake. Secret spidey senses told him Rowan was as well. Okay, maybe not secret spidey senses, but the fact that Gabriel’s cock was trying its best to drill into Rowan’s ass cheek, despite the pad, and the fact Rowan was barely breathing might have been the confirmation he needed.

So what should he do?

Until last night he would have faked an obvious wake up, removed himself—and his cock—from Rowan, and gone about seeing to breakfast.

But last night had happened. Or the acknowledgement, at least to himself, that being a Daddy-Dom was where his heart and his libido might actually lie. People changed. He knew that, of course, he did. His biggest worry was that Rowan was too vulnerable for experimentation, but where did that leave Rowan?

Alone.

Rowan didn’t have the self-confidence to search out a Daddy on his own. He had demonstrated that his idea of “close” was good enough with Master Paul, even when it clearly wasn’t. Humiliation was Paul’s kink, but understandably it wasn’t Rowan’s, or not in a public setting, at least. Gabriel was a Dom. He knew that. To be honest, he’d known that since he was fifteen and didn’t have a name for how he felt. Rowan was submissive. That was clear. The only unclear part was how much of a little Rowan was. Was he a little just to fit in with his friends? But he had stuffies. But…they could be a childhood comfort thing, and not a demonstration of where Rowan’s head was at, and Gabriel was convinced that given the chance, he would likely go deeper into his little space. And if Rowan embraced his little because of trauma, what happened when he healed? Although, that didn’t match the fact that Rowan had to feel super-safe to be little in the first place.

God, he was confused. And if he was so mixed up, how did Rowan feel?

One thing was clear. Gabriel had to step up. For a dominant, he’d been giving Rowan too many choices. Way too many. Rowan could safeword. He needed to do that if Gabriel did something he wasn’t comfortable with, but that needed to be made clear.

“Good morning baby boy.” Boy was too generic, but baby boy seemed to fit. He would try out a few names. Gabriel moved and patted Rowan’s ass fondly. He felt Rowan stiffen a little, then loose a tiny gasp that sounded almost like pain. Anyone else might have missed it, but Gabriel had trained himself to be in tune with body language and unspoken cues. “What is it?” He kept his voice even, unalarmed.

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