Page 39 of Imperfect Skin

Mouse shot me a shy smile as I knelt and held his pants out, ready for him to step into, and I got a soft, surprised giggle from him when I pulled his pants up his legs and patted his adorable arse.

He pulled a strand of his hair across his face and started to twist it, keeping his eyes averted. “Um, I have some colouring books in my room.”

“Why be shy about that, lamb? Everyone and his mum likes to colour.” I grabbed the T-shirt and helped Mouse put it on. While I was at it, I gave his back a once-over, making sure our fun hadn’t inadvertently opened any of the wounds.

“They’re um, they’re kids’ ones. Danger Mouse and SpongeBob.” Mouse rushed the words out.

“They sound brilliant. Why don’t you be a good boy and go grab them? I’ll stoke the fire and get us some biscuits and a fresh drink. That hot chocolate I made for you has gone cold, I think.”

Mouse smirked and rocked on his heels. “Not my fault you went all horny Dom.”

“Lovely boy, it’s always your fault when I get all horny Dom. Now scoot and get the colouring books.” I stood, stooping to kiss him briefly on the lips. “And no running up the stairs. If I had a pound for every time you and Alice nearly took a tumble.”

“You’d be richer by twenty pounds.” Mouse shouted, as he took off at a fast shuffle for the stairs.

Cheeky bloody brat. There was a muffled curse and a thump, and I just knew he’d missed the top riser.

“I’m okay, the rug just tried to attack me. I wasn’t rushing, I swear.” Mouse called.

“You’ll be swearing a lot louder than that if I find out you were, lamb. I don’t think you’d feel that comfortable trying to colour with a tanned backside.”

I chuckled softly, hearing a muffled eep from him. Now, where did I hide those chocolate Hobnobs? I had another packet hidden. The problem was I’d put them somewhere safe, and now I couldn’t remember where that was.

Thirteen

MOUSE

Where did I put them?

My bedroom was organised chaos at the best of times—okay, maybe more chaos than organised—but I swore when I’d bought the books, I’d put them on my desk. Only, they weren’t there now. Just a big pile of dirty laundry I forgot to do.

I climbed over my bed and looked down the side closest to the window. Everything ended up down there at some point, including—eww—a manky pair of socks I should have thrown out ages ago. I held the offending socks in my fingers and flung them towards where I thought my bin was.

Maybe the stupid things were under my bed. I hung upside down and tried to peer underneath the bed frame, but only dust bunnies and a suspect pair of boxers looked back at me.

“Dear gods, boy, this room looks like a bomb went off in it.” Daddy’s voice made me lurch forwards, and only his strong hands on my ankles stopped me from tumbling off the bed.

“It’s organised chaos, Daddy. I know where everything is.”

Except my bloody colouring books.

I caught sight of the books hiding under an old T-shirt that had fallen down the gap between the bed and wall.

“Wait, Daddy.” I snatched the colouring books just as Daddy pulled me back onto the bed.

“I got them!” I held the books up triumphantly. Daddy chuckled behind me.

“Do you know where your pencils are, or is that going to require some more bedroom spelunking?” Daddy asked.

I couldn’t hold back the giggle that wanted to come out. Spelunking was such a silly word, but maybe a headlamp and some rope would keep me safe from getting lost in the piles of clothes and stuff that covered my room. I flopped over, careful of my ouchies, and sat up.

Daddy patted the bed next to him. “Come talk to me for a minute, little Mouse.”

He had his serious Daddy face on—or that’s what I assumed it was. I didn’t know for sure and that made me a bit nervous. Had I already messed up again?

“Come here so I can cuddle you while we talk. It’s nothing bad, I promise.”

I shuffled over, holding my colouring books carefully. I didn’t want to bend or ruin them before I got a chance to colour in them. Daddy draped an arm over my shoulders and pulled me against him. I liked this. I liked cuddling with him. I liked doing a lot of things with him to be honest, but right now, cuddling and colouring sounded like the bestest thing ever.

---