Page 5 of A Stable Daddy

That announcement goes down like a lead balloon, and the asshole yells as he tells me I ain’t got no right to report him or whatever. I tune him out, my protective instincts kicking into gear as every loud exclamation earns another shudder from the man in my hold.

“What’s going on here?” The new voice belongs to the aforementioned security guy. He stands in the still open doorway, his arms folded and his expression menacing.

I can see there’s a crowd growing behind him, and I smother a sigh. An audience is the last thing the man I’ve stepped in to assist needs.

“This guy,” the asshole cries dramatically, waving his hand at me, “burstinto this room whilethatguy and I were in the middle of a scene and—”

“The door was open,” I object calmly, “and he was safewording and calling out for help.”

“It was part of the scene,” the asshole insists, taking on a tone that suggests he thinks I’m a moron.

I raise my eyes towards the ceiling and silently ask The Powers That Be to grant me strength.

The security guy, big and hulking, looks between us with narrowed eyes before his gaze lands on my charge. Immediately, his dark eyes widen with recognition.

“Rye?” he asks in disbelief.

Rye, for his part, pulls away from my neck to peek in the security guy’s direction. I catch a glimpse of tear tracks on his cheek, and I have to count backwards from ten in my head to not push him into the security guy’s arms just so I can go and pummel the crap out of the sorry excuse of a man in the corner of the room.

“Well, shit.” The security guy breathes. He doesn’t ask any further questions. Instead, he pushes forward into the room, bypassing me and Rye, and takes the asshole by the bicep. Helooks back over at us. “I’m taking him downstairs. We’ve got his details and he will be banned from the store and the club. But, Ryan, if he crossed a line —if he tried to force you— you’re within your rights for us to call the police and make a report.” He says all of this kindly. His grip tightening on the other man’s arm while the guy struggles is the only sign that he’s clearly just as pissed as I am. Maybe even more, seeing as he knows the man in my arms well enough to be on a first-name basis with him.

Ryan pulls back again, shaking his head. He swallows roughly. “I don’t want to do that. Just…just take him away. Please, Sam?”

The asshole cusses and curses and protests the whole way out the door. I ignore the murmur of conversation from the hallway, gently holding Ryan by the shoulders as I ask, “Do you want to go into another room and take a minute? I totally get it if being alone with a strange Dom after all that doesn’t work for you, but I’d like to get you out of this room and I’m bettin’ you’d like to avoid the crowd out there.” I remove my hands when it hits me that my touching him might also be making him uncomfortable, and I facepalm. “I’m Oscar, by the way.”

Ryan is already shaking his head, in what I assume is refusal of my offer. “No,” he says softly, then forces himself to look me in the eye. He looks a mess with his silver-streaked hair dishevelled and his eyes red-rimmed, but I’m not unaware of how attractive he is. “No, I…I’d like it if we took a minute.” Beneath his neatly trimmed goatee, which is greyer than the dark hair on top of his head, his lips curl into a small smile. “I’m Ryan.”

I hold out my hand to shake his. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ryan,” I tell him, then cringe again. “Maybe not under these circumstances, but I’m always happy to make the acquaintance of a handsome man.”

His face flushes pink and it’s damned adorable. “Now you’re just being nice to make me feel better.”

I snort. “Darlin’, I’m not the kind of man who lies about things like that. If I say you’re handsome, it’s because I think you are.”

The Adam’s apple in his throat bobs and he bites his lip. “Okay. Thank you.” After a beat, he adds, “You are, too. Handsome, I mean.”

It’s cute the way his cheeks flush and he looks to the floor. I don’t think he’s complimenting me for the sake of returning the gesture, not by his suddenly shy and awkward demeanour. It’s pressing all of my buttons right now, and I have to remind myself that he’s been through an ordeal and doesn’t need a horny cowboy pawing at him. He needs a friend, even if only for the night.

“Come on, sweetheart,” I press my hand to the small of his back to lead him from the room and then frown as my open palm makes contact with bare flesh. “On second thought, hold up.”

“What…?” he starts to ask, his eyes widening as I tug my leather jacket off, exposing my short-sleeved shirt and my heavily tattooed arms.

The jacket is well-worn and buttery soft. Brown, not black, and the lining is silky smooth satin.

I hold it out to him with a smile.

“You’re about the same size as me, I’m guessin’. This’ll be better than that scrap you’re stuck with right now. Here,” I right the upturned chair and lay my jacket over it, turning back to Ryan, my hands reaching for what remains of his ‘shirt’. “Let me?”

The pink shade over the tops of his cheeks deepens, but he allows me to assist him out of the mess of mesh he’d been wearing. Then I help him into my jacket, and I’m pleased to find that it’s a close fit, if slightly too big around the shoulders. A pang ofsomethinghits me at seeing him in my clothes.Something undefinable, but nonetheless warm and fuzzy. It’s not quite possessive, but it makes me feel like he’s mine.

That is dangerous.

I’m on the rebound, I have to acknowledge that. I’m also being presented with all of my favourite temptations at once: a sweet, shy older man, submissive to the core,andhe just let me dress him. As a Daddy Dom, I’m aching to see what else we could do together.

But those same Daddy instincts have me backing off, too. I’m feeling protective and I want to offer comfort, and those are the only lines I’ll cross with him.

That ain’t gonna stop me from daydreaming, though.

Chapter Three – Ryan

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