Page 108 of Born Daddy

Epilogue

Tate sat on the patio of the hotel resort, a thick blanket wrapped around him as he stared at the ocean. Nothing about the scenario reminded him of the beach vacations he’d once taken with Cam. There were no palm trees, colorful cocktails with spears of fresh, tropical fruit, or hot cabana boys for Cam to ogle when he thought Tate wasn’t looking.

No, this weekend getaway with Rogan was at Nantasket Beach and was all gray skies, clam chowder and basking in love.

The glass door to the patio slid open and Tate glanced up with a smile. “Hey, Daddy. Will you sit with me for a while?”

Rogan leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Of course. Let me grab a blanket.”

He’d been calling Rogan Daddy all weekend. Recently, it had seemed unnatural to refer to him by his given name. He supposed he would try and refrain from using it when they were out in public, but all day he’d had to work extra hard not to. Tate snuggled down into the blanket some more. Rogan had turned into the best Daddy ever.

Rogan reappeared and tossed the blanket on the chair next to Tate. “Let me grab some hot cocoa.”

Before Tate got the chance to respond, the door slid shut again. Natural born all right. Sometimes it seemed as if Rogan wasn’t happy unless he was taking care of him. At first, Tate worried that Rogan was only being so solicitous to please Tate. But he’d come to realize the genuine joy it brought his Daddy, so he’d been working on accepting the all-encompassing Daddy care that Rogan provided.

He’d never known life could be so wonderful.

His thoughts unexpectedly drifted to Jace. The last time he’d heard from him, he said he was getting the hell out of Boston and moving to San Francisco. He wanted to start over. Tate hadn’t seen him in person since that one meeting, but Jace had contacted him through Rogan, asking if they could exchange emails.

While Tate never imagined they’d become great friends, he still wished him well. As much as Tate had been damaged by his association with Cam, he believed he was the lucky one. He didn’t have to live with the mind fuck of being the inspiration behind twelve gruesome deaths. Jace would probably never get over that.

The sound of clanging against the glass caught Tate’s attention, and he wrestled free of the blanket when he saw Rogan struggling to slide the door open while holding two mugs. He jumped up from the chair and, after rescuing Rogan, gathered Rogan’s blanket from the chair so he could sit down.

Rogan set both mugs on the small patio table that had been between the chairs when they’d arrived, but was now in front of them. They’d then arranged the chairs so they were flush to each other.

Once they’d gotten settled with them both wrapped up again and warming their hands with the mugs, Rogan let out a happy sigh.

“We should come back in the spring and take a whale watching cruise.” Rogan took a sip of his drink. “I’ve never done that before.”

“Yeah? I didn’t know they did that around here.”

Rogan nodded as he set down his mug again. “There are a lot of activities around here, but also within a decent driving distance.” Rogan regarded Tate with a grin. “And now that we’ve discovered you love museums, that should keep up busy for years.” He winked then reclined in the chair.

Tate loved it whenever Rogan talked like that, as if they were going to be together forever.

Rogan snuck his hand out from beneath his blanket, then fumbled beneath Tate’s. Tate happily made it easier for Rogan to find his hand and they laced their fingers together. He doubted they’d last much longer outside. The chilly November winds blowing off the ocean were so sharp, his face was about frozen. He hadn’t been able to resist, though. The cold sea air was cleansing, as if it were wearing away the dark residue of his past.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, hot chocolate forgotten as they warmed themselves with touch instead.

Rogan snuggled up to him. “Brr. I wanted to bring something more important up than whales and museums, but I’m thinking we should take it inside? I’m about to freeze my balls off.”

Tate chuckled, but a thread of uneasiness ran through him. He doubted it was anything bad. Rogan had been nothing but carefree and loving all weekend.

Once they’d gathered up the blankets and mugs then made their way inside, Rogan turned up the gas fireplace. He motioned to the sofa in the small suite and took off his jacket. Rogan wore only a T-shirt and sweats, since he’d been in the shower while Tate had relaxed on the patio.

Tate decided he needed to get more comfortable too, and tugged his sweater over his head. He hoped whatever they were about to discuss didn’t involve Daddy changing his mind about trying the cock cage with the penis plug.

He realized that the kink world was still rather new to him, but they’d made a special trip together to watch Master Zane use it on his boys so Rogan could learn. He loved how cute Rogan had been about the whole thing. Even though the occasional visits with Master Zane had been solo ones so Rogan could get new Daddy instruction, Rogan had worried that Tate would get jealous or have his feelings hurt because he’d be seeing Master Zane’s boys naked without Tate there.

It would take a while for Rogan to adapt.

Rogan rubbed his hands together then dropped on the sofa next to Tate. “Ah, that’s better. I think you’re more resilient than me.”

Tate couldn’t stand the suspense. “Is anything wrong?”

Rogan’s brow creased. “Not at all. If you ever want to do your own thing, you know, if you still wanted to sit outside, that’s okay. You don’t have to subjugate your desires over something like that.” Rogan chuckled. “My old bones just couldn’t take another minute out there.”

Tate shook his head. He was still working on his blurting and communication skills.

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