Page 83 of Born Daddy

Tate’s smile lit up his features. “She would?”

“She would.” Rogan smiled back.

“And you like hanging out at the lake too? It wouldn’t only be because of me?”

Rogan laced his fingers with Tate. “What if it was? Would that be so awful? Daddies are supposed to do nice things for their boys, things that make them happy.” He chuckled. “I’ve heard that many a time from Master Zane.”

Tate drew his eyebrows together as he held Rogan’s gaze. “I need to make sure, that’s all. It’ll make me feel better.”

“Okay, sweetheart. I love everything about coming to this lake and enjoying what it has to offer. Some of my best memories growing up were made here, and I’m excited about having the chance to share it with you.” Rogan lifted their joined hands and placed a soft kiss on the inside of Tate’s wrist. He smiled. “I want to share everything with you.”

The longing radiating from Tate’s eyes almost tore Rogan in two. How Tate ached to belong to someone, how scared he must be to trust again after discovering that almost everything he’d believed about being a boy had been a lie.

“I want that too, Daddy. I want it so much.” His forehead creased. “But if you change your mind…” Tate’s eyes glittered on and off from the dappling of the sun through the trees. “I’d understand. Sometimes I think I’m being too selfish by expecting you to be in the lifestyle.” He winced. “I never should’ve brought up the subject.”

“Stop that right now.” Tate flinched at Rogan’s stern words. “Don’t automatically assume you’re the one who should be grateful for everything. I want to be your Daddy. Me. You’re not making me do anything.” Rogan curled his fingers in the collar of Tate’s tee and tugged him close, Tate’s eyes going wide from the abrupt motion. “I love you. I never knew I could fall so beautifully in love with a man who I’d joyfully give all of myself to. But I have. I’m so in love with you that all I care about is spending my life making you happy. Whether or not that means I’m a Daddy, I don’t care. I care about you, care about us together.”

Rogan crushed their mouths together, pulling Tate onto his lap and holding him in a fevered embrace. Tate grasped at Rogan’s shoulders, opening up to the kiss, yielding his body in wordless submission. The promise Rogan had already made to honor the trust Tate offered was sharper than ever. There, alone in the woods where Rogan had once played as a child, he held the man who would forever be in his heart.

Tate broke the kiss, gasping for air. He looked at Rogan through hooded eyes, fingers still clasping Rogan’s shoulders.

“I love you, too. I love you as my Daddy, but I also love Rogan, the man. My lover, friend and partner, my everything.” Tate let go of Rogan’s arms and framed Rogan’s face with his palms. “I’m trying to remember that you’re different, not only from Cam, but anyone else I’ve been with. I think I’ve finally come to realize that Cam wasn’t a true Daddy. That part of his persona was as much an act as him pretending to care about other people and not be a selfish prick.” Tate’s voice had turned bitter. “Him pretending he was a decent human being.”

Rogan brought their lips together again, but this time the kiss was gentle, soothing. An acknowledgement they’d moved to the next phase of their connection. It would be years before Cam’s ghost didn’t wedge its way into their thoughts at every turn, but in his heart, Rogan now knew what they shared wasn’t a passing whim. They were more together than they were apart. Tate was a man worth going through fire to have and that had nothing to do with Cam’s stain on the young man’s life.

Rogan ignored the damp chill from the ground as he held Tate on his lap. The corn could wait. The tour of the lake could wait. For now, the warmth of his boy was all he needed.

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