Page 12 of Rekindling Little River
“Do you have a favorite bedtime story with you?” he asked as he drew back the covers on the bed for River to climb in.
“Um, yeah, in the nightstand drawer.”
Reluctantly, Dave turned from the delicious view of River’s ass as they crawled under the covers and opened the indicated drawer. He drew out a tactile children’s book about touching dinosaurs and, finding it nestled under the book, retrieved a pacifier covered in bright jewels with a dinosaur in the center and the wordBabysauruson the handle. Cute.
“Here you go, babysaurus.” He slipped the paci between River’s lips and made a motion for them to scootch over a little as they let out a little roar around the nipple.
Once they’d moved over enough to give Dave room, he tucked them in snugly and climbed up on top of the covers, settling back against the headboard so they could see the book as he read.
“You must never touch a dinosaur…” Before he’d finished the first page of the book River had scooted as close as possible, resting their head on his lower belly. By the time he’d finished page two, their eyes had closed. When he was halfway through the third page, River snored the cutest snore he’d ever heard.
He quietly closed the book and placed it on the nightstand. Waiting a few minutes to be sure River was fully asleep, he ran his hands over their silky ebony hair, enjoying being this close tothem. When he was certain they were fully asleep, he began to gently extricate himself, but River wasn’t having it. As they slept, they whimpered each time he slid away and proceeded to scoot closer until their head once again rested on his lower belly.
Dave decided he could wait a bit longer before returning to his room. He leaned back against the headboard again and went back to stroking River’s soft locks. He thought about everything that happened that day and closed his eyes for a moment to thank the universe for this opportunity he’d been given.
CHAPTER 11
River
Ugh, had Dave, er,Daddyleft the lights on? River kept their eyes closed as they attempted to stretch, not wanting to sear a hole into their retinas with light already shining so brightly through their eyelids. As they tried raising their arms, one bumped into a solid object. That was the moment they realized their cheek wasn’t resting on a pillow. While much more comfortable, the object their head lay on was much firmer than any pillow they had, and it was warmer, too.
Curiosity overrode their worry about their future ability to see, and River cracked an eyelid to find that the bright light was not from bulbs inside the room, but the sun shining through open curtains. They’d slept all night for the first time in longer than they could remember. They looked to where their head had rested and found that they most definitely had not been sleeping on a pillow, but a firm chest covered in a dress shirt.
River let their eyes roam over the other occupant of the bed to find him dressed in the same clothes as last night, positioned atop the blankets and even still wearing his shoes. Apparently,Dave had fallen asleep without meaning to. They wondered if his presence had anything to do with them getting more sleep but before they could think more on it the corners of Dave’s mouth turned up in a smile and his sleep-graveled voice said, “I can feel you staring, little one.”
River’s cheeks heated at being called out but they didn’t apologize. They weren’t sorry for taking the time to study their new Daddy, after all. “You’re still here,” they said instead.
“Mmhmm.” He stretched his arms out much like River had been trying to do when they discovered him still in their bed. “So I am. I must have fallen asleep.” He finally opened his icy-blue eyes and pinned River with a look they couldn’t decipher. “Does that upset you?”
Did it? It probably should, but they couldn’t find a single part of themself that had a problem with sleeping wrapped up in Dave’s strong, capable arms. They reached up and cupped his cheek to make sure that he was listening closely. “I know we didn’t discuss it, but I’m not at all upset by this.”
Dave brushed back a few strands of hair that had come loose from their braid and sat up to place a chaste kiss on their forehead. “Good. I was hoping to run something by you that I was thinking about last night when you latched on to me and wouldn’t let me go.”
Oh gods, that was so embarrassing. They couldn’t say they were particularly surprised; they’d been told more times than they could count that they were clingy and needy. It made sense in a sad and pathetic way. But when they groaned and tried to bury their face in their hands, Dave gently grasped their wrists and pulled them down to look them in the eyes.
“I liked it,” he assured them. “I more than liked it.”
River could see nothing in their gaze but honesty and they relaxed just a bit.
“I especially liked that I slept all night for the first time in years while holding you.”
This time when River blushed, it wasn’t in mortification. No, this blush was a direct result of the warmth flooding through their insides at the idea that they could have given Dave something he needed.
“I’d like to bring some things to your room. I’ll keep stuff in mine and if you need space at any point I will give it to you. It isn’t about sex either, but I’d like to spend as much of this week by your side as I can and, at least subconsciously, I think you feel the same. Would you be okay with that?”
River couldn’t disagree. It had only been one full day, and already they were dreading getting back to the real world. They hadn’t talked about what would happen when they headed home, but for now, River wanted to pretend that wasn’t an inevitability and just enjoy the moment. So, River agreed to the suggestion and headed for the shower while Dave went to gather some things to bring over.
Dave
Dave rushed through his room, gathering up some things and changing clothes. He was eager to get back to his Little one. He had plans for the day. Dave knew that River struggled to immerse themself fully into Little space, and he desperately hoped he could provide the security needed for River to let their Little out. That was Dave’s main goal. To be the security River required to be able to give themself what they needed: Time spent immersed completely in Little space.
Dave had several ideas on things that could help his Little one. He just needed a bit of time and some help gettingeverything together. With that in mind, Dave picked up the phone and pressed the button to connect him with the Ranch Shop.
“Gift shop,” a pleasant and cheery voice greeted him. “This is Becky, how can I help you?”
“Can I have things delivered to my room?”
“You certainly can.”
