Page 41 of Daddy's Muse
Bodin stepped inside like he belonged there, filling the space without trying.
I shut the door behind us, leaning back against it for a second to steady myself. “Uh, so… welcome?” I offered with a weak smile. “Sorry for the mess.”
Bodin didn’t laugh—he just settled onto the edge of my bed, then uncurled a hand toward me. “Come here, kanin.”
I hesitated only long enough to thinkthis is probably a bad idea, then crossed the room and let him pull me down, straight into his lap.
The strength in his arms wasn’t just holding me there; it was wrapping around me, settling me. My knees bracketed his thighs, my cheek pressing to his shoulder. His scent—pine, leather, and something faintly smoky—made my thoughts go syrup-slow. My hands bunched in the fabric on his back as I tried to ignore his… his…thingchubbing up underneath my butt.
“You think too much,” he murmured, taking in the awkward stiffness of my lower body. “Just relax and let me take care of you, sweetheart.”
“Do not,” I mumbled into his shoulder.
He made a low sound—something between a chuckle and a hum—that vibrated through my ribs. “Is that right? I don’t know…”
I nuzzled into the side of his neck, not replying.
One of his hands began tracing slow lines down my back. “I think kaninen min needs someone to help slow those thoughts down.”
The words slid under my skin like heat. “I—uh…” I swallowed. “That sounds kinda cryptic.” It didn’t, I just couldn’t understand how he knew me so well—knew the parts of me I hid from the world.
His lips brushed my temple, not quite a kiss. “Is it?”
My heart thudded in my chest as a small whimper slipped out of me.
He smiled, continuing to stroke me. “Let go, Colby. I’ve got you. Pappa’s got you.”
I whined lowly, my head filling with cotton.
He shushed me gently before sliding us further onto my bed until his back rested against the wall.
“There, sweet boy. My lille prinsen, my little prince,” he cooed, his voice dragging me down further and further.
I snuggled against him, determined to get as close as possible.
We sat there for a while; the quiet stretched but never turned awkward. My legs were beginning to tingle from the way I was perched, but I didn’t move. If anything, I wanted to never move again and let him keep talking in that low voice until all the buzzing in my head went quiet.
I was halfway to sleep, my eyelids heavy and drooping, when Bodin pressed his thumb into my bottom lip. “Open up,” he whispered.
I opened my mouth, just enough to poke out the tip of my tongue and find the digit seeking entry. Bodin’s breath stuttered as I tasted the salt of his skin. With a hum, I sucked his thumb fully into my mouth and began to suckle.
“Odin,gi meg styrke,” he groaned under his breath.
The weight of his thumb in my mouth was oddly soothing, even more than my paci, a quiet anchor in the swirling fog of my thoughts.
His voice softened to a murmur. “Someday, kaninen min,” he whispered, “we will build a life where you never have to be afraid. A place where you can be small as much as you’d like, and I will always be strong. I will take care of everything for you.”
I blinked slowly, the warmth of his breath and the steady rhythm of his heart against my cheek lulling me closer to sleep. The world outside my room—my worries, my fears—felt miles away, as if his voice was weaving a cocoon just for me.
“You don’t have to carry it all alone,” he said, thumb moving gently against my tongue, “I will be your shield. Your harbor. Your home. Anything you wish.”
My eyelids fluttered, heavy as velvet curtains. I tried to hold on to his words, but the pull of exhaustion was stronger.
“I’m here,” he murmured into my hair. “Always. Perfect, perfect boy. My gift.”
And then the quiet wrapped around me like a blanket, warm and safe, and I let myself drift.
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