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And yet the club’s business was mine. Cursing inwardly, I sighed and nodded.
“Leave the gift at the front desk on your way out. Someone will handle it.”
Of course, the “someone” turned out to be me. Everyone else took off, making one excuse after the other, though mostly the bad weather. When I’d knocked on Connor’s door, and that cute half a face appeared in the gap, I had to admit to being two parts annoyed as hell—okay, maybe three, but at least one small part of me was totally charmed by the boy peering out at me. Then he fully opened the door, and I was surprised by the little beauty with the brown hair and the scruff on his face.
One thing had led to another, and I had offered to give him a place to stay until he could figure something out. I could hardly have left him inside that freezing apartment with a snowstorm coming on and no heat, after all. And besides, I’d never met anyone quite like him. He was such a combination of a boy and a sexy man that I didn’t know quite how to take him. From the moment he got in my car, he’d been a complete surprise.
Adorable wasn’t a word I’d used on a grown man before to my knowledge, but damn it that was what he was. Funny, too, and such an outrageous little liar—I’d been both outraged and charmed by him. I didn’t think he was any kind of proper little at all, from the things he said and the expression on his face when he opened the gift from Todd and found the teddy bear. He could be a middle, though, as nearly as I could tell, and he definitely needed someone to look after him. I wasn’t sure how he’d survived as long as he had, to be honest. He definitely had submissive tendencies, and he’d certainly gone down on his knees for me soon enough, and without my asking or even indicating such a thing would be welcome. I think, once he was there, he wouldn’t have minded staying. It was possible he’d benefit from a strong Dom taking him in hand.
But it would have to be the right kind of Dom. Someone with infinite patience and who was something of a caretaker. Definitely not me. He wasn’t my type at all, so that was simply out of the question. I liked bigger, more rugged subs, who could take whatever I dished out and come back for more. Boys who weren’t interested in anything permanent. And I was not interested in taking care of someone.
I wasn’t sure what Connor wanted. Was he looking for a Daddy? He said a spanking might be “fun,” but I think that was the idea of one, rather than the reality. He’d have been crying like a baby halfway through and calling out his safe word. The Dom would have to stop and take him on his lap to soothe him and kiss him and stop his tears. And why did that image make me so uncomfortable? Why did the idea of some anonymous Dom petting him and kissing away his tears make me want to break something? A lot of somethings?
Damn it, I regretted allowing the incident in the car. I could easily have stopped him, but when he looked up at me with those big, dreamy eyes and that expression of…longing. Like a little boy searching for home and finally spotting it on the horizon. I sat up on the side of the bed with a curse. What the fuck was I even thinking?
I simply hadn’t had it in me to turn him down. That was all, end of story. There was something about him that was difficult to say no to. A vulnerability and the feeling I had that his life had been sad up until now. But I was not the right person to fix any of that. Not at all. I could look for someone, perhaps. Someone suitable who could help him find his way and make his life better. I would try to do that, if he wanted it.
It was too late to do anything about it tonight, but tomorrow, once the roads were cleared, I would take him wherever he wanted to go. He had to have some friends he could couch surf with, no matter what he said. And if he truly didn’t have anybody…then I guess I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. No need to lose sleep over it tonight and worry about him all alone in the guest bedroom. And him with his “security” issues.
I lay back down and punched my pillow a few times, closing my eyes. The wind was whistling around the windows, trying to climb inside. It was so loud, in fact, that I almost missed the door of my room softly opening and someone running over to my bed and slipping under the covers next to me.
I turned over incredulously and pulled back the cover to see Connor smiling up at me. “I got cold. See?” He stuck an absolutely frigid foot on my leg and I gave an embarrassing little yelp.
“My god, Connor, your feet are like blocks of ice!”
“I know, right? It’s sole destroying.” He laughed way too hard at his own silly joke and punched my arm. “Get it?”
“No. And I don’t want it. Now what the hell are you doing in my bedroom?”
“I got cold, like I said, and I started shivering and couldn’t stop. You really need to check the heat in there.”
“Connor…”
“Okay, I’m sorry. I was lying. The room is fine, but it’s just that it’s so big and so—well, you know. Scary. All those windows. Someone could break in, seriously. And somebody has the key to my room, because they came in while I was in the bath. Not that it’s not luxurious. In fact, I don’t belong in a room like that. What if I broke something?”
“Connor…”
“No, please let me stay. Just for tonight. I promise I won’t bother you. I’ll lie over here as quiet as a mouse. You’ll never even know I’m here. I won’t put my cold feet on you again or anything. And please don’t say keep saying my name like that in that mean tone of voice. I know I made a mistake, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you. But I’m here now and this bed is like the size of Nebraska. Not that I know how big that is, but big, yeah? So can I please just stay way over here and not bother you? Look, I’m shutting up.” He pretended to pull an imaginary zipper over his mouth. Then he closed his eyes and lay his head on the pillow, pulling the cover up to his chin. The effect was ruined when he cracked one eyelid open to see if I was watching.
Damn it.
He quickly shut his eyes again and began fake snoring. Even louder this time.
I stared at him, trying to wait him out. “I know you’re not actually asleep, you know.” The loud snoring simply increased.
I doubted seriously that he could managed to stay still for long. But after only a few moments passed, the little fraud started to snore for real. Because of course he did. Not loud, but more like a deep inhalation of breath that was blown out again with a little puffing sound at the end. How could anybody go to sleep so fast? But when I pulled the cover back to check, I discovered two things—first of all, he wasn’t kidding around. He was sound asleep and really snoring. And second, he was completely naked from the top of his messy little head to the bottoms of his frozen, stinky little feet.
A big part of me wanted to slide over and wrap him up in my arms to cuddle him all night long. Cuddle him. I was appalled at my reactions to him. If anyone ever needed a Daddy Dom, this boy did. But I was not that person, and I was not in the market for a boy like him. God, he’d be way more trouble than he was worth, a constant trial and bother.
I covered him back up and turned on my side away from him, closing my eyes, lying stiffly beside him and trying to tell myself that rolling back over and spooning him would be a really bad idea. I prepared myself to suffer the tortures of the damned for the rest of the long, cold, interminable night.
Chapter Six
Connor
I woke feeling warm and safe in Jared’s bed. Stretching luxuriously, I got up on one elbow to see where he was, because he wasn’t lying next to me, but the room was empty. Across the foot of the bed were a pair of sweats—if those words were even appropriate for such clothes. Which they were not.
It was like a jogging outfit, though I think at that level they were more properly called “track pants” and a zippered “track jacket.” They were made of tan velour, and no doubt very expensive. Alongside them was a pair of thick socks. Everything but the socks was too large, but I doubled the pants at the waist and made it work. Wandering into his bathroom, I found a toothbrush still in the package that someone had set out on the counter, so I used that and his spray-on deodorant. Feeling put together again, I wandered out in search of people.
