by Cara Dee
It had to be him.
I wondered if August knew, though.
“Come in!” Camden hollered.
Chapter 6
Oh Carolina
“We’re in the South, y’all,” I said. “Wouldn’t be right if we came here and didn’t play any songs that fit right in.” Which meant, it was time to crank shit up.
My fingers fell over the strings, and I took the lead with Nicky playing rhythm. Luiz and Chris joined in too. We raised the tempo gradually, and my brother and I exchanged a laugh when he accidentally flicked away his pick. I improvised a short, bluesy lick to delay his cue, and then I dove right into the first verse once Nicky was back on track.
It was the perfect song to work up a sweat to.
“Give them something to move to, Sylvia,” I instructed into the mic, retrieving my bottleneck slide from my pocket. Sliding the metal tube along the strings altered the pitch and gave us a more raw sound. “We’re not here to stand still, are we?”
Sylvia and her talented piano fingers crushed the notes and brought us back to the classic rock ’n’ roll era of Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, and it was fucking impossible not to get swept away by it.
I opened the door but didn’t take a single step past the doorway. Madonn’, I didn’t know how to react. I didn’t know what I’d expected either. It suddenly made sense why Camden had his own room, however. King didn’t strike me as the type who wanted his walls filled with action figures, video games, and toys. The room was absolutely packed. Floor-to-ceiling shelves—aside from the short ends of the room. One side reserved for a big bed, the other for a gaming nook. At the foot of his bed, he had a dresser with a big flat-screen on it.
The boy himself sat in the middle of his bed, a thick duvet with a Spider-Man design pooling around his waist. Stuffed animals, from traditional teddy bears to Ewoks, scattered all over.
“Hi again.” Camden wore another shy grin for me, much like he’d done earlier today. “I took a super-long nap, and now I’m not tired at all.”
I had to say something. I had to treat him in a special way.
But God, I could just listen to that boyish voice all night.
“I coulda used a nap too, but I helped your Daddy prepare for the barbecue.”
Camden’s lovely blue eyes lit up. “He makes the best barbecue in the whole galaxy.” He reached past the duvet pile he was buried in and patted a spot on his mattress. “Come sit with me right here, please? We can watch Winter Soldier together. It’s Captain America.”
I closed the door behind me, utterly transfixed, and made my way over to his bed. His innocence was beautiful. So fucking beautiful.
As I sat down on the edge of the bed, he did the opposite and jumped off, revealing a tight little butt in Spider-Man briefs.
The tattoos around his calves had sharp edges, and he wore them like cuffs. I wanted to get a closer look at the designs.
I wanted to see the tiny tattoo of a snake on his hand again too. I wanted answers.
“Do you want a soda, Sir?” he asked as he fetched a DVD from the shelf. “I’m allowed to have soda on weekends.”
“I won’t say no to a soda,” I replied. I had to admit I liked it when he called me Sir too.
That was new and unexpected.
“So your Daddy told me that you picked the winners for his contest,” I said.
“I did!” He skipped back to the bed with his remote in a tight grip, and he squatted down in front of the nightstand on the other side. “I saw all your pictures and got the biggest crush,” he giggled. “Daddy thought that was funny.”
I…had nothing. I was overwhelmed by all the new impressions. It was gonna take me a minute to process everything.
Camden opened what turned out to be a mini fridge rather than a nightstand, and he picked out two bottles of Coke.
“Can you open them, please? I can’t find my opener.”
“Of course.” I grabbed the two glass bottles and retrieved my keys from my pocket.
“I have snacks too.” He pointed toward his desk across the room. “One chocolate is probably okay, but Daddy said he’d bring me dinner soon. I already ate all the sammiches he made me earlier.”
I must’ve missed that.
“You’re not going to eat with the rest of us, then?” I handed him his Coke and set my own on the nightstand on this side of the bed.
“No.” He took a big gulp of his soda, then rubbed his nose vigorously. “It fizzles and sizzles!”
I grinned. My heart felt like it had just doubled in size. How freaking strange this was.
“I’m gonna be super sneaky and try to convince you to stay up here too,” he informed me. “You and I can eat dinner together, and Daddy will miss us and kick the other yahoos out of the house.”
I exhaled a surprised laugh, to which he gave me a dopey grin.
“You’re so gorgeous,” he said. “I knew you’d be perfect.”
Someone had to clue me the fuck in soon. All this youthful honesty about crushes and being perfect for something and being so adamant about seeing me…I couldn’t grasp any of it.
Camden straightened abruptly, and if we’d lived in a cartoon, a lightbulb woulda gone off above his head. “Do you want me to burp the alphabet?”
“Mannaggia, e’ un bambinone,” I chuckled to myself. “No, I want you to tell me if you have a dirty Instagram account and recently liked most of my pictures.”
His grin turned sheepish. “Maybe? Please don’t say anything to Daddy. I haven’t told him that part of my evil genius plan yet, and he was already wary of letting me make that account public. It’s just supposed to be me practicing erotic photography.”
He didn’t need practice.
All I could do was continue to shake my head. Both August and Camden had fucked with my head just by being who they were, and I couldn’t say I wanted to get off their joyride.
Maybe I didn’t want the answers straightaway either. Maybe this was one of those times I should just enjoy things while they lasted and let the chips fall where they may.
Camden bit his lip. “Are you okay with me being little, Sir? You’re not talkin’ much.”
Shit. It hadn’t been my intention to make him worry. “Of course I’m okay with it, buddy. It’s just new to me.” I had to be honest about my gawking too. “You’re also really fucking adorable, and I like watching you. It makes me forget to respond sometimes.”
“Oh.” He liked that answer. “Okay, good. I think we should watch the movie now, so you have to get ready.” He got up on his knees and set his soda on the mini fridge, then crawled over to the TV, presumably to insert the DVD.
“I think I’m ready,” I decided. I’d seen a few of the Marvel movies with Nicky already.
Camden peered back at me and scrunched his nose, his butt in the air. “No, you’re not. You can’t wear clothes on movie night. That’s against Daddy’s rules.”
I assumed he meant I couldn’t wear these specific clothes. “I can go change into comfier clothes if you want. I brought sweats and tees.”
He huffed. “That’s clothes too, Sir. You can only wear undies.”
That would pose another problem. I didn’t generally wear any. I was a commando guy.
“Do these rules really apply to me as well?” I asked skeptically. “I’m not wearing anything underneath my jeans, and I’m not sure your Daddy anticipated I’d be naked with his boy five minutes after we met.”
“You hafta follow the rules,” he responded frankly. “And to be honest, Daddy didn’t anticipate much of anything today, cuz I’m a sneaky evil genius.” So he kept saying. “I know him best, though. I knew you’d be perfect, and I was right. Daddy’s a smitten kitten.” He giggled at his own wording and crept closer, still on his knees. “He doesn’t wear any undies either, by the way.”
Good to know. I’d lost the ability to speak again, because Camden was too close. His smooth upper body was mere inches from my face when he reached out and fiddled
with one of the buttons on my shirt.
“May I help you with your clothes, Sir?” he asked sweetly.
I swallowed around the buildup of desire and nodded dumbly.
He was an angel. Up close, I could only drink him in. Smooth, pale, flawless skin. Regardless of how young he felt mentally, with or without regression, how could someone go through life for twenty-seven years and not get a single scar?
He’d taken out his piercings for some reason.
I didn’t even ask to touch him. Before I could register it, my hand eased its way up his stomach. Fuck, so soft and smooth.
Camden undid a few of my buttons and then slipped his hand inside my shirt, and my undershirt, to explore my chest with his curious little fingers.
“You have almost as much chest hair as Daddy.”
I looked forward to feeling it against me.
“Where are your piercings?” I wondered.
“I take them off if there’s gonna be playtime.” He continued removing my button-down, and I shrugged out of it and pulled my undershirt over my head before returning to touch him. “Or if I’m cooking.”
Made sense. I’d never seen the piercing in his eyebrow in any of his videos.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen the tattoo of the snake recently either.
“Do you cover your tattoo as well?” I asked.
“Nowadays. I didn’t before. I want everything in my videos to be wholesome. Except for my potty mouth.”
I grinned softly and peered up at him. At the same time, I stroked my hand along his thigh. “Your potty mouth is funny.”
He bit his bottom lip and brushed his fingers over my nipples. “It’s the only time I’m allowed to curse.”
I chuckled quietly and dropped my gaze to his thighs and underwear. Of course a mischievous little boy like Camden was going to pack as many curses into his videos if that was the one time it was okay.
As I rubbed him gently around his upper thigh, sliding my hand between his legs every now and then too, I got to see how it affected him. He’d stopped touching me. His breathing was slowly becoming shallow, and his cock was filling out his briefs more and more.
When I drew the pad of my thumb along the soft crease before his briefs took over, he stuttered a breath and clutched my shoulders.
“Do you like it when I touch you here, Camden?”
He nodded quickly. “It feels very, very good.”
I wanted to tease him. I wanted to draw it out.
I also wanted to suck the come from his cock and make him beg and scream, and I wasn’t known for being patient when I really wanted something.
“Perhaps you should help me with my jeans,” I said.
“Y-yes,” he breathed.
There was no going back now.
I rose from the bed, and he snuck closer while I removed my belt.
“I wanna see your thing,” he admitted. “You’ve seen mine and Daddy’s, so it’s only fair.”
That couldn’t compare. Whatever they showed on their NSFW account was artistically edited and left too much to the imagination.
My belt ended up on the floor with a muted thud, and then I unzipped my jeans carefully until my semihard cock was free. Camden stared at it as if he couldn’t look away, and it wasn’t helping me be patient.
“C-can we lie down, p-please?” The urgency in his plea broke the last resolve I wasn’t even sure I’d had in the first place. My mind turned darker; I wanted to cover his body with my own and have my way with him. I wanted to use his perfect little body, taste every inch, and bring him to an edge where he wasn’t sure if he could handle more.
The second my jeans hit the floor, I crawled over Camden on the mattress and got us under the heavy duvet.
“This what you wanted, ragazzo? You want a strange old man in your bed, feeling you up?”
“Ohhhh, too many thoughts at once!” He gasped and curled himself into my embrace. “You are not a strange man—I’ve stalked you since last year, and I’m an excellent judge of character—and I love sweet nicknames. Can you tell me what it means?”
I chuckled huskily and wove my fingers through his shaggy hair, then pulled him back and exposed his neck for me. “Ragazzo means boy, my little stalker.” I dropped an openmouthed kiss along his neck and earned myself a breathy, needy moan from him. “Tell me more about your stalking. I wanna know why you keep saying I’ll be perfect for your Daddy.”
I wasn’t personal enough on social media. Again, my account was too closely linked to my work.
“Because—because he needs someone sweet.” Camden nudged me onto my back and crawled on top of me. If I wanted him to talk, it might be best if I let him lead for a moment. “Someone like you.”
I shook my head and slipped my hands up his thighs. “Are you two searching for a play partner or something? You should start by not looking outside of the state.”
He snickered in response. “It’s too soon to divulge that part of my—”
“Evil genius plan,” I mimicked.
He smiled widely. “You’re funny.”
“And you were going to tell me why you think I’m sweet.”
“That one’s easy.” He slowed down a little and let his hands roam my chest. “From every picture you uploaded from your music school, I could tell you really care for your students. You love your job, you love helping, you love teaching, you love sharing music.”
His answer slowed everything down for me too. Regardless of how mouthwateringly sinful this young man was, how much his body called to me, hearing his thoughts suddenly became more urgent.
“You love your family and your community too,” he murmured. Some of his boyishness faded and made room for something just as genuine but less kinky. “I saw a picture of you and your grandmother holding up pastries and smiling so wide. Multiple pictures of your brother. He’s often goofing off and being funny, and you look like you’re humoring him. But you also post the photos, you don’t throw them out, because they’re important to you. He’s very important to you.” He tapped my lips with his fingertip, and I kissed it softly. “All the photos of faceless students where you write about therapy styles and mental health and the progress children are making—the impact music can make. You, especially you, reveal so much about yourself when you talk about others.”
Not for the first time around Camden—and August, for that matter—I had fuck-all to say in response.
“Did I make you uncomfortable?” he wondered.
I swallowed and shook my head slowly, trying to find the right words. “I’m flattered you see me that way.”
“But you don’t agree with the assessment?”
Fuck if I knew. Probably not, no. “It’s possible I don’t see myself in the best light all the time.” I smiled in an attempt to lighten the tension. A vacation wasn’t the right time to get serious with heavy topics. “I used to jokingly tell people that I’m the reliable workhorse. Not the stallion you use for breeding, not the racehorse you put money on, but I’m good to have around.”
I didn’t get a damn chuckle, even. Just another nose scrunch.
“Jokes are suppost’a be funny, Sir.” He quirked a brow and smirked a little. “Speaking of jokes, did you dump your stupidhead boyfriend?”
My forehead creased. “My who? I’m single, and I don’t recall posting about a stupidhead.”
“Single is awesome,” he exclaimed. “That’s the best news in the galaxy all day.” He was too cute for words. “Last year when I started picking the winners, there was a photo or two of someone I figured was a boyfriend. But now the pictures are gone.”
Ah. Yes, I’d deleted the two photos with Shawn in them. “An ex. Aye, I ended things with him.”
“Good.” Camden looked all smug. “Everyone who stands in my way is a stupidhead, duh.”
I laughed. “You’re fuckin’ cute, you know that?”
“It can’t be helped.” He wriggled his sweet ass over my lower stomach and looked very pleased with hi
mself. “Who knows, maybe I can develop my evil genius plan more now—but I can’t divulge. You don’t have the right clearance for that. Nobody does!” He tried to pull off an evil laugh, only succeeding in being even more adorable. “Let’s go back to a more important topic.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Cute nicknames. I love them, love them, love them. Can you call me something sweet in Italian?”
I could call him a million things in Italian, all true. I hummed and pulled myself up into a seated position, and he scooted down a bit, right where I wanted him over my cock.
“Anything can be a term of endearment in Italian.” I combed back his hair with my fingers. “My nonna calls me her polpetto, for instance.”
“What does it mean?”
I smirked. “Meatball.”
Camden squeaked and slapped a hand over his mouth.
“I was a chubby kid,” I chuckled.
“That’s so funny,” he giggled.
It was a sight for sore eyes to see him grow littler right before my eyes. I imagined it was a mentality to sink into, and he had to feel comfortable enough around me if he could do it so freely. It was heartwarming.
“You’d make a perfect piccolo ragazzo. Little boy.”
He sighed dreamily and put his hands on my cheeks. “Say it again? The way you roll those Rs makes my tummy tingle. Rrrragaaahhtso.”
I laughed silently and leaned in, whispering in his ear. “Sei bellissimo, piccolo ragazzo. Potrei guardarti tutto il giorno.”
He shuddered violently in my arms. “What does that mean?”
“It means, you’re beautiful, little boy. I could look at you all day.” I nipped at the spot below his ear and gave him one more line, a request. “Dammi un bacio. Give me a kiss.”
I hugged him to me as he trembled and tilted his face toward mine, and it was so different from my kiss with August, yet just as exciting. Camden pecked me softly at first, then inched away and smiled shyly before he went in for another kiss.
“I wanna kiss like grown-ups,” he whispered.
“Okay,” I whispered back.