Hear Me, Daddy: Rainbow Room Book 2

by L. Michael

  I must have moaned out loud because Caden’s eyes widened, and he tightened his hold on my hip.

  “I take it you’re not going to use your safeword?”

  I shook my head so quickly that my hair bounced around. Then I got two raised eyebrows, and I handed over the spoon. Best dinner ever. Grinning, I opened my mouth, and judging by how Caden’s lips moved, I could tell he made a Choo-Choo sound. Giggling, I closed my lips around the spoon and signed, “I’m not going to use my safeword on you.”

  “Henry, I want to make sure you know you can use it if you feel like you need to stop what we are doing. Your safeword is very important.”

  “I will, I promise, but I don’t think I’ll need it. You’re the best Daddy ever.”

  “Well, I promise to try to be the best Daddy for you. But remember that I’m human. Even Daddies mess up sometimes.”

  My Daddy. He wanted to try out being my Daddy. It didn’t seem real. My emotions were all over the place, and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to laugh, cry, or to throw my arms around him. The best option was to do all of it at once, but that wasn’t possible, so I just stared at Caden until he nudged my lips with the spoon.

  “Tell me what you like, when you’re Little. I know about the diapers, but do you just wear them for medical issues, or do you enjoy it?”

  As Daddy fed me more ice cream, I thought about his question. When I woke up in the hospital, I was so out of it. It was a combination of the shock brought on by the trauma and the drugs. At least that was what the doctors said. They listed out my injuries and how I would need to wear diapers for the rest of my life. A lovely nurse told me that I shouldn’t feel embarrassed about my bladder issues. The thing was, I wasn’t. Not really. Normal society would see the diapers as a disability and wrong if I enjoyed wearing them, so I knew I should be embarrassed. But I felt comfortable, comforted, and secure. My thoughts wandered so far that I didn’t come back until Caden gently tapped my chin, and I looked up again.

  “You ok, sweet Boy? What color are you?”

  “Green, Daddy,” I signed and nodded.

  Caden put the spoon down and pulled me into an embrace and held me. It felt so good to have his strong arms wrapped around me. For that moment, I soaked in the feeling of Daddy holding me.

  Then I sat back up, sighed, and started to sign an explanation, “I got hurt pretty badly when I was fourteen. There was lots of internal damage. I nearly died.” I closed my eyes to get through this explanation. “When they woke me out of the drug-induced coma, I had lost my hearing, and my bladder was severely damaged. I got stuck in a silent world. It was scary, and I was traumatized. The diapers were…comforting, and I liked the way they felt. They’re so snug and comfortable, like being wrapped in a hug. Ava, my aunt…thought I might have Little tendencies when I told her.”

  The memory of how Ava helped change me the first time popped into my mind. She found me hard, but she was great about it. At the time, she ignored it, and two days later, she showed up with books and a list of websites about Littles. That was when I told her how diapers made me feel. Ava had smiled, hugged me, and stated that she loved me no matter what.

  A tear slipped down my cheek, and Caden brushed it away with his thumb before he reached under my chin and made me look up at him.

  “I’m so, so sorry that happened to you, Henry.” For the second time this evening, Caden leaned forward and gently kissed my nose. “But I’m glad that you found something to comfort you.”

  “You don’t mind?”

  “No. No, I don’t mind, at all. If I can make you feel comfortable, isn’t that taking care of you as well? That’s Daddy’s job, isn’t it? To make sure that my Boy feels safe and comforted?”

  Blinking, I stared at Caden because I’d never seen it that way. In my mind, I figured a Daddy would find it annoying if he had to change the diapers all the time. Some Daddies I talked to online told me that—word for word. They wanted to play and pretend, but they didn’t like the responsibility of taking care of a medical condition.

  “Try to see it like this. The more diaper changes you need, the more I can take care of you.”

  Was it possible that I was still in the coma and never had woken up? It was the only explanation for why I sat here with the wisest and most perfect Daddy ever.

  “I’m still in the hospital, right? This is a coma dream?”

  Instead of answering, Caden pinched the inside of my thigh, and I squealed. Ok. That hurt. So, I was awake, and Caden was real.

  “Let me feed you the rest of your ice cream and find out more about what you like.”

  Grinning, I opened my mouth while I signed, “Yes, Daddy.”

  “So, what would the perfect weekend look like for you?”

  “Lots of cuddles. Playing with toys. I love to color. I use a binky. Oh, we need to watch a movie. And cuddles.”

  “Ok, so far I haven’t heard anything unusual.” Caden shoved the rest of the ice cream into my mouth and smiled. “Bottles, binkies, toys, lots of cuddles and cartoons. I think we can come up with a great plan for the weekend, what do you say, Little Boy?”

  I groaned. “It’s so long until the weekend.”

  “I think we have a Boy who needs to learn patience.” Caden laughed, and then he smiled even more while he pointed with the spoon to something behind me. “I see that we have a bar full of Littles that need to learn patience.”

  I turned around and saw the two Littles walking over to us. When I glanced up, I caught the dark-haired Daddy say, “I’m sorry, Caden. We kept them away as long as we could.”

  I glanced back at Caden right in time to watch him answer, “Nosy brats.” I giggled, and Caden looked at me. “Oh, you caught that, did you?” I nodded, and Caden laughed again. Then he gently stroked my cheek. “They’re both nice Boys, Henry. I think you will all be good friends.”

  Friends. I glanced at the two men again. They appeared to be about my age, in their late twenties, but that was where the similarities ended. They both seemed so confident and comfortable in their skin. They were everything I wasn’t. Not to mention that I didn't have friends or knew anything about friendship. Growing up, I learned about family and honor. But nothing about real friendship. Not until I met Collin in the woods outside my family’s compound, I thought he would be a good friend, but then I’d fallen in love with him and had opened the gates of Hell. Now the closest thing to a friend I had was my agent, Owen.

  While thinking about this, I’d hidden my face in Caden’s neck, until someone touched my elbow. It wasn’t Caden, because the touch was softer and tentative. Slowly I raised my head and looked up warily. It was the guy with the dark-rimmed glasses. To my surprise, he grinned at me and held up his hands.

  “Hello. I’m Sam.” He fingerspelled his name, then continued, “We just wanted to say hi and welcome you to our group.”

  It was rare to find someone who wasn’t deaf who could sign, and I’d found two men in one pub. I frowned but sat up enough so I could answer.

  “Do you have a deaf sister, too?” I asked suspiciously. Sam wrinkled his nose in confusion and shook his head.

  “No. I’m an only child.”

  “How do you know how to sign then?” I glanced back at Caden, who smiled and started to rub my back. “I’ve never met so many people in one place who know how to sign.”

  “I learned in college. I thought it would be interesting.”

  Caden tapped my leg, and I turned to look at him. As he was still holding me on his lap, I needed to read his lips to communicate with him. “Sam is a little genius. He loves doing random things for fun.” The grin on his face was mocking when he told me that, and I glanced back to Sam, who rolled his eyes. When he caught me watching him, he blushed and shrugged.

  “I have a Ph.D. in criminology and IT, so they like to make fun of me.”

  “I studied psychology and literature,” I signed back, and Sam’s face lit up.

  “Really? That’s great. Which college did you attend?
I went to Stanford.”

  Stanford. Wow. That was one of the best colleges in the US. Sam must be brilliant then. I swallowed and tried to hide my face in Caden’s neck again. But this time, he stopped me and made me look at him. “What’s wrong?”

  “I…” I started to sign but stopped myself. Glancing at Sam, I swallowed and tried to hide my embarrassment. Sam was not only the perfect Little, but he was also bright and had studied at Stanford. I glanced at Caden and saw the worried frown. With a sigh, I turned back to Sam and the other guy. “My aunt, Ava, homeschooled me, so I took online classes at the community college.”

  “Cool. My parents homeschooled me, too,” Sam signed excitedly, his hands flying through the air. “We’re going to have so much to talk about.” The other guy had been watching our interaction quietly. He tugged on Sam’s shirt. “Oh, right, sorry. This is Josh, and his Daddy is Darrell. That is my Daddy, Jakob.” Then Sam pointed in the direction of the two older men. When I looked at them, they smiled and waved. Josh waved at me, too. I waved back and could feel Caden kiss my head. Oh. Proud Daddy meant kisses. That was an excellent goal to have. Make him proud of me, get more kisses.

  Or I could ruin everything. Horrified, I realized that I’d forgotten how long we had been sitting there. Wiggling around, I tried to get off Caden’s lap, but he only tightened his grip. Glancing up at him, I saw him saying, “Ok, that’s enough, Boys. Back to your Daddies. Henry is mine tonight.”

  Oh, God, he knew. Did Sam and Josh know as well? No, it didn’t look like it. They waved at us and left. Caden gently tapped my chin. Too embarrassed to look at him, I hid my face in his shoulder again. But Caden wouldn’t have that. While he grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him, his other hand roamed over my back until it rested on my ass.

  “It’s ok, sweetie. Just relax. Everything is alright.”

  “But…” Caden’s eyes widened in surprise when I spoke up, and blushing, I closed my mouth. Caden only smiled and kissed my nose again. Yup, the nose kisses were connected to things he thought I did well.

  “Still green?”

  Slowly I nodded, and that earned me another of those sweet kisses on my nose.

  “Thank you, Daddy,” I whispered. At least I hoped it was a whisper.

  “You’re welcome. Do you want to go home now?”

  “Please.” I hadn’t brought any supplies. The adult diapers were great, but they still needed to be changed regularly. Without telling him, Caden understood. He gently put me on the chair next to him, got up, and went over to the bar to pay our bill. I watched him until Des stepped into my view and smirked at me.

  “What?”

  “Please, let me tell Ava that you found yourself a Daddy.”

  “No,” I signed back, horrified at the idea of Des tattling on me. “You can’t tell her.”

  “Why? She told me that you would…” Des stopped his signing, and then he started to laugh. It must have been loud because Caden looked over at us. “You wanted to prove her wrong, and now you have a Daddy.”

  “I don’t. Stop it, Des!” Of course, being the person Des was, he laughed harder before he slapped me on the shoulder and winked at me.

  “I promise I won’t tell her, but I want to be there when she finds out. I don’t want to miss that smirk. Oh, by the way. You can trust Caden. He is a good man and will be a good Daddy.”

  Groaning, I watched Caden walk back over to us, looking at Des with a quizzical look on his handsome face.

  “What’s going on? What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing,” I signed and gave him my most, hopefully, innocent smile. Caden looked at Des, but Des was already walking away. Thank God.

  The ride over to Queens was quiet because Caden had to concentrate on driving, and I couldn’t see his lips. It gave me time to think about the evening. Ava had said that I should give it a try and that maybe I would be surprised. What a freaking surprise. I glanced over at Caden, who had his hands on the steering wheel but smiled. Ava had been right. I had been surprised, alright, with the most perfect Daddy ever. Not that I would ever tell her. Oh my gosh, she’d never let me live that down.

  Sitting at a red light, Caden touched my arm, and I looked over at him. “You doing ok?”

  The whole situation was so much more than ok, and I nodded. I’d met the most incredible Daddy, and he was bringing me home. I turned in my seat and just watched him drive. The moment he realized we had arrived at my building was comical. His eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. He turned to me with a frown.

  “I’m going to end up as one of your next victims, right?”

  “What?”

  “You use this angelic face of yours to lure Daddies into this old building, and then you lock them up. Don’t forget that I’ve read your books.”

  I tapped my chin and tilted my head and signed, “Actually, that’s a pretty good idea. If I lock you up, I would have you all for myself.” Caden raised his eyebrows, and I laughed.

  “You do realize that you don’t have to lock me away to have me as your Daddy.”

  “I know. I guess. I think.” Instinctively I leaned forward towards him. Caden rewarded me with another kiss on my forehead, and I smiled at him. “But I do live here. I bought the warehouse after I sold the rights for Bloody Tears. I remodeled the upper floor into an apartment and built a garden on the roof.”

  “That sounds great.” Caden glanced out of the front window before he turned to me again. “Would you like to show me?”

  “You want to come up with me?” Instead of answering, Caden just raised an eyebrow. Right. Yes. Stupid question. Eager to get out of the car, I reached for my seat belt and got slapped on my hand. Damn it. I looked up and moaned when Caden simply stared at me.

  “First of all, you stay where you are and wait for Daddy to unbuckle you, and second, yes, I would like to come up with you. We still need to talk about our weekend plans, right?”

  Oh, yes, our weekend. Eagerly I nodded and put my hands in my lap. Caden smiled at me, then got out and came to my side of the car, where he opened the door and grinned. “Thank you for being a good Boy and waiting for Daddy to get you out of the car.”

  “You would just slap my hand again.”

  “Well, I have to be creative with you, because you are a special Boy.”

  Special. Not damaged. Not broken. Special. My heart melted. “Thank you, Daddy.” With a smile, Caden leaned over me and unbuckled my seatbelt. When he stood back up, I signed, “Are you allergic to cats?” Caden shook his head. “Because I have one. Charlie. But I must warn you. He doesn’t like people.”

  “Thanks for the heads up. Come on. Let’s get you into your apartment, sweet Boy.”

  Chapter 4

  Caden

  Ten minutes after we arrived at Henry’s building, I found myself in a staring contest with a beautiful, long-haired cat. Henry had rushed off to clean himself up. I offered to help him, but Henry told me to sit, then disappeared behind a door. At first, I didn’t see a cat. Then, out of nowhere, he was on the other end of the sofa staring at me.

  “You have a nice home,” I said after a couple of seconds, glancing around the apartment. Henry had done a fantastic job remodeling the factory’s top floor. The elevator came right into the apartment. It was a completely open floor plan with the kitchen, dining area, living area, and his workspace all in one room, and then four doors that probably lead to a playroom maybe, a guest room, his bedroom, and the bathroom. The original brick walls had been exposed and gave the space a homey feel. Beautiful floor to ceiling windows let natural light shine into the room. Between two of the windows was a huge cat tree. Well, it was more of a forest than a single cat tree. It went up across the wall and to the ceiling. It was impressive, and it showed how much Henry loved his cat.

  “Your Daddy created a nice place for you over there.” Looking back to where the cat had been, I blinked. He wasn’t there. Henry must have trained him as a little kitty ninja because the cat snuck up and was sitting rig
ht beside me, still staring. Now that he was closer, I could see that his white fur was well-groomed, and he wore a blue ribbon instead of a collar. After Henry’s earlier warning about this handsome fellow not liking people, I expected him to attack me at any minute. Warily I leaned back, swallowed, and admonished myself, Damn, Caden. It’s just a fluffy cat.

  “Ok, buddy. Your Little Daddy told me that you don’t like people, and that’s ok. Most of the time, I don’t like some people, either. But I’m one of the good guys, and I’m going to be your Daddy’s, um, Daddy, which sounds weird now saying it out loud. So you can trust me, ok, buddy?”

  To my surprise, Charlie put his paw on my leg, as if he was testing me, and when I didn’t react, he climbed onto my lap. “Ok. That’s your Daddy's place, but you’re his cat, so I guess this is ok.”

  “Meow.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re right, he wouldn’t mind.” Charlie lay down on my lap, closed his eyes, and started to purr. A startled gasp drew my attention. Henry stood in front of me with his hand over his mouth. He had changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt with a character from How to Train Your Dragon on it.

  Henry used his shaking hands to sign, “Charlie has never done this before. Ever. Not even with my aunt.”

  “I guess he thinks I’m special, too.”

  “I got him from the shelter. He was abandoned as a kitten and was so scared when I first saw him. He doesn’t trust people.” Henry looked at his cat, and then he looked at me and smiled. “But he trusts you.”

  “I’m glad he does, and I hope that means that you trust me, too.”

  “I do.” Henry exaggerated the signs for I and do and nodded his head hard.

  “I’m glad because I like you and your cat,” I said, looking down at the ball of fluff on my lap. Henry giggled. Then he came over and sat down beside us. He scratched Charlie behind his ears, before sitting up again so he could sign.

  “I like you, too. But I guess you already figured that because I’m so needy.”

  “You’re a smart cookie, Henry.” Henry blushed, shrugged, and tried to look away. Nope, there would be none of that. I grasped his chin and raised his head, so he was looking at me again. “You are. You’ll figure out that all Littles are needy in their unique ways. Why would they want a Daddy if they weren’t? I have no problem with you being needy. Not at all. Daddies want to be needed. I’m needy, too, you know. I need you to need me. That is at the heart of all Daddies. We need to be needed.”