by KD Ellis
“You’re staying with me.” He could have made it a suggestion or a question, but he was well past that now. He wasn’t going to let Teddy check into some pay-by-the-hour motel and waste his money rooming with scorpions, bedbugs and any manner of disgusting diseases.
Teddy was quiet for a second. Ian wondered what was going through his mind. He knew there was a difference between staying with someone by choice—knowing there was a place to go if things ended poorly—and being homeless, subsisting on charity. Not that Ian saw it as charity, but Teddy would.
Ian backed Teddy against the door, bracketing him with his arms. “I want you to stay with me. I’ll sleep on the couch, if you feel more comfortable with that, but I want you in my bed. I want to dress you up for work, and cook you dinner.” He didn’t say the rest, that if Teddy was staying with him, Ian could keep him safe from whoever had marked him up, because he didn’t want to lie. Maybe Teddy would be safer from one problem, but Ian couldn’t squash the reminder that he would be putting him at risk from another.
Teddy shifted onto tiptoes and brushed his lips over Ian’s, then whispered, “Careful, or I might think you like me.”
“Whatever gave you that idea?” Ian nipped Teddy’s plump lower lip.
“Well, I hate to disappoint you, but you can’t dress me up until Monday. I don’t have any clothes.”
“You’ll have to run around naked then,” Ian teased. His hands dropped off the wall, sliding down Teddy’s spine to cup his ass. He tugged Teddy closer, their bodies joined from shoulder to hip.
“I’ll get cold. You’ll have to warm me up.” Teddy’s voice was breathy.
A door opened down the hallway and Ian reluctantly pulled away. “Come on. There’s no point standing here…getting cold.” He smirked and held out his hand. Teddy took it, and together they walked back downstairs and across the street to the lot. Ian opened the passenger door for Teddy, but when Teddy went to climb up, Ian lifted him sideways onto the seat, his feet dangling.
A small squeak slid from Teddy’s lips at the show of strength. That, or at the sight of Ian’s muscles bulging. Ian slid into the space between Teddy’s thighs, until his knees hit the leather. He would never make Teddy wander around his apartment naked, not even if the thought of it made Ian ache. But he could still tease him about it.
“Do you want to be my good little houseboy?” Ian asked, testing the water. His eyes locked on Teddy’s for his reaction. Negative, and he would step back, laugh it off. Instead, he saw the way Teddy’s pupils blew wider, heard the slight indrawn breath. Teddy flicked his tongue over his lip, so Ian pressed on. “Stay with me, be ready whenever I want to play with you?”
“Please, Ian…” Teddy shifted on the seat. Ian’s gaze drifted down, his lips curving wickedly at the small tent forming beneath the baggy shirt.
“What do you want, Teddy? Do you want me to take you home and lay you out on my bed? Let me lavish you in praise?” Ian dropped his hands to Teddy’s thighs, holding them open around him. “Be my good boy?”
Teddy moaned, his muscles jumping under Ian’s palms as his hips flexed. The reaction was strong enough to confirm a suspicion Ian had been harboring for a while, a suspicion that Teddy wanted someone to take control for a bit.
Then Teddy confirmed it out loud. “Yes, that. I want that.”
“Or”—Ian slid his hands farther, circling his thumbs over the pale, sensitive flesh of Teddy’s inner thighs—“do you want me to take these pretty panties off you right here and be bad for a while?”
“Shit, Ian,” Teddy cursed, his back bowing with a shudder. “You’ve got a dirty mouth.”
“I can make it dirtier,” Ian teased, pushing his hands over Teddy’s hips. Teddy whimpered when Ian bypassed his erection to grip the hem of the shirt and shove it upward. “Lieback.”
Teddy collapsed immediately, sprawling on the leather seats. Ian suddenly wished he’d splurged on a personal phone, rather than assuming he wouldn’t need it. He wanted to snap a picture—capture the elegant line of Teddy’s arm where it stretched above him, gripping the edge of the seat, the taut flex of his small waist. Instead, he let the shirt drop high on Teddy’s chest and trailed his fingers downward.
Teddy either was naturally hairless or kept up on his waxing because the skin was smooth under his fingers, a contrast to his own. Ian flicked one rosy nipple, watching as it hardened into a tight bud, then the other. He lovingly ran his fingers over the barely noticeable scars, leaning down to drop a kiss along the silver line, then let his hands trail down Teddy’s body. He wanted to learn Teddy’s body, spend hours playing him like a finely tuned instrument, but there wasn’t time, not out in the open.
It was late and the dark lot was devoid of lights, but that didn’t lessen the thrill. This wasn’t like Ian. He’d had hookups over the past few years, he wasn’t a saint, but they’d been quick and simple—a few minutes spent in a club bathroom, the occasional lift back to their place. It was rare that he played with the same man more than once, and only with a strict understanding that it wasn’t going to go anywhere. He’d always planned on moving back to Texas, and he knew none of the glittering, exuberant men he was attracted to would ever consider following him.
Texas had a reputation for being a hotspot for conservative homophobia that it more than lived up to, even if Austin was surprisingly liberal.
Besides, the risk to his job was never worth the short-lived satisfaction of caving to his exhibitionist tendencies. He thought he’d left them behind, consigned them to the follies of his youth, but now, with Teddy, he couldn’t stop. He didn’t care if anyone saw them. He wanted to show Teddy off, to show the world that he belonged to him.
Ian toyed with the band of the pink panties and looked up to meet Teddy’s eyes. “Do you want to be naughty with me?”
“Yes,” Teddy’s answer wavered between a sigh and a moan.
“Yes what?” Ian asked. Maybe he was punishing himself, curious to see what Teddy would call him. There was no way Teddy would call him what he wanted… What he needed, if he were honest with himself.
Teddy froze, meeting his eyes. He seemed to hold his breath, his cheeks pinking. “Yes…Daddy?”
All the blood left Teddy’s head to flood down into his throbbing, pulsing dick. He was harder than he’d ever been in his life, and saying the words—the words he’d only ever thought of saying for real in his deepest, most secret fantasies—felt unreal, like he was going to wake up any second in his shitty apartment and realize that the last twelve hours had been a dream to make up for the nightmare before it.
But then Ian was tugging his panties over his hips, leaving them stretched, straining, across the top of his thighs in a way that felt even dirtier than being stripped of them entirely. And a second later, a hot, wet heat swallowed him down. He cried out, thrusting his hips upward to meet Ian’s mouth.
Ian chuckled around him, the sound a throaty vibration that made Teddy shove his knuckles into his mouth to smother his scream of pleasure.
Ian let him slide from his mouth but didn’t leave him completely wanting, wrapping his large hand around Teddy’s tiny shaft, squeezing just enough to keep Teddy from softening or spilling over the edge. “Stay still, boy, or I’ll have to correct you.”
Teddy’s hips jerked at the dirty words and Ian gave a wicked chuckle. He sealed over his mouth over Teddy’s tip just as he laid a stinging smack on the exposed curve of his ass, where it hung over the seat. Teddy cried out, his hips jerking again, and he was rewarded with a second spanking.
Ian released him, then he laid a teasing stripe with his tongue up the underside of his shaft. “Careful, boy, or I’ll think you like that. Do you want a spanking?”
It was too much—the playful words, the spanking, the threat of getting caught…Teddy exploded, untouched, without warning. His cry was loud, until Ian stood to smother it with his mouth. He barely felt Ian’s hands shifting his panties back into place and rearranging him on the bench until he was seated
. Ian pulled away to click Teddy’s seatbelt on.
“Good boy. You looked so pretty when you came,” Ian murmured and Teddy believed him. He could see the straining hardness beneath Ian’s jeans.
“I’d look prettier in your cum,” Teddy said without thinking, but his embarrassment died before it could flourish. He was too wrapped in the warm cocoon of Ian’s praise.
Ian slid his thumb through the dampness on Teddy’s abs then he lifted it to Teddy’s mouth. Teddy parted his lips and allowed him entry, sucking on the thumb until it was clean and Ian pulled it free.
“Did you mean it?” Teddy asked before Ian could step back and break the moment.
“That you looked pretty?” Ian asked, eyes still dark with lust.
“When you called me ‘boy’. Did you mean it?” It was Teddy’s most secret wish, that he could be that for someone. He’d always been the grown-up, the adult, the responsible one—the one who cleaned up after his mother, who worked three jobs, who talked his friends out of reckless ideas.
Was he asking too much to want to give that control to someone else for a while? Would it be too much for Ian?
With a kiss to Teddy’s forehead, Ian laid his worries to rest.
“I meant it. I would very much love to be your daddy.”
Ian drove toward the local superstore, his heart lighter than it’d been in years. He relished the gentle acceptance that had crossed Teddy’s face at his promise. He knew some people found it weird, the thought of being called ‘Daddy’, but he didn’t. Maybe because he called his father ‘Papa’, so ‘Daddy’ didn’t have the same meaning.
He’d never trusted someone enough to admit that his toppy tendencies stretched further than the bedroom.
He’d known since high school that he was attracted to men who were smaller than him. He been afraid at first that it was some twisted way of compensating for his sexuality—that he was gay, but he wasn’t one of those gays. He’d hated himself for a while, until he’d realized that he wasn’t compensating at all.
He needed to be bigger than his lovers because it made him feel strong, like he could protect them. It had taken him falling down the porn rabbit hole to realize how far that need actually went. He was a Daddy, and he wanted a boy to take care of.
Not a boy. He wanted Teddy. In one way or another, it had always been Teddy.
Of course, he wasn’t a full-time Daddy, not exactly. He wasn’t looking for a domestic discipline relationship. He didn’t necessarily want to set up a list of chores or plan Teddy’s schedule for the week. He wanted to take care of him, to make him breakfast in the morning, to buy him pretty clothes, to run him a bath when he was stressed or tired.
“Where are we going?” Teddy said a few minutes later as they passed the turn-off that led back to Envy.
“To get you some clothes.” Ian glanced over at Teddy for a second, just long enough to find Teddy’s hand and reach for it, then turned his eyes back to the road. “And whatever else you need to get you through the weekend.”
Teddy’s hand twitched in his. Ian couldn’t tell in the darkness of the truck cab, but when he glanced over, it almost looked like Teddy was blushing. “I don’t have any money. I can just borrow your sweatpants—”
“I want to do this for you. Are you going to be a good boy and let me?” Ian asked, testing the waters. Was he moving too fast? Pressing too hard?
“I…” Teddy’s hand tightened on his, “Okay. But I’ll pay you back.”
Ian pulled the car into the parking lot and turned off the ignition before shifting in his seat to face Teddy. “I don’t want you to pay me back, boy. Let me do this for you.”
Teddy’s cheeks darkened further and he dropped his eyes, but unless Ian was misreading him, he didn’t look upset. He looked… Ian’s gaze skimmed down to the obvious bulge between Teddy’s thighs and he smirked.
“Okay,” Teddy whispered.
“Okay, what?” Ian asked, confident now that Teddy wasn’t opposed to him taking charge.
“Okay, Ian?” Teddy’s voice lifted high on the end but his lips quirked up.
Ian playfully swatted the boy’s thigh. “Is that what you want to call me?”
“I don’t know. Do you want me to call you something else?”
“Well, a boy who’s good for his daddy gets rewarded,” Ian suggested.
“I can be a good boy, Daddy,” Teddy promised, his eyes hooded with lust.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It was after midnight when Ian finally agreed that they had more than enough stuff to get Teddy through until he could get into his apartment. Teddy’s argument that they’d already picked up more than he’d owned in the first place had fallen on deaf ears. Teddy’s arms were laden down by bags, not even counting what Ian was carrying himself, and Ian was still mumbling that he hadn’t found everything he was looking for. Teddy was torn between rolling his eyes and blushing at the sweetness.
Ian put the bags he was carrying into the truck then waited while Teddy added his. “We’ll go to Knickers for Nick soon,” Ian said, once the back bench was full.
Teddy sucked in a breath, his voice coming out in an embarrassing squeak. “What? Really? Are you serious?” He’d heard of the new boutique, of course, but had never had the courage—or the money—to go inside. The few times he’d had to buy new panties, either for himself or for the club, he’d ordered them online. It wasn’t horrible, and most of the time he got what he wanted, but the sizing could be tricky—even more so when he wore his packer.
Ian frowned, clearly confused. “Why wouldn’t I be? I’m sure as hell not going to make you wear anything from in there.” He jabbed his thumb back toward the store.
Teddy flushed. He’d assumed they’d avoided the lingerie section because Ian was embarrassed to be seen there with him. It was one thing to put up with him wearing panties or even to enjoy it in private, and a whole different matter to purchase it in public. Shame bit at his chest. He should have known Ian wasn’t like that.
“I mean, their stuff isn’t horrible,” Teddy mumbled, dropping his gaze to his feet, now clad in a pair of pink Converse rather than the too-large sandals he’d borrowed from Ian earlier.
“No, but it’s made for women. You deserve to have something made for you.” Ian reached up and tucked a strand of Teddy’s hair behind his ear, lingering on his skin for longer than necessary. “Ready to go home?”
Teddy nodded. He was ready. Beyond ready. “Let’s go home.”
The drive back to Envy seemed endless, but finally, Ian pulled Sally into the parking lot and shut off the ignition. Teddy couldn’t help nervously glancing around the lot before climbing out, but all the cars were ones he recognized. It was nearly closing, so only the staff’s vehicles remained. Customers had to park across the street.
Between him and Ian, they grabbed the bags and carted them through the service door and up the stairs to Ian’s apartment, after only a brief pause to unlock the door then re-lock it behind them. Teddy expected Ian to drop the bags on the couch, but instead, he carted them directly into his bedroom.
“Hang on a second and I’ll clear you out a few drawers.” Ian immediately started emptying the top two drawers of his dresser without waiting for a response, which was a good thing, because Teddy stood there for several seconds in stunned silence.
He’d never had anyone willing to clean out a drawer for him. Even in the few relationships he’d considered his ‘best’—the ones that had lasted longer than a few weeks—none of his things had ended up anywhere but the floor. Watching Ian carefully fold and tuck away his clothing, not seeming to care whether it was the masc gray button-down or the femme blue blouse, sent his heart fluttering around his chest like a hummingbird.
He didn’t deserve this man.
Ian pushed the last drawer shut then folded up the reusable bags, tucking them into the bottom of his closet before brushing his hands over his pants, almost like he was cleaning them of dust. “There, all done.” Ian glanced towar
d Teddy, a soft smile on his face that faded after a second to concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” Teddy replied, then walked over to stand in front of Ian, close enough that he could see the scattering of freckles, barely visible on Ian’s terra cotta skin and feel Ian’s breath on his lips.
“You’re staring at me,” Ian murmured.
“Do you want me to stop?”
“Never,” Ian groaned and bent down, sealing his mouth over Teddy’s. Electricity danced between them, sparking against his tongue, a live wire coiling around their bodies. If it fused them together, Teddy wouldn’t mind.
But unfortunately, Ian broke away with a groan when his phone buzzed. Teddy felt it against his hip. Ian slipped his hand between them to pry it free of his pocket. He glanced at the screen, his mouth tightening in a frown. “I’m sorry. I have to take this.”
Teddy nodded, stepping back to catch his breath. Ian dropped a peck onto his lips then lifted the phone to his ear. “This is Ian.”
Ian slipped out of the bedroom, heading deeper into the apartment. His voice grew quieter until Teddy couldn’t hear it. Teddy released a stuttering breath and flopped backward onto the bed. He ground the heels of his hands into his eyes. Am I really doing this?
Fucking was one thing. He was good at it. He had lots of practice. He frowned and corrected himself. It wasn’t that he’d had a lot of sex, just…the sex he’d had was always meaningless in the end. He was beginning to believe that was all he was good for. In the end, he was always too much.
In the four years since his surgery, he’d had a handful of relationships. There had been Nathan, who’d said he was ‘too queer’, Victor, who’d said he was ‘too boring’ because he worked too much to be any fun and, of course, there had been Johnny, who’d said he was ‘too femme’.
He was always too something-or-other.
Ian, though… Ian looked at him like he meant something, and there was very little about Teddy that Ian didn’t already know. Only one thing, in fact, that Teddy could think of.