“Now I am home,” Cade gasped.
Quinn leaned forward to brush Cade’s lips, making Cade cry out. “Welcome home, my boy. Never leave me again.”
“Never,” Cade promised. “I’m never leaving my Daddy.”
Promise asked and given, Quinn made love to Cade until his boy was a sated pool of desire.
Cade
Cade didn’t want to move from the bed, even as sweat cooled on his skin and made him shiver. Quinn gathered him closer against his warm body.
“I dreamed about this,” Cade said, tilting his head to stare into Quinn’s liquid chocolate eyes.
“Making love?”
“Being in bed with you. You holding me. I didn’t feel safe until you held me close again.”
Quinn bent to kiss him. Cade turned in his arms to face Quinn, and for long moments he didn’t think about anything else except Quinn’s mouth on his.
When they pulled away from each other to breathe, Quinn said, “I want to show you something.”
“Okay.” He noticed Quinn seemed nervous. “Is something wrong?”
“No.” Quinn smiled at him. “I did a little rearranging while you were away.”
Cade nodded. “I know. We talked about it. You said you wanted to bring your gym equipment here.”
Quinn kissed Cade’s bare shoulder. “Come with me.”
Cade recognized it as an order, and although he’d rather have spent more time cuddling in bed with his Daddy, he stood and took Quinn’s hand. “Where are we going?”
“I put the gym equipment in the bedroom I had. It can easily be pushed aside if we have guests.”
Cade liked the sound of ‘we have guests.’
Quinn led him down the hall to the end bedroom which they’d agreed would be the gym. It had originally been the nursery for the previous occupant. He stood outside the closed door and gazed down at Cade.
“In my apartment I had a room like this which I used for my boys.”
Cade frowned and Quinn shook his head. “Everything in here is new. I’m not expecting you to use anything that was used by another boy.”
“What is it? Whips and chains?” Cade teased. “St. Andrew’s cross?”
“Not exactly.”
Quinn opened the door and stood back to let Cade precede him into the room. Cade’s mouth went dry.
It was painted in sky blue, a contrast to the pale pink before. But whereas before it had been full of storage boxes Cade had never unpacked, now there was a table with pads of paper and pens and crayons by the window. A low bed on the other side just right for a nap. There were dinosaurs on the covers. Crates filled with toys were placed against one wall. The room didn’t look complete. More like it was waiting for someone to fill it.
Cade turned to him. “It’s—”
“It’s a playroom,” Quinn said.
“For—”
“For littles.”
“But I’m not a little,” Cade protested.
Quinn stroked down one cheek. “Are you sure about that?”
Cade opened his mouth to deny he was a little, but the words seemed to stick in his throat.
“It’s not shameful, boy. It’s a sign of strength to acknowledge that side of yourself.”
Cade shook his head. “I can’t be a little.”
Quinn wrapped his arms around Cade and encouraged him to rest his head on Quinn’s chest. “The first boy I met didn’t know he was a little either, but there were clues.”
“Like?”
“He loved to draw and color.”
“So do a lot of people.”
“He loved playing with kids’ toys. He had shelves of toys never taken out of their boxes.”
“Perhaps he collected them,” Cade’s voice was harsh.
Quinn stroked his head. “He sucked his thumb.”
Cade stiffened. “How did you know?”
“I watch you when you’re asleep,” Quinn said. “He was a CEO and always stressed. He’d been told if he didn’t reduce his stress levels, he’d have a heart attack. I encouraged him to play with some of the toys and color. It went from there.”
“Do you still see him?”
“No. He found a Daddy of his own.”
“I’m sorry.” Cade ached at how many boys Quinn had lost to other Daddies.
“I’m not. Gianno was half his age and three times as dominant as me. It was a match made in heaven.” Quinn pressed a kiss on top of his head. “Why don’t you get dressed? There are clothes in the chest. I’ll make us a drink and a snack and come back here.” He kissed Cade and left him standing in the middle of the room.
“What the hell?” Cade said out loud.
He felt odd being naked in here. He opened up the chest and found T-shirts, shorts, and briefs. It didn’t escape his notice that they had a childish quality to them. He picked up the top blue T-shirt. It had a rocket on it. For a moment he contemplated returning to his bedroom to get pajama pants and a hoody, but then he stroked the soft cotton of the T-shirt. He shrugged it on and found briefs with rockets, too. He smiled as he stepped into them. By the time he was dressed, Cade was starting to feel better.
He wandered over to the table by the window and looked down at the pad of paper. Quinn had written ‘Cade’s pad,’ on it in his messy scrawl. Just the thoughtfulness made his eyes sting. Cade tried hard not to think about Eric, but he couldn’t help comparing him to Quinn. Eric would never have thought of doing this, just on a few clues.
He’d gotten a call while he was in London from Leo, apologizing for not seeing the damage Eric did to him and the other boys. Cade had offered to contribute to legal fees, but Leo assured him the community could handle it. A warrant was out for Eric’s arrest on charges of sexual assault, but he had vanished. No one had seen him for weeks.
Cade sat in a chair and picked a brown pencil which reminded him of Quinn’s eyes. By the time Quinn returned with a tray, Cade was engrossed in his sketch.
“You look busy,” Quinn said. He’d taken time to dress in his plaid pajama pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt. He carefully put the tray on a small table by the armchair and looked over Cade’s shoulder. “Is that me?”
“It is.” Cade looked up. “Do you mind?”
“Of course not. I told you it’s fine. I love it, boy. Do I really look that scowly?”
“I thought of you shouting at Eric.”
“Ah. I understand.” Quinn gently patted Cade’s back, careful not to knock him. “Would you like a drink?”
Cade looked at the tray, expecting to see coffee. Instead there were two sandwiches cut into smaller pieces, chips, a bowl filled with chopped fruit, and one cup of coffee. The other cup was a kid’s cup filled with milk.
“Is that for me?”
Quinn nodded. “I’d like you to sit on my lap.” He pointed to the comfy-looking armchair.
“Why?”
“Because I like to feed my littles.”
“You want to feed me?” Cade had a sudden memory of Quinn feeding him with omelet.
Quinn nodded and sat in the chair. He patted his thighs. “You’ve sat on my lap before.”