Daddy Christmas, page 12
“Did you know Luxembourg is famous for its gorges?” he asked.
I rubbed my nose. “No, sir.”
“There’s one up ahead here.” He grabbed my hand again, and we crossed another street. I tried to see what he was seeing, but it was getting dark. There was a patch of nothingness, so that had to be it. I spotted a stone wall along the sidewalk we were aiming for—oh! Across the valley or whatever, there was a big castle up on a mountain! And a really tall bridge that looked old.
Daddy ushered me over to the wall, and I planted my hands on it and peered out. Holy crap—yeah, a gorge. It was beautiful. The sides were lined with tall trees and bushes, but the center was a part of the city. A neighborhood buried at the bottom of the gorge, with old buildings and narrow streets.
“This is cool!” I pulled out my phone to take a couple pictures.
I’d never seen anything like it.
I turned around to take a selfie with the gorge in the background, and then I grabbed Daddy’s hand. “Let’s take a photo together.”
He dipped down and kissed my cheek, and it made me smile like a dork as I took the picture. I had to look. I pinched the screen and zoomed in, and just like that, I was reenergized.
Like, what was wrong with me? I was in a beautiful city with the man I was falling in love with, and I was bitching about being tired?
We looked so good together. He had a soft smile on his face as he kissed my cheek in the picture, and my grin was as silly as it always was. His fancy coat and neatly wavy hair with silver in it against my parka, bright-green beanie, and dorky smile.
I glanced up at him, finding him watching me already.
He better be falling for me too.
Or I’d spank him.
“Let’s go. We have someplace to be.” He offered me his arm again.
When we reached the heart of the city, I felt so much better. It was Christmas here! Old buildings, pretty lights, shoppers, and cozy cafés warmed me up in the snowfall. We passed a cobblestone square with a giant tree that ignited my holiday spirit, and I was now a fan of Luxembourg.
I wanted to come back.
“Are we going to a restaurant?” I asked.
“Eventually,” he replied vaguely. “To be honest, the restaurant at the hotel is really good, so I was thinking we could eat there. But first—” He nodded toward a narrow alley between two buildings. “I’m going to treat my boy to the best hot chocolate he’ll ever have outside Paris.”
Oh. I loved hot chocolate. It was a favorite of mine!
“Will you be speaking French?” I asked. “Because that was seriously sexy. You were all oh, vou-vou, mon chi fair au lau bon!”
Daddy coughed a laugh and stared at me, bewildered.
“That’s what you sounded like!” I laughed too, unable to help it.
He pulled me close and chuckled. “I have no words for how delightful you are, sweetheart.”
He wasn’t wrong. I was delightful.
A couple minutes later, we arrived at a corner café that was decorated in tons of pastel colors. Ladurée—sure sounded French. Oh, it actually said Paris on the window. And some other cities.
We walked inside, and I was immediately met by a wall of sweet treats. Macarons had to be their specialty, but they had other goodies too. Jams and fudge and tea and stuff.
Daddy got us a table, and he pulled out my chair for me. The place wasn’t big, but it was popular.
As I shrugged out of my jacket, he went French on me and ordered for us, and I filed that away for tonight. Maybe he could do French dirty talk!
“What did you order?” I wondered, removing my beanie and mittens.
“Everything,” he joked. “No—a hot chocolate for you, cappuccino for me, and a selection of treats. I thought we could bring the leftovers with us to the hotel later.”
Yum.
I loved treats. Treats were the best.
“It’s like you know me.” I grinned.
He smiled and just watched me.
I grabbed my napkin—fancy linen, of course—and tucked it into my shirt.
That made his smile widen a bit.
When he looked at me that way, I wanted to blurt things out. I wanted to ask him if he was falling for me, like I was for him, and if he believed we might spend the rest of our lives together. Which would be crazy of me. I kept telling myself it was way too soon to think in those terms.
He wordlessly turned his hand on the table, palm up, and I slipped my hand in his.
He brushed his thumb over my skin.
I wanted to say something. I had to say something.
Nerves formed a tight ball in my stomach, and rhyme and reason told me to shut the fuck up. It was an intense attraction, a wild infatuation, a perfect holiday—all of which could absolutely turn into more; I just had to be patient.
He smirked faintly, as if he could read my mind.
I couldn’t fucking help it. I had to. “Daddy? Um…”
He shook his head, all calm and… The affection didn’t leave his eyes, and the tiny smirk slash smile didn’t leave his lips.
“Don’t say anything, baby,” he murmured.
But—!
He knew, didn’t he? I mean, with where we were, the air around us—people came here on dates—new city, Christmas around the corner, how we’d behaved toward each other since our very first dinner together… He had to know.
“But you feel it, don’t you?” I asked quietly, almost pleading with him.
He squeezed my hand and sat forward. “Every second of every day.”
I took a deep breath and let those words settle.
He feels it too.
“But when we exchange those words,” he went on, keeping his voice down, “I don’t ever want them to be taken back.”
I swallowed hard and managed a wobbly smile. He totally felt it—and he wanted us to be patient so we could do this right, so we could last forever.
He leaned forward a bit more and kissed my hand. “I’m not letting you go, Parker. At this point, it’s not possible. You’re mine.”
Fuck, I needed to hump his leg or something. Maybe lick his face. Sit on his lap, squeeze him tightly, and never let go.
“Promise?”
“I promise.” He smiled before shifting his gaze to something behind me. “I believe our sugar coma is here.”
I was ready!
DECEMBER 22
A YEAR LATER
A lot could happen in a year. One could definitely grow accustomed to flying first class in that time. One could also be on his fourth travel pillow because he kept forgetting them in lounges all over the world. Work environments could change—case in point, Kim, Mya, and I were now on the fourth floor in our own little office area, booyah—snickerdoodle recipes could be improved, people could move in together, and adorable boys could build up an impressive collection of stuffies because Daddy was awesome.
Just kidding—my snickerdoodle recipe had been perfect for years.
I munched on one right now and brushed the crumbs off my hoodie, and I laughed at the movie playing. Elf was the best! Poor Daddy—he had to work all the way to DC, while I got to nap and watch movies and eat cookies. With my newest stuffie in my lap! I’d named him Turtleton.
Every now and then, Daddy glanced my way with that sexy, soft smile of his.
I loved the red-eye, because I had no bedtime, and everything was dark and peaceful. Plus, when we arrived at our destination, we could nap together and order room service. We were champions at that!
When the movie ended, I removed my headphones and told Daddy it was time he took a break. Then I prepared some snacks for him. I ordered coffee and brought out the tiny-tiny flask of syrup I’d brought—’cause Daddy loved the one I made for him—and I gathered two cookies and some peppermint bark on his tray table.
Daddy sighed contentedly and stowed away his laptop. “What would I do without you, baby?”
“Eat way less sugar,” I laughed.
He chuckled and stretched a bit. “I still see those dark-chocolate orange squares in my dreams.”
Yeah, they’d been so good—for Daddy. The chocolate had been too dark for my tastes. “One of the upsides to my recipe exchange with Cam. He made them for Lucian.”
I was so excited to meet the new additions to Cam’s relationship tomorrow. Daddy and I had met Noa twice this year, and then we’d all had a busy summer and fall—and so much had changed for Cam and Noa! Not only had they found their third, they’d found a freaking fourth, so they had an entire kink family going on now.
Even better, Cam’s new Master was the man he’d been in love with for so long. I was very happy for my cousin. Lucian had just needed to recover from a bad relationship, and then he hadn’t been able to resist Cam for a second!
When Daddy’s coffee arrived, I poured a little bit of syrup in there before he took a sip and nodded with approval. “Excellent. Did you and Cam settle on our plans for tomorrow?”
“Yessir, he and I gotta buy some last-minute presents, and then we’ll all meet up for lunch at a restaurant he recommended,” I answered. “You won’t be outnumbered by brats this time!”
He laughed at that. “I admit, I’m looking forward to meeting Lucian and KC.”
Yeah, me too. I didn’t know much about KC, only that he was Noa’s Daddy Dom. And, um, former stepdad? Something like that.
To be honest, I hoped meeting Cam and Lucian would make Daddy think about the relationship he shared with me. ’Cause Cam told me he and his Master had recently begun discussing the idea of marriage, and my Daddy had never once mentioned it! So yeah. I wanted that thought in his head. I mean, he seemed traditional enough that marriage wasn’t a strange concept. For Santa’s sake, he’d been married already! And it felt so wrong that Daddy supposedly wanted to spend the rest of his life with me but only had been married to someone else. One might say I’d developed some jealousy issues on the topic.
He was mine, dammit. Only mine. Mine, mine, mine.
DECEMBER 23
“Have you thought about asking him?” Cam asked.
I scrunched my nose and eyed my potential new All Stars in the mirror. “What, like, I would propose? Slap me silly, maybe I’m a traditionalist too, because fuck that. Wyatt proposes, not me.”
He snorted and sat down on one of the cushy cubes with his shopping bags. “No, I mean—ask what he thinks about marrying again.”
Oh.
I dunno. I’d much prefer Daddy read my mind and just know that I wanted to be tied to him in every way imaginable. Was that too much to ask?
“Let’s keep thinking,” I said. We had some time to kill anyway.
We had all the gifts. We were grabbing a cab outside the mall in approximately twenty minutes. In the meantime, I could always use another pair of All Stars, and these were Christmas green. I liked Christmas colors.
“Have you dropped any hints?” Cam rose again, having spotted a pair of shoes on the wall of sneakers. The blue ones he picked up would be great to dance in, I could totally tell.
I scratched the side of my head and kicked off my new shoes. Definitely buying them. “Sort of…? When Emmy and Levi announced their wedding would be on a beach in the Bahamas, I told Wyatt I’d never get hitched like that. I was like, if I get married, I don’t wanna sweat my balls off in my suit.”
Cam hummed. “That should be enough to at least make him give it a thought, but…” He shook his head and tried the shoes. “Older men are different, man. It’s highly possible he’s holding back because you’re so young.”
I furrowed my brow. “I’m older than you, dude. And you’ve got your rings picked out already.”
He laughed. “Fuck you, we do not. We’ve only talked about it a little. Besides, it’s what Wyatt might think—why would he involve my age in that? You should drop a few more hints.”
Hmm. Maybe he was right.
About half an hour later, we arrived at a restaurant in Logan Circle, and Daddy was waiting outside. And he wasn’t alone. Noa must’ve handled introductions, ’cause Wyatt was chatting with two men I’d never met before, and Noa was standing next to them. One of the men was supporting himself on a cane, and it jogged a memory. Cam had told me KC had been in an accident or something like that.
After I’d paid the fare, we walked up on the curb and headed toward the restaurant.
“I swear he’s been working all morning,” Cam muttered.
“Huh?” I glanced at him.
“Lucian—he works way too much,” he clarified.
Oh. “I know the feeling—but Wyatt’s said he wants to work less now.”
“So has Lucian,” he sighed. “Keep an eye on your man, is all I’m saying. It’s tough to pull a workaholic away from just one more project.”
Maybe I couldn’t relate, after all. ’Cause Daddy had already eliminated some of his tasks. For instance, he’d delegated his shorter work trips. This year, rather than flying off to another meeting somewhere two hundred times and then coming back after two days, he’d opted for a few longer trips instead—and I had gone with him.
“You two are late!” I heard Noa call out.
I grinned and picked up the pace, and Cam and I jogged up the steps to the restaurant. “Why are you waiting out here? It’s freezing!”
The restaurant looked more like a residential building, to be honest.
“We didn’t think you’d take forever,” Noa huffed.
We bumped fists before he and Cam exchanged a quick kiss, and then Cam took over the introductions while I hopped up and smooched Daddy. He offered to take care of my shopping bags too.
“Sorry we weren’t here, Master.” Cam snuck close to Lucian, who smiled politely at me. “My cousin, Parker—Parker, meet Lucian and KC.”
Both men were hella handsome in different ways. Lucian seemed to be more like Daddy, as in, the whole businessman schtick, but KC wore nice threads too. He was just a tad more casual, even in his approach.
“Great to meet you, Parker.” KC shook my hand since he stood closest. “Cam tells me you’re another Noa, and that’s a good thing in my book.”
Noa and I exchanged a grin before I turned back to KC. “Great to meet you too, but I’m pretty sure Noa’s another Parker.” I mean, I was a few years older and all!
The Domly types chuckled, and I shook hands with Lucian also.
“Always wonderful to meet Cam’s family,” he murmured. “Shall we eat?”
I smiled and nodded, and I slipped my hand into Daddy’s.
Okay, the food here was amazing. I had a plate full of sliders and the best fries ever. And I liked that the restaurant had several smaller dining areas instead of one massive one, because it never got too loud. Additionally, major brownie points for the Christmas decorations. Whoever ran this place liked the holidays.
“…and you’ll see for yourself how awesome I am with Tank,” Noa was saying. Tank was a lizard, I’d learned. Noa was going to be a pet sitter for a friend.
“Will that matter, though?” Lucian asked, amusement flicking in his eyes. “Santa’s already collected your wish lists for this year.”
Noa offered a hard stare. “You’re doing that thing where you’re saying things I don’t want to hear, you know. You should stop that. Sir.”
Daddy, KC, and I cracked up.
“Why can’t you accept that we don’t want a freaking lizard in our house, Noa?” Cam asked.
“Because that’s offensive to my people!” Noa defended.
“Your people?” Lucian chuckled. “Would that be the brat race?”
“Lizard people,” Cam muttered under his breath.
I snickered around a mouthful of a delicious slider, and I glanced up at Daddy. We’d had the pet talk already. We both wanted a dog or two one day, but not yet. Funnily enough, it was what had sparked our love declaration last winter. A dreary day in January, we’d played hooky again to watch movies all day, and we’d ended up talking about the future—places we wanted to visit together, his niece’s upcoming birthday party where he wanted me to meet his family, whether or not we wanted pets…
I’d blurted it out first.
“Daddy, I gotta freaking say it! I love you, okay? I love you so damn much. This is it for me.”
The rest of the evening, he’d shown me how much he loved me too.
An insane amount, judging by how sore my butt had been the next day.
I dragged a few fries through the ketchup and watched Lucian and Cam say something to each other that I couldn’t hear. Lizard talk forgotten. Noa had moved on to other items on his wish list.
Lucian seemed fine to me. Maybe Cam was worrying for nothing? Either way, the man was clearly head over heels in love with my cousin, constantly aware of Cam’s presence, wanting him close, reaching out for those little touches and temple kisses, and that made me happy.
Like, it was equally clear that they were a foursome as well as two dynamics. Cam and Lucian had their thing, KC and Noa had their thing, and then they had their foursome thing. They all lived together in Mclean, not too far outside the city.
It had to be distracting with so many dicks in one bed, though. Daddy and I had no issues getting down and dirty to porn running in the background, whether it was two men or half a dozen, but our bed was totally just for him and me.
I’d grown so freaking territorial this year. Not like I was jealous in an insecure way; I just couldn’t get enough of Wyatt and our adventures together, and I wanted to share every part of my life with him. For instance, this summer when he’d asked if I was ready to move in with him? The sentence had barely left his mouth before I’d mauled him. Stuff like that. Also, I liked the extra ka-ching from renting out my place because I loved to buy gifts for Daddy and surprise him with outings that I planned myself.
“You’re usually not quiet, little love.” Daddy spoke for only me to hear, bringing me back to the present. “Is everything okay?”
