Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

Gunner

A ce was still passed out in my arms as the sun rose the next morning. I’d been awake for about an hour, just watching him sleep. It’d taken me a while to fall asleep last night, though he’d passed out not long after we slid into bed and I wrapped my arms around him, cuddling him to me. He’d clearly had a flashback or a nightmare the evening before. There was no mistaking the haunted look in his eyes when I’d come to check on him—a look that now haunted me.

He hadn’t wanted to talk about it. I understood that better than he thought I did. I’d gone through my own horrors during my time in the military that still affected me years later. But Ace was still very young, whereas I was thirty-seven. Whatever he’d gone through probably hadn’t been that long ago.

But he seemed to be sleeping peacefully now. Hadn’t budged the entire night, content to lay exactly as he’d fallen asleep. But now that the sun was up, I needed to make coffee, check on the plants in my greenhouse, and make breakfast so food would be ready when he woke up. He was so tiny compared to my much bigger size; I was at least three times bigger than him. My boy needed to eat. Besides, eating would help him recover much faster, too.

I eased my arms from around him. He groaned but otherwise made no sound, nor did he move. I slowly made my way off the bed, being extra careful not to disturb him. Once I was safely off the mattress, I sucked in a deep breath, then tucked the comforter in around him so he still felt cocooned and safe.

I couldn’t believe how quickly this precious boy had attached himself to me. Just about as damn quickly as I’d latched onto him. It’d only been a little over twenty-four hours since I’d found him, and already, I knew if someone tried to take him from me, I’d make them disappear.

Ace was mine .

I grabbed some clothes out of my dresser, then headed downstairs to the other bathroom to shower. I had the basic stuff I needed to get clean there. After Ace woke up and I had him settled with breakfast, I’d go upstairs and finish my morning routine.

The shower was quick, and within no time, I’d checked my plants, watered them, and was standing in front of the stove, cooking bacon and eggs. Ace emerged down the stairs a few minutes after I’d turned the eyes on the stove off. I smiled at him, but he just frowned at me, clearly grumpy and not a morning person.

I found it endearing as fuck.

“Good morning, baby,” I greeted as I set his plate on the counter so I could wrap my arms around him. He sank into me as soon as I opened my arms, and my heart clenched in my chest. “Did you sleep well?”

“You left me,” he mumbled, sounding pissy. I winced. “You promised you would stay until I woke up.”

I scraped my nails along his scalp, hoping to settle him. “I needed to tend to my greenhouse, sweet boy. And I needed to make you breakfast.”

He huffed and pulled back from me, clearly not willing to be consoled. “You broke your promise.”

I reached out to cup his cheek, but he pulled away, crossing his arms over his chest. I bit back a wince. Okay, that fucking hurt, but I understood. I had promised him I’d stay in bed. But taking care of him like this was important, too.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “It won’t happen again. I swear.”

He scowled and rolled his eyes. “Like your word means anything,” he muttered, spinning on his heel and stomping toward the stairs.

“Ace,” I warned, my voice dropping a couple of degrees. His shoulders hiked up to his ears, and he stopped. He didn’t like disappointing me; I could work with that. “Do not give me your back when we’re talking. You’re an adult. And while I know I hurt you, that doesn’t mean you get to act like a child.”

“Fuck you,” he bit out, stomping toward the stairs again.

I sighed. “Ace!” I barked. He froze, flinching. I wanted to wrap him in my arms and apologize profusely, but he also needed to learn to speak to me like an adult. If he was regressing, I could understand the tantrum, but he wasn’t. He was acting out because he was hurt, and clearly, no one had shown him how to work through his emotions.

“What?” he muttered, his back still to me.

“Do you want a spanking?” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest. He spun around to face me, the hurt falling from his features. His eyes were wide, his pupils blown wide just the slightest bit. His tongue flicked out over his bottom lip, and I knew I had him. Hook, line, and sinker. Papa knew how to take care of his boy. “Do you want a spanking, sweet boy?” I repeated when he didn’t answer.

His shoulders relaxed at the term of endearment, his face softening. Clearly, he wasn’t used to being treated kindly after he acted out. He was in for an awakening with me. Bratty or not, pissy or not, I would still be kind to him. Still pamper him and give him everything he needed.

Slowly, Ace nodded, his fingers twisting together in front of him. His cock had plumped up a bit, pressing against the front of the sweatpants he was wearing. With one finger, I beckoned him to me, and he quickly made his way back over to me, looking up at me with all the trust in the world.

He was unraveling me.

I cupped his cheek once we were toe to toe, and he pressed his face into my hand, his eyes fluttering shut. “We’re going to use the color system.” He looked up at me then. “Do you know what the color system is?”

He nodded. “Red means stop. Yellow means I need a break. Green means I’m good to go.”

“Good boy.” I pressed my lips to his forehead. “What’s your color, sweet boy?”

“Green, Papa,” he breathed. “So fucking green.”

I gently turned him to face the dining room table, then pressed my hand between his shoulder blades. He laid his upper body over the table, a shiver rolling down his spine. I rubbed his backside, and he moaned, his eyelids fluttering.

God , he was so perfect .

“For your first time, I’m going to spank you with your pants still on. But if you need another spanking after this one,” which he probably would, “then your pants come down. Understand?”

“Yes, Papa,” he breathed.

“Good boy,” I praised. And then, my hand cracked across his ass. He whimpered, his fingers curling around the other side of the table. I rubbed the sting away a little, then smacked his other cheek. After giving him three more smacks, I pulled him up and lifted him, setting him on the edge of the table. A tear ran down his cheek, but he parted his legs and gripped the top of my jeans, tugging me close so he could wrap his arms around me.

And then, he leaned up and pressed his mouth to mine.

I groaned, my arm banding around his back, my other hand sliding into his soft, purple hair. I nipped and sucked at his bottom lip, and he parted for me, moaning into my mouth as I fucked my tongue into his. His cock was just as hard as mine, and he was grinding against me, driving me fucking crazy.

“Ace,” I groaned, pulling back a little so I could look down at him, my chest heaving, “we need to slow down.”

He shook his head. “No. I want you, Papa. Please. Please, please, please,” he begged. And fuck, that sweet begging, the needy look in his eyes, fucking did me in. How the hell was I expected to resist him?

I gripped the backs of his thighs and lifted him, carrying him toward the stairs. He licked, sucked, nipped, and licked some more at my neck as I ascended the staircase, moving as quickly as I could without potentially dropping him or falling back down them. My dick was throbbing and leaking by the time I stepped into the loft, desperate to be inside of him.

Pressing one knee into the mattress, I laid him back before moving over him, letting my body press his into the mattress. He whispered my name like a prayer, his smaller hands pushing under my shirt to rub over the tattoos on my back. My muscles rippled under his touch as I plunged my tongue back in deep, fucking into his mouth.

He moaned, whimpered, groaned, and whined beneath me as I rocked our bodies together. He pressed up with each roll of my hips, his kisses turning sloppy as he lost himself in how good we felt together.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would feel like to be inside of him. Fucking Earth shattering, probably.

“Papa, I want— off ,” he whined, pushing at my shirt. Leaning up, I pulled the offending garment over my head, and he sighed, running his hands over me like I’d just given him the best gift in the entire world. I arched a brow at him. “Want more, Ace baby?”

He eagerly nodded his head, so I unsnapped my jeans and stood from the bed, tugging them and my briefs down. His lips parted, his breath hitching, and then, he was reaching for his own clothes, tugging them off and getting his shirt stuck over his head in his eagerness. Chuckling, I reached down and helped him out of it before we worked on getting his sweatpants off together.

My brows lifted when I took in his pierced cock. A bar ran beneath the tip, and a Jacob’s ladder lined the underside of his cock. I groaned, reaching out to run my finger over the bar through his tip. He moaned, his head falling back, his lips parted. So damn beautiful.

His cock was flushed and leaking, the tip an angry red. I gently caressed it, watching as he moaned, his back arching, his feet pressing into the mattress as he pushed his hips up, wanting more of my touch.

Instead, I kneeled at the foot of the bed and pressed a tender kiss to each of his purple-painted toes, then kissed a trail over the arch of his feet before moving up his legs, paying special attention to the backs of his knees when I noticed it was a particularly sensitive zone for him. His inner thighs were even more sensitive, soft blonde hairs tickling my lips as I worshipped both legs.

“Color?” I rasped.

“Green. Green, Green,” he panted. “Papa?—”

I swallowed his pierced cock to the back of my throat, grazing my tongue over each piercing, loving the way they felt. He cried out my name, coming within mere seconds of him being in my mouth. I moaned around him, swallowing every drop he gave me. My boy had been on edge, so eager to come for me, and fuck , I loved it.

When he shivered, his shaft overly sensitive, I pulled off of him before flattening my chest to the bed. Hooking my hands behind his knees, I pushed his legs back, then licked my tongue over his pretty little hole. He whined. “ Paaapaaa ,” he gasped, his fingers sliding through my hair and clinging on.

I ate him out like he was my last meal. Like I was a man on death row. And honestly, if I truly were on death row, he would be the only thing I’d want to eat. I’d want one more moment of making him fall apart.

He rode my face, gasping and moaning. And when I snatched the lube out of my nightstand and smeared some onto my fingers, pressing into him, he cried out, pulling me up his body to kiss me. Our kiss was sloppy and messy and so damn drugging. And the erotic sounds he made as I fucked my fingers into him, spreading him open and prepping him for my cock, were goddamn pornographic.

“Now,” he panted. “ Now, Papa . Inside of me.”

Groaning, I kissed him one more time, unable to help myself. Then, I snatched a condom out of my nightstand drawer and sheathed myself before smearing more lube over the latex. I didn’t want anything between us, but he was so tight, a condom would make taking me easier on his body.

Our eyes locked as I pressed against him, and Ace bore down, accepting me into his body. He gripped my forearms, clinging to me as his body opened up more and more, letting me in deeper and deeper. And just like I figured, being inside of him was Earth-shattering. Fucking cataclysmic.

“Fuck, baby. You’re so hot and tight. So perfect for Papa,” I breathed, gripping his thighs and tugging his body closer. He pushed himself up onto his elbows, and I wrapped an arm around him to help him sit up.

Once he got his legs under him, I was done for . Fucking wrecked . He rose on his knees and then slowly lowered himself, both of us groaning at the feel of my cock sliding deeper inside of him. When I gripped his hips, guiding him and helping him along, he wrapped his arms around my neck, pressing his face against my shoulder, and he began to fuck himself on me, bouncing up and down on my straining length.

“Ace baby, look at me,” I panted. When he lifted his head, I kissed him. “You’re so goddamn perfect. You’re mine . You hear me? Mine .”

He nodded, whining, his balls drawing up tight to his body. “Yes, Papa.” He sobbed, tears welling in his eyes. “I’m yours. You’re mine, too. Please say you’re mine, too.”

I nodded. “I’m yours, too, sweet boy. Fucking forever.”

He burst into tears just as his cum streaked over his belly and chest. I crushed him against my chest, his cum sticky between us, and I fucked up into him once, twice, three more times, and then I was shattering along with him, holding my crying boy as he fell apart, clinging to me, something in him loosening and healing all at once.

“I love you,” I rasped. “It’s crazy fucking fast, sweet boy, but I fucking love you .” I knew it with every fiber of my being. Every single piece of my soul. There would never be anyone for me but Ace.

He nodded, his nails digging into the back of my neck. I didn’t need him to say the words back. This moment between us was all I needed.