Chapter 9

Tyson

"I was patient. I let you walk him to his car without stalking either of you. I didn't walk around the guesthouse snooping. I haven't even done more than text Dessie this morning that I hoped his date went well. I'm respecting his privacy."

Austin looked like that was painful to say.

"If you don't reward me for good behavior, I'll just do what I want and go bug Dessie after work." Crossing his arms over his chest, Austin glared at me. "I'm so amazing I know I can't bug him at work because he's helpful and important to the day-to-day operations of our government."

That I wasn't important was obvious.

"But my patience is only going to last so long." Austin's tone said he thought the whole situation was my fault.

"Your Dom told you to leave us alone. I saw him pull you away from the window three times just during our walk from the pool house to the cars." There might've been a few times I hadn't seen. Dessie had been a delightful distraction, cute and blushing at that point.

But before Austin could defend himself or come up with some justifiable lie, I continued. "I'm pretty sure the guesthouse is bugged, but I didn't call you out on that because I know you were worried."

I actually knew the guesthouse was bugged because they'd talked about it in a text message conversation that I'd discreetly gotten a hold of.

"So at the very least, you had confirmation that our date went very well." Before the recording had mysteriously vanished.

It wasn't my fault their drunken shenanigans meant they couldn't be trusted without supervision, but I wasn't going to have my time with Dessie memorialized in any way.

"And he works with so many Doms from the club that driving him insane there will catch the attention of too many people." I knew I was right when he pouted. "There would be questions and that would negate your bargain with me that you will not out me seeing Dessie until I'm ready."

That was the main reason we'd ended up having our first date in his backyard to begin with. There'd been too much of a chance of being seen other places and I'd wanted to make sure Dessie could walk away without being questioned if he'd decided the situation was too strange for him.

"Where does Silas think you are?" Because it was not in my office pacing around like a lunatic.

Austin went back to pacing and threw his hands up. "Buying a country. He's trying to decide if I'm fucking with him or not."

Deciding to put tattling on the dramatic omega in my back pocket for the time being, I leaned back in my chair and tried to look at the situation rationally. "What do you actually need here?"

Yes, there was something I was missing or he'd have just fucked with me over text instead.

Shooting me a glance that said he thought I was stupid, he stopped pacing again and went back to glaring at me. "I need to know if I've scarred you or if you need more therapy."

Yes, he really thought I was stupid.

"Obviously." Rolling his eyes, he looked like he was trying to decide what to throw at me. "How can you not see that?"

Somehow, I seemed to be getting stupider in his eyes without having said anything. "You have to tell me that I didn't fuck up by pushing you to be open with Dessie. You're fucking fragile."

Well, that was completely unnecessary.

"After everything you saw?" I thought I'd handled everything very well.

"Silas wouldn't let me watch!" Throwing up his hands again, his gaze took on a wild glint. "I only saw a couple of minutes before he caught me. I don't even know if you freaked out or if he thinks he pushed you too fast or if I need to find a therapist for anyone!"

He needed less caffeine in his diet and more yoga.

"You do not need to find a therapist for anyone." I wasn't going to say I didn't need one because I'd spent my teenage years on an old and very judgmental therapist's couch.

To say it hadn't helped would've been an understatement.

"How do I know?" Back to glaring at me, which I thought was an improvement, Austin looked angry. "I've been patient."

I didn't think being patient was supposed to make someone quite this insane, but Austin was a special case under a lot of circumstances.

"Then let's reward your patience." And then I'd figure out how to make sure Silas knew that Austin was losing his mind. "Would you like to sit down?"

Because his pacing had been so fast he'd started making me nauseous.

Who knew it was possible to get carsick in a stationary office?

Stopping midstep, Austin jerked before coming to a halt. He looked so surprised, I gestured toward the small fridge behind me. "Would you care for a drink? I have bottled water, tea, or some wine."

He looked like he could use something harder than water, but after a second, he shook his head and came over to sit down politely. "No, thank you. I just came from a tea party and I don't need anything."

Before meeting Dessie, I would've assumed Austin meant some kind of pretentious garden party, but looking at him, I realized he'd meant some kind of tea party with littles.

"That sounds like it was fun." My reaction got a smile and a nod from Austin as he smoothed out his pants like he was wearing a dress.

"Yes, it was lovely, thank you." Shifting so his legs were to the side, he slipped back into what I thought was his tea party personality and looked much less likely to stab me. "It's a nice way to have a break in the middle of the day."

Reminding myself that sweet omegas who had tea parties could still poison people, I nodded and tried to keep us moving in the right direction. "I'll have to talk to Dessie about doing something like that. His references to playtime were more about the playroom at the club."

Austin let out a breath and smiled. "He likes the playroom but he can be a bit of a handful."

That did not surprise me.

"He had a lot of wonderful things to say about the playroom in general and his friends there, but I'll have to ask what other kinds of activities he likes to do when we have our next date later this week." Yes, that had Austin's shoulders relaxing and he crossed one ankle over the other.

"I'm glad you've got your next date planned. Would it be alright if I asked if you had a significant conversation about important things last night or would that be too nosy?" Austin's tea party persona was much easier to deal with but harder to tell no.

It was an interesting dilemma but I thought he'd already eavesdropped enough to know the answers, so there was no point in hiding it.

"Yes." That got another pleased smile from him. "We talked around it a bit while we were outside, but once we got into the pool house, we were more specific in our discussion."

Austin perked up and nodded. "That's wonderful."

The switch in his personality was almost creepy but I tried not to let that show on my face. "It went well. I will admit to having some reservations at first, but by the time Dessie started on his second glass of wine, he was not at his biggest."

Chuckling, Austin shook his head. "I can imagine that."

"He warned me it might happen, so it wasn't a surprise." It had been adorable, though. "I think I handled being a Daddy very well and having him be so…chatty and innocent, I guess, made it easier to share how I was feeling and for us to make some progress physically."

Slowly nodding, Austin was quiet for a moment before smiling again. "I'm glad you made progress. I hadn't thought about Dessie being little making that easier, but it makes sense."

That was it?

No badgering?

No demanding to know what we'd done?

Hmm.

"I think Dessie would be alright with me telling you that we're compatible in a lot of ways and his enthusiasm made it difficult to be worried." I'd still done an amazing job of holding onto my concerns, but even after having some time to think about what had happened, there wasn't the same level of fear or anger that there had been before.

"I'm glad." Austin let out a breath and gave me a flirty smile. "He's a wonderful sub and I'm glad he found someone who can appreciate him."

Grateful we weren't talking about me any longer, I nodded. "He's mischievous and adorable…and thinks entirely too highly of you."

My dryly delivered teasing had his grin getting wider. "Like I said, he's wonderful."

"He is." So far, he had no red flags and mine were fading in color rapidly. I wasn't going to say that I was magically cured of every mental health-related issue that was hiding in my brain, but I could think about our evening without getting angry and nothing we'd done made me feel ashamed.

And since those were the two most prominent issues my therapist had been trying to get me to talk about, I thought I was doing fairly well.

"So I can stop panicking?" Austin didn't seem to see anything wrong with admitting how upset he'd been.

I wasn't sure I'd ever get to that point, but then again, he was unique.

"Yes. I'm not going to promise we won't run into other issues or that we won't have setbacks in some way, but I think I can confidently reassure you that no therapy is needed and we both had a nice time on our date." The amount of cuddling we'd done and the cute kiss Dessie had given me before he'd left Austin's property didn't leave much room for doubt.

"Wonderful. Then I won't overwhelm Dessie with questions that he might not be sure how to answer." Austin's tactful acknowledgment that Dessie probably wouldn't know what to say was appreciated.

"I think that's best. Although asking him general questions about how he felt on the date would not overwhelm him." I had no desire for him to discuss our physical time together with Austin, but I wasn't sure how much privacy would be reasonable. "I'm also sure that there would part of his little time that he'd be comfortable sharing."

Just not everything.

"I will keep that in mind." Austin gave me a gracious nod and rose like he was still at the tea party, graceful and like the world was at his feet. "And I hope you have a productive afternoon."

Then the troublemaker swept out of my office, closing the door behind him as he tossed a polite goodbye at my probably very confused admin.

Slouching back in my chair, I gave up focusing on work and reached for my phone.

Your favorite drama queen just paid me a visit.

I wasn't sure if Dessie would be too busy to respond or not, but it didn't take long before his response popped up.

Oh dear. I thought he'd been surprisingly quiet.

No such luck.

Evidently you do important work and can't be interrupted so he stopped by my office to interrogate me.

I could almost see him trying not to laugh.

I don't know what to say to that. Anything I've come up with sounds wrong. I'm not going to get myself in trouble because he's curious.

Yeah, I could imagine that would be a problem.

How about just telling me you're sorry he drove me crazy and that you want to have dinner with me to make it up to me?

There was definitely a grin on his face—I could see it in his reply.

So he's naughty and I have to apologize?

Yep.

I think that's very reasonable. Especially because he came after me since you're too special.

He sent me a picture of a man obviously thinking, head cocked to the side with his finger on his chin. So I waited and after a few seconds, he made me laugh.

Thank you for thinking I'm special, Daddy. I will be glad to say thank you in person too.

Shaking my head, I couldn't help teasing him back.

I'm not sure that's what I said but we can work out those details in person.

I was imagining a shiver going through him but I wasn't sure what direction his thoughts were going until he responded back.

How thorough are you going to be when we work out the details? I want to make sure I'm your good boy.

Was he hinting for a spanking or something else?

I can't go too easy on you or you'll think this kind of behavior is acceptable. I have to make sure you know how important I am too.

It was a bit dickish, but he didn't seem to mind.

You're very important, Daddy. Don't worry. I know that and I know you'll help me remember my place.

Oh, someone was feeling naughty.

Yes, I think that's a good idea. I'm starting to think I went too easy on you last night.

For as interesting as his little side was and how needy his sub side was, I had a feeling that was not an exaggeration. Dessie had made it clear it'd been a while since he'd found a Dom or Daddy who would play with him like he needed, so I didn't think it was too much of a stretch to imagine that it'd been a while since he'd been spanked.

But that was something I could handle.

The idea of bending him over my lap and making his ass nice and pretty didn't give me any problems at all.

You're making me hard at work, Daddy. That's not fair.

Laughing might've made me an asshole but I did it anyway.

I think that's fair since you made me hard.

He was also getting other reactions from me, but I was going to ignore those for the time being. Texting about them just wasn't something I would do and giving them more attention before I could take care of the matter would only make it worse.

Oh Daddy.

The drama in his words made me chuckle.

I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight, baby boy.

Teasing him was fun but his reaction made it all even better.

I have to stay big, Daddy. Don't be cute.

I wasn't going to promise that, especially since I wasn't cute, but I could leave him alone for the time being.

I'll think about that while I'm planning our evening. Text me after you get done with work.

Yes, I had a few things to take care of and then some planning to do.

Yes, Daddy.

It was too easy to imagine his sweet, wicked grin being aimed in my direction as he gave his wonderfully polite answer, but I didn't tease him back about it. Distracting him too much at work would not make me a good Daddy or a good date.

But it was tempting, so I put my phone down and hit the intercom button on my phone.

"Yes, sir?" Paige was the consummate professional and I'd never been able to get her to call me anything else in the five years she'd been working for me.

"I'm going to be on a call for a few minutes and can't be disturbed. I'll let you know when I'm free." Giving her the impression I would be using my cell, I handled a few quick questions before disconnecting the call and getting up to lock the door.

If she or anyone else thought I needed privacy to talk to a source, well, that wasn't my fault. But it did give me the privacy I needed as I went over to the wet bar. Sliding a panel out behind the sink, I quickly accessed the safe that was perfectly hidden and pulled out the pump I kept stored there.

Unfortunately, I couldn't always get away with not pumping during the day. I'd been able to stretch the sessions further and further apart, but it seemed like just a flirty text with Dessie got a reaction from me.

Just a year ago, I'd have been cursing and angry as I took off my shirt to strap on the cups. The wasted time and reminder that I wasn't like other alphas would've been the only thing on my mind, but as I handled the situation, the primary emotion I could identify was a lingering frustration that Dessie wasn't there with me.

Thinking about his smile and the way his lips had wrapped around me so easily like it was perfectly natural for him had my chest feeling even tighter. The sensation had a stubborn part of me pointing out how different I was, but it didn't have the same sting any longer.

"Dessie was excited about my differences." Yes, he'd been aroused and just excited in general. "Dessie likes that I'm not like other alphas."

Keeping up the ridiculous reminders, I turned on the nearly silent pump and closed my eyes. "He liked curling up on my lap. He'd wanted dessert."

That memory made me laugh and probably always would.

He definitely thought sweets were better than salty treats and hadn't been afraid to point that out. But he'd also thoroughly enjoyed playing with my dick, so I wasn't worried about pushing him to do something he hadn't wanted to.

If I'd learned anything about little Dessie, it was that he wasn't afraid of asking for what he wanted…and at the moment that was to get good attention from his Daddy.

"Then maybe some dessert."