15. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Bare

“Baby boy, it’s time to get up so we can go home.” The moaning from Hermie made me chuckle. His head was under a pillow because the bedroom where we’d slept at Connie’s house in Abilene was bright. I glanced at my phone to see it was nearly ten, which was the latest that I’d slept in a very long time.

“How about a glass of champagne?” I couldn’t help teasing him. Last night was the first time Hermie had ever tasted champagne, and he and Gracie loved the bubbles, consuming a lot of it. Connie and I had to carry them out to our cars, me abandoning any idea of walking through a hotel lobby with him over my shoulder. When Connie suggested we stay with him, I called the hotel and cancelled.

“Ugh! Daaaddy! That’s just mean!” Hermie whined, which was so damn cute.

I squeezed his sexy ass and got up from the bed to use the bathroom. We hadn’t been able to make love the previous night, but that was fine. We had time—I hoped.

After using the toilet, I turned on the shower and went back into the bedroom to collect him. A shower and pain relievers, followed by coffee, would perk him up, I was sure.

I put him in front of the toilet. “Go. Get in when you’re done.” I closed the frosted door to give him privacy and ducked my head under the water to wash my hair. A few moments later, Hermie got in with me, his eyes still half-closed.

“You’re still sleepy?” I pulled him with me under the large showerhead in the middle of the huge shower. Once he was wet, I turned the water to hot and led him to a bench at the end of the shower to sweat out the alcohol.

“Does it always feel this way when you drink champagne?” He sounded so pathetic, and I knew how he felt, having had more than one hangover in my life.

I pulled him onto my lap, his beautiful ass resting on my hard cock. “It’s the carbonation. It intensifies the alcohol in the champagne for some people. That’s why I just had a sip when we toasted Connie and Gracie. It’ll give you a hell of a hangover.” I brushed his bangs off his forehead and tucked him under my chin to sit and let the steam do its work.

After five minutes, Hermie lifted his head and smiled at me. “I love you, Daddy.”

My heart pounded with joy. “I love you, too, Baby boy. Let’s get cleaned up so we can go home. You can nap on the way. I’ll get you some painkillers, and we’ll get some breakfast before we get on the highway. How does that sound?”

Hermie stood and turned to me, his hard cock jutting toward the ceiling. “I thought we were going to fuck last night.”

I stood and adjusted the water temperature so we weren’t scalded. Once we were under the spray, I pumped the shampoo dispenser and began washing Hermie’s hair, trying to massage away the headache I was sure he had. He closed his eyes and smiled.

“We were, trust me.” I swung my erection his way, dragging it over his for emphasis.

His giggle was music to my ears. “I messed that up by drinking too much champagne. Can we plan it for tonight? I want to be yours in every way I can. Is that okay?”

I wrapped him in my arms and kissed him with all the happiness inside me at hearing his words. I ended the kiss and moved him under the spray to rinse his hair. “Yes. Tonight, after we decorate the tree, we’ll make love right there in the living room. I’ll make a fire, and we’ll turn on the Christmas lights. I’ll make you mine… forever.”

Hermie and I carried the boxes of lights and ornaments up from the basement and put everything in the living room. “How did Miss Elaine display things?” He sorted holiday decorations into groups more organized than I’d have thought to do.

“Uh, the tree goes in that corner. These candlesticks go on the fireplace, and these buildings go—” I stopped, glancing around.

Why was I recreating my mother’s Christmas? The earlier few years I hadn’t put up a tree or any decorations because it was just me and I wasn’t interested. I went to see my brother, Thomas and his wife, Liz. They put up decorations, so there was that. When I returned home, there was no mess to clean up.

But now, with Hermie in my life, I wanted the holidays to be merry and bright, and I wanted them to be ours, not as they’d always been.

This was a time for new traditions. New ways to celebrate the holidays. I’d been stuck in a rut, as evidenced by my behavior at Gracie’s birthday party where I forgot Hermie was there. I was used to being by myself at the club that I didn’t do what a Daddy was supposed to do. That would never happen again.

“Where do the buildings go?” He stood, staring at me with a big smile.

He was wearing a pair of sweats, one of my old flannel shirts from high school, and my wool socks, which looked comical because the heel was almost to his knee.

I wrapped him in my arms and gave him a smacking kiss. “You know what? We’re going to do this our own way. Where do you think we should put the tree?”

Hermie gave me a shy smile. “I’d put it there.” He pointed to the large picture window away from the fireplace.”

“Okay. Where should we put that table?” There was an old pine table that had been in front of the window for as long as I could remember.

“How about we put that in the kitchen? We can put the buildings in there and spread Christmas throughout the house. Maybe we could put some of those pine branches in the windowsills and put battery-operated candles with them?”

Growing up, Dad lived on the ranch, coming to Houston on weekends. Mom and us boys only spent weekends and holidays in Kingsley because we went to private school in Houston. Mom wasn’t thrilled to decorate two houses, so she kept the decorations at the ranch to a minimum since she put them up and took them down by herself. According to my father, his sons were meant to be outside doing man’s work. What a bunch of bullshit that turned out to be.

After I carried the pine table into the breakfast room and put it in front of the bay window as Hermie had instructed, I moved the Christmas tree from the corner where I’d placed it when I brought it home, settling it in front of the picture window.

When I stepped back, I saw what a great idea it was. Passersby could see the tree, and it really dressed up the outside of the house.

“What else do you want to put up?” The joy on his face had me enthralled.

Hermie and I went about putting the lights and ornaments on the tree. We hung the wreath on the front door and decorated the mantle with pine branches, pinecones, and some large glass Christmas balls that Mom used to put above the kitchen cabinets where you could hardly see them. Everything looked amazing.

Too quickly, we found we didn’t have enough decorations, but that was fine. “Tomorrow, we’ll go to Midland and pick up more things that we choose together. I like how this is coming along, and I want to have another tree upstairs in the TV room, so we need more stuff.”

I looked around the living room and saw that it wasn’t as sterile as I remembered from my childhood. I was guessing being married to Brian Barrett had brought a lot of uniformity to Mom’s life that I would never want. Color, happiness, whimsey. Those were the things Hermie brought to my life, and I loved all of them.

“I can run to town and pick up something for dinner. The hands are going out tonight, so it’s just us.” Having Hermie to myself was a gift. I wanted no interruptions for what I had in mind.

Hermie smiled. “How about I make breakfast for dinner? I can put it together now and then I can cook it later. Does that sound good?”

“Like what?”

He led me to one of the stools by the kitchen island. “What do you want, Daddy?”

I thought about all the wonderful things Hermie had cooked for us since he’d been at the ranch, and one thing came to mind. “Pancakes. Chocolate chip pancakes, please.”

Hermie giggled. “Your sweet tooth gives you away, Daddy, but I’ve got you covered.”

I stayed at the counter as Hermie went to work. He made the batter and put it in the fridge before turning to me. “That can rest for an hour. Are you starving?”

“What are you proposing, my sexy chef?”

Hermie giggled and reached into the fridge, bringing out a jar of hazelnut chocolate spread. “Maybe a snack?”

I took his hand and led him up the stairs with that jar of hazelnut spread in his grip, not stopping until I had him in my bedroom which had become his without much discussion. I was so grateful to have him in my bed and in my life. I was ready for anything he wanted to try.

“Let’s get some towels, first. I plan to make a mess.”

I laughed as he went to the hall closet and grabbed some dark towels, carrying them into the bedroom and spreading them on the bed. I was so ready for anything he had in mind.

Hermie looked at me with a smirk. “Daddy, will you take off your clothes and lay down on the bed? Will you let me worship your body?”

How the fuck could I say no to that?

I stripped and relaxed on the bed. When Hermie took off his clothes and got on with me, sliding his leg over my hips to rest on my pelvis, I was mesmerized.

“I know we talked about making love under the tree, and we can do that, but I want to taste you with my favorite flavors. Is that okay?”

What the hell was I gonna say? “Yeah, Baby boy. Have at me.”

He giggled and opened the jar, dipping two fingers inside and sliding them down my chest. I had to laugh. It was a surprise to me that nut butter sliding down my body could feel so sensual.

When his tongue traced the spread, I stopped laughing. “ Oh, Baby boy. ” My voice was breathy because I’d never experienced anything like what he was doing. It was amazing.

Hermie licked the spread he’d smeared on my chest and slid up my body to share. “You taste good, Daddy.”

His tongue swirling with mine and coating my mouth with the nutty chocolate flavor was incredible. “You’re my favorite flavor,” I responded to him.

Hermie moved down my body and swirled more of the nut spread on my throbbing cock, which had me sucking in a breath because it was cold. When his hot tongue lapped at the treat, I nearly lost my mind.

“Fuck, baby, I’m gonna come too quick if you don’t slow down.” I was panting like a dog, but he was unrelenting. I was his plaything, and I loved it.

Hermie handed me the jar of nut spread and went back to sucking my cock, and I wasn’t going to stop him. He was thorough with his attention, and I fought hard not to blow, but I couldn’t stop. He sucked the life out of me—and ate about a half jar of hazelnut spread.

After a quick shower to get the spread out of places it didn’t belong, Hermie made us pancakes and sausage patties, and I was stuffed. Was there anything the guy couldn’t do?

I was washing pans while Hermie wiped the counters when a thought occurred to me. Anita Ramsey was coming to clean the house on Wednesday, so it was better to get things organized before she came.

“How about you get your clothes and move them upstairs. Monday morning, we’re going to the bank to get your account squared away, and I’ll have a set of keys made for you.”

Hermie turned to me. “What?”

I sighed. I wanted my request to be stated more romantically instead of just blurting it out like a to-do list, but I probably wasn’t the most romantic guy in the world by nature—I was Brian Barrett’s son, and I never remember him doing anything overtly romantic for Mom. I was ready for things to move faster between us, but it wasn’t really my place to make such a demand, was it? Hermie had to be ready for things of the sort.

“I’m sorry I blurted it out there like that, but I want you to be mine. Permanently. Forever. The first step seems to be for you to hang your clothes in the other walk-in closet and sleep by my side every night.” I hoped the begging sound in my voice swayed him in my direction.

“Y-You want me to live here w-with you p-p-permanently?” His stutter was back, which signaled he was stressed. That was the last thing I wanted to do.

“Don’t do it if you don’t want to. We can circle back—”

Hermie rushed me, wrapping his arms around my neck and jumping up and down. I took my hands out of the dishwater and hugged him tightly to me. He was crying, which triggered my own tears.

Never in my life had I felt so completely loved as I did in that moment. Hermie wasn’t one to hide his emotions, which was one of the things I loved about him. He wasn’t ashamed of his feelings as I’d been taught to be by my father. I longed to be as free to experience my feelings like Hermie. I was his Daddy, but he was teaching me lessons I should have learned long ago.

“I’m going to take that as a yes.” He laughed through his tears. I grabbed a paper towel and wiped his eyes and nose.

“Yes, Daddy. I want to hang my clothes in the closet and sleep with you every night.”

Things didn’t get much better than that for me. I picked him up and carried him into the living room where the tree was sparkling. I’d put blankets, lube, and condoms in the living room when I’d stacked the logs while Hermie was making our dinner. We were both more than ready to make love.

I hoped to hell I didn’t disappoint him.