Chapter 14

Fourteen

CALLUM

I was so out of my depth here.

I stared at my kitchen cabinets, trying to decide what to feed Mouse. Give me a needy little maso and I could dream up a dozen different scenes without even thinking about it, but being Daddy to a Little or Middle? The obvious go-to for asking what the fuck I should do was Simon, but in this situation that wouldn't work.

Fuck.

I was in a relationship with Mouse.

We'd gone from zero to one hundred in the space of two days, but I didn't regret it. Was I surprised? Yes. But honestly, if I looked at my feelings for him over the last six months or more, I couldn't say I was shocked. I'd been hiding it from myself—poorly—but now that it was out in the open, it felt right. I'd spent the last nine years trying, and I hoped succeeding, at being the best damn dad for Alice, but now I had the chance at having something special with someone who fit so perfectly with Alice and me. Mouse fitted without even trying. He was smart and talented, sexy as fuck, and pushed all my kinky buttons—and a few new ones I didn't even know I had.

Mouse had bounced and sung his way down the stairs before throwing himself onto the sofa, sprawling out like a spider monkey. His hair was a tangled mess after his adventures in his bedroom, and he kept blowing the annoying strands out of his face.

"Daddy, my hair's annoying me." Mouse huffed loudly, sitting up and giving me puppy-dog eyes.

Luckily, I always had a hair tie shoved in my pocket and I didn't think Mouse was going to mind one of Alice's neon pink ones if it got the offending hair out of his face.

"Come here, little Mouse." I sat down on the sofa and patted the spot between my legs. "Want it up in a bun or a plait?"

"Bun, please. It's itching my neck." Mouse wiggled between my legs, pushing his cute, little bum against my crotch.

"Boy, unless you want to be flipped and fucked over the arm of the sofa, behave."

Mouse gave a little gasp, then a giggle. "Not now, Daddy. I want to colour."

"Well then, my little Mouse, sit still," I warned. The idea of taking Mouse hard over the arm of the sofa was an appealing one, but not for our first time together.

I managed to scoop most of his dark waves up into the scrunchy and then formed a messy bun. It would probably come tumbling down again, but it would keep it out of his way for now.

"There you go, lamb. All done. Pretty as a picture. "

Mouse twisted in my lap to lean up and press a soft kiss to my cheek. "Thank you, Daddy."

"Very welcome, lovely boy. Now, how about you hop up and get started on colouring and I'll go make you a snack."

"Hobnobs?" Mouse asked eagerly. My boy had a one-track mind when it came to snacks.

"I swear, you and Doc are keeping that company in business with the amount the pair of you eat. But I'll make you a deal. Eat something healthy that I put out for you, and you can have some biscuits."

"Daddy, you got a deal." Mouse tipped his face up towards me, pursing his lips. "Kisses, please."

Mouse gave a sweet giggle when I brushed my nose against his, and an even sweeter whimper when I kissed him. I had to force myself to step away. Mouse was more addictive than I had given him credit for. And this adorable, sweet side was both intoxicating and sexy.

I needed to pace myself, even though everything in me wanted to charge forwards like the proverbial bull in a china shop. I set the TV going with Mouse's movie and moved through to the kitchen. I could keep an ear on him while I tried to whip up some snacks.

I pulled out a snack pack of crisps and then a small yoghurt from the fridge. I kept my promise and placed two Hobnobs on the plate as well. Mouse's insulated tumbler sat on the draining board, its brightly coloured cartoon characters making it stand out. I filled it halfway with juice and cut an apple into slices, then placed them on the plate along with the yoghurt and biscuits. That would do for a snack .

I'd have to have a look at the shops during the week and find something healthy, and maybe a few sweet treats as well. My boy had a huge sweet tooth. I sometimes worried that he and Rhys were competing to see who could consume the most amount of sugar in a day. The bonus of being Mouse's Daddy now was that I could maybe encourage my boy to eat a little better. It was going to take some fiddling to work around when Alice was home and making sure Mouse got the time he needed, but I knew we'd be able to do it. I knew of more than a few kinky couples who'd managed a balance between their everyday life and kink life.

When I walked back into the sitting room, Mouse had moved from the sofa to sitting on the floor in front of the large coffee table, his colouring books, markers and pencils covering a good portion of it. He'd somehow gotten marker on his nose and his cheek. But the best thing of all was the smile he gave me as I walked into the room.

"Snacks," I announced. I tried to clear a spot for the tray on the coffee table, but as I reached to move one of the colouring books, I got a growl from Mouse.

"Don't look, it's a surprise." He smacked my hand, snatched the book and hid it behind him.

"Okay, sweet lamb, but remember, smacking isn't nice."

Mouse made a rude sound and reached for a biscuit, but I was quicker, moving the plate aside.

"No, first you need to apologise for smacking me. I understand you want to keep your surprise, but there are more polite ways to have done that."

"No. "

"Little Mouse, don't push Daddy on this."

Mouse narrowed his eyes. Lifting his chin in defiance, he slammed his hand down on the table. "No. Don't want to apologise. You were going to ruin the surprise."

"Not intentionally, lamb, and I didn't look at your picture, I promise. But that doesn't excuse you being rude." There was more to Mouse's behaviour than his worry I might see his picture. I wondered if this was his way of testing boundaries, seeing how I'd react.

I wasn't going to allow him to misbehave, regardless of the stress he'd been under the last few days. I needed to show him I wasn't going to be a pushover, but also that I wasn't going to turn my back on him because he was acting out.

"You can either apologise and sit down and eat your snacks, or you go over my knee, and I promise you won't enjoy it one bit."

Mouse gave a furtive glance at the tray of food but then he frowned harder, his slim arms crossing over. "No, Daddy, you are being a meanie."

I smacked my hands against my thighs as I stood. "Right. On your feet, Mitchell, this instant."

Mouse's eyes grew wide at the use of his name and the tone I'd taken, but he still had that belligerent set to his shoulders. He was pushing, that was for certain.

"Nup."

"Mitchell, you either stand up and come over to me, or we halt this right now. I am not turning my back on you or giving up, but you are being a brat and brats get their arses paddled." I held my breath, waiting for him to make a decision .

"You're a mean Daddy," Mouse huffed, but stood and shuffled towards me.

"I've made no bones about that, lamb. If you are going to be a naughty boy, then there will be consequences, just like there will be rewards for being a good boy for Daddy." I sat down on the sofa and pointed to my lap. "Over my legs. You can stretch out on the sofa so it won't hurt your back."

Mouse draped himself gracefully over my lap, albeit with a certain amount of grumbling and accusations of me being the meanest Daddy ever.

"No, baby, if I was the meanest Daddy I'd put you on speech restrictions for the rest of the day and cage your little cock for a week. But since I want to hear all those pretty sounds when I fuck you into the mattress tonight, I shan't do that."

Mouse gasped and squirmed in my lap. "I'll be good, Daddy, I promise."

I pushed Mouse's pyjama pants down, enjoying the view of his lovely, round little arse. It was perfectly biteable, and I could see myself spending many happy hours marking up that pale skin.

I squeezed and massaged the flesh of his bum, bringing the blood to the surface and ensuring he would feel the spanking. He grumbled and huffed but he hadn't called red, and I instinctively understood he needed this as much as the colouring and cuddling.

"Take your punishment and all will be forgiven. Then you can eat your snacks and we can cuddle."

"Could we skip the swats and go straight to the cuddling? "

"Afraid not, little Mouse, and here's some food for thought. Next time you misbehave I won't be using my hand. You'll be getting my cane instead."

Mouse shivered under my palm. "Are you trying to scare me, Daddy, or turn me on?" He giggled.

Oh, my sweet, naughty boy. He had no idea what he was in for. "Are you ready?"

Mouse gave a deep sigh, still not fully letting go. "I'm ready, Daddy." He gave the right answer, but I could still hear the fight in his tone. Well, that was fine. I liked a challenge.

I landed the first slap without warning, hard and fast. I wasn't going to give Mouse a chance to sink into it like he would a pain session. This was going to be a reminder and a promise that Daddy was here, and I wouldn't let him drive me away, even if he was going to be a little shit.

On the second and third hits, I increased the intensity. He squirmed and muttered darkly. The next five were even harder, and Mouse had gone from some rather creative uses of the word fuck, to crying and begging me to stop.

"You're doing so well for me, little Mouse. A few more and we're done, but they're going to be the hardest." I ran a hand over his scarlet bottom. I could already feel the heat radiating off it, and the lines of tension had drained from Mouse's body.

Mouse made a hiccupping sound, turning his head, and revealed his tear-streaked face, giving me a watery smile. "Okay, Daddy."

"You're making Daddy so proud, taking his pain. It will be all better soon, I promise." By the time I'd laid the last five slaps down on Mouse's arse, my hand was as red as my boy's bottom. Mouse had gone lax in my lap, whimpering sweetly when I dragged my blunt nails along the bright crimson flesh of his arse.

"You did so well for me, little Mouse. I'm so proud of you." I massaged his bottom, and he gave a pleased hum. "Think you can sit up for me?"

"It's gonna sting a lot," Mouse huffed as I helped him move so he was straddling my lap.

"Yeah, it is. Do you want me to get some of Doc's booty balm for you?" I couldn't keep the smile out of my voice

Mouse shook his head against me, snorting. "It's a funny name. But not yet. I want to feel it for a little while."

"Now, do you want to talk to Daddy about why you got so angry?" I asked, hugging him against me.

Mouse buried his face against my neck, his fingers playing with the buttons of my shirt. I cupped his bottom and squeezed the flesh, earning a whimpered, "Daddy, don't. You'll get me hard again."

"I can and will. This bottom belongs to me. Now, are you going to answer my question?"

Mouse spoke, not looking up at me. "I don't know. I think I was afraid. I'm sorry for how I acted."

"Apology accepted, but why were you scared? Were you afraid of me?" I rubbed a soothing hand along Mouse's back, careful to avoid his wounds.

"No, not of you. Never you. I was scared of this . That if I did something wrong it would all vanish, and then I got angry at the thought of losing this before we even started, and then I was mad at you for making me feel so good."

"Those are a lot of feelings, and all of them make sense." I cast my eyes down to see Mouse had stopped hiding his face in the crook of my neck and was looking at me, his dark eyes red-rimmed but clear.

He tilted his head. "Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything, lamb." I kept running my hands over his skin, hoping the contact would help centre him.

"You're not a Daddy." He let out a soft chuckle at my arched brow. "No, I don't mean you're not my Daddy. I mean kink-wise, you aren't like Simon."

"You're right. I'm not. I've done some scenes where I was a stern Daddy for a naughty boy or girl, but I was always more interested in the extremes. Pain is a big turn-on for me—well, helping give a sub that pain is. I love rope play but I've never been as into it as some of the Masters at Crimson." I brought my hand up to caress Mouse's cheek. "But with you, I've found I want to explore something different, as well as help you get to know your masochist needs."

"I want that. This side of me where I want to let go and just be your little Mouse, it's not new, but I've never let anyone really see it except for Rhys. Even then, I was careful. I'm not like Rhys. I don't want bottles or nappies. I can see how much he enjoys them, but I want something different. I don't want to always be a good boy. I want to be naughty and throw tantrums because I know with you, I'd be safe." He took a deep breath. "But I also want you to hurt me in ways I've only dreamed of. I want to wear your marks and look at them and think ‘Yeah, I matter. My Daddy gave them to me.'"

Gripping his face, I pulled him closer. "You matter, and I will give you all the marks you could ever need. If you need me to spank your arse every morning before we go to work to remind you that your Daddy cares and you are mine, then I will gladly do it." I nipped Mouse's lips and pulled away. "If you need me to flog you and force you down on your knees, Daddy promises to give you that. And if you need me to cuddle you and help you colour and watch the damn Hobbit a million more times, I'm your man."

"And Lord of the Rings ," Mouse countered, smiling.

"Hmm. Has nothing to do with the crush you have on Aragorn," I teased, kissing him again before he could answer me. I couldn't help but reach down and grope his arse, and the hiss of pain he gave was music to my ears.

"Did you mean what you said when you were spanking me?" He pressed his hands to my chest, rocking gently in my lap.

"And what was that, lamb?" My hands slid up to grip Mouse's hips as he ground down against me.

"That you were going to fuck me." Mouse was grinding down harder now, whimpering as his tender backside slid against the denim of my jeans.

"Oh, I meant every word of it, boy, but that will have to wait until later. You have a snack waiting for you and some colouring to finish, and I need to work out what I'm going to cook for dinner."

Mouse slid off my lap and I smiled at the little grimace that he gave. His arse was going to be painful for a while, I'd made sure of it. My T-shirt hung down to his thighs and hid my handiwork when he bent to pull his pyjama pants up .

"Wait a minute, lamb. Let me have a good look at that backside of yours."

Mouse huffed playfully but complied, lifting his shirt so I could get a good view of his rump. It was a lovely shade of red and I was already imagining how cute it was going to look with a few stripes from my cane. I even had a cane in mind. I'd bought it on a whim a few weeks ago, not sure why I'd need it. In fact, I'd picked up two. A thin, quarter-inch Delrin that would certainly pack a sting, and a more thuddy one that would be good for warming up Mouse's backside.

"Didn't you get enough of looking at my arse while you were spanking it?" He flashed me a sultry smile over his shoulder.

Chuckling, I pinched a good handful of his red bottom. "I'll never get enough of looking at it. Lose the pants altogether. I want an unobstructed view of that bum."

Mouse kicked the pants away and stood just in the oversized band T-shirt. I didn't think I'd ever seen him look sexier. Perhaps in those pretty panties he'd had on the other night, but it really hadn't been the time or place to fully appreciate them.

Grabbing the tray of snacks, I headed back into the kitchen. "Bring your colouring books and pencils. You can eat your snack in here while I get the makings for the stew ready."

"Okay, Daddy."

Damn, I was never going to get tired of hearing that name from Mouse's lips.