Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

KC Hayles

Lucian had just unfolded my wheelchair, and I had just pulled myself out of the SUV, when Noa let out a happy whoop and sprinted across the front yard to say hi to Corey and Kit. In other words, Noa needed this.

I’d known it was a good idea. Hell, I was in a much better mood now too, though that had less to do with the event and more to do with Lucian, Cam, and Noa.

Cam pulled into the carport a minute later, having driven Corey’s car over here. He’d also begged for a chore, so Lucian and I had told him he could stop on the way to pick up two five-pound bags of Easter candy and a specific stuffed animal for Noa. Gift for later. Lucian, Noa, and I had picked one up for Cam too.

The latest rage was these damn Squishmallows. It seemed the whole Little community had exploded with them in our online forum.

“Sit down, KC.” Lucian wheeled the chair over to me, and I rested the cane against the car door and slumped down.

He grabbed my cane and attached it to the side of the chair. Then he went to see if Cam needed any help, and that was how I ended up with two giant bags of fun-sized candy in my lap. Lucian pushed my chair, claiming he wanted to fuss over me, and frankly, I let him because I was fucking tired. That workout, then getting railed in the shower? I wanted a break.

Cam looked to be in a great mood too, partly because his Master was back in a nice suit.

With a “Hello, I am stressed” pin on the lapel.

It was funny.

I didn’t understand why it had to be either a suit or sweats, though. I was hardly a stranger to wearing suits, but that didn’t mean I didn’t know other outfits existed. Chinos, jeans, fitted sweaters. I could admit I appreciated a nice cashmere pullover. Or like today, jeans and a button-down—perfectly comfortable. Lucian could raid my closet if he wanted to.

But that was Lucian in a nutshell. His life could be organized into different boxes, and if he started wearing sweats at home, chances were he’d continue for the rest of his life. A wardrobe change was a big deal in his black-and-white world.

Considering he was officially unemployed now, who knew what else would change. Penelope had given him tomato seeds, right? Maybe he’d create a new box dedicated to gardening.

That’d be…interesting.

We followed the noise to the back of the house, where members were gathering to soak up the spring sun before the event. We said hey to Lucas and Colt, Greer, Sloan, and Archie, Macklin and Lane, and Gretchen. Safe to say, we weren’t the only ones who’d wanted to come out early.

The aforementioned noise wasn’t bad either. More like a low hum of lazy conversation. Several of our friends had reclined their chairs to just relax in the sun, have coffee, and… Okay, a glance at the tables let me know we weren’t the only ones who’d brought Easter candy either. I should’ve figured. Ivy, who was usually in charge of decorations for an event, was at home, resting, after she’d found out her iron levels were a little low. It was not the first time, if I remembered correctly. Either way, our event today… One might say it lacked that proper Easter feel. So we’d doubled up on a truckload of candy. And feathers. Macklin, Lane, and Tate had attached colorful feathers to the bushes along the property line, all the way down to the forest.

“Cam, you can go put on a diaper for Daddy,” Lucian said. “We’ll wait here on the patio. Find us when you’re done.”

“Right away, Owner.”

Fuck, yeah. I adjusted my cock as Lucian pushed me up the ramp to the deck.

“Did we lose Noa?” I asked, glancing around us.

“If it’s meant to be, he’ll find us,” Lucian replied.

I barked out a laugh and peered up at him over my shoulder. “I love the new you. You’re even funny at times.”

He parked me at the head of the table where the Finlays sat, and he did it with a bit too much force before he sat down next to Greer. Sloan was almost fully reclined and looked to be asleep, but he was gripping a baby monitor, so I was guessing they had a kid or two in their cabin. Presumably only the youngest, given that the older kids would wanna “join in” if they saw a bunch of people searching for Easter eggs in a couple hours.

“I was going to bring us something to drink, but you can get your own damn drink,” he told me. “For the record, I’ve always had a fantastic sense of humor.”

I grinned and dug out my shades from the side pocket in my chair. “Of course, baby. You can take a joke like a champ too.”

Greer coughed to hide a chuckle. “I’m glad to hear there’s no trouble in paradise.”

I slid on my shades and puckered my lips at Lucian.

Greer turned to Archie. “Go get these turtle doves some coffee, pet.”

“Of course, Master. I remember how they prefer it.” Archie rose from his seat and paused briefly. “Can I get you anything else?”

“That’s plenty. Thanks, pet.” I dumped the two bags of candy on the table and noticed Lucian frowning to himself. “Now what?”

He shook his head and glanced toward our cabin. “I think I need to speak to Cam about his chores today. I’m struggling to give him the simplest tasks nowadays.”

“He’s been sick,” I reasoned.

“I know, but you heard him this morning,” he said. “He feels better, and he’s bored. He’s worried I won’t return to high-protocol with him.”

“Is he right to be worried?” Greer wondered.

Lucian inclined his head. “Unfortunately. I just want to do everything for him lately—and I realize it’s my guilt talking. I also know I’m falling into this trap where I do the exact opposite of what he needs from me.”

“Trap?” I didn’t get that part.

“Because it’s how we’re raised to act in society,” he sighed. “When you fuck up, you cater to the person to make amends. You go the extra mile, you fuss, et cetera. But when you do that to a slave…”

Got it. Yeah, that made sense. Spoiling a domestic sub rotten with favors and completing their chores for them would legit make them unhappy.

“Sounds to me like you need to make room for both for a while.” Greer yawned and stretched out his arms over his head, then leaned back in his seat. “I reckon most of us go through those periods. I had one with Archie not too long ago—so I forced myself to go on with our routines, but I added some pamperin’ to the schedule too. If he kneeled by my feet, he got a scalp massage too. If he spent all day with the kids, I snuck him out for dinner, just the two of us.”

I nodded, liking that solution. It sounded great.

Lucian nodded too, all pensive-like. “You’re full of good ideas, aren’t you, buddy? Except when you hold my property hostage.”

Greer and I chuckled.

“Careful,” I heard Colt grumble from behind us. “I’m defrostin’ from a long, cold winter over here.”

“I apologize, Sir.” It was Macklin who responded. “Sometimes I forget you’re more delicate than the rest of us.”

Oh shit.

Greer and I exchanged a smirk, and even Lucian was happy to tune in to the shots fired at the other table.

It was hilarious how the entire patio fell silent.

Colt slowly got up from his chair and pushed up the sleeves of his long-sleeved tee, and he positioned himself right in front of a smiling Macklin.

“So you bump into my chair, interrupt my nap time, and then you insult me?”

“It just happened, Sir—I don’t need a Previously on Mclean House Drama as if it aired last week,” Macklin said.

I let out a low whistle.

As if on cue, Walker and Ty stepped out onto the deck and squinted in the bright light, and it was clear they didn’t know what they’d walked into.

“What’s happenin’ here?” Walker asked.

Something was up.

I did a quick scan of the deck. Were Noa and his little friends still out front?

Macklin’s behavior reeked of Look over here while my buddies do something over there.

He wasn’t usually on the brat side of pranks, but when he was, he went all out.

While Colt gave Walker another recap, I made eye contact with Greer and Lucian, and their senses were tingling too. Macklin threw out another goading insult, even going so far as to pat Colt on the head, and that settled it for me. He was creating a distraction out here, which meant he and whoever else didn’t want us in the house or at the front of it.

“I think I forgot my phone in the truck,” Greer said and took off.

I nodded firmly. “I need to take a leak.” I pushed back my chair, spun around, and wheeled inside the club area.

“I’ll go check with Cam!” Lucian hollered.

“You do that!” I couldn’t imagine him being involved, but you never knew. Cam had his moments too. Noa, on the other hand, had those moments on a daily basis. Always my brat. Always ready to get himself into trouble.

As I reached the lobby, the front door was ripped open, and Greer barged in.

“No one out there?” I asked, removing my shades.

He shook his head. “No brats anyway. But River and Reese just pulled in, which means the office is a possible target. Sloan and I saw Shay earlier, so I know he’s around.”

Well, then. We hurried past the stairs and down the hallway, and we came to a screeching halt when we almost crashed into Archie as he left the kitchen.

“Oh Jesus! I’m sorry, Master.” Archie steadied the two mugs of coffee he carried on a tray, presumably for Lucian and me. “Is something wrong?”

“Can’t talk right now, baby. And you better not be involved.” Greer pressed a firm kiss to Archie’s forehead, then jogged down the rest of the hallway.

I followed and came up right behind him as he pushed open the door to River and Reese’s private office.

“Involved in what, Sir?” Archie called.

Greer didn’t respond. He stalked into the office, and I was so fucking sure we were about to catch the brats, but the room was empty.

“Goddammit,” he snapped. “We don’t have anything planned in the playrooms today, do we?”

“Not for the event.” I shook my head. “We have the scene on the third floor tonight, but I can’t imagine the brats who’ve been itching to watch would jeopardize anything.”

He agreed. So we⁠—

“Master Greer!” That was Kit’s voice.

I poked my head out the door.

“Master Gree-eer!” And that was my Noa. I couldn’t see them yet, but they were coming closer. “Mister Sloan said you were in here—where are you?”

Greer poked his head out too. “In the office!” Next, he lowered his voice. “We’re gonna get to the bottom of this, right? Ain’t no fuckin’ chance Macklin would serve his ass on a punishment platter for no reason—and definitely not to Colt.”

Hell no. Colt doling out punishments was something every sub avoided experiencing. He was right up there with River and Lucian when it came to punishments. They tended to scare the crap out of a brat.

“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I let brats outsmart me,” I muttered.

A second later, three brats appeared down the hall, with Kit jogging, Corey sliding forward on his incredibly dirty socks, and Noa skipping.

Despite it all, I couldn’t help but grin. These were the boys who made life more interesting for all Daddies out there.

“What’re you up to, troublemakers?” I asked.

“We just have a question for Master Greer!” Noa skidded to a stop and parked his butt on my lap. He probably didn’t even notice it, but he had the sweetest little routine where he crawled up in my lap and absently played with the hair along the back of my neck, regardless of where his focus lay.

Yeah, coming here was good for him. I combed my fingers through his hair and kissed his cheek, almost missing when Kit asked the question they had.

“…when kilt season begins?”

I eyed Greer’s jeans. It shouldn’t be too long now, should it? When spring arrived, so did the Finlay brothers’ utility kilts at work. And whenever Greer came out here right after a shift, he usually didn’t bother changing. So he understandably had a fan base.

Greer narrowed his eyes at the boys. “That’s your question? You sneak around and avoid the backyard, you stir some shit, you’re up to no good, and then you wanna know when I don my fuckin’ kilt?”

Interesting. The boys didn’t grin and nod; they became confused. Noa wrinkled his nose and went, “Stir some shit?”

Confusion didn’t necessarily mean anything, though. Noa was an excellent liar if he really put his mind to it. Really, really put his mind to it. Otherwise, for the most part, horrible liar.

Corey wore a similar expression. “Why wouldn’t we avoid the backyard, Papa Bear? You’re freaking napping back there. Boring alert!”

“Yeah,” Kit huffed. “Daddy and Daddy have dozed on and off in the backyard at home all flippin’ morning, and now they’re doing it here too!”

“Like Daddy and Uncle Lucian yesterday,” Noa went on, nodding. “After Daddy’s workout, they were like, ohhh, it’s so nice out, let’s have our coffee on the terrace.”

I did not sound like that.

Fucking brat.

But whatever. Greer and I clearly had more detective work to do, because we’d reached a dead end here.

* * *

As more people arrived for the event, we put our investigation on hold to spend time with our significant others. Lucian and Cam must’ve had a talk in our cabin because they seemed very happy. Cam was kneeling on a pillow next to where Lucian and I were chatting to Tate, and Lucian’s attention remained partly on Cam, with his fingers in the boy’s hair, Cam resting his face against Lucian’s leg. It was precious. They needed to find their way back to their TPE routines.

And Noa… I chuckled and finished the last of my coffee.

It felt damn good to see him so energetic again.

All Easter subbies had been told not to move farther south than the pool, so of course that was where all the brats were currently trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening in the woods down at the bottom of the hill. Reese, Lucas, Kingsley, and Nathan were hiding the eggs there.

Noa, Corey, and Kit gestured and pointed and stood on their toes and craned their necks—to no avail. Kit was the tallest of them, and he was what, five-six? Five-seven?

Noa stood proud and tall at five-two.

My little freckles.

I gave the deck a brief glance, estimating some fifty people had shown up by now, and everyone was in a great mood. Someone put on music just then too, adding to the spring atmosphere. The sound of Macklin laughing made me seek him out in the crowd, and I spotted him with Lane and Shay, close to the first founder’s cabin.

What were they up to? I didn’t know if Lane and Shay were involved, but surely Macklin wasn’t acting alone.

Walker had given Colt permission to punish Macklin, and there’d been a date set.

During the cruise.

“We can always use extra entertainment,” Colt had drawled.

Macklin wasn’t sufficiently nervous about it, in my opinion.

“Earth to KC!” Tate waved his hand in my face, and I shook my head quickly. Hell. Talk about zoning out. “You okay, Sir?”

“Yeah, definitely.” I cleared my throat and cast a quick look at River on the lawn. He and Colt were speaking quietly to each other, and Greer was on his way over there.

Hopefully, something on our end was in motion. If not, I had a couple ideas.

“Sweetheart, Tate asked if you’re looking forward to the cruise,” Lucian told me, amused.

Oh.

I cracked a smirk and ran a hand through my hair. “Maybe I’m a little distracted. But yeah, definitely excited about a vacation. You and Kingsley are coming too, right?”

“Yes, Sir. I can’t freaking wait.” He smiled and sat a little straighter. “Speaking of, I will be hosting a body worship demo with a sensual massage on the trip, so let me know if any of your boys would like to attend.”

Cam could not look up faster, and he tapped Lucian’s knee.

Lucian smiled knowingly. “You may speak, pet.”

“I would love to attend, Owner.” He peered over at Tate. “Are you bringing those candles you made a post about online?”

Tate lit up a little. “Yeah. The massage candles. They’re amazing. Master is hooked.”

What the fuck was a massage candle?

“Color me intrigued,” Lucian said. “I’m assuming there’s a fee?”

Tate hesitated. “I’m kinda torn. Part of me wants everyone to leave with a candle, but I don’t know how many are interested yet. It’s highly possible I’ll be stuck there with twenty candles and no participants because they’d rather go to the pool.”

“Nonsense,” Lucian replied dismissively. “We have a wonderful group of slaves joining us on the cruise. I’m positive they’ll be interested. Figure out how much everything costs you, including the effort, and let me know how much to transfer.” He turned to me. “Do you think Noa would⁠—”

“Hell no,” I laughed. “And it has nothing to do with you, pet,” I told Tate. “Noa serves Lucian and me in his own wonderful way, but spare yourself from including him. If he’s in his Little space, he’ll get upset at the slightest mistake, he’s too impatient to wait for instructions, he’ll feel bad if he doesn’t do as well as Cam, and if he’s in a brat mood, who knows what he’ll do with the candles.”

Lucian smiled indulgently, knowing I was right. Cam knew it too, and he didn’t need his little kink brother turning a massage demo into a competition. It was better Cam attended alone with fellow slaves.

“Sign me up for four candles, please,” Cam requested. “Two for Master, two for Daddy.”

I reached over and rubbed his neck. I really fucking loved how frequently he called me Daddy now.

Spotting Colt coming over, I found it too easy to tune out the massage demo talk. I was ready for it to be brat-beating time, but in order to get there, we had to figure out who was involved.

Sometimes, it would be nice to beat the truth out of a brat, but it would just make them lose respect for the Dom. We could make playful threats about violence and earn ourselves nervous laughter, but when fist came to punch, one had to respect the process. If the bottoms went through all the trouble of coming up with a scheme, it was our duty to play along and break them the right way.

I tilted my head as Colt positioned himself behind my chair, and he leaned down and rested his forearms across my shoulders.

“We need to throw out some bait to keep the brats from assuming we’re tryna figure out what they’re up to,” he said quietly.

It needed to be good bait, considering we already had their attention. Not the ones who were easier to distract, like our boys, but Macklin? Macklin was keeping an eye on us. So was Shay, I realized. He’d found a seat on the little sofa on their porch, and he glanced away when I looked over.

“Do we have a list of suspects yet?” I spoke under my breath too.

He nodded with a dip of his chin. “It ain’t complete, but so far… Macklin, Corey, Kit, Noa, Shay, and possibly Gael.”

The Littles in that squad were still seemingly intent on watching the forest for Easter egg clues, but that could be an act on their part.

“All right, well…” I cleared my throat and locked eyes with Greer and then River. “Adding some confusion to the mix shouldn’t be a problem—we just gotta figure out what captures their attention on a collective level.”

“Any ideas, Mindgamer?”

I chuckled quietly. Calling me by my online username to remind me I enjoyed mindfucks?

I shifted in my seat and threw a glance toward Noa. Kit, Gael…Corey… I didn’t know Lane well enough yet, but if he was anything like his boyfriend Macklin…?

There we have it.

“What’s the one reason brats love seeing Tops hang out together?” I tilted my head and demonstratively pressed my lips to his jaw.

He stiffened for a hot second before things dawned on him, and he let out a low chuckle. “You sexy genius. That’s it. I’ll go tell the others. That’ll throw ’em, for sure.”

Colt had barely gotten off the deck before Tate cleared his throat loudly to get my attention.

“Excuse me, what was that? Is he joining you for the group-play thing tonight?”

Case in point. All rational thought left the head of a brat when he saw two Tops flirt or get remotely close.

“That’s for me to know,” I said.

* * *

While the monitors for the Game finished the final touches, Colt and Greer assembled our forces that would eventually show the shit-stirrers who was boss.

They didn’t stand a fucking chance. We’d recruited Reese, Dean, Walker, and Santiago to join our cause, and it helped that we all had subbie partners who were vocal about enjoying watching their Tops with other Tops. That way, we didn’t have to worry about limits for our little operation.

“The event begins in fifteen minutes!” Reese yelled across the backyard. “Everyone who’s participatin’, please go to the pool area! Those here to enjoy the show, stay on the deck or have a seat on one of the porches.” He gestured at our cabins along the side.

That was where I’d brought Cam. He’d fetched cushions for our little sofa set, and I’d grabbed us beverages and a bowl of Easter candy.

As much as I loved engaging in events with Noa, I was a fan of our switcheroo today. Lucian would get to flex his Sadist fingers, and I’d get some cuddle time with Cam, who’d even changed into jammies for my sake.

“It feels so darn good in the sun!” Cam dove for the sofa and fanned out a big blanket.

I smiled at his littleisms emerging and planted my feet on the floorboards, then gripped the armrests of my wheelchair.

“Oh—I’ll help you, Sir.” Cam scurried off the couch to offer me a hand, and I nodded in thanks and pulled myself up.

“Thank you, baby,” I grunted. “Did you give Archie that dough thing?”

“The sourdough starter—yes.” He smiled.

Right. Sourdough starter. A chunk of bubbly dough that lived in our fridge or occasionally in the kitchen window.

In the corner of my eye, I caught Reese and Walker heading toward me, so I pressed a kiss to Cam’s temple and told him to sit down again. Then I grabbed my cane from the chair and stepped over to the edge of our little porch.

“We have a slight situation,” Reese said.

“It’s not a situation,” Walker disagreed.

Reese threw him a look. “Buddy, I don’t know what strategies you picked up in Boston, but in Mclean, we pride ourselves in keeping the drama down.”

I lifted my brows.

Walker sighed and faced me while adjusting his cuff links. “We were trying to figure out the brats’ angle for a potential prank. More accurately, we were trying to pin down the location they didn’t want us in earlier when Macklin acted out.”

I nodded, with him so far. “Greer and I figured it was the office, mostly based on…where else would it be? In the office, they have access to the admin pages of the online community. They can replace the header with one that says House Mclean or—fuck if I know. It’s probably bigger than that if Macklin’s willing to face Colt’s paddle.”

Reese nodded with a dip of his chin. “That’s what we were thinking too. But instead of a prank on the forum, we’re theorizing it could be about the cruise. Shay and Macklin know I’m handling everything about our trip on that computer—and I’m comfortable, okay? I don’t always log out. Besides, Shay knows the passwords anyway. Macklin knows some of them too. All founders do.”

“All right, the cruise would be a good target,” I agreed. “Is that the drama situation?”

Reese and Walker exchanged a look.

“It could be,” Reese answered. “The other day, Walker and River had lunch, and they came up with the brilliant idea of inviting Ash on the cruise.”

I frowned. Clearly, Reese didn’t think it was a brilliant idea, but why? We loved Ash. It sucked that he’d left our community when he’d separated from Nathan, who had never been that close to any of us. Mainly because he had his own group of friends in our Shibari crowd. Although, lately, Nathan had joined us more and more. He was one of the monitors for today’s event. He was actually really nice.

“And how’s that a problem?” I asked, noticing Shay and Macklin were watching us from the pool. “If Ash is coming back, I’m all for it. By the way, Shay and Mack are watching us and trying to be subtle about it.”

“And cue laughter,” Reese said.

I grinned and let out a laugh, as did they, and we took a step closer to one another.

Reese turned a little too, so that he didn’t have his back to the pool. He wanted Shay to see our lighter mood. The grin stayed on.

“I’m not calling it a problem, just a situation,” he went on. “If you recall, Macklin and Ash had a special relationship.”

Oh shit, I’d forgotten.

By special, he meant deranged. They’d acted like bickering brothers. As far as I knew, they’d liked each other as friends, but if they spent too much time together, they could argue like sworn enemies, and it was always about dumb shit.

Walker closed the distance between us and draped an arm around my shoulders, presumably to uphold the illusion of us Tops getting our flirt on.

“In short, Macklin misses Ash, but given their history, Ash returning to us is the perfect reason for Macklin to pull a prank,” he said. “And y’all know he needs a reason to be part of a stunt, unlike some of the other boys.”

True enough. Noa definitely didn’t need a reason.

“Okay, so we might have our motive…?” I asked.

“Bottom line, a cruise ship ain’t our turf,” Reese replied. “If they plan somethin’ there, it’s harder for us to anticipate their next move. Chances are also that they have more than one target in mind, because even though the Littles don’t necessarily need a reason to pull their shit, they prefer it when said shit spreads to several Tops.”

That was fair. Macklin targeting Ash wasn’t enough. When the brats teamed up, they would’ve agreed on their targets.

“In that case, we’ll…” I trailed off as I saw Greer heading over to us. “Uh, we’ll be extra observant. I can talk to Cam. Greer, you should talk to Archie,” I said as he reached us. “Our slaves are our scouts in these matters. They won’t defy us.”

He nodded once. “For the record, y’all suck at lookin’ like you’re ready to screw each other’s brains out.” With that said, he eased forward and planted a hard kiss on me.

“Oomph.” I clutched his arms as he cupped my face, and he was lucky he was a strong fucker because he’d almost knocked me off my feet.

“If this doesn’t confuse the simple brat minds, nothin’ will,” Reese drawled.

I gave Greer’s bottom lip a sharp nip, just a small retaliation for him catching me off guard, and then I took control for a quick beat. Because I wanted to. I deepened the kiss and teased his tongue with mine, all while I let a hand drop to give his ass a squeeze.

He grinned into the kiss. “Nice. We have the same moves.”

I coughed around a laugh and had to break away.

Walker rumbled a laugh and leaned close, murmuring in my ear. “If nothin’ else, you just fucked with sweet Cam’s head.”

That was always something.

I threw my boy a glance and found him staring wide-eyed at us from the sofa.

I smiled.

“Daddy?!” Noa yelled from the pool area.

Greer was pleased with himself.

I smirked. “Daddy’s busy!”

Reese turned pensive. “You know, this could have an additional silver linin’. ’Cause few things get Shay to act like a good boy like the promise of seein’ Tops play. Who knows, maybe they’ll cancel the entire prank.”

If we kept this up, maybe. I’d heard of crazier things.

Greer eased back and smacked a kiss to Reese’s cheek. “Then the rest of you better step up. For now, my work here is done—and those fifteen minutes are up.”

Right. We had an event to kick-start.

It was much too soon to determine the effects of what’d just happened, but we certainly had the attention of several subbies. We saw plenty of whispering too.

As Greer walked away, I couldn’t help myself.

“Call me later!” I called.

He turned around, grinning, and gave me heart hands.

“What a dreamy boy,” I sighed.

Reese and Walker chuckled and walked off too. But Walker paused a few paces away and said, “I almost forgot. Kingsley’s game for what y’all discussed in the chat.”

Oh, perfect. I nodded in acknowledgment.

My work here was done too, so I went over to join Cam on the sofa. It creaked and squeaked as I slumped down, and it felt damn good for my legs. They were straining a bit too much.

“So, um…what was that?” Cam immediately began massaging my left thigh, probably knowing I was in discomfort.

I opened my mouth to respond, only to notice Macklin and Lane coming over.

Now what? They were participating in the event, so they better not linger here.

“Sir?” Macklin jogged the last bit and jumped up on the porch. “Is there any possibility Master Greer is joining tonight?”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I smirked and draped an arm along the back of the sofa.

“Um, yes.” Macklin widened his eyes. “Do you realize how many are gonna watch you tonight? I think all the subs will be there.”

“Macklin!” Reese yelled. “Do you really need another punishment?”

Macklin cursed and instantly turned around, and he dragged an amused Lane with him back to the pool area.

Oh, this was gonna be fun.

I was gonna suggest to the guys that we continued our ruse until the cruise. Hell, we could flirt online, maybe post some photos that got the brats going, and start a rumor or two.

“That feels so good, pet.” I kissed Cam’s cheek, and he inched closer to put more weight on his hands. He knew just how to loosen the tension, digging the heels of his palms against the fleshy parts of my thighs.

“You’re not going to tell me what all that was about, are you?” He smiled ruefully.

There was nothing rueful about my own smile. “Not really. You’re going to tell me if you know if the brats are up to anything, though.”

He bit his lip and side-eyed me.

“That’s a yes,” I murmured. “Tell Daddy.”

He huffed a breath and pushed back his hair from his forehead. Like all the other slaves, he didn’t enjoy being put in this situation. He didn’t wanna betray his friends, at the same time as they served their Owners first and foremost.

“I don’t have any details,” he answered quietly, adjusting his collar. “When I was at Master Greer’s place, Corey asked me if I wanted to be part of a prank they’re planning for the cruise—and that’s all I know. It’s possible Noa’s involved, but Corey wouldn’t say anything until I agreed to join, and I didn’t.”

I hummed.

So it was confirmed. It was for the cruise. Corey was in on it. Possibly Noa.

Undoubtedly Noa.

“Thank you for telling me.” I rubbed his neck gently.

“Anything for you and Master.” He sent me a flirty little smile that made me need to adjust my cock.

As soon as the event started, I was going to have my own fun.

“…and before we begin, here’s Mr. West with the results of the Academy event!” Reese was saying.

That made Cam perk up, and I gathered his hands in mine and kissed his knuckles. I was good on the massage, and now I wanted to keep my fingers crossed for my sweetheart. He’d been such a good boy at the Academy.

We already knew he’d scored high because the report cards had been posted online, but the Tops in charge had decided to save one announcement. Today, we found out the combined best performance, including both grades and points for politeness and whatnot.

Lucas faced the crowd, but not without Reese very publicly checking out his ass.

It made me grin.

Colt too.

The brats were so distracted.

“As you all know, your report cards are available online—and have been for a while,” Lucas said, “so here comes the results of the students who performed best in all categories, from the points on each test to the level of politeness, how they worked in a team, and behavior.” He paused for dramatic effect, and Cam bit his lip. “Our absolute top student…” Another dramatic pause. “Congratulations, Tate Ridley!”

Fuck.

Cam let out a breath, then smiled and applauded with the others. Talk about a hit to the Daddy heart. I’d wanted him to win, for his sake. The Academy event had been his brand of challenge.

It’d also been Tate’s brand of challenge, evidently. Kingsley squeezed his boy to him, visibly proud, and Tate beamed to himself. A well-deserved win, of course.

“Congrats, teacher’s pet!” I heard Corey shout over the cheers.

“Oi!” Greer shot him a look of warning.

“In second place, only four points behind Tate!” Lucas went on. “Cameron Jacobson! Congratulations!”

“Fuck yeah!” I threw my arms around my boy as he squeaked with a surprised sound, followed by adorable giggles.

Lucian and Noa applauded a little louder now.

“That’s my nerdy boyfriend!” Noa yelled.

I peppered Cam’s face with kisses. “I’m so proud of you, little one.”

“Thank you.” He smiled widely and crawled up on my lap. “God, that felt good.”

Good, I was glad.

I stroked his back and couldn’t help but trail south to feel up his diapered bottom. So goddamn sexy. And with those cute PJs… It was some cartoon I wasn’t familiar with.

Aw, Lucian couldn’t stay away. While Lucas went on to congratulate the third-best student, Lucian stalked over with a big smile and aimed straight for Cam.

“I couldn’t wait, my love.” He bent down and cupped Cam’s face in his hands. “Congratulations. Daddy and I are so proud of you.”

Damn straight.

“Thank you, Owner.”

Lucian kissed the grin off Cam’s face before he had to return to the pool area.

Cam smiled like a dope and fell back against me, and he got all squirmy. And the sigh he let out spoke volumes. Our boy was happy. He was relaxing after months of worries, and I knew the feeling extremely well.

“You’re happy.” I turned him around on my lap so he was straddling me, and he was quick to rest his arms over my shoulders.

“So happy that I don’t know what to do with myself,” he confessed. “I was such a fool earlier, because I didn’t understand why Master didn’t wanna give me chores. Like, I couldn’t understand the thought process behind it.”

“Oh yeah?” I touched his cheek.

“Yeah. But he told me when I was inside changing, and now I get it,” he said. “He explained that no matter how well he knows I crave servitude, it doesn’t always come naturally to give someone chores to do, especially if—in his words—he’s wronged them.”

I nodded, glad Lucian had gotten to explain himself. “That’s right. Maybe it’ll take a few weeks, but you’ll get there. You both have TPE in your souls.”

Cam nodded and was about to say something, but we jumped right where we sat when a blast went off. It sounded like a starter pistol, and it send my pulse through the motherfucking roof. Jesus Christ. All of a sudden, some twenty subs were running down the hill toward the forest, so it was safe to say that the event had started.

“My heart,” Cam grated out.

“Go Noa!” Lucian called, cupping his hands around his mouth. “As fast as you can!”

“Watch out for the log, Kit!” Colt yelled.

I hoped we hadn’t missed anything. I mean, the rules for this event might be the simplest ones we’d had so far. The subs literally had one single task, and it was to find as many Easter eggs as possible in the woods—and bring them back to their Tops within ten minutes.

The fun began after that.

“How about you feed Daddy some Easter chocolate,” I suggested.

Cam snickered and leaned back to reach the candy bowl. He grabbed the whole thing and set it on the cushion next to us.

“You’re also happy,” he noted. “And you’re extra Daddy with me.”

I couldn’t help it. It felt like a new door had opened for us.

“Is that okay with you?” I had to ask.

He nodded quickly as he unwrapped a chocolate egg for me. “Gosh, yes. I can’t explain it, but I feel more little right now, and it’s like…I think I want more of that in my life…? Does that make sense?”

“It absolutely does.” Whether it was temporary was too soon to tell, but I understood why he felt more little. Again, all those months of worrying and doubting? Even though the fears hadn’t been a full-time issue until the last few weeks, it’d added a lot of pressure on him. And now he could let all of that go.

Cam had always had his moments of feeling little, so it wasn’t as if the kink was new to him—or that line of thinking and processing.

He fed me the chocolate egg and giggled when I made yummy noises and kissed him soundly.

“May I also have a chocolate?” he asked sweetly.

“You can have as many as you want.” That was something I could say to Cam. With Noa, I had to set a limit. Otherwise, he ate until he gave himself a stomachache. He’d earned himself the nickname Chipmunk from Lucian for how Noa would stuff his mouth so that his cheeks puffed out.

“What’s the smirk about, Sir?” he asked, picking a couple chocolates from the bowl.

I chuckled. “Just thinking how different you and Noa are as Littles. And yet, I love your differences.”

He smiled. “Me too. Like, this morning? I overheard you and Master in the shower, and Noa eavesdropped and wanted to join you. He said he couldn’t wait and just wanted to tell you both that he wanted to make you feel good. And I was like, let’s just prepare breakfast for them. They can use some alone time.” He stuck the candy into his mouth and chewed. “As annoying as his impatience can be—and how he never thinks before he speaks—life without his chaos would be so boring. I kinda love having a baby brother I have to guide from time to time, because one, it’s sexy⁠—”

I laughed softly, in total agreement. Noa’s wild urges kept me on my toes the way I needed.

“And secondly, being the big brother is the best of both worlds,” he said. “I can be my version of a Little, while still tidying up his messes.”

I shook my head in amusement. Tidying up Noa’s messes was perfectly put, because that was exactly what Cam did.

“You have the patience of a saint sometimes,” I murmured.

“We all do,” he snickered. “And so do Master and I with you…”

I faked a gasp and narrowed my eyes. “Pet, are you implying I’m a handful?”

“Sometimes!” he laughed. “We can’t forget that you started the last food fight. The Big Spaghetti War was totally on you.”

Pffft. I didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Let’s not discuss the past anymore,” I decided. “Life’s too perfect at the present. Spring is finally here, Noa’s running wild in the woods, I have my little diaper baby on my lap…”

“Diaper baby,” he squeaked and ducked down. Every reminder that he wore a diaper made him flush and squirm, so of course I kept reminding him.

“It’s who you are, isn’t it?” I leaned in and brushed our noses together. “My sexy little diaper baby.” I cupped his bottom in my hands and squeezed him through the soft material.

He made a needy sound and buried his face against my neck.

Goddamn. I better keep my hands to myself before this escalated further. We’d regret it if we missed Noa coming back with his Easter eggs. The kinksters in charge were almost done setting up part two of the event.

Someone had put bunny ears on Reese and Colt too.

“You’re a little too tempting for Daddy, sweetheart.” I kissed his shoulder and hugged him to me. “We were supposed to eat Easter candy and cheer for Noa.”

“Oh crap! We can’t miss this, Daddy.” It was as if someone lit a fire under his butt. He scrambled off my lap but plastered himself to my side instead, linked his arm with mine, and planted the candy bowl on the table. “After we agreed it was best I sit this one out, Master said the Sadists have planned a fun twist.”

Fun for us Sadists, yes.

I kissed the top of his head and eyed him, amused. “If you crank up the excitement a bit more, one might accuse you of wanting to see Noa suffer.”

He snickered and unwrapped his chocolate. “Only because he’s a masochist and because he reacts so strongly. It’s funny.”

Yeah, that was our Noa. A reaction whore’s dream come true.