Chapter 27

"Daddy, did you put the boys up to calling today?" Beckett was lounging around the kitchen in sleep pants but no shirt. His sculpted chest made concentrating on my breakfast difficult.

"Nope, not me, but Cameron did call and ask if I thought you'd be open to it. I told him he'd need to reach out himself and find out."

"Hmph, I don't know what we need to talk about." Beckett carefully spread the last of his favorite orange marmalade on his toast.

"Guess you're gonna have to go and find out. Have your parents reached out? It hasn't been that long, but I thought maybe they'd want to mend fences." My voice held more optimism than I felt, but there was no reason to tell him that.

"Nah. I meant what I said. They aren't my parents. I've decided my grandparents deserve the title more than they ever did. There's nothing for us to talk about."

He spoke with such finality that there was no reason to push the issue. Beckett may have none of his father's cruelty, but he'd certainly inherited his stubbornness. I came around the side of the table and plopped myself into his lap. He automatically wrapped his arms around me and drew me in. My head lay on his shoulder as the universe intended. We just sat quietly in the kitchen and let the weight of his words sink in.

"Daddy, will you come to lunch? I want you there." His voice was small and uncertain.

"Sweetheart, anywhere you want me to be is gonna be where I am. Downtown café?"

"Yeah, at noon. Do you need me to change the time?"

"Nah, Thuy is being super sweet, so I can work stuff around. Did I tell you she set the wedding date? There's an invitation on the way."

We sat in silence for a while longer. I scratched my nails through his short hair and just let the air settle around us. Rain made a soft patter on the windows and ceiling, lulling me into thinking we might be the last people left on Earth. If that were true, I was grateful I'd spend the rest of my days with Beckett.

He was everything to me. He'd always be everything to me. I wanted forever with him.

"Daddy, you gotta get going, and so do I."

"I thought you were off today. Did I mess up the schedule again? Are you on nights?"

"Nah, I'm meeting Micah when the library opens. Last week, the librarian blocked off the chairs on the third floor by the big windows. There was a sign that read Reserved for a Private Event, and I'm fairly certain the private event was a Rutledge donation." Beckett didn't sound upset by it.

"There are worse ways to spend money."

"Oh, I'm not gonna tell him how to spend his money. I'm still not sure what their story is, but Micah looks a damn sight better than he did the day we met."

"I'm glad he has you in his corner. From our one meeting, I don't think he has many people other than you and Rutledge. And on that minimally uplifting note, I gotta go, or I will be late. See you at noon."

After one last lingering kiss that started chaste and ended in tongue, I climbed off his lap and headed for the door.

The restaurant was already crowded with lunchtime diners when I arrived. The group was seated at a table along the back wall. Everyone was there except for Beckett, but two empty chairs were left next to each other. They couldn't get started without Beckett, so I stepped back outside to wait for him. It was only a few minutes before he pulled into the parking lot. In the cab, he stared straight ahead, stone-faced. He didn't notice I was close until I opened the door.

"Hey, you."

"Hey, Daddy." His voice was soft and uncertain but resigned.

"You want to go in there or call the whole thing off? I'm excellent at making up excuses. I never got caught in high school. I'm stealthy." I made some hand gestures that hadn't been cool in ten years and probably wasn't cool back then either.

"You are many things, but that ain't one."

"Such cheek."

At a minimum, at least I coaxed a smile out of him. "You never answered. If you want to leave, we leave. You never have to do anything you don't want to."

"If I leave, I might not have the guts to listen later. It's like a Band-Aid… I just gotta rip it off."

"Well, let's get it over with." Beckett eased himself out of the truck and grasped my hand. When we first met, he shied away from physical touch, but now he sought it out. Although I'd always been down for it, now I craved him. If he was near me, I wanted to feel him. I wanted to ground him. I wanted to protect him.

We eased our way into the dining room, dodging patrons and staff to reach the table. We settled into the chairs, and Beckett immediately reached for my hand under the plastic tablecloth. His jaw was clenched tight and the muscle along it twitched. The faces that stared back at us across the table did not bode well, but my instincts said they were just as nervous as him.

I wasn't surprised to see Jonas, Cap, Cameron, and Elliott, but Reed at the table was more of a shock. "Hey, guys. Thanks for inviting us. Reed, thanks for making the trip."

"No worries. I may live on the mainland, but I'm a cousin, and this is an all-hands-on-deck meeting. Besides, Jakob took a shine to Beckett, and I'm not getting on the man's bad side. He may seem sweet and innocent, but I like my happy home." Reed laughed when he said it, but all jokes had a touch of truth.

"I get that. Happy life, happy wife doesn't work, but I don't know how to make happy queer, happy dick sound better," Will said with a smile.

Cameron spit his tea across the table.

"Jesus, Will, fucking warn a guy."

The rest of them yelled at Cameron to control himself, and the awkward silence was broken.

"Here's the deal," Cap said with a grimace. "We all fucked up." Nods of agreement circled the table. "We didn't realize what was happening, and, more importantly, we didn't ask questions about what was happening."

"You mean with his parents?" I spoke for Beckett in the hope that the anxiety monster eating at him would settle slightly.

"With his parents. We knew our comments were joking. Beckett, it never occurred to us that you were taking it more seriously than we intended." Elliott held up his hands in surrender when I started to take issue with his words. "Hold on. I'm not blaming Beckett. It was on us, not him, to make sure it was being received as we intended."

I settled back into my chair, somewhat mollified. "So where do you all go from here? I'm telling you right fucking now, Marj and Lindsey aren't welcome anywhere near Beckett. I'll be damned if they get to take another crack at him. He's decided his grandparents were his parents, and I support him one hundred percent on that. It's not up for discussion."

"Yeah, we've already talked about that. They aren't welcome around us either. We didn't realize what was happening, but we should have. It was abuse then, and it's abuse now."

Cameron looked around before he continued, "We've all talked to our parents. If Lindsey and Marjorie are present, we are not. If they show up, we leave. Our parents can have whatever relationship they want with them, but we aren't participating. We choose Beckett. And…shit…we're sorry for being part of it. Intentional or not, we were."

I glanced over at Beckett. His Adam's apple bobbed furiously as he actively worked to hold back tears.

"You don't have to do that. Just because I'm stepping away from them doesn't mean you have to do the same." Beckett choked on his words, and the grip he had on my thigh under the table had long since crossed over to painful. "It's fine."

"Fuck that," Jonas spit out. "I don't want them in my life." He paused to look at the other men at the table. "We don't want them in our life."

Beckett abruptly shoved his chair back from the table and stood. Without a word, he turned on his heel and left the table like he was headed away from a fire. Everyone at the table watched silently but didn't make any comments. When he disappeared down a hallway, all eyes turned back to me.

"Are you sure about what you're saying? Those were pretty definitive statements. If you're going to hedge on it, you need to let me know now. His parents have done enough shit to him, and I don't think he could take the rug being pulled out from under him. No one deserves that."

Their words sounded sincere, but still, it was a lot to cut people out of their lives and go no contact. It was their aunt and uncle, after all, so I was sure they had some fond memories of them.

Each of them looked around the table and confirmed with each other in the silent way that family and best friends did. Jonas broke the silence. "Yeah, we know, and those memories aren't worth it. I hope Beckett will come around more, and I promise we'll be on our best behavior. No more shit."

"Dude, don't overpromise," Reed cautioned

"Okay, I mean, a little shit in a fun and teasing way but not crossing into asshole. It's the best we can do."

"Fine. I'm going to check on him, but don't wait for us to order." I left the table to track down Beckett and found him in the alley behind the restaurant, leaning against the brick wall. He wasn't crying, but his red-rimmed eyes still leaked a few stray tears.

"Sweetheart, you okay?" I asked as I stepped into his embrace.

"Yeah, I just needed some air." He worked to control his shuddering breaths. "What did they say after I left?"

"They said they'd work on not being assholes."

Beckett laughed. "Aw, hell, I'm not sure if that's possible."

"Well, honestly, I'm not sure either, but I think they want to try for you."

"Daddy, can we just go home? I just wanna go home."

My mom always said that everything was better after a good night's sleep, and she was on to something.

After we came home from a lunch we didn't get around to eating, I heated leftover soup from the night before and tucked Beckett into bed. He slept until the morning, minus a few trips to the bathroom or the kitchen to get a snack. After that, he seemed more accepting of the situation his parents had created.

Over the last week, they'd called and texted him a few times, but he'd elected to block them. His aunts and uncles had reached out as well. All but one apologized for not speaking up on his behalf. A great-uncle, without children, said Beckett owed his parents an apology. Beckett had said, "Okay," and promptly blocked him when the call ended.

I'd never been prouder.

"Hey, Daddy, what are you thinking about?" We'd gone up to the loft after dinner. Beckett, as always, was reading, and I was working on grant applications. Thuy had passed on her files to me, and it would take a few late nights to get up to speed on them.

"I'm thinking my man is sexy as hell." Beckett gave me a speculative look, but I just waggled my eyebrows at him. "Is there something I should be thinking about?"

"Yeah, I heard you talking to your landlord. I was kinda eavesdropping."

"I mean, it is your house, and I was in your bed with you next to me. I'm not sure that qualifies as eavesdropping. Anyway, what about it?"

"Your lease is up?"

"It will be in about sixty days. Why?"

"Are you going to renew it?"

"I'm not leaving the island, so I gotta live somewhere."

Beckett fiddled with the pages of his book and cleared his throat a few times. Below his scruff, his cheeks were glowing. This was getting good. I thought.

I hoped.

"Sweetheart, what's going on with these questions?"

"I…uh…I thought…I mean…" Beckett huffed an annoyed breath before he slouched farther into his seat with an obstinate expression. "Never mind. Just forget it."

"Nope, I'm not going to forget it." I crawled across the couch and straddled his lap. His expression remained unchanged. "Sweetheart, what are you trying to say?"

"It's dumb. Just forget I said anything."

I leaned forward and nosed along the column of Beckett's neck before nuzzling that soft spot behind his ear that always made him shiver. He growled deep in his chest.

"Baby! Are you getting bratty with me?" Beckett growled at me again. "Nah, we aren't going to do that." I climbed off Beckett's lap. "Get naked, sweetheart."

Beckett scrambled off the couch and shed his clothes in record time while I did the same before settling on the couch. He looked expectantly at me and waited. Damn, I loved this man who could easily break me but submitted to me instead. I grabbed a pillow off the couch and tossed it between my spread knees. "On your knees, baby."

Beckett nodded and answered, "Yes, Daddy."

I carded my fingers as best I could through his short hair, then lowered my hand and cupped his grizzled jaw. Beckett closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. There was a soft smile on his lips that felt like a gift. I angled forward and captured his mouth. I insistently pushed my tongue between his lips, and he immediately yielded.

We stroked tongues against each other in a lazy pantomime of fucking, and my cock already felt hard as steel. I broke away when I thought my lungs would explode from the lack of oxygen. Beckett's lips were deliciously plump and pink and glistened with our shared spit.

"What am I going to do with you? I asked you a question, and you didn't answer." Beckett's eyes clouded with uncertainty. "Baby, you can tell me anything. You can ask me anything. Do you want to ask me now?" Beckett remained silent.

"Get up and lie across my lap, baby." Beckett didn't hesitate for a second. He immediately rose to position himself across my legs. I knew Beckett angled himself to take the weight off me, and it reminded me just how damn caring he was underneath that prickly exterior. I loved that I was one of the lucky few who got to see it.

Once he was settled, I maneuvered to capture his already hard cock between my thighs. He moaned softly as the thin hairs of my thighs rubbed against his sensitive shaft. I lightly traced a pattern on his bare butt.

"Sweetheart, tell me your safewords."

Beckett moaned low when I squeezed my thighs together. My nails scratched the same patterns the pads of my fingers had traced.

"Green go, y-y-yellow talk"—Beckett hissed when my fingers dipped into his crack and passed over his hole—"and red is stop." I felt growing wetness between my thighs as Beckett leaked precum from his throbbing dick.

"Sweetheart, I'm going to give ten smacks." I pinched his rounded ass, and he whimpered softly. "Ten smacks, and we'll try again."

Beckett squirmed but didn't attempt to evade the coming pain. I gave the first smack, and he moaned. The next five came in quick succession. His leaking cock soaked my thighs and each smack sent his dick sliding through the slippery, sticky liquid.

I paused to feel the heat of his pink ass. I knew I wasn't doing anything that would actually hurt him, but that wasn't the point. The point was he needed to know he could depend on me. He could trust me. I would always and forever be the buffer between the world and him. There was nothing I wouldn't do to protect him. I loved him.

The last four smacks likely smarted a bit more since they landed in the same bright-pink spot, but he still raised his ass to meet my hand and groaned. My cock was aching, but I forced myself to put any thoughts of relief aside. I needed to make my point to Beckett. He needed to know he could come to me for anything, big or small, insignificant or important.

After his swats were over, I rubbed a soft hand against his ass but made sure to press the tip of my finger against his hole. His answering whimper was enough to assure me he was no worse for wear.

"Sweetheart, are you ready to tell me what you couldn't ask before."

Beckett didn't answer but shook his head instead.

"You sure?"

Beckett's only response was a barely audible noise that sounded suspiciously like no.

"Well, okay. I know you love to be my cocksucker, don't you?"

He nodded yes as best he could from the position he was in, but it wasn't easy.

"And I know you love my cum. You love it when it shoots down your throat and you get to drink every bit. You are Daddy's greedy little slut. But only good boys get to drink Daddy's cum." Beckett's noises sounded downright forlorn. "I wish I could give it to you, slutty boy, but I can't because you won't ask your question."

I pushed Beckett slightly and then manhandled him to sit on the couch. He looked bewildered and debauched, and I fucking loved it. His ass was tender enough that he squirmed when his sensitive skin pressed against the cloth. I dropped to my knees in front of him.

"Baby, here's what's gonna happen. You don't come until you ask your question. Do you understand me?"

Beckett looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"What's your color?"

Beckett huffed an aggrieved, "Green, Daddy."

Without a word, I swallowed his thick shaft as best I could. Beckett's shout of surprise was music to my ears, and my chest swelled with pride that I could wring such a sound from him. He tossed his head back and clenched his fists on the edge of his cushion.

"Fuck, Daddy. Fuuuuuck." I fisted the base of his cock while I sucked the head and found that sweet, secret spot on the underside of the spongy head. Precum poured down my throat as he edged closer and closer.

I popped off long enough to ask, "Ready to ask?"

The only response from Beckett was a shake of his head and a shuddery moan. I redoubled my effort to suck the question out of him. It was a messy, frenetic blowjob with little finesse but plenty of enthusiasm. When he started to thrust into my mouth, I backed off.

"Baby, you can't come until you ask your question. I need to hear it."

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, please." I licked a stripe along the vein on the underside of his cock.

"Oh, baby, you beg so pretty. I bet you want to come so bad." I jacked his throbbing cock as we spoke. His balls were drawn up tight to his body, but with my tight grip at the base of his cock he wouldn't find any relief. "You get to come when you ask. I love you so much, baby. I'm never gonna let anyone hurt you, including me. You hear me, baby? I'll burn this whole fucking world down before I let anyone hurt you."

"Daaaaaaaddy." Beckett sobbed. "Daddy, move…fuck…move in…with me."

"Baby, I'm already here." I released my grip from the base of his cock and shoved it as far as I could down my throat. Beckett responded by pumping forward, but it was only a few thrusts before he faltered, followed closely by his shout at his release. His cum flooded my mouth, and I did my best to swallow every drop. I kept most of it, but some dribbled down my chin.

I pulled off his cock, jumped to my feet, and shoved my cock into his waiting mouth. Beckett sucked my dick like a porn star. His tongue curled around the shaft and his cheeks hallowed as he gave me the perfect amount of suction. Within seconds, I was coming into his mouth. Unlike me, he didn't lose a drop. When I was finally spent, I collapsed onto his chest. Our sweat-slicked bodies quickly cooled, but it was a welcome relief. We basked in the glow of mutual blowjobs because neither of us were capable of speech yet.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

"You really gonna stay with me?"

"You're never getting rid of me."