Come in From the Cold

by Tymber Dalton

  Because he wanted to be obedient to Connor.

  “I couldn’t hear what Papa was sayin’. How you do dat again?”

  Connor shifted Zee into his left arm so he could reach out and hold Kayleigh’s right hand. “Like this,” he quietly said, showing her how to make the sign of the cross. “Then you clasp your hands together, like that.” He nodded to Douglas, who did it. “And you say, ‘Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.’ And then you make the sign of the cross again.”

  “What does dat do?”

  Douglas pressed his lips together to hold back his laughter but let Connor take the lead. He’d forgotten how much fun some of these conversations could be with little kids.

  “It’s a way to say how grateful you are for your meal. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

  “Why can’ I jus say tank you?”

  Connor smiled. “You can, if you want.”

  “Why don’ I tank Papa? He got me bweakfast.”

  “You should do that,” Connor said, his smile widening. “It’s always polite to tell someone thank you when they bring you something.”

  She looked at Douglas. “Tank you, Papa.”

  Douglas allowed his smile to break free. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

  She gave Connor a curt nod. “Okay, den.”

  Douglas’ gaze met Connor’s. “No, I can’t see the resemblance at alllll.”

  Connor stuck his tongue out at Douglas, making Kayleigh giggle.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Connor headed out after making sure Douglas had all of Kayleigh’s stuff to take with him to drop off the girls, while he would return the rental truck. He’d already texted one of the parts guys, asking if he could come pick him up there when he was done, and they’d said sure.

  As he drove the truck back to the rental place, he tried to sort through everything in his brain. This time yesterday morning, he still felt…enraged.

  In the last twenty-four hours he’d gotten laid as much as he had in the past several months combined, gotten engaged, moved Douglas in, gained a baby daughter…

  And despite the crazy felt more relaxed and at ease than he had in years. Mainly because, for the first time since he’d said good-bye to Douglas, he had slept completely through the night without any nightmares or waking up.

  Not going back to church any time soon, but thanks for this, if there’s anyone up there actually listening to me.

  Which brought him around to the question of saying grace at meals. No, he absolutely would not force Kayleigh to “be religious.” That was stupid. If she decided to ask questions and wanted to do things, of course he’d answer her and let her, but he would never force her.

  As far as he was concerned, the Catholic Church as a whole institution should be burned to the ground and the earth salted.

  Didn’t mean he didn’t miss aspects of communing with the Divine.

  I should talk to Douglas about that.

  Douglas had stood up to the organization—albeit secretly—and did good within it during his tenure as a priest. Connor knew to the depths of his very soul that his boy would never harm a child. If anyone was going to answer Kayleigh’s questions about God and higher powers, he wanted it to be Douglas, if Connor didn’t have a good answer for her.

  Connor was standing out in front of the rental place when Douglas texted him.

  At work, Sir. Love you.

  Connor smiled as he read the text. Hell, he’d never even had a relationship with someone else where this kind of ritual and protocol was a thing. He’d dated, sure, before Kayleigh, but never anything that was serious like this, or where their D/s left the confines of the bedroom or dungeon playspace.

  Connor texted him back.

  Love you, too, boy. Have a good day. Text me when you’re on the way to get me this afternoon.

  He was about to slip his phone into his pocket when it vibrated again.

  Yes, Sir. Thank you.

  Fuck three-day wait times, he wanted his ring on his boy’s hand now.

  Saturday would have to be soon enough, though.

  Once he got to work and was actually able to spend a full day focused on nothing but work, with the question of Douglas fully settled and not needing to go anywhere to deal with side issues, the day quickly passed. He even worked through lunch, snagging a bagel and cream cheese from the customer waiting area to nosh on instead of leaving to grab something.

  He was even thrown off, for just a moment, when his personal phone buzzed while he was in the middle of a discussion with one of his mechanics at the end of the day.

  On my way, Sir.

  He’d almost slipped it back into his pocket without responding when he realized what it meant and actually processed the time. He finished his discussion with the mechanic and headed back to his office to wrap things up in there.

  Good boy. See you soon. Come inside and get me. Park out front and walk through front doors, office down hall on left.

  Okay, so, yeah, he wanted Douglas to see where he worked. He wouldn’t deny it. He’d never brought anyone to the dealership before like that, either.

  Never had anyone he wanted to show off for before. Other than Kayleigh, of course, but that was different. Hell, she’d practically grown up there.

  My boy.

  He started packing his things when he saw Douglas walking into the showroom, looking around at first before spotting him waving through the open doorway.

  At the sight of him, Connor’s heart throbbed—and yeah, his cock hardened—to see him finally standing there in his doorway.

  “Come on in, babe.” Connor leaned over his desk for a hello kiss.

  Douglas blushed. “I don’t want to get you into trouble.”

  “You won’t. In fact, come with me.” He grabbed Douglas by the hand and led him out of the office and down the hall to Mike Surleman’s office, the owner of the dealership.

  Mike wasn’t on the phone when Connor knocked on his open doorway.

  “Hey, Connor. Come on in. What’s up?”

  He cleared his throat. “I wanted to introduce you to Douglas, my fiancé. We’re getting married Saturday.”

  “Married? Congratulations!” He stood and rounded the desk to shake hands with both of them. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

  “It’s…a long story. It happened fast.” Connor stared into Douglas’ eyes. “We’ve known each other since we were kids. We’re just having a friend marry us in a quiet, private little ceremony at another friend’s house. Plus, we’re both dads now. I’m getting a baby daughter.” He pulled out his phone and showed him pictures of Zee.

  “Oh, my god, she’s gorgeous! Congratulations again!”

  * * * *

  Douglas had felt a wave of something akin to sheer terror wash over him when he’d read the nameplate next to the office door, but seeing that Connor had already taken pictures of Zee and was showing them off to the dealership’s owner like any other proud father filled him with…

  Peace.

  Love.

  The tears and heartache between Sunday and Wednesday had been well worth it to see his man so obviously excited.

  His man.

  Connor waited until they were back in his office to grin. “You felt a little bit nervous, didn’t you?”

  He nodded. Not that he was allowed to lie anyway, but why lie about it? “Yes, Sir.”

  “They’ve known I’m gay. But it would have hurt his feelings if I hadn’t said something before my wedding.”

  “If you want to invite them, that’s fine.”

  “No, we don’t need to. They know I’m very…private. Especially after what happened with Karlie. They had a front-row seat to all that.”

  Connor gathered his things and followed Douglas out to his SUV. Even this was familiar, Douglas grabbing the passenger door and opening it for him. It’d always been one of their protocols before, and Connor
looked pleased that Douglas had remembered.

  “Thanks, babe,” he said on his way in, dropping him a wink that hardened Douglas’ cock.

  Once Douglas was behind the wheel again, he started the car but had no clue what next. “Where are we going, Sir?”

  Connor smiled. “There’s a big mall up at University and I-75. Only been open a couple of years. Sarasota’s grown a lot since you left. Let’s go there.”

  “Yes, Master.” He pulled out of the parking lot and headed north. “I need to tell you I can’t afford anything expensive.”

  “Who says I’m letting you pay for anything?”

  That was enough to make Douglas glance over at him. Connor wore a satisfied smirk on his face. “Master?”

  “I mean it. Who says I’m letting my boy pay for his own wedding ring? I mean, seriously. And oh, FYI, it’s going on your hand tonight.”

  Douglas wasn’t about to argue with him. “Yes, Master.”

  Connor settled back in his seat with a pleased smile on his face as his left hand came to rest on Douglas’ thigh.

  Less than an hour later, they were browsing rings at a jewelry store in the mall. Douglas was relieved when Connor settled on a set that wasn’t the cheapest design in the case, but it wasn’t the most expensive, either. Yellow gold bands with a band of white gold around the middle with a brushed texture and a vine pattern engraved over it.

  Connor had the clerk size Douglas’ left ring finger first, and Douglas had to twist off his wedding band so the clerk could do it. Connor took the wedding band from Douglas and slipped it onto his right ring finger. Then he slid the new wedding band onto Douglas’ left ring finger before he leaned in and nipped Douglas’ ear. “Yes, or no, baby? Your choice.”

  Douglas could barely breathe. “Yes, Sir,” he whispered, unable to take his gaze off it.

  “We’ll take two.” He held out his left hand for the clerk to gauge his ring size.

  When Douglas started to remove the band, Connor caught his gaze, lifted his eyebrow, and stopped him, just like that.

  Just like he’d always done.

  “I didn’t say you could take it off,” Connor whispered when the clerk went to fetch another ring in the correct size.

  When she brought it, she handed it to Connor, but with his gaze pinning Douglas in place, he handed it to him and held out his left hand.

  Fingers trembling, Douglas slid it onto Connor’s left ring finger.

  Connor pulled him in for a kiss. “Love you, baby.”

  “Love you, too, Sir.”

  Connor withdrew his wallet and plopped his ID and a credit card onto the counter. “Sold,” he said, then smiled at Douglas.

  * * * *

  Connor wanted to bend Douglas over the counter and fuck him right there, but that couldn’t happen.

  Well, it could, technically, but it definitely shouldn’t.

  The scary part was he knew even if he did, Douglas wouldn’t stop him.

  Fresh terror had taken hold inside him, that giddy knowledge that there was no edge for Douglas.

  His edge was whatever Connor told him it was.

  Unless it had something to do with work or the kids, Connor knew, Douglas would gladly turn himself totally over to Connor.

  It was difficult to not want to take advantage of that.

  Once they were back in the car, Connor pulled him in for a kiss. “All we need now is for Loren to pronounce us married.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  “Final confession time.” He stared into Douglas’ grey gaze. “Anything else we need to get out of the way now?”

  He spotted the way Douglas blinked, his gaze dropping for not even a second before returning to his. “No, Master,” he quietly said.

  Liar.

  It was his old tell. Whatever it was…Connor would find it out. Either Douglas wanted to know something that he wasn’t asking Connor about—

  Or Douglas had something he wasn’t giving up.

  Connor wasn’t sure which it was yet, but he would find out.

  He always did.

  Douglas never could keep secrets from him, even if he thought he could, no matter how hard he tried.

  But he felt certain it was not, however, something that would make Connor not want to be with him.

  “No arrests you haven’t told me about? Nothing you’ve done you want to tell me about?”

  Douglas blinked when he shook his head, but Connor spotted it again.

  Ooooh, my sweet boy. You will tell me. You just don’t know it yet.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Friday morning started out early, too, well before the alarm. Except after the sixty-nine that left them both sated, and following their shower, Connor bent Douglas over the bathroom counter and worked a mid-sized butt plug into him while Douglas’ cock got hard again.

  While Connor did that, Douglas’ gaze focused on the ring on his left finger. Connor’s ring.

  Something as a kid he’d wished and longed for and never thought could be.

  A dream come true, but at a price he wished he hadn’t needed to pay to get there.

  Once the butt plug was seated, Connor laughed and patted him on the ass. “Get used to this, baby. I plan on spending a lot of time making up for lost time. That better be in you tonight when I get home, too. If you have to take it out at work, better put it back in when you’re done, before you come home. So I suggest taking lube.”

  Douglas gasped as he straightened, trying to get used to it there. “Yes, Master.”

  Connor leaned in, a particularly evil grin on his handsome mouth. “You don’t mind, do you, boy?”

  “No, Master.”

  Connor kissed him and reached down to stroke his cock. “You’ll be my good boy today and keep it in for as long as you can, won’t you?”

  He felt himself spinning down into subspace. “Yes, Master.”

  “Tomorrow night, I’m going to reintroduce you to my sadistic side and we’ll see how you still feel about me then.”

  His cock throbbed. “I’ve missed that, Sir.”

  Connor’s blue gaze seemed to search his face for a long moment. “We’ll see.”

  * * * *

  Late Friday morning, Douglas was nervously anticipating the arrival of his first one-on-one patients of his caseload, which would round out his crazy first week of work.

  Although, to be fair, it hadn’t been work that was crazy, it’d been his personal life.

  His first patient would be a woman just released from jail earlier in the week. Her caseworker at their clinic, who was supervising her stint at the halfway house she’d been released to, and her parole officer had already been in contact with Douglas about her.

  She was currently slated to spend two months in weekly sessions with him, as well as attend a minimum of three NA or AA meetings a week. Depending on her progress, she’d be transitioned into group therapy sessions.

  It’d been the better part of two months since he’d last seen one-on-one patients, and he took a few minutes before her arrival to sit at his desk, eyes closed, and tried to clear his mind.

  Which, admittedly, would be a lot easier to do without the butt plug in place.

  Connor had clarified before turning him loose that if it was interfering with his concentration at work too much he could remove it, but Douglas wasn’t conceding defeat this quickly.

  He’d been through too much to give up.

  Fortunately, he made it through the appointment with no problems, able to fully pull his focus onto listening to her. Anna Williams struck him as a very sad woman, and it’d taken some time and gentle questioning to get her to open up. She was almost forty, and despite chronic pain from an old injury, she wanted to get through the first couple of months of her sentence, remaining sober and receiving good reports from her caseworker so that her parole officer would sign off on her leaving Florida to move to Alabama, where one of her aunts had offered to let her live with her and go to work at her convenience store.


  His next patient was a twenty-one-year-old man, Dave Cohburn, a cocky, nervous guy with an alcohol problem exacerbated by overbearing parents who’d insisted he wasn’t trying hard enough with his life. His third patient of the day, another woman. Lisa Knights was in denial about her addiction and was only there because her husband and parents were working in tandem to force her to seek treatment for prescription painkillers. If she didn’t complete a program, she’d end up divorced and without custody of her kids.

  He then helped co-lead another group session with one of the other counsellors.

  It was about an hour before he was slated to leave for the day when a familiar-looking man stopped in his office doorway and knocked. “Hey, stranger.”

  “Doyle?”

  He smiled. “In the flesh.”

  “Come on in!” Douglas rounded his desk and hugged the man. “It’s so good to finally meet you in person.”

  “I’m not about to miss your wedding tomorrow. So how have you been settling in?”

  “Um…good. Crazy, but good.”

  “Niall hinted there was a story.”

  Douglas rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, sort of.”

  “I had no idea you and Connor had a history. I would have…” He chuckled. “Well, honestly, maybe I wouldn’t have warned either of you. I am a sadist.” He spotted the ring on Douglas’ left hand. “That looks…new.”

  “Yeah. It is. Last night. He didn’t want to wait to put it on me. But the actual ceremony is tomorrow.”

  “Excellent. My boy and I are looking forward to it.” He winked and turned to go.

  “Your…boy?” He knew Doyle’s husband was literally one of the most famous rock stars of their time. The thought that Mevi Maynard would be at his wedding made him feel a little…faint.