A Daddy for Damian by Joe Satoria

10. KRISTOPHER

I hadn’t intended on calling him at 11 P.M. it just happened.

I felt bad for what happened. He didn’t get to have dessert, and we didn’t get to finish what we started in the office earlier.

I had lost whatever internalised bet I’d made not to try anything with my new assistant, and it was a conflict I’d fought over.

On one hand, I wasn’t hurting anyone, and everyone benefited from it. I forced no one into it. And on the other hand, people could get attached, and I tried to be detached from everything I did.

I lived in a penthouse with an entire wall of windows. It was a perfect view of the city below me. I loved to see the lights at night.

In my silk nightgown and matching navy-blue silk pyjama set, I sat at the at the island counter, waiting for Damian to arrive. I had a small glass of white dessert wine, and a selection of desserts to choose from.

The phone on the wall beside the front door buzzed with his arrival. All the way from the reception area, he was making his way up here.

In an effort to not seem like this was just a ploy to get him over here late at night to finish what we started earlier—both dessert and dessert, I finished the wine from the glass.

Damian arrived at the door, in a slightly crumpled look from the suit.

“I hope I didn’t wake you,” I said, pulling the string from the nightgown around my waist.

“No, no,” he grumbled, sleep in his face and eyes.

I’d clearly woke him, but it wasn’t like he had anything better to do. He came running just as I’d instructed. “Take a seat,” I said, gesturing him over to the counter in the kitchen. “I shouldn’t have done that to you earlier.”

“Oh?”

“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” I said, making the apology much more obvious. “You’re supposed to be the change, the one I don’t screw things up with.”

“Ok.”

Either he wasn’t listening to what I was saying, or he really didn’t want to kiss me earlier. I expected him to tell me it was fine, or that he liked it. This wasn’t how I expected his reaction. “I assumed you wanted it too,” I said. “You didn’t feel pressured, did you?”

He shook his head. “I did,” he said. “I did like it.”

“Right.” I couldn’t tell if he was being purposefully vague or just tired. “Anyway, dessert. I also have ice cream and sorbet in the freezer.” I gestured to the table with the square plates, each a different dessert. A chocolate cake, a raspberry cheesecake, and decadent millionaire shortbread.

“I didn’t see these on the menu.” He grinned; his eyes opened wider. “They look nice.”

“I didn’t ask if you had a favourite,” I said.

Staring at the food, he didn’t answer. “They all look so good.”

“You can try them all,” I said, “I was just curious. My favourite dessert is cheesecake. There’s so much versatility to a cheesecake.”

He grinned at the comment, more specifically as I tried to get the word versatile into the conversation. I liked to know about the guys I could potentially sleep with. Most of them were bottoms, but a lot of them were versatile given the opportunity.

I never gave them that opportunity.

We shared the cheesecake and talked about how he felt. He was a little more comfortable after I asked him to take off the crumpled suit jacket, revealing an even further crumpled shirt.

“You should take tomorrow and Sunday off,” I said. “You can go to the office, if you please, but it’s fairly empty on the weekend.”

He nodded. “And on Monday, we’re going to the place in Birmingham?”

“Good memory,” I said. “I’ll pick you up in the morning, and Carl will drive us. Theo won’t be there for this one, you’ll actually see more of what I do.”

“I’ve heard stories.”

I raised my hands and gestured around the penthouse. “All of them true,” I chuckled. “But—what stories?”

“You walk around with a briefcase of money,” he said.

“Sometimes. If an investment calls for it, sure. Sometimes, investing is about getting in their first, and that means having a contract ready and money to deposit.”

Damian’s eyes lit up. “How—how much is the most you’ve had?”

“Too much,” I answered. “At least too much for me to not have had a bodyguard.” It was true. It was a fact, and I liked to live a little dangerously.

“Will you on Monday?”

I shook my head. “Monday is a meeting to discuss possible investment,” I said. “It’ll also be an opportunity for me to get some new ropes.”

Damian dug the small silver fork into the end of the chocolate cake on the other plate. “You—have them?”

“Of course. How could I invest in something I don’t know about?”

His eyes became huge. “I’ve never—I’ve—”

“I suppose a demonstration,” I said, tilting my head down at him. “If you want.”

Nodding with obedience in his eyes. “Ok.”

While Damian stayed sitting at the counter in the kitchen, I grabbed a couple select items from the treasure trove chest at the foot of my bed. It was a large clothes box I’d given new purpose and meaning. Currently, it housed ropes, handcuffs, paddles, and a couple of unopened toys.

I brought two bright green ropes back to the kitchen counter. “Are you wearing a t-shirt?”

He nodded.

“Take the shirt off,” I said, unbundling the rope and laying it across the length of the kitchen counter.

“Does it hurt?” he asked, revealing his grey t-shirt with light grey dinosaurs printed on it. “Because—”

“If it does, I’ll stop,” I said. “It’s not supposed to hurt. It’s supposed to do a lot of things, one of them is excite.” I pulled a rope tight at the word. “And I think I know how to excite you.”

Damian’s face grew red. “Well, I—”

“There’s a way you can constrict movement, and surrender yourself, a little,” I said. “That’s usually what excites people. They give up all control.” I looked him over. “You want to give up control?”

“What does—that mean?”

“You give up control of whichever limbs I bind with the rope,” I said. “There are many methods and ties, some people like to get bound to chairs.” I nodded to the stool. “Some to bedposts, and others like to be suspended. Tied up.” I looked up to the ceiling. I didn’t have any supporting poles or beams for us to try that—and it was much more of a two-man job.

“My arm?” He presented his arm on the counter.

I nodded. Taking a hold of it. “You’ll like this one.” Taking the ends of the rope, doubling it. I started with the wrist, around it went. I pressed his hand up as close to his arm. I looped the rope around, connecting the wrist tie around his bicep. In place, his hand was limp. “Can you move it?”

He attempted to wiggle his hand, appearing to act like I imagined it would. “No.”

“Does it remind you of anything?” I asked.

With his hand free to move, but without the ability to extend it on his arm, this gave it the feel of what a T-Rex’s arm would’ve been like, pressed close with no movement. “A—a dinosaur.”

“Which one?”

He smirked. “A T-Rex.”

“Want me to do the other?” I asked, collecting the second rope.

Damian’s face was red. I could feel the heat radiating from him. “Yes.”

“And how does it feel?” I asked, walking around him as I folded the second rope in two.

“Strange,” he said in an almost whisper. “Exciting.”

I took his other hand, his palms warm with sweat. “That’s what it’s supposed to feel like.”

Damian turned to look at the side of my face. The heat, much warmer. He was a radiator. “Yeah.”

I turned to meet his eyes.

He kissed me.

The kiss lingered for a moment as he didn’t pull away immediately.

“Sorry,” he said.

“No, no.” I let go of his hand. “That’s ok.”

It wasn’t just me. I thought I always started it, every time. Maybe bringing the ropes out started this, but he kissed me first. He wanted to kiss me.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” he whispered, his voice prickling the hairs on my neck.

“It’s getting late,” I said, returning to his other hand. “I’ll have a car take you home.” This was still his first day. I needed to have stronger will power than this.

“I shouldn’t have—”

I chuckled as he paused mid-sentence. “It’s fine,” I said. “I knew I was irresistible, but you’ll have to resist me a little longer.”

Usually, I would’ve continued, I would’ve gone all the way. But there was something telling me not to, something telling me I needed to slow down.

“Oh.”

“While you’re here, I have a couple things to give you.” I untied his arm and wrist bind. “I have a bank card; in case you need to buy anything for the trip to Germany. Monday, you can book the flights with that too. My flight is already booked, but you’ll need to book yours.”

He nodded. “Thank you.”

“Did you invite a friend?”

His eyes glossed over at the question. If he didn’t bring someone, he would be bored. I wouldn’t see much of him, and he wouldn’t see me, especially not while I was with my family.