Page 36 of The Star in Room 7

Sweet boy. I release a small gasp. Yes. I want to be his sweet boy. I want to curl up in his arms and be his sweet boy.

I release a small protest cry as he removes the eyemask. I blink against the sudden flood of light from the yellow light bulb.

“Are you all right, sweet boy?” he asks, still holding me, still gently rocking me.

“Yes… Yes… It was wonderful… Thank you… I… I don’t know why I’m crying.”

He wipes the tears away with his knuckle. “Crying’s not a bad thing. You’ve got a lot of emotions bottled up inside you. I helped you relax enough to let some of them out.” He strokes and kisses my hair.

I want him to do more than that. I want him to kiss me properly. I tilt my face up and raise my hand to stroke his beard. Our gazes lock.

“Nate…”

“Yes, sweet boy?”

“Will you be my Daddy?”

He smiles. God, his smile is so beautiful. So serene. “Is that really what you want?”

“Yes.” God, yes. So, so much. “Please?”

He cups my jaw and strokes my cheek with his thumb. “I would love to be your Daddy.”

“I want—” I lick my lips. “I want to kiss you.”

He raises his eyebrows a fraction. “You don’t have to.”

“I know. But I want to. I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t. I know that’s not part of the arrangement. And I know my head is a messy place right now, but I know I want this. I know I want to kiss you. I know I want you.” I hold his gaze, not daring to breathe until his lips meet mine in a gentle kiss.

10

NATE

Zach’s grip on me tightens, and he presses into the kiss, with a raw eagerness that makes my heart quiver. I hold him close, deepening the kiss, tasting his lips and tongue, inhaling his scent, a mixture of citrus deodorant and sea salt. I stroke his face, run my hand through his hair, and draw him closer, pulling him as tight as I can against my body. I can’t remember wanting someone more. Yet everything he said is true. This wasn’t our agreement, and his head is messy.

I break the kiss, but keep my face close to his. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yes,” he whispers, nudging my nose with his. “I’ve never wanted anyone more.”

He tugs me closer, and our mouths meet again, this kiss more desperate than the last. My body tingles at his closeness. An ache grows inside me. My pulse quickens. Heat rises in his skin. He presses against me, his breathing hitching, his hands grasping and stroking and delightful.

I stop the kiss and take a breath. “You’ve just had an emotional first kink experience. We should slow down.”

He whines desperately.

I stare into his eyes, smiling. “I want you, too, sweet boy, but I wouldn’t be doing a good job as your Daddy if I took advantage of you now.”

“You’re not⁠—”

I lay my finger gently over his lip. “You’re vulnerable right now, which was the point. I don’t doubt that you know what you want, but ask me again when you’re not straight out of your first-ever scene. All right?”

His chin trembles, but his gaze remains unwavering as he nods. “What now?”

I adjust so we’re lying side by side on the bed, Zach still in my arms. “Maybe we should say goodnight.” It pains me to say it. I would love to hold him all night long.

“Does that mean we have to?”

I close my eyes and rest my forehead against his. “We should.”