Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
E xhausted and more than ready for a hot shower and another beer, Bull was surprised to see Malcolm’s car parked in front of his house as he pulled into his driveway.
He hadn’t texted him to let him know he was on his way home since it was after eleven, and he’d figured Malcolm would already be in bed.
Guilt tickled at him. How long had he been waiting?
Six, Rooster, and Tank had taken off from Marv’s a few hours ago, but Houston’s boy had been working a sixteen-hour shift, so he’d ordered the three of them some pizzas and hung out around the bonfire Marv had started.
The guy didn’t have a couch but had a neatly stacked pile of wood, just in case?
Houston had done the familiar pitch about Bull joining the MC but had let it go easily enough.
He’d shared about some of the trouble his partner’s siblings had gotten into recently and then asked how things were going for Bull.
He followed up each of Bull’s answers with another question, seeming genuinely interested in the restaurant, his and Marv’s moms, and, after some gentle coaxing, Bull’s worries about the future.
But if he’d known Malcolm was waiting for him, he would have left hours ago.
Climbing out of his truck, he checked his phone to make sure he didn’t have any missed calls or texts but didn’t find anything.
Frowning, he crossed the front yard, worried something had happened.
His porch light was on, but it was the only illumination since the rest of his house was dark.
Where Malcolm sat in one of the Adirondack chairs at the other end, he was mostly in shadows.
There was just enough light for him to see his eyes were closed, and there was a black shopping bag next to his feet, the silver lettering of the name Monique’s catching the dim light.
“This is a nice surprise,” he said softly as he approached. “But did you fall asleep, baby?”
Malcolm’s eyes peeled open, a soft, tired smile on his lips. “No, I was just resting my eyes.”
“Everything okay?” Bull asked, closing the distance between them.
“Everything’s fine.”
Crouching next to the chair, Bull studied Malcolm’s face before nodding, accepting that answer. “Well, you should have told me you were coming. I would have come home sooner.”
Malcolm yawned and stretched, then leaned over the arm of the chair and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to Bull’s mouth. Fuck, that was a nice way to be welcomed home.
“I haven’t been waiting very long,” Malcolm murmured, rubbing his lips against Bull’s a couple of times and then relaxing back against the chair again. “I spent most of the evening with Ollie and his friends.”
Bull raised his brows. “Really? I was with Six, and he didn’t say anything about it.”
He pushed to his feet, then held out a hand. Malcolm accepted it and let Bull pull him up from the chair. Pressed close together, he couldn’t resist leaning down and stealing one more kiss. Malcolm hummed, smiling against his lips.
“Now that I know him a little better, I feel confident saying it is entirely possible he didn’t mention it to Six,” Malcolm said, shaking his head with a fondness Bull had seen others have regarding the brat.
“Sounds about right. What did you guys do?”
Malcolm’s face flushed, his eyes darting away. “Well, we had dinner at Bo’s and then did, uh, a little shopping.”
Bull led the way to the door, unlocked it, and then stepped aside once he opened it so Malcolm could go in first. “Shopping for what?”
He was more than a little surprised his budget-conscious boy had done some impromptu pleasure shopping. His curiosity grew when Malcolm’s blush crawled down his throat, and he opened and closed his mouth a couple of times without saying anything.
Before Malcolm could figure out what he wanted to say, Sophia jumped onto the back of the couch and yowled at him in displeasure. A second later, the kittens came scampering into the room, more interested in getting attention than food.
“Shit, hold that thought, baby. Let me feed them first.”
He quickly did, checking to make sure she and the kittens had what they needed and giving their box a scoop. He hesitated a second, then dipped into the bathroom to shower really fast, rinsing off the sweat from earlier in the day.
After pulling on a pair of shorts, he headed back out to the living room and paused just inside, smiling at the sight of Malcolm curled up in the corner of the couch, the TV on one of his home renovation shows, and two beers on the table in front of him.
He really could get used to this.
He settled himself on the couch next to Malcolm, snagging his beer on the way down, and admitted that he might have already. He’d been off all day, thinking he wouldn’t see Malcolm when he got home, and now that he was, he could truly relax finally.
“Thanks, baby.” He took a long swig, then set the bottle back down, eyeing the shopping bag near it on the table. He nodded at it. “Did you guys have fun?”
Malcolm glanced over at Bull, his teeth nibbling at his bottom lip and cheeks flushing.
Bull really wanted to know what was inside that bag to cause such a reaction.
“Yeah, they were all really nice,” Malcolm said, his voice low and a little hesitant. “They helped me figure some stuff out. Stuff that had been bothering me.”
Bull’s stomach churned. He leaned forward, grabbed the remote from the table, and muted the TV, then resettled on the couch, pulling his leg up so he was fully facing Malcolm. “Stuff about us? About… me?”
He matched Bull’s position, their knees knocking together. “Sort of, but not in a bad way,” he quickly added, grabbing Bull’s closest hand and slotting their fingers together.
Malcolm stared down at where they were touching, but Bull just watched his face, still not completely sure he wasn’t about to get dumped.
“Sometimes… it feels like we’re moving really fast,” Malcolm said slowly. “Maybe too fast.”
Bull swallowed, pushing down his reflexive urge to deny it. He covered Malcolm’s hand with his other one, so it was sandwiched between both of his. “Then we’ll slow down. We’ll take a few steps back and figure out where?—”
“No, wait,” Malcolm interrupted, shaking his head and scooting closer on the couch. “That’s not what I want. Sorry, this is coming out wrong.”
Bull frowned, trying to figure out what Malcolm did mean if not for them to slow down. “I’m… not sure what you want, then.”
“I just mean that… Well, this week has been amazing and perfect, right?” Malcolm asked, his face earnest.
Bull nodded slowly, more confused than ever.
“But it scared me a little how much I missed you while I was at work. And when I thought I wouldn’t see you at all today…”
Bull felt like he’d been punched in the gut. “It scared you?”
“Fuck, I’m really messing this up.” Malcolm tugged his hand free and sat up on his knees, gently cupping both sides of Bull’s face.
“ You don’t scare me. What’s happening between us doesn’t scare me.
” He swallowed thickly, fingers tensing against Bull’s skin.
“How fast I’m falling for you terrifies me,” he whispered.
“But I don’t want to slow down, and I don’t want to spend less time together.
Ollie and his friends helped me realize there is no right or wrong way to do this. ”
“Do what exactly, baby?” Bull asked, still feeling like he was missing part of the conversation.
Malcolm ran his teeth over his bottom lip, then licked them, his eyes a little wide. He tightened his jaw and said clearly, “I want to try calling you Daddy sometimes. But, you know, only if you’re okay with it.”
Bull’s blood began to heat as he blinked a few times, having not expected that at all .
But fuck yeah, he was okay with it. He was more than okay with it.
It wasn’t something he’d ever done before and had never thought about until some of the guys in the MC began hooking up with their boys.
He’d never considered it for himself, though, until the words passed Malcolm’s lips, but as soon as they were hanging in the air between them, the idea settled over him like a suit jacket perfectly tailored to his frame.
Hell yeah, he could be his daddy.
“I’m definitely okay with that,” Bull said, smiling and turning to press a kiss against each of Malcolm’s palms. Maybe they could try?—
“But I don’t want a cock cage,” Malcolm blurted out, his face bright red.
Bull jerked back in surprise. “What?”
“You know what, never mind,” Malcolm muttered, shaking his head. “Fucking Ollie.”
He leaned in to kiss Bull, then balanced on his leg to reach over and snag the bag from the coffee table. Monique’s was unfamiliar to Bull, and he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of expensive boutique place Ollie and his friends had taken Malcolm to that he’d actually bought something.
Or why he was pulling it out now when Bull would much rather go back to talking about being his daddy.
“When I told them I was, um, a little nervous about, you know, taking all of you,” Malcolm said, fiddling with the top of the bag and not meeting Bull’s eyes, “they suggested we start with one of these.”
Suddenly, Bull knew exactly what was inside. He swallowed as Malcolm placed it in his lap, then clasped his hands together tightly, waiting for Bull to pull out what he’d bought for himself.
So he could work up to taking Bull’s cock.
He didn’t draw it out, and not just because his dick was already getting hard. His boy looked like he’d baked in the sun all day his face was so red.
Sticking his hand inside, Bull pulled out the hard plastic packaging containing a set of three clear silicone butt plugs. His breaths grew unsteady as he studied them. The smallest wasn’t quite as wide as two of Bull’s fingers, but the biggest was almost as thick around as his dick.