9. Zach #2
He raises his eyebrows. “If you need me to.”
“I do. Would you…? Could you…?” I take a deep breath. “I want you to blindfold me. Please?”
Smiling, he leans down and kisses the top of my head. “Gladly.”
Nate leads me to the back of the house, where several doors are close together, all closed. He knocks gently on the first one, waits a few seconds, and then opens the door. Inside is a simple bedroom, with a bed and a dresser.
“They’re not meant for staying in long term,” Nate explains. “Just for the odd night here and there.” He takes my hand, sits on the bed, and tugs me gently so I sit beside him. “Are you sure you want me to blindfold you tonight?”
I take a deep breath. “Yes. I need to relax, Nate. Please?”
He tugs open the drawers, smiling as he finds a sleep mask. He pulls it out and waves it at me. “Useful.”
“Why is there a random sleep mask?”
“It’s a bedroom, and the curtains aren’t that thick. I imagine it gets pretty bright in here first thing in the morning. So, not random at all.”
“Makes sense.”
“Tell me what you want to happen.”
I twist my fingers together. “I want you to blindfold me and cuddle me. I want you to help me relax.”
“How do you want to be cuddled?”
“On your lap,” I blurt out. “But I’m too big for that.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m taller than you.”
“Barely. If that’s how you want to be cuddled, that’s how I’ll cuddle you.”
I tuck my chin against my chest. “Thank you.”
“Safewords.”
“Are they really necessary? It’s just a cuddle.”
Nate puts his hand over mine, stilling my nervous fingers. “Yes. They’re necessary. I want you to feel completely safe, Zach.”
“Can’t I just say stop?”
He purses his lips. “Perhaps, for this scene. But stop might not be appropriate for other scenes.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to right now. Just know that people typically avoid words such as ‘stop’ and ‘no’ as safewords.”
“Okay. What would you suggest?”
“Traffic lights are common and easy to remember. Green means you’re fine, yellow means you need things to slow down or be less intense, and red means the scene should come to a complete stop.”
I nod. “Okay. I can remember that.”
Gently, he puts his fingertips under my chin and turns my face so I’m staring into his eyes. “I need you to promise you’ll use them if you need to. Trust is a two-way street, Zach. You need to trust I will stop, and I need to trust that you’ll ask me to if necessary.”
I swallow and nod. I almost say it’s just a blindfold, but then I remember everything Nate said on the beach, and Puck’s answer of ‘not always’ when I asked him if he enjoyed being blindfolded.
So, maybe I can’t see why safewords are necessary, or why I might want him to stop and take the blindfold off, but I trust that Nate has far more experience than me, that he knows what he’s doing, and that this is all part of making me feel safe.
“I’m going to set a timer,” Nate says.
“A timer?”
“Yes. I enjoy cuddling. It would be easy for me to lose track of time, and this is your first session, so it shouldn’t be too long. Let’s say, fifteen minutes?”
“All right.”
“Will you be comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt?”
“Are— Are you asking me if I want to take my clothes off?”
He smiles. “I’m asking if you’ll be comfortable.”
“I think so, yes.”
“Then we can begin whenever you’re ready. No rush. You can change your mind if you need to. I’ll never judge you, Zach. I’ll never shame you.” He chuckles. “Something tells me you wouldn’t be into that kink.”
“It’s a kink?”
“Yes. Some subs love being degraded.”
“Huh.” That’s not something I can understand, but I don’t need to.
“I’m ready,” I whisper.
“All right. Take your sandals off.”
I obey while Nate retrieves the eye mask and slowly and gently slips it over my eyes. They’re effective. I’m left in total darkness, suddenly aware of the hitch of my breath and the thud of my heart. Nate’s breathing is louder too, calm and steady.
“Use your safewords,” he instructs, in a soft, yet commanding voice that sends a shiver running down my spine.
“Green,” I say.
I am okay, truly. It’s odd. It feels like I’m floating.
I can’t quite work out where I am in space.
I can feel the bed and the floor. I can feel Nate’s hand over mine, large, warm, and rough.
The sensations are more acute than before, yet also almost unreal, as if someone else were feeling these surroundings.
“Stand up,” he says, holding my hand to steady me as I do.
He guides me onto his lap, cradling me exactly like he promised he would.
I curl against him, one hand resting under my cheek, the other clutching his shirt.
I pull my knees up, settling my feet on the bed.
He rocks me gently, his head resting against mine, his beard tickling my forehead.
It’s more relaxing than I expected it to be.
In his arms, I’m safe. Without sight, I’m left with no choice but to trust him, and I do. Fuck, I do.
My heart slows to match the pace of his. My breathing relaxes. The tension in my muscles slips away, allowing me to melt into his embrace. I understand now. I understand why someone would want this. Need this. I understand why someone would want a Daddy.
“Daddy,” I whisper.
My eyes drift shut beneath the eye mask. Tears leak from underneath my lids, dripping down my cheeks. Why am I crying? I’m not sad.
The alarm goes off. Has it been fifteen minutes already? I cling to him, not wanting him to let go and not wanting this to end. But I’m also sobbing, and I don’t understand why.
“I’m going to remove the eye mask now, sweet boy,” he says.
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.