Page 20 of A Little Christmas 4: Teller
He took my wine glass and lifted my right arm to try to help me clear my choking fit. When he stepped over the side of the tub and pulled me forward, sliding in behind me, his strong body calmed me.
“You okay, baby boy?” Briggs wrapped his arms around my chest and settled me between his legs.
I cleared my throat. “You, uh, you’re a surprise.”
He chuckled, and I bounced a bit against him. “I’ll never, ever hurt you. I want nothing more than to be your Daddy. I want to take care of you, Teller. I won’t push you beyond your limits, but I’d like to talk about those.”
“Okay. Is that bad?” My belly rippled with the nerves I was trying to hide.
The kiss to the top of my head made me smile. “Never bad. Nothing we ever do is bad, baby. I’ll take care of you and make sure you have the best life I can give you if that’s what you want. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to, but I want tohelp you achieve your dreams. I want to be your supporter. Your rock. I want you to believe I’ll always have your best interests as my priority.”
My nerves unwound, and I turned on my side so I could see Briggs… Daddy. “I want that to be true. I’ve had one-night Daddies before, but I don’t want anything temporary. If you want to be my Daddy, then it needs to be permanent. Until we agree it’s over.”
Daddy’s chest rose and dropped a couple of times before he turned me to face him, his semi-hard cock against my belly. “I want us to… I want you to be mine, and I want to be yours. You’re not anyone I saw coming, Teller, and I’m falling in love with you. Where we go from here is totally up to you.”
A lump formed in my throat because I’d never had anyone tell me that there was a chance they could love me. That was a first. “I’m not sure what that means, Daddy.”
His smile put me at ease. “It means that I want to be your Daddy for a very long time. I want you to know I’ll be there for you when you need me. All you have to do is reach out to me, and I’ll be there as quickly as I can, baby boy.”
“No matter what?” Never had anyone pledged to come to my rescue if I needed them.
Briggs grinned and pulled me up to meet his smile. “I swear.”
When our mouths met, I wanted to devour the man. He was everything I wasn’t smart enough to know I wanted. He seemed to see into my soul, and that wasn’t anything I’d ever encountered, but if he was willing to be my Daddy, I would never say no.
After the bath, Briggs wrapped a towel around his waist before lifting me out of the large tub. “Our food should be here soon. Let’s get you into something warm, baby boy, though your birthday suit will always be my favorite.”
I nodded, and he led me into the bedroom, grabbing the sweatshirt from the vanity stool. He dried me and opened a bag I hadn’t noticed to pull out a pair of training pants and a onesie with snowflakes on it. It was cute, and it surprised me that he’d bought something brand new for me.
“Daddy, where’d you get this?”
He grinned. “I can shop just like anyone else. I found some things I thought would look cute on you, so I bought them. I also picked up some toys for you.” He dumped the bag on the bed to reveal cars and blocks, and more things than I could take in at the moment.
I popped up on my knees and looked through the toys, gasping at every item. He’d figured out the things I loved, and he’d bought them for me. Who did that?
“Oh, Daddy! You didn’t have to buy these things for me.” I was breathless.
I’d only ever bought toys for myself. I couldn’t buy new toys, but I found things that I loved to play with, and if they weren’t new, it didn’t matter. I’d never had many new things in my life.
Daddy grinned. “I want to give you everything, baby boy. Are you in little space right now? It’s okay if you are. We can talk later.”
“Not really. We can talk about anything you want,” I said as I sat on the bed and pulled on the soft ivory sweatshirt that smelled like Daddy.
Briggs smiled. “I want to move you out of the Shelton Arms, along with Maizie, so I can remodel it. Then, after that one’s done, I want to move other folks into that building and do the same for all ten buildings. I plan to make them affordable housing units. I’ll have a place for you to stay in a week.”
That was surprising. “A place to stay?”
“Well, baby boy, you’ll need somewhere to stay while your building is being remodeled. Maizie will too. I’d like you to go house hunting with me tomorrow. Would you?”
“On Thanksgiving?”
Briggs nodded. “I spoke to a realtor, and she didn’t have plans, so she’s agreed to meet to show me two properties early tomorrow. Both are currently empty, so I could move in right away. I’d love to have your opinion on the houses.”
“What time are we supposed to be at your parents’ place?”
Briggs pulled on a pair of boxer briefs and tossed our damp towels onto the bathroom floor before joining me on the bed, where I snuggled into his arms. The curls on his chest were silver and dark brown. “Did you have dark brown hair before it turned silver?”
Was that rude? He was a stunningly handsome man, but he seemed young to sport a full head of silver hair.
