Page 17 of Daddy’s Muse (Bloody Desires #12)

Bodin

Colby had fallen asleep tangled around my arm, head heavy against my bicep. His sucking had slowed, eventually stopping altogether, releasing my thumb.

His dorm room was much too small for us.

I wanted him home already.

I brushed my knuckles along his jaw, slow, and thought about how quickly I could fix that.

One box of his things in my truck, and he’d never need to set foot in this shithole again.

But I knew it was too soon. Colby was still too cautious around me.

This night had exceeded my expectations, but it didn’t mean he was ready for his life to be upended.

He stirred when I shifted my arm, blinking up at me like I was the first thing he expected to see.

“You should be with me,” I murmured, more to myself than to him.

His lashes fluttered. “Hm?”

I smiled. “Nothing, lille prinsen. Go back to sleep.”

He did, my trusting, foolish boy.

I stayed still until his breathing evened out again, then carefully slid from the bed, placing a pillow under his head. The quiet click of the door as I left felt mocking, like it was rubbing in that I was leaving Colby here for yet another night.

Tomorrow, the next phase of my plan would begin. I’d make sure something happened—nothing dangerous, not to him—but enough to start to scare him off this place.

Enough to make him realize the only safe place… was with me.

* * *

The first day, I kept it simple, donning an all-black outfit, a cap hiding my hair and face, and standing outside as an ominous shadow watching his window.

I made sure to time it for when he typically closed his blinds.

He noticed me, and his startled jump was clear to me even though I was too far away to see his expression.

He closed the blinds quickly, but that didn’t matter. The seed had been planted.

Well, truthfully, the seed had probably been planted months ago when I’d started watching him. I hadn’t done anything outrageous, but I knew he’d been growing increasingly paranoid from sensing me without seeing me.

But so far, he hadn’t seen his stalker.

Until now.

Now he had a vague, sinister picture of who had been causing his unease.

He called me shortly after, seeking comfort from the source of his fright.

“Hi,” he said, voice trembling.

“Colby, what’s wrong? Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“I—No—I-I just…” he stuttered into the speaker.

“Shh, it’s alright. Pappa’s here,” I soothed, using that word specifically to reinforce our relationship and my role in it.

Colby hiccuped, then quietly asked, “I… Can I call you that? I didn’t want to assume—”

“Oh, my poor baby,” I cooed. “Of course. That is what I am to you now. Pappa is Daddy in Norwegian.”

“ Pappa ,” he cried softly.

A shiver ran up my spine. “Good boy, using my name. Such a sweet, perfect boy. Now tell Pappa what you need.”

“I think I saw someone outside my window earlier,” he murmured after a shaky pause.

“But… it was probably just my imagination. I mean, it’s a college campus, it could’ve just been someone out on a walk or something.

It just… it felt like they were looking right at me.

I know it’s just my mind making a big deal out of it… ”

I smiled into the dark of my car, running my thumb over the carved edge of my phone case. “Mmm… probably,” I agreed, letting my voice carry that warm, steady reassurance he craved. “But you’re safe now, baby. No one’s going to touch you while Pappa’s here.”

“Can you stay on the phone until I fall asleep?” he asked, small and hesitant, like he was afraid it was too much to ask.

“As long as you need,” I said instantly.

“I’ll be here every night if that’s what it takes.

I’ll always be here, Colby.” I let my tone soften even more, picturing him curled up in bed, clinging to my voice like it was the only safe thing in the world.

“Close your eyes for me. Let your body get heavy. Imagine I’m sitting right beside your bed, brushing your hair back, keeping watch. ”

His breathing was uneven, still quick from fear, but I could hear the slight slowing. “That sounds nice.”

“Good,” I whispered. “Because one day, I won’t just be a voice on the phone.

I’ll be in your bed, holding you. I’ll wake you in the morning and keep you warm and safe at night.

You won’t have to be scared of shadows anymore, because the only shadow will be mine, and that’s a shadow that guards you, not hurts you.

You need Pappa to protect you, don’t you, kanin? ”

A faint hum of agreement. He was slipping.

I kept going, letting the fantasy roll off my tongue, because I knew it was also planting something in his subconscious.

“You’ll move in with me, and then no one else will ever see you when you’re like this—soft, sleepy, needy.

You’ll be mine to take care of, mine to keep.

I’ll make sure the world stays very far away. ”

There was no reply for a moment—just the quiet shift of blankets, the faint catch in his breath. I pictured him sinking into the mattress, eyes fluttering shut.

“I’d like that, Pappa,” he whispered finally.

Oh, he would.

“Rest now,” I murmured. “Pappa’s watching over you.”

Even when you don’t know it.

Over the next few nights, I continued my quest. During the day, I kept our regular schedule: showing up at his workplace and popping by campus for chats. But once he thought I’d left, gone home for the night, that was when Loki came out to play.

One night, I had stood just across the way from his residence hall, far enough into the shadows that I could watch without being seen. The lights from the lobby illuminated him as he arrived home after a late shift. He had glanced over his shoulder once, twice, but never toward me.

Good boy. Still not looking in the right places.

As he disappeared further into the building, I kept my position, eyes locked on his window, waiting for the lights to switch on. I’d already slipped the small note under his door earlier, folded into a neat triangle. No name, no signature—just five words in block letters:

I LIKE WATCHING YOU SLEEP.

I waited as his blinds twitched, and his silhouette appeared against the glass. He stared out into the dark for a long time. I knew he couldn’t see me, but I held still anyway, letting the night thicken between us.

It didn’t take long after that for him to call me.

It was becoming a habit, it seemed.

His voice was shaky but trying not to be. “Pappa.”

“Is everything alright, little one?” I feigned ignorance.

“S-someone left a note under my door,” he squeaked. “I’m scared.”

I made my voice low, concerned. “Read it to me.”

He hesitated before whispering, “…No. I don’t want you to know what it says.”

I let a beat of silence stretch. “Kaninen min, please. ”

He sucked in a breath and stammered, “It—It says ‘I like watching you sleep.’”

“Oh, Colby. That’s awful,” I gasped.

“Do you think it’s real? What if—What if—”

“Take a big, deep breath for me, sweetheart,” I instructed, listening to him gulp in air.

“Good job. Okay. Here’s what I think. I think it’s probably just some mean kids playing a prank on you, but…

it could also be a real threat. Make sure your door is locked for the night.

You should report this to campus security tomorrow. ”

“R-really?”

“I can go with you or sit with you on the phone if you’d like, but you really should report it. If it is something serious, then they’ll be able to help.”

“Okay…”

I smiled. “Pappa will keep you safe.”

“Promise?”

“Always.”

He didn’t argue when I told him I’d walk him to class the next day.

* * *

I jiggled his dorm room’s door handle three times at 2:14 a.m., then walked away before he could get to it.

At 2:17 a.m., my phone buzzed.

“Pappa, someone tried to get in. Please—I’m so scared, I don’t know what to do,” he sobbed, making my heart wrench. I hated him being so terrified, but it was necessary. He’d never have to be scared again once he was safely tucked away in my cabin.

I put on my most convincing urgency and told him, “Stay in your room with the door locked. I’ll be right there.”

When I arrived fifteen minutes later, he opened the door for me, hair mussed, wearing only a loose, faded blue T-shirt and white boxers. I had to bite my tongue.

His cheeks were tear-stained, and his eyes were red. He flung himself at me, burrowing into my jacket and wrapping his thin arms around my midsection.

Closing and locking the door behind us, I lifted him at his waist and walked us over to his bed. As I began to climb onto the mattress, he spoke, his voice meek and quivering.

“Can I lie with my head in your lap, please?”

I settled onto the bed carefully, making space for him to curl up against me. His body trembled slightly as he lowered himself down, resting his head in my lap just like he asked. The fragile weight of him was a tether, grounding me as much as it did him.

My fingers moved instinctively, threading through his soft hair, gently petting in slow, steady circles at his scalp.

I could feel his breath hitch once, twice, then begin to even out.

I tucked a loose strand behind his ear and lightly rubbed his earlobe with the pad of my thumb, knowing how sensitive he was there.

He let out a small whimper against my thigh.

“Shh,” I murmured, voice low and velvety in the dark. “Pappa’s here. No one can ever hurt you when I’m with you.”

I whispered things I wanted him to believe with every fiber of my being—soft promises that wrapped around him like a blanket.

“You’re so brave, my little prince. I see you—all of you. And I will keep you safe, always. I will never let anyone touch you.”

My fingers kept stroking, each motion deliberate and soothing, as if I could erase all the shadows clawing at his mind.

“We’ll make a home together. You won’t have to hide. No more fear, no more running. Just day after day of me taking care of you the way you deserve. I’ll give you nice, hot baths, feed you your meals. We’ll get you lots of toys to play with. You won’t have to worry about anything at all.”

I felt him relax against me, his body slowing, syncing with my rhythm. My hands moved to cradle his cheeks briefly, thumb tracing over his tempting, rosy lips.

“I want you to rest now, little one. Dream of quiet forests and snow that hushes the world. Dream of a place where only I can find you.”

The weight of those words pressed against my chest, filled with something fierce and terrifying—love and possession twisted tight.

I pressed a kiss just below his ear, then another at the nape of his neck, murmuring the only truth I could offer in that moment:

“You belong to me. I’m your Pappa now, and I will never, ever let you go.”

The tension slipped out of his limbs as I kept my hands moving, endlessly soothing, willing sleep to come.

Outside, the world could roar and threaten all it wanted.

Here, in this dark, tangled quiet, he was safe.

With me.

Forever.

The next morning, I woke to the soft rise and fall of Colby’s chest against my side. His hair was a tousled auburn halo across my arm, and for a brief moment, I just watched him breathe—so fragile, so perfect, so mine .

He was still hesitant, still skittish about the outside world, but every time he reached for me, every time his fingers found my skin or his voice whispered my name, my resolve grew fiercer.

I began to map out the boundaries—what he needed and what I was willing to do to make sure no one else could take him from me.

And when he texted me later that day, trembling over the smallest things, things I hadn’t even had a hand in—the flicker of a shadow on campus, a stranger’s glance that lingered too long, a classmate sitting next to him in class when those seats were usually empty—I told him I’d come over.

I needed to keep him close, keep him under my gaze.

When I arrived, I took his hands in mine, the same hands that shook as he reached out for me. I looked into those wide eyes and promised, “I’ll keep you safe. I’ll watch over you every second.”

But the words felt too small, too simple.

Because I couldn’t just protect him—I wanted to own him. To be the only person who saw him like this: vulnerable, soft, needing.

I made sure he never slept alone. The nights when he was alone in his dorm, I stayed on the phone until his breaths slowed, then sent texts every hour to “check” he was still safe. I knew it was more than comforting him—I was building a cage, but one he would never want to leave.

Still, part of me thought about the future—about what it would mean to have him living with me, away from prying eyes and the dangers lurking in broad daylight.

I pictured my cabin hidden in the woods, how quiet it would be, how safe. Just me, him, and the silence that only we would share.

But then, darker thoughts crept in. What if I never let anyone else see him? What if I wrapped him up so tightly he belonged to me alone, forever?

The idea thrilled me and terrified me in equal measure.

When he lay in my lap again, I whispered, “You’re mine, kanin. No one else needs to know you. I’ll keep you safe—no matter what it takes.”

His soft sigh was the only answer I needed.

And as I traced lazy patterns across his skin, I knew I was crossing a line.

But for Colby, for us, I would cross any line.

Because I was his Pappa.