Page 42 of Daddy's Muse

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 himhomealready.

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…”