Page 7 of Their Little Helper (The Lactin Brotherhood #22)

DALLY

“Daddy, is…” Harley’s voice dropped as he walked slower and ended up well behind Pokey…who was surprisingly not pokey when he had somewhere to go. “Is Papa rich?”

“It’s entirely possible, but remember, we don’t judge people for things they can’t control like being Type-A.” It was sad really. “He probably can’t help it. My best friend has a rich Daddy and it’s sad but there’s nothing he can do about it. You love who you love and deal with the rest.”

Harley stopped on the sidewalk in front of the ridiculously fancy building. “Oh. I…I hadn’t thought about it like that.”

Most people hadn’t.

“That’s why rich people find special partners.

They need distractions and people in their life to give them something to do other than work.

He’s probably working a thousand hours a week and his doctor probably told him to find a hobby before he drops dead at his desk.

” That man was one glare away from a heart attack. “He needs us.”

“I…” Harley took a deep breath before he looked up at the building and seemed to lose his train of thought again.

“It was actually find a fucking hobby before I have a stroke.” Santos’s dry tone had us both turning toward him. “And it was only seventy last week because I had that fucking doctor’s appointment.”

I wasn’t sure if I liked being right or not but it wasn’t unexpected.

Santos sighed and somehow managed to keep glaring at the same time.

It was a slightly distracting talent but I didn’t get sidetracked.

“My great-grandparents started a baby food company that got bought out by one of the first conglomerates. Then their kids started several companies and my parents ended up in law.”

“See? I told you. They just can’t help it.” My family couldn’t help making kids and bad decisions, so we all had our crosses to bear.

At least I couldn’t get pregnant.

I could make wonderfully interesting decisions, though.

“You…you’re right about weird things.” Harley’s gaze bounced between me, his Papa, and the building. “I…I don’t mind it. Honest. I probably should’ve expected it.”

“Yep, rich people are always one deep breath away from shaking everyone around them. It’s the stress.” We’d help Pokey fix that. “It’s why he’s ended up needing two partners. One for helping him unwind and giving him someone to take care of and one for giving him someone to shake.”

Harley looked like he wanted to laugh, especially when his Papa sighed. “That’s ridiculous. I have two partners because you cheat and you’re somehow a package deal.”

That would’ve been more believable if he weren’t thinking about fucking me into the mattress.

“Aww, thanks, Pokey.” Taking Harley’s hand, I took a step toward Pokey and the entrance. “We’re ready. We just got sidetracked.”

“Yes.” Standing straighter, Harley smiled. “We’re ready.”

Pokey looked like he was ready to lecture both of us about something but he only glanced around and nodded. “Yes. Let’s head up.”

To the fancy-shmancy condo.

I was right…overstressed and rich.

Everything in its place and not a single speck of dust…he didn’t even have a pile of junk mail by the door.

“When does your housekeeper come over?” The first rule of dating rich was don’t fuck with the people who managed their lives.

“House manager. Mondays and Wednesdays. I’m not terribly messy but adding two people to the household means we might have to renegotiate that.

” Pokey paused as we stepped into the living room which was thankfully not decorated in white and gray.

It actually had warm wood tones and was a space my mother would like…

once we gave it some personality. “I’m not sure if I need to explain toys for Harley or not. ”

Our boy’s eyes were so wide I was starting to wonder if they’d actually fall out like an old Looney Toons episode.

“We’ll tackle that once it comes down to it.” That seemed like a Daddy conversation anyway. “Please let us know their weird rules that you pretend are your rules and any pet peeves they have.”

I was not taking over housekeeping duties just because I accidentally pissed them off.

That was a lesson I wasn’t going to have to learn a third time.

“I—” Pokey stopped before he could even begin to lie to himself. “For fuck’s sake.”

As I snickered, Harley’s eyes went back in his head because Pokey was so funny. He grumbled and even scrubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t care where you leave your shoes but Hanson does.”

Hanson was the housekeeper? Household manager? House manager?

I shrugged when Harley looked at me with that question clearly in his mind too.

“We’ll remember that.” And anything else he’d trained Pokey to do.

“Thank you for letting us know.” Harley didn’t seem to know what else to do but he glanced around and then down at his feet. “Um, where does he want them to go?”

“Good question.” Because it wasn’t obvious. There were no baskets, no cubbies with names on them, and he didn’t even have that shoe drawer thing that we could buy at IKEA.

Maybe he didn’t know how fancy those were?

“That cabinet by the door.” Pokey sighed again, pointing to what my mother would’ve called a wardrobe. “He made me think the closet was too far from the door.”

Hanson was good.

I was going to have to take lessons on how to manipulate Pokey…and make sure I was the only one who got to manipulate Pokey going forward.

Even Harley forgot he’d been nervous about Pokey’s money. “Do you like the cabinet?”

The fact that Pokey didn’t even seem to know a fancy name for it made me question that too. But his frown as he looked at it gave me even more things I was curious about. “I don’t know. I thought I had to have it.”

His housekeeper was good…but Pokey was mine so he was going to have to find someone of his own to fuck with.

“We’ll figure out how to handle it once you know how you feel about it.

” Yep, Pokey needed me. Rich people weren’t always good at setting boundaries.

Luckily for Pokey, I’d gotten very good at getting around other people’s, so I could protect his.

“I like shopping and Harley will be good to take with me so no one robs me again.”

Some people had sticky fingers and others had no common sense.

“I’m getting really tired of having to deal with the police. They’re starting to think I’m setting people up.”

A lot of people had no common sense…and some people were just very suspicious.

Like Pokey.

He’d stopped frowning at the furniture and started glaring at me. “What did you do?”

“Nothing.” Not even shrugging made that sound more believable to Pokey. “One officer said I look helpless and easily distracted.”

I was going to ignore how rude it was for both of them to start nodding at the same time.

“I’ll go shopping with you, Daddy.” Harley looked down at himself and shrugged. “No one robs me.”

“That’s good. It’s very inconvenient to have to keep calling an ambulance for them.

” Looking helpless and being helpless were two very different things.

“Some thieves have terrible radar for who to steal from. It’s like being gay and trying to date with no gaydar at all…

you just end up with a lot of drama on your hands. ”

Harley and Pokey were both looking very confused, but I wasn’t sure about what, and Harley didn’t help the situation. “Papa, I have questions.”

“Me too but you know as well as I do that the answers aren’t going to make any sense.” Pokey seemed to think that made sense because he shook his head. “I’m glad you’re going to take Harley with you shopping but one more robbery and you’re getting twenty-four-seven security. Got it?”

Rich people were so dramatic.

“Taking care of what belongs to you. Got it.” He was going to be a pain in the butt about that. “We need to make sure our boy has eaten before we get into threats and forceful caretaking.”

Pokey knew I was distracting him, but he couldn’t help the temptation as he turned to Harley. “You didn’t have a drink at the meetup this time. What would you like? Juice? Water? It’s too late in the day for anything caffeinated.”

“I couldn’t decide what to pick this time.” Harley’s quiet tone made it clear he was thirsty. “They had lots of options.”

Because the meetups were starting to get lots of littles and they needed choices so they didn’t get bratty.

“Well, I have orange juice, water, or herbal teas.” Pokey sighed as his frown deepened. “Teas that I really don’t enjoy drinking.”

Clearly his housekeeper thought they were important, though. “We’ll come back to that too.”

Maybe they were for his digestive tract?

Did they help stress poops?

“Can I have a little bit of orange juice…and…” Harley blushed so much he nearly went purple. “Um, water later if we…get dehydrated?”

Oh.

“I’m voting for very dehydrated.” Being subtle would not get me what I wanted. “That was our boy giving consent to me getting severely dehydrated.”

Harley was still slightly strawberry looking but he nodded. “And…and me just a tiny bit dehydrated.”

Our boy had never been drained bone dry, so it was a good idea to go slow…but his Papa found that to be very erotic.

Did Harley know that?

Hmm…his color did not give that impression, so I leaned over and whispered the information. “He likes like that. Like, possessive and imagining doing dirty things to you likes that. So don’t worry about the lack of first-hand knowledge part.”

Well, he looked like a big sexy plum, but his Papa nodded. “Yes. Your Daddy has no tact whatsoever but he isn’t wrong in this case.”

I was never wrong but no one liked to admit it.

“Tact does not get me what I want.” People just weren’t that smart sometimes. “It also doesn’t allow me to easily fix other people’s problems. If I have to be tactful, everything takes twice as long. So I’d rather help more people and make some of them squirm.”

The fact that it was also fun was a bonus.

“I…” Harley took a breath and swallowed hard. “I…”

Hmm.

I picked up one of his hands and moved it toward my shirt where he quickly touched a green line. “Good boy.”

Giving him a quick peck on the cheek, I reached up and ran my hand over his head as I smiled. “Your Papa wanted cuddles. How about we sit down?”

Then he wouldn’t have to make too many decisions.

Harley nodded enthusiastically but went still as Pokey came up to stand beside us.

He was clearly in awe of his Papa and hadn’t gotten comfortable with him yet, but I could see the desire in both of them.

I was going to step in and be helpful but Pokey decided to move at a faster speed. “Can I wrap my arms around you?”

Harley nodded but was still very quiet when he touched the green line again. Pokey was smart enough to smile and praise our shy sub, though. “That’s right. You’re a very good boy.”

Oh, our boy liked that.

He was a pink color, which seemed much safer for his blood pressure as his Papa inched closer and wrapped his arms around both of us.

So I huffed.

“I didn’t get a consent question.”

Pokey rolled his eyes. “Your goal is to writhe on top of Harley and orgasm while I do something to you. You made that very clear. Would you prefer that I get out my limits lists for you to fill out? It would be the safest way to have our first scene.”

Ugh.

“You don’t always have to try to one up me. I’m making sure Harley knows that I can verbalize what I want and that there are many different ways to play.” Santos really should already know that.

So as he sighed, I smiled at our boy. “Your Papa needs to learn manners.”

“With my hand on your Daddy’s ass.” Grumbling something about drama queens that was probably a dig at himself, Santos finally took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Once we’re at that point. Not now. We’re equal with the understanding that he wants to bottom.”

“Thank you for remembering that.” And for acknowledging his drama llama status, but that didn’t seem like it had to be pointed out. He’d just get more dramatic again. “Prostates are much more fun than some people are willing to admit.”

Oh.

“We’ll come back to the different ways you’ve explored yours once you’re ready for that discussion, baby.” I gave our pink cutie another cheek kiss. “For the time being, you just need to make sure you use your safewords if necessary.”

“Stop saying things that will fuck with his blood pressure.” Santos kissed Harley’s head. “He’s going to have a stroke before you get to come.”

“That would be tragic.” For a variety of reasons. “He’s nervous but he wants to know how much we desire him.”

That was obvious.

“So tell him.” Santos just blinked at me. “For goodness’ sake. Tell him how much you can’t wait to use his body and fuck him. He needs to feel desired.”

And they clearly needed me…it definitely wasn’t difficult to see why they needed a third and would never have worked without me.