Adored (bxb)

Chapter Thirty-One

Ty's POV

I was confident that Paulie had a magic power where time moved faster around him.

Seriously, it wasn't fair. One second we were playing at noon, the next second it was dinner time and Daddy was cooking us up something that smelled delicious. I wanted to spend a ton of time with Paulie; maybe he could stay the night. Ooh. That was an idea.

I snuggled into his side and felt him stiffen up. Even in the depths of his little space, he sometimes held himself back. I had no idea how I knew that. It was just a feeling.

"I like playing with you," I whined. "Stay over tonight."

Paulie's mouth opened a little and I admired the shape of his lips. Gosh, he was so hot.

"I— uh. I think that's not a good idea."

It wasn't lost on me that his eyes flickered up to Daddy, seeking permission. He was already a natural.

Speaking of, Daddy's nose got cute wrinkles in it when he looked at me. So did the spot between his eyebrows. "Tyler. That is enough. I do not want to give you a strike, but you have to respect Paulie's boundaries."

Now, Paulie's big doe eyes were locked onto Daddy, tension written in the set of his shoulders. "No— please!" Instantly, his face dropped into an expression resembling guilt. "I'm sorry, sir. Just. Please don't get him in trouble."

I loved the high lilt to his voice when he spoke. It made my mind wander...

David and I rarely did anything sexual when I was in little space. Actually, I was rarely in little space in general, probably. All the same, I had ethical concerns with it. I'd mentioned that to David— although little space was comforting and therapeutic for me in general, it was not something that turned me on.

Truthfully, for all David's initial grandeur when introducing it to me, it didn't seem turn him on either. What turned him on was my helplessness and need for his support and assistance; David liked to have a purpose. A service Dom, of sorts.

I wondered where Paulie fell into all of this.

Swept away by my thoughts and my comfort in my headspace, I smiled at Paulie and asked, "Does little space ever turn you on?"

"That's it," David snapped. "If you refuse to respect his boundaries—"

"But, sir!" Paulie cried, grabbing one of Daddy's hands desperately. His eyes betrayed genuine fear. "Please don't punish him. I'm— my boundaries—"

"Yeah," I interrupted, propping my hands on my hips. "You're punishing me based on pushing Paulie's boundaries without asking him what they are."

One look had me sitting my ass down and putting my hands in my lap. Jeez, when did he get so good at making me want to listen?

Daddy turned to Paulie and folded his hands into his own. "Paulie. We have had conversations about your desire to keep things friendly between us. No more."

"I was asking a friendly question," I blurted, taking Wanda and tossing her at Daddy. "Poophead."

Shithead was on the tip of my tongue, but I got the impression that Paulie didn't like bad words. I adored his sweet, happy expressions, so I didn't want to add any anxiety.

Daddy leveled an aggravated glance at me. "You need to fix your behavior. That is a strike, for backtalk and rudeness. Go draw it, right now."

I tried to recall. I had one strike already, right? One more wasn't so bad. But...

God, good behavior was so hard.

I crossed my arms.

"Tyler."