He ran a hand across my chest and teased my nipple. “Daddy, are you okay with the messy part of us?”
“I’m not sure okay is the right word for it, but I’ve made peace with it. If I’m honest, it’s a bit exciting. You make me feel like I could jump off a ten-story building.”
“But don’t. I wouldn’t know what to do without you. I love you so much, and I know you love me too, which is nice.”
I stroked a hand down his bare back. “Go to sleep. Tomorrow we’ll think up your punishment for eating all that candy. I never did get to buy you that cock cage, but soon all these punishments will add up.”
He groaned, but a smile grazed his lips. “Good night, Daddy.”
I had no trouble falling asleep that night. No more ghosts hung over the bed. No guilt intruded on my rest. Everything was Cosmo, and Cosmo was my everything. Nothing else mattered.
***
My eyes flew open, and I lay still in the darkness, Cosmo’s usual whistling breath in his sleep the only sound I could make out. Was that what had woken me up? I cocked my ear, but I didn’t hear anything, and I relaxed into the pillow, closing my eyes again. Cosmo had rolled off me and lay on his side with his face away from me.
I stretched my hand, then froze. What was that? It sounded like a car door.
I gently eased off the bed, shuffled over to the window, and inched the curtain away. I squinted, glad for the bright moonlight that allowed me to see an unfamiliar car.
Shit.
The two men in the diner. Something about them had rubbed me the wrong way, but I’d shrugged it off as me being overly cautious. Years of training kicked in. I tiptoed back to the bed and covered Cosmo’s mouth with my hand.
“Cosmo, wake up,” I whispered. “Baby.”
He sighed and tried to pry away my hand.
“Baby, it’s just Daddy, but I need you to wake up right now. We have trouble. Are you awake?”
He nodded.
“I’m going to remove my hand. Don’t make any loud sounds, okay?”
At another nod from him, I removed my hand and lowered my head to his ear. “We’ve got company. I need you to get out of bed as quietly as you can and hide in the closet.”
“What about you?” he whispered.
“Don’t worry about me. Promise me you’ll stay in the closet.” When he didn’t react fast enough, I lifted him from the bed and carried him to the closet myself. “If I tell you to run, it means I can’t hold them off myself. You go through the window and run as fast as you can. Don’t trust anyone.”
I found my duffel bag and felt around in the bottom until my hand connected with the weapon I’d hidden there. I took it out, loaded it in the semidarkness of the room, and handed it to Cosmo. “All you need to do is point and pull the trigger. Can you do that for me, baby?”
“No, no. Let’s go through the window now and run.”
“I don’t know how many are out there or where they are. I’ll distract them enough for you to run.”
“Daddy, I’m scared.”
I kissed his forehead. “I need you to be a brave boy for me right now, okay? You’ll live through this, Cosmo.”
“What about you?”
“Hopefully, I will too. I love you. Stay put.”
I closed the closet door and retrieved my service weapon from the night table. After filling it with bullets, I shrugged on my robe and dropped more bullets into the pockets. A glass shattered. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The only thing that mattered was giving Cosmo time to make it out of here alive. If he was okay, everything would be fine.
I slipped out of the bedroom, pulled the door closed, and inched along the wall. The moonlight streaming through the window was enough for me to see the two men entering the cabin, dressed in camo outfits and wearing ski masks.
I aimed and pulled the trigger twice, hitting the man in front in the chest. He went down, and the second man ran back outside. Searing pain slashed through my arm.