At the very least he should have used some kind of fake rock. Mentally adding that discussion to the to-do list, I chuckled. “Do we need to talk about lying? It seems like you’re already begging to be punished again. That’s not the best way to end our first week together.”
A groan came over the phone. “I’m sorry. I just got this idea last night and so I started working on it and I don’t know where the time went. I’ll be right down. Promise.”
Letting myself in as the phone went dead, I locked the door behind me and set the key on the side table. Getting a copy made of that was on the to-do list as well. Making my way through the house, I headed up the stairs and followed the grumbling to what seemed to be Dakota’s bedroom.
“Why the fuck didn’t the alarm go off? I know I set—shit.” He looked so dejected, slumped on the bed just staring at his phone, I wanted to give him a hug.
“What happened? And how late were you up?” I raised one eyebrow when he just sat up looking guilty. “Well?”
I got a dramatic sigh that made me realize just how little he was wearing. All I could see was a nearly smooth chest and a dark blue sheet that was suspiciously tented. “Um, well, I accidentally set the alarm to go off at seven tonight instead of this morning. And…do I really have to confess that?”
Grinning, I walked in, stopping just short of the bed. “What time were you supposed to go to bed?”
Last night we’d talked about the plans for today and reviewed what the rules were just to make sure he was sexy and hard before I left. The main thing was that he’d agreed to go to bed before midnight and to be up and ready to work when I showed up, but it looked like that hadn’t gone according to plan.
“The deal was you stopped working at ten because you said your goal was to see if you could keep a more regular schedule.” That’d been his goal…not mine for him.
Dakota nodded and his expression was honestly frustrated—he wasn’t playing games with me. “I don’t know what happened. I told myself I was just going to write for a few minutes and then I looked up and it was…well…it’s a short, but it’s really cute. It’s a sequel to that one with the three guys and the—”
His voice stopped and he shook his head like a dog shaking off water. “That doesn’t matter.”
I chuckled. “Okay, you can tell me about it later. For now, you’re going to get a shower and I’ll make you some coffee. Then we’re going to plan out the rest of the morning.”
He nodded, still looking dejected. “I’m sorry.”
He was so fucking cute.
Closing the distance between us, I ran my hand over his head and down his neck. He looked even younger than normal with his hair going in every direction and his sleep-fogged expression. “Do you still think the plan was reasonable?”
He nodded against my touch. “Yes, I want to make sure I’m awake and ready to work with you in the morning.”
“Then we’re going to have to come up with another plan, aren’t we?” I was expecting a nod, but he looked up at me with big puppy eyes.
“You’re not mad?”
“No, I know you tried.” He was too earnest and too fuzzy brained still to even think about punishing him. “We’re going to come up with another plan that works.”
Making sure he was tired by the end of the day would probably help.
He perked up, smiling, and wrapped his arms around me. “I’ll do better. I didn’t even play with myself last night either.”
And that had probably played into the late-night passion-filled project as well.
More exercise and an orgasm before bed would probably go a long way toward getting him to sleep at a more reasonable hour.
Mentally I’d prepared myself for work and for the fact that he would be in charge, but that clearly wasn’t the case. Switching gears, I stroked along his back and over his head. “I’m proud of you. I know that must have been hard.”
He shivered under my touch, nuzzling against my chest. Someone was cuddly when they weren’t quite awake. “Thank you, Sir.”
Since what he seemed to crave most was my touch and the confirmation that nothing had changed between us, I brought my hands up to