The MANny (Whip 4) ✔️

Chapter 18

DAVID

I lie on the bed, basking in the glow of my orgasm, my lips pulled into what must look like the dorkiest smile to ever grace a respectable Dom's face, but I don't care.

I'm happy, so fucking happy and after so much time, so many years spent in loneliness and anger, regrets and what-ifs, I think that I deserve to smile as much and as goofiest as I damn wish.

I feel a movement beside me and move my head to the left to see Mihail, his beautiful eyes wide and unsure as he watches me.

I feel a pang of pity for the beautiful young man, the sight of him so unsure of his place in my life even after the wonderful experience we just shared making me wish that I could hunt down each and every one of the bastards that had destroyed him so utterly.

But I can't so, instead, I turn on my side and wrap one arm around his waist, pulling him closer until his head is safely snuggled into the crook of my neck. I feel more than hear the young man sigh as he snuggles even closer, wrapping his arms around my waist, practically latching onto me like a koala bear which makes me smile in amusement.

I've long suspected that Mihail is desperate for affection, for someone to care for him, to love him. I can see it in every move the boy makes, in every hug he gives Leo that goes on for just a bit too long, and most of all, in the longing that enters his eyes any time I hug my son or tell him that I love him.

Looking back, I realize that it's probably that sadness that drew me so instantly to Mihail because on some level it reflects my own.

Sure, I have Leo and Nancy, and my work which I love despite how much I sometimes wish to send it to hell and retire early, but I'm still human and need affection, something that since Jessica left me, I haven't managed to find in anyone. Until Mihail.

"That was..." Mihail starts, before stopping, hiding his head further into my neck, the tips of his ears turning red.

"Wonderful." I finish for him, making the boy's eyes snap up despite his obvious embarrassment.

"You are wonderful, Mihail. Thank you."

Mihail's eyes widen in surprise, confusion swimming in those beautiful, brown orbs.

"What for?" he snorts, his mouth quirking in one corner, making him look so adorable that I barely manage to stop myself and not ravish him all over again.

"For trusting me. For giving yourself to me so beautifully. Besides Leo, I think that it was the best gift anyone could have ever given me." I say, one of my hands coming up to Mihail's freckled cheek and caressing it softly as I speak.

I would later think that I should have expected it, but somehow, I didn't, panicking for just a moment when Mihail's lower lip starts trembling and his eyes fill with tears, a few of them spilling out and running down his face.

"Hey. Hey, what's wrong?" I urgently question, trying and failing to think of what I could have done to make him cry, but the boy just shakes his head before hugging me tightly, obviously unable or unwilling to talk about it.

So, I decide not to push and simply return the hug, one of my hands slowly caressing his scarred back, while I whisper reassurances into his ear as the young man silently cries.

∞∞∞

"You are too." Mihail mumbles sometime later, his tears long gone, in their place an occasional hiccup.

He's still hugging me, but he has loosened his grip slightly, so I'm able to turn just a bit to look down at him. My heart pangs at the sight of his puffy eyes and red cheeks, feeling awful that my words have caused him to cry, but at the same time, I know that it was exactly what he needed.