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She didn’t want to be away from him for even a second. But she didn’t quite trust her legs to walk even the short distance to the kitchen. And asking him to carry her felt ridiculously needy. “I’ll be okay here.”
“Hey.” Gripping her chin, he forced her gaze up to his. Unlike when Nate had done the exact same thing with the barrel of his gun, this felt familiar, comforting. Especially considering there was nothing but kindness shining in Dean’s dark eyes. “Rule 6. Tell Daddy if you need anything, emotionally or physically. It’s okay to need me right now, babygirl.”
Tears blurred her vision and tightened her throat. “Please,” she managed to whisper.
“Thank you for being honest with me.” Bending down, he scooped her up into his arms as if she weighed nothing and carried her to the kitchen. When she was settled on a stool at the island, he pressed a kiss to her temple. “Good girl.”
She wondered if she’d ever lose the thrill those two simple words gave her. “I didn’t really do anything.”
“You told me what you needed, and that’s not nothing. I haven’t said it, because it didn’t really feel like it was mine to say, but I’m so fucking proud of how far you’ve come in the little bit of time we’ve had together. And I’m humbled you trusted me enough to let me lead you, even though I couldn’t be everything you needed at the time.”
“You’re proud of me even though I snuck out of the house, stole your car, and went to confront a murderer without telling you?”
His laughter was somewhat strangled, but it soothed her all the same. “As odd as it may sound, yes. The MaryAnn I met at first wouldn’t have been able to do any of those things. So yeah, I’m proud as hell that you did what you felt you had to do to try and save your friend, and even prouder that you fought for your life like a madwoman until I could get there. Now, ask me if that’s going to save your naughty little bottom from the punishment you have coming for all of that.”
“Maybe just a little bit?” she asked, though she had a feeling she knew what his answer would be.
“Not a chance. But tomorrow is soon enough to discuss your punishment. For now, do you want chicken and stars or tomato soup with your sandwich?”
Letting herself slide into that Little headspace he so easily held for her, she grinned. “Chicken and stars!”
“Coming right up, babygirl.”
CHAPTER25
He let her sleep in. Partially because she’d been through a traumatic, stressful ordeal not twenty-four hours prior, but also to give himself time to figure out how to proceed.
It was tempting to let her off the hook. Watching the man she’d loved die in front of her after having a gun held to her face was hopefully enough of a lesson for her to never pull such a stunt again. And it wasn’t like he was planning to go back into the security business, so the odds of her being in that kind of danger again were pretty slim with Nathaniel Cooke dead and on his way to being buried.
On the flip side of that was his own trauma. His own desperate need to ensure she never disobeyed him again when the stakes were so high. How the hell was he supposed to balance the two?
He still hadn’t made up his mind when she finally made her way down the stairs, wearing nothing but one of his t-shirts and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Hi.”
“Hi yourself, babygirl. Come here.”
Her face seemed to light with joy as she raced to the couch and curled up in his lap. “I didn’t mean to sleep so late.”
“You needed it. How are you feeling?”
“Good. Better than I expected to feel. And lighter.”
“Lighter?”
“Mmhmm.” With a happy little hum, she snuggled in closer and his arms instinctively tightened around her, holding her as close as he physically could. “Like a weight has been lifted off me. Because I don’t have to worry about Nate coming after me or anyone I care about now.”
“That makes sense.” It was also another point in favor of not punishing her. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel guilty if she was finally on the path to healing.
“Now if I could just get this punishment done and out of the way, I’d feel like a brand-new woman.”
There was a note of teasing in her voice he hadn’t expected. “I actually wanted to talk to you about that.”
“You always want to talk,” she said with a whine. “Couldn’t you just spank me and get it over with?”
“Sassy little brat. No, I cannot, because I’m not sure I should.”
“What?” Shooting upright, she stared at him, a swirl of emotions in her dark eyes. Oddly enough, he didn’t see relief in that cocktail of feeling. “Are you sending me home or something? What did I do?”
“You didn’t do anything, babygirl. And I’m not sending you anywhere. I just think you’ve already learned a pretty valuable lesson about not putting yourself in danger, don’t you?”
