Jonnas lifted one hand slowly and brushed his knuckles along her cheek. “There’s nothing wrong with that, baby girl.” A tear slipped down her face before she could stop it, and he caught it immediately. “Easy.”
“I don’t know why I’m crying,” she admitted.
“You’re overwhelmed,” he said.
“It’s embarrassing. I cry all the time. I guess I’m just hormonal.”
“No.” His voice turned firmer automatically. “You’re safe enough to feel things now; there’s a difference.” Dani looked up at him with shining eyes, and something inside Jonnas locked into place completely. Mine to protect. Not because she belonged to him, but because she trusted him with the softest parts of herself, and Jonnas knew without question he would burn the world down before he let anyone—including himself—hurt her with that trust.
Dani
Dani had never cried this much in her entire life. At this point, she was honestly becoming offended by her own hormones. One second, she was standing in Jonnas’s kitchen trying not to melt because he’d made her take her prenatal vitamins like some terrifyingly competent Daddy-domestic fantasy come to life, and the next, she was crying because he called her safe. Like it was something precious instead of pathetic.
“You’re doing that thing again,” Jonnas murmured.
Dani sniffled. “What thing?”
“Getting embarrassed for having feelings.”
“Well, I’m having a lot of them,” she grumbled.
His mouth twitched slightly. “I noticed.” Warmth spread through her chest despite herself. Even now, he sounded calm, like her emotional spiral didn’t scare him at all. That alone felt dangerously addictive.
Jonnas brushed his thumb across her cheek, catching another tear before it could fall. “You need sleep.”
“I need a new personality,” she mumbled.
“You’re keeping this one,” he said. “I kind of like it.” The quiet certainty in his voice made her stomach flutter. Danilooked down quickly because looking directly at him for too long lately felt risky. Every time she did, she found herself wanting things she wasn’t ready to admit out loud yet—like more affection, more praise, and God help her, more of him.
“You’re thinking too hard again,” he murmured.
“You keep saying that like it’s optional.”
“For you, it’s probably not.” A startled laugh escaped her, and Jonnas smiled softly like he’d been trying to get that exact reaction. Suddenly, Dani realized something that made her chest ache. He paid attention to her moods constantly now, like her happiness mattered to him, and that realization nearly sent her into another emotional breakdown.
“This is your fault,” she informed him weakly.
“My fault?”
“Yes.” She pointed dramatically. “You keep saying emotionally supportive things.” Jonnas laughed under his breath. God, she loved that sound.
“I’ll try being meaner,” he promised.
“That would honestly help.”
“No, it wouldn’t,” he said. Unfortunately, he was right, because the truth was, Dani didn’t want him colder. She wanted more of this. She wanted more moments where he looked at her like she was something precious.
Jonnas tipped his head slightly while studying her. “Tell me something.”
“That depends on what you want to know,” she said.
“Smartass.” Her stomach flipped. She was beginning to love his playful tone that still carried that underlying authority she responded to instinctively.
“You said you feel little with me,” he said quietly. “What does that mean to you?” Dani’s breath caught. No one had ever asked her that before.
Her pulse started racing immediately. “I don’t know if I can explain it.”
“Try,” he prompted. The gentleness in his voice made it easier somehow. Dani stared down at his chest instead of his eyes while she searched for words.