“You feel that?” he murmured against her lips. “How your body reacts when you stop fighting yourself?” Dani whimpered softly, and Jonnas’s control slipped another inch. He kept touching her gently, deliberately, making sure every movement grounded her instead of overwhelming her. His hand slid slowly along her thigh beneath the shirt again, fingertips tracing warm skin while Dani trembled beneath him.
“You’re beautiful when you let yourself feel things,” he said softly. Jonnas kissed down her jaw carefully while his hand settled at her hip. “Look at you,” he murmured. “Taking care of everybody else all the time, but getting shy the second someone takes care of you.” Dani let out a weak, embarrassed sound and buried her face against his shoulder.
He smiled against her skin. “Baby girl.”
“I’m sorry,” she breathed, “I feel like I’m doing this all wrong.” Dani covered her face with her hands.
“No.” He tipped her chin up gently again. “You don’t get to hide from me, and you’re not doing anything wrong.” The soft authority in his voice made her shiver beneath him. Jonnas kept one hand steady against her waist while the other stroked slowly through her hair.
“You know what I like?” he asked quietly.
“What?” she asked.
“The way you relax every time I tell you it’s okay.” Emotion flickered across her face immediately.
“You make it easy to relax,” she whispered. That confession hit him harder than it should have, because Jonnas had spent most of his adult life avoiding emotional intimacy completely. Casual hookups were easy, but this felt terrifyingly important.And yet holding her like this already felt more natural than anything else ever had.
Dani’s fingers curled lightly against his chest. “You’re thinking too hard again.”
A surprised laugh escaped him. “You notice that now, too?”
“You get this look on your face.”
“What look?” he asked.
“Like you’re trying to carry the entire world on your shoulders.” Nobody had ever paid attention to him like this before, either. Jonnas kissed her forehead softly before pulling back just enough to really look at her.
“I need you to understand something.”
Dani’s eyes searched his immediately. “Okay.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. Her breath caught instantly, and Jonnas brushed his thumb slowly across her cheek.
“I know this is new for you.” His voice softened. “Trusting somebody like this.” Dani swallowed hard but nodded. “But you don’t have to earn softness from me.” He held her gaze steadily. “You already have it.” Tears filled her eyes again immediately. “Hey,” he murmured gently.
“No one’s ever said things like that to me before.” Rage flickered low and sharp in his chest at the idea. How had no one loved her correctly before? How had nobody looked at this woman and immediately wanted to protect every soft piece of her? Jonnas kissed her again, slowly, deeper this time, until she melted against him with a quiet sound that nearly undid him completely.
“That’s it,” he praised softly. “Just let go for me.” Dani shivered beneath him, and that was what finally broke the last of his restraint—not lust, not need, but the overwhelming trust in her expression when she looked up at him like she was handing him something fragile—something precious.
Jonnas held her carefully through every kiss, every touch, every whispered reassurance, making sure she felt cherished instead of consumed. Because this wasn’t about taking from her, it was about giving her a place soft enough to land.
“I need you,” she whispered.
“You have me,” he breathed. That was the truth, because she owned him now—body, mind, and soul. She just didn’t know it yet.
Jonnas tugged the T-shirt up her body and stilled when he realized that she was wearing nothing underneath it. “Fuck,” he breathed. Their first night together was about getting her naked and taking what he wanted from her. But now, he was going to take his time with her and memorize every last one of her curves.
“What?” she asked, trying to look down her body.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, baby girl,” he praised. She gifted him with her shy smile and lay back.
Jonnas rolled her on top of his body, and she squealed. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m going to watch you while you ride my cock, baby girl,” he breathed.
“Jonnas,” she whispered, lifting her arm to cover her breasts.
He shook his head, tugging her arm down. “Don’t hide from me, baby girl,” he ordered. “You’re gorgeous, and I want to see you.” Dani nodded and straddled his body, seeming to relax a bit.