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She was quiet for a long moment. Then, so softly he almost missed it, she whispered, "I've just never had anyone who wanted to take care of me."
Soren closed his eyes. The words landed like a punch to the chest, and he turned onto his side. She had already drifted closer to him, though she seemed unaware of it.
“Can I ask you something?” she asked.
“Anything,” he breathed.
“Would you mind holding me while I sleep?” Soren wasn’t sure how he’d survive a night with her body pressed up against his. Hell, his cock was already getting ideas of its own, and he was going to need a few cold showers come morning, but there was no way that he’d deny her request.
“Come here, babygirl.” He held out his arm to her.
She curled against his body, and as though on instinct, he wrapped his arms around her. Carefully, so she wouldn't startle, he reached over and pulled the duvet a little higher around her shoulders, and she sighed contentedly.
Then, as she drifted off to sleep, she murmured one word. "Daddy."
Soren remained perfectly still. A slow breath left his lungs, and his heart, which had remained steady through gunfights, betrayals, and wars, stumbled for the first time in years because she’d said it with complete trust.
He wasn't sure he'd ever deserved that, but as he watched her finally sleep without fear etched across her face, he made himself a silent promise. No one would ever make this woman afraid again, not while she was under his roof, not while she was in his arms, and not while he still had breath left in his body.
Chapter Nine
Soren
He woke up just before dawn and went still when he remembered why there was a hot woman plastered up against his body. God, Lily felt right in his arms—like she had belonged there the whole time. And every damn time she called him Daddy his heart did a little flip-flop in his chest.
Soren couldn’t help himself as he wrapped his arms tighter around her limp body, soaking up every second. He knew that once she woke up, she’d start putting her walls back into place—although he hoped like hell that wasn’t going to be the case. He felt as though they had made so much headway in their relationship together. She had gone from hating his guts to cohabiting with him, and now, she was curled up against him in his bed.
“You’re smushing me,” she grumbled.
He chuckled. He had found himself doing that a lot these past few days, and he was sure that had everything to do with Lily. “Sorry,” he said, not releasing her.
“You’re awake way too early,” she whispered.
“Yeah, I like to get up before the sun.”
“That’s going to be a problem for me,” she teased. “I like to sleep until at least seven. And on days that I don’t have to work, I could spend all day in bed.”
Pictures of them spending the day in bed together flashed through his mind, and he knew that doing half the things that he wanted to do with her—to her, might have her running for the hills.
She looked up at him. “Where did you just go?”
“Um, just thinking,” he said. It was a partial truth, because he was thinking of putting her under his body and making her his.
“Thinking about what?” she asked.
He could tell that she wasn’t going to let him off the hook until he gave her an answer.
“Do you really want to know?”
She nodded up at him, and he let out his breath.
“I’m thinking about how much I want you, Lily.”
“Oh,” she breathed. “I see.”
“I don’t think that you do,” he said. “I don’t do this kind of thing.”
“What kind of thing are we talking about?” she asked.
