29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
DECCAN
D eccan carefully placed her on the toilet seat as he started to run the water. Echo was still gripping his shirt as he worked, but he didn’t mind. She needed to hold some part of him, and he was okay with that. He wanted that. It showed that she trusted him.
When he’d gotten the phone call from a woman earlier, saying Echo was in her chair wanting all of her hair cut off, that was not something he ever wanted to experience again. Nerves, worry, and a smidge of fear had rolled through him. There were so many things his mind ran through as he ran to the salon.
Was she okay? Why did she want to cut her hair off? What made her want to do that? Was she safe?
And then he walked into the salon and saw her. A bruise had already started to form on her cheek, and he knew someone was going to die. No one laid a hand on her and lived.
“I’ve got you, Little Bit,” he gently crooned as he started to take her clothes off.
She whimpered and tried to keep her shirt on. He had a feeling it was because she was starting to bruise on her breasts.
“Little Bit, can you look at Daddy?” he calmly asked.
But she didn’t look up. Her eyes were trained on his stomach. Was she embarrassed to look him in the eyes? Was she scared?
“Echo, look Daddy now,” he commanded.
He wasn’t going to have any of that. Her head tilted, and she made eye contact with him.
“Good girl,” he purred.
Echo relaxed a little, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“You are my good girl. My precious good girl,” he whispered. “Daddy is going to take off your clothes now. I know, Little Bit, but everything is going to be okay. I know you’ll have some bruises. Daddy isn’t angry at you. Don’t be ashamed.”
Tears filled her eyes, and he cupped her face, kissing her on her nose.
“Daddy is right here. You can cry; I’ll hold you. And if you don’t want to cry then I’ll still hold you. And if you don’t want to be held, well, too bad. Daddy needs to right now. I was so worried about you when I got a call from the salon.”
As Deccan talked, he slowly took off her clothes. She was hanging onto his ever word, not paying attention to what he was doing. Or maybe she was and was trying to ignore it.
“Daddy is so proud of you. So proud of you for being brave as Doc checked you over. So proud of you for talking about it and answering questions,” he praised her.
She needed to know she was a good girl, a brave girl, and he was going to remind her.
“I need to take my shirt off, Little Bit,” he gently explained. “And then my pants. Can you let go of me?”
She whimpered and shook her head.
“How about this? I’ll take my pants and underwear off first, and then you can touch my thigh. Then, I’ll take off my shirt, and we can get into the water,” he suggested.
Echo didn’t look convinced, but he went with it. He didn’t really want to lay in the tub with clothes on, and he had a feeling she needed some skin-to-skin with him.
“Such a good girl,” he said as he took his pants and underwear off. “Grab onto Daddy’s thigh.”
Her cold hand touched his, and he held back a hiss. Why was she so cold? Grabbing a hair tie, he pulled her hair into a bun, securing it. Deccan quickly took his shirt off, throwing it to the ground before picking Echo up and placing her in the tub, him getting in right behind her.
Echo immediately leaned back into him and sighed, her eyes closed.
“You are such a good girl for Daddy,” he told her again.
He wrapped his arms around her, resting them on her stomach as they lay there. Deccan didn’t know how long they were there for, but once the water started to chill, he knew it was time to wash her quickly and get her out.
“Daddy is going to clean you and put you in a cute, soft onesie.”
“Want shirt,” she mumbled, sitting up.
“Daddy’s shirt?”
She nodded, and he started to wash her. He was careful when it came to her bruises.
“Okay, Little Bit. You can wear one of my shirts and sweatpants. Daddy wants you nice and warm.”
Echo didn’t respond. After washing her, he got out of the tub, hastily drying himself off and putting his clothes back on before lifting her.
“Daddy loves you,” he whispered, kissing her stomach. “Daddy loves you so much.”
Her body shook, and he looked up at her worried. Tears were streaming down her face, making his heart break.
“Still?” she asked, her voice sounding so broken.
“Still what?” He started to dry her.
“Still love me?”
Deccan stopped moving and looked at her. Gripping her chin, they made eye contact.
“Daddy will always love you. Just because this happened doesn’t mean I love you any less. Understand?”
She nodded, and he let go of her. Standing full, he picked her up and walked into his bedroom.
“Daddy will be right back. I’m just getting you some clothes,” he said as he sat her on the bed.
He turned around and walked to the closet, grabbing a shirt, sweatpants, and underwear. When he turned around, Echo was behind him.
“Little Bit,” he gently said. “Daddy was coming right back.”
She nodded and stared at him.
“Not ready for me to be out of sight?”
She shook her head.
“Okay, Little Bit. Let’s get you dressed real quick, then we can snuggle.”
Deccan helped her dress before picking her up and walking to the bed. He pulled them back and placed her in the middle, getting in right after her. Laying down, she snuggled right up to him and let out a sigh.
“Such a precious girl,” he whispered, running his hand up and down her back. “My precious girl. I love you so much.”
They sat in silence for several minutes, him smoothing over her back as she relaxed into him.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, Little Bit?”
“What did you mean you’ll go after them just like you did the other guys?”