Chapter 11
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.
Dani looked 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.
“It’s not—” She swallowed hard. “It’s not about acting like a child.”
Jonnas nodded once immediately. “I know.” Relief hit her so hard she almost let out the breath she was holding, because God, she’d been scared of him misunderstanding that part.
“It’s more like—” Her cheeks burned. “Feeling cared for enough that I can stop holding everything together all the time.” Jonnas’s hand slid possessively into her hair.
“You spend a lot of time holding yourself together, don’t you?”
The quiet understanding in his voice nearly broke her again.
“Yes.” And suddenly she was talking, really talking to him.
Words were pouring out faster than she could stop them.
“I’ve always had to be responsible.” Her voice shook slightly.
“I worked through nursing school. Paid my own bills. Took extra shifts. Handled everything myself because if I didn’t, no one else would.
” Jonnas listened without interrupting once, and that alone made emotion clog her throat.
“And after a while—” Dani laughed weakly. “You get so used to surviving that you forget how to let someone help you.”
Jonnas’s expression softened painfully. “Baby girl.” The tenderness in his voice shattered something inside her.
Dani looked up at him helplessly. “Then you came along and started opening doors and bringing me soup and telling me to sleep, and now my brain doesn’t know how to handle any of it.”
One side of his mouth lifted slightly. “That sounds serious.”
“It is serious.”
“You know what I hear?” he asked.
“What?” she breathed.
“A woman who’s exhausted of handling everything on her own.
” The simple honesty of it made her eyes sting again.
Jonnas pulled her closer, carefully, until her forehead rested against his chest. “You don’t have to earn care from me, Dani.
” Her entire body went still, because that was the thing she’d never known how to ask for.
Care without conditions, without performance, and without proving she deserved it first.
A tear slipped free before she could stop it.
Jonnas kissed the top of her head softly.
“You know what I want tonight?” he murmured.
Dani shook her head slightly against him.
“To put you in one of my shirts.” His hand moved slowly up and down her back.
“Tuck you into bed.” His voice lowered further.
“And hold you while you sleep.” Her knees nearly buckled.
No one had ever offered her softness like that before.
Not without expecting something in return immediately.
“Jonnas.”
“Hm?”
“You make me want things that I have no right to want.”
His arms tightened around her instantly. “Good.”
Dani looked up at him shakily. “That wasn’t supposed to be reassuring.”
“It is to me,” he admitted. The honesty in his expression stole the air from her lungs because he meant every word, and for the first time in her life, Dani found herself wondering what it might feel like to stop surviving long enough to simply be loved.
Dani was absolutely not prepared for how intimate putting on one of Jonnas’s shirts would feel.
It should’ve been simple because it was just clothes.
But standing in his bathroom, wrapped in soft black cotton that smelled like him while her hair was still damp from the shower, felt dangerously close to something real—something permanent.
She stared at herself in the mirror for a long moment.
The shirt swallowed her whole, hanging off one shoulder and brushing the tops of her thighs.
Her cheeks were still pink from the hot water—and maybe from the way Jonnas looked at her before she disappeared into the bathroom.
Like he already knew exactly what she’d look like naked and soapy in the shower.
Her stomach fluttered. Pregnancy hormones were ruining her life—or maybe Jonnas Black was.
A soft knock sounded at the bathroom door. “You okay in there, baby girl?” There it was again—that warm, low voice and the nickname that she had slowly gotten used to. Dani closed her eyes briefly before opening the door, and immediately forgot how breathing worked.
Jonnas stood there in gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt that stretched tightly across his chest. His dark hair looked damp from his own shower, and without the suits and ties and polished administrator persona, he somehow looked even more dangerous—more real.
His eyes dragged slowly over her the second the door opened, and heat flooded Dani instantly. “You’re staring again,” she whispered.
“Can you blame me?” The roughness in his voice made her thighs press together instinctively. Something dark flickered through his expression before he stepped closer slowly. “That shirt looks good on you.”
Dani’s pulse jumped. “It probably costs more than my rent.”
His hand settled lightly against her hip. “There you go again.”
“What?”
“Making yourself smaller.” The quiet correction wrapped around her chest tightly. He seemed to notice everything. Jonnas brushed his thumb slowly beneath the hem of the shirt resting against her thigh, and Dani’s breath caught hard.
“You still tired?” he asked softly.
“Yes.”
“Still overwhelmed?” She nodded slightly, and his gaze softened immediately.
“Come here.” Dani went willingly with no hesitation, no fear—just instinct.
Jonnas pulled her carefully against his chest, one hand sliding into her damp hair while the other rested low against her back.
Everything about him felt safe, even the way he was touching her.
“You know what I like?” he murmured against her forehead.
“What?”
“The way you melt into me when you stop overthinking.”
A weak laugh escaped her. “That’s because you exhaust me emotionally.” His chest rumbled softly beneath her cheek. The silence settled around them. It was the kind of comfortable silence that Dani had never really experienced with another person before.
Jonnas tipped her chin up gently after a long moment. “Tell me if anything feels too fast.” The sincerity in his eyes nearly undid her because he meant that, too. Every careful question, every soft touch, and every moment he paused to make sure she was okay melted her defenses.
Dani swallowed hard. “Nothing feels too fast.” Something intense flickered across his face at that.
His hand tightened gently in her hair before he kissed her, like he was giving her time to change her mind.
Dani kissed him back immediately as need rushed through her so fast it made her dizzy, because this wasn’t like that drunken night anymore.
This wasn’t reckless. This was deliberate, and somehow that made it feel infinitely more dangerous.
Jonnas backed her slowly toward the bed without breaking the kiss, his hands steady on her body the entire time. “You still with me, baby girl?” he murmured against her mouth.
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?” he asked. She felt her cheeks heat at the memory of calling him daddy. The quiet firmness in his voice sent heat curling low through her stomach, and she knew what she had to do.
“Yes, daddy.” The word slipped out naturally this time. It wasn’t a drunken accident. It was intentional, and Jonnas froze for half a second. A rough sound left his throat that nearly melted her completely.
“Christ,” he muttered. Dani’s entire body went hot.
“I’m sorry, I—” she stammered.
“Don’t apologize for that,” he breathed.
The intensity in his voice stole the rest of her words instantly.
Jonnas kissed her again, deeper this time, more possessive, while guiding her gently down onto the bed.
Every touch felt careful and measured, like he was constantly aware she was something precious.
The thought wrapped around Dani’s chest tightly even as desire pulsed lower and lower in her body.
Jonnas settled between her thighs slowly, one large hand sliding along her bare leg beneath the oversized shirt. “So responsive,” he murmured softly when she shivered.
Dani buried her face against his neck immediately in embarrassment. “Baby girl.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No.” He tipped her chin back gently. “Look at me.” She obeyed instantly, and the approval in his expression hit her hard enough to make her ache.
“Good girl.” That soft praise shattered something inside her, because God, she wanted this.
She wanted him. She wanted the calm authority in his voice and the safety in his touch and the way he made her feel cherished instead of ashamed.
Jonnas kissed her slowly while his hand stroked carefully over her hip and thigh, grounding her every step of the way. “You tell me if you need anything.”
The words nearly made her cry all over again.
Instead, Dani wrapped her arms around his shoulders and whispered honestly, “I just need you.” Jonnas kissed her like she’d handed him something precious, and for the first time in her life, Dani discovered that vulnerability could feel a lot like safety in the right hands.