Chapter 13
Dani
Dani woke slowly, feeling warm, comfortable, and safe. For one blissful second, she didn’t remember why, until she felt the steady weight of Jonnas’s arm around her waist and the slow rise and fall of his chest against her back. Her entire body softened instantly.
The room was still dark except for the faint glow of city lights bleeding through the massive windows across the bedroom.
Everything felt quiet and still in a way Dani wasn’t used to.
Usually, after having sex with someone, she went home to sleep, ready to leave before things got weird.
She’d feel awkward the next morning—tense even.
But now, she didn’t want to move at all because she felt safe in Jonnas’s bed, and in his arms.
Jonnas made a soft sound behind her before tightening his arm around her slightly like he sensed her waking.
“Morning, baby girl,” he murmured sleepily against her hair.
Her stomach flipped immediately. How was his voice sexy even when he was half asleep?
It felt unfair that everything about the man was dripping in sex.
“You’re awake,” she whispered.
“Mmhm,” he hummed.
“You were drooling on me,” she said.
A low laugh rumbled behind her. “Liar.” Dani smiled before she could stop herself.
The smile faded almost immediately when she realized something terrifying—she felt happy, and honestly, that scared her more than anything else.
Jonnas shifted behind her, pressing a soft kiss to her shoulder through the shirt she still wore.
“You’re thinking too hard again,” he said.
“How do you always know?” she asked.
“Because you tense up,” he explained. The fact that he already noticed little things like that made her chest ache.
Dani turned slowly in his arms until she faced him, and Jonnas looked unfairly attractive for someone who had just woken up.
His dark hair was messy, his eyes still heavy with sleep, strong arms wrapped around her like it was the most natural thing in the world.
And God help her, she liked being there. It was almost all too much.
His gaze drifted slowly over her face. “You okay?” The concern in his voice made emotion tighten in her throat instantly. No one had ever checked on her this much before.
Dani nodded slowly. “I think so.”
“You think so?” he asked.
“I’m not used to—” She gestured vaguely between them.
“This?”
“Yes,” she breathed. Jonnas studied her quietly for a long moment before brushing his fingers softly along her jaw.
“You waiting for me to get weird about it?” Maybe she was, just a little bit. Okay, maybe she was expecting that to happen rather than hoping that it didn’t. Dani looked away instead of answering.
Jonnas sighed softly. “Baby girl.” Hearing the rasp in his voice made her want to crawl even closer to him.
“I don’t know how to trust easily,” she admitted quietly. Something flickered across his expression—sadness maybe, or understanding.
“Who said this has to be hard to be real?” he asked.
The question hit her directly in the chest because that was exactly what scared her.
Nothing about this felt difficult. Being around Jonnas felt easy in a way nothing else ever had before.
Talking to him, touching him, sleeping beside him, and even letting him care for her all felt terrifyingly natural.
And Dani didn’t know what to do with that.
Jonnas brushed his thumb beneath her eye softly. “Talk to me.”
“I keep waiting for the catch.”
“There isn’t one,” he simply said.
“How do you know?” she asked. His expression turned serious then.
“Because I already know what I want,” he said. Her pulse jumped instantly.
“Jonnas, don’t say something that you’ll want to take back later,” she warned.
“You.” The answer came immediately. “I want you, and I won’t change my mind later, Dani.” Emotion climbed painfully into her throat.
“No one’s ever said that to me like they meant it before.” His entire face changed at that. Something fierce and protective flashed through his eyes so quickly it stole her breath.
“That’s their failure,” he said quietly. “Not yours.” A tear slipped free before she could stop it.
“You really need to stop making me cry,” she said.
“You really need to stop apologizing for feeling things,” he countered.
Unfortunately, he had a point. Dani let out a shaky laugh before hiding her face briefly against his chest. Jonnas wrapped both arms around her instantly, holding her close without hesitation, and suddenly she realized something else terrifying.
She could stay here all day, curled up in his arms where she felt safe, wanted, and taken care of.
The realization scared her enough that she blurted the first thing that came to mind. “You know this is insane, right?”
Jonnas laughed softly against the top of her head. “Probably.”
“We barely know each other,” she continued.
“I know you like extra cheese in your mac and cheese.”
“That’s not deep emotional intimacy.”
“I know you pretend you’re fine when you’re overwhelmed.
” His hand slid slowly through her hair.
“I know you apologize when you cry because someone taught you feelings were inconvenient.” His voice softened further.
“And I know you relax the second someone makes you feel safe.” Dani’s chest tightened painfully because somehow, he really did see her. More clearly than anyone ever had.
Jonnas tilted her chin upward gently. “And I know,” he murmured, “that you look at me like you’re already halfway gone for me too.” Her breath caught hard because the worst part was that he was right.
Dani should’ve been panicking. Honestly, by every normal standard, she should’ve already been halfway out the door emotionally.
Because men like Jonnas Black weren’t supposed to look at women like her the way he looked at her.
Not seriously, and not like she was something precious instead of temporary.
And yet there he was with warm sheets tangled around them, and the morning light slowly creeping through the giant windows behind him.
He had one strong arm wrapped around her waist while he looked at her like she’d already become important to him.
And she wasn’t sure that her heart would survive it all.
“You’re doing it again,” he murmured sleepily.
Dani blinked. “What?”
“Looking at me like you’re scared to believe me.”
Heat rushed into her cheeks instantly. “I’m trying not to.”
Jonnas brushed his fingers lightly through her hair.
“You don’t have to try so hard around me.
” The gentleness in his voice made something ache deep inside her.
No one had ever wanted softness from her before.
Competence, sure. Independence, absolutely.
But softness, need, or trust—never. Until Jonnas came into her life.
Dani looked down at his chest quietly. “You make it really hard to stay guarded.”
“Good,” he breathed. She laughed softly despite herself. Jonnas immediately looked pleased by the sound. That was becoming her favorite thing—how openly he reacted to her. Like he wasn’t embarrassed to enjoy her.
“You know what’s weird?” she whispered.
“What?” he asked.
“You already know me better than people I dated for years,” she admitted.
His hand slowed against her back. “That’s because you let me in,” he said.
The simple honesty of that answer settled heavily in her chest because he was right; she had let him get to know her—way faster than she normally would’ve.
Maybe because some deep exhausted part of her recognized safety the second she found in him.
Jonnas tilted her chin upward gently until she looked at him again. “You still overwhelmed?”
“Yes,” she admitted.
“Scared?” he asked.
“A little.”
“Of me?” he asked. That question seemed to matter to him. She could hear it in his voice immediately.
Dani answered honestly. “No.” The relief that flickered across his face nearly broke her heart.
Jonnas pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before pulling her against him again.
“Good.” Silence settled around them after that—the kind Dani never used to understand before him.
Usually, silence with another person felt awkward, like she was waiting for their disappointment.
But with Jonnas, it felt peaceful, and almost as easy as breathing.
His fingers drifted slowly up and down her spine while she melted deeper into the mattress beside him. “You know what I realized last night?” she murmured sleepily.
“What’s that, baby girl?” The nickname still made warmth spread all through her body.
“I slept through the night.” Jonnas went still for half a second before his hand tightened gently against her back.
“Do you usually not sleep?” he asked.
Dani shook her head slowly. “Usually, I get a few hours, and then give up. My anxiety is so bad sometimes that I can’t sleep.
“So, you had no anxiety last night?” he asked.
“Nope,” she said, smiling up at him triumphantly. Emotion flickered through his expression so fast it stole her breath, like that mattered deeply to him, and maybe it shouldn’t have surprised her anymore, but it still did.
“You make me feel calm,” she admitted quietly.
Jonnas brushed his nose lightly against hers. “You have any idea how badly I want to keep doing that for you?” Her chest tightened painfully because, yes, she was starting to realize that, and it terrified her how much she wanted to let him.
Dani swallowed hard. “This feels too good to be real.”
Jonnas’s expression softened immediately. “Baby girl,” he murmured, “you really think you don’t deserve good things, don’t you?” The question hit harder than she expected, because she didn’t have an answer, at least not one that didn’t sound sad, and Jonnas saw her hesitation instantly.
His thumb brushed slowly across her cheek. “That changes now, too.”
Emotion climbed thickly into her throat. “How?” she whispered.
He looked at her like the answer was simple.
“By letting somebody love you long enough that you start believing it’s real.
” She wasn’t sure that was even a possibility, but when Jonnas said things like that to her, she wanted to believe him.
She wanted everything he was offering her, and so much more that it hurt her heart to think about it.