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“B-but you said I-I’m gonna be p-punished.”
“Just because you’re punished doesn’t make you bad. Good girls can be naughty. They can need to be punished. But they’re never truly bad. I’m sorry that you associate me calling you by your name with being bad. We need to change that.”
She didn’t quite understand what he was saying, and she was too tired to figure it out. He carried her to the sink to wash her hands. When he tried to put her down on the counter, she let out a worried noise, reaching for him and nearly falling off the counter.
“Careful, baby. I don’t want you to hurt yourself. I just need to get your toothbrush ready. Can you sit there on your own or should I lie you down on the floor?”
“I can stay here.”
He eyed her for a moment before grabbing the toothbrush she’d been using, putting some toothpaste on it.
After he’d brushed both of their teeth, he picked her up again and carried her into the bedroom.
Faith didn’t even think about protesting that she could walk. The honest truth was, she didn’t think she had the energy. And she really didn’t like the idea of him letting her go.
Reuben laid her down on the bed and she watched him grab a pair of boxers, putting them on before he pulled out a T-shirt from a drawer.
It was another Wishingbone, Montana one.
“I feel that you might like that place more than you let on,” she mumbled quietly.
“Not likely.” He sat her up and pulled the T-shirt over her head. She shoved her arms through the holes. Then he picked up her hairbrush from the bedside table. Huh, he must have gotten that at the same time he’d grabbed her other toiletries.
He brushed her hair, then loosely braided it. She knew it would likely be a nightmare in the morning, but that was tomorrow’s problem.
It wasn’t until they were both settled under the blankets that she realized she wasn’t wearing panties.
“I need panties.”
“No panties in bed.”
“Is that rule ten?” she attempted to tease.
“It could be, brat,” he grumbled at her.
“I should go check on Cammie,” she said.
And how are you going to find the energy to do that?
“No.”
She held his gaze steadily. He huffed out a breath. For a man who didn’t like to be told the word ‘no’ he certainly liked saying it. And with no other explanation.
But he’d promised to try to communicate better. To bend . . . just a little.
“She’s fine. I gave her a couple of sleeping pills. But I’ll go check on her.” He got out of bed and she immediately sat up and attempted to throw herself at him.
Frustration filled her as the blankets got in the way.
“No! Daddy!”
“Hey. I’m right here. I’ll be right back.” He sat and she crawled onto his lap, holding on like a Grade A clinger.
The thing was, she didn’t even have it in her to care that she was clinging like a baby monkey holding its mama.
“You let me leave before. What’s different?” he murmured in a quiet voice that reassured her that he wasn’t annoyed, just curious.
“I wasn’t feeling anything before. Now, I’m feeling it all. Like it’s rushing through me, trying to . . . to overtake me. And I can’t . . . I’m finding it hard to breathe without you. Sorry.”
