"Princess," I heard him whisper, his hands in my hair.

I hummed in response, not ready to wake up yet.

"We're home now. I'm going to bring you inside and then I'll clean you up. Is that okay?"

"Yes, Daddy," I murmured.

I heard the car door open and then he gently raised my head so he could slide out from underneath me.

"Come to me, love," he called gently and as I opened my eyes and looked up to the open door I saw his arms outstretched for me.

I crawled across the seat and wrapped my arms around his neck and gently pulled me out before he wrapped my legs around him once again.

"Are you spending the night," I asked lightly, my eyes shut in exhaustion.

"It's my house, Princess. So, yes, I'll be spending the night," he chuckled lightly and rubbed my back.

My eyes popped open, "Wait, your house?"

I saw the driveway that, indeed, belonged to him. When he said 'home' I had thought he meant my apartment...

"Yes, Princess. My house, soon to be...yours?"

I gasped and pulled back to look into his eyes, "What?"

He brought a hand to my face and brushed some of the hair back as he stared into my eyes, "I'm never letting you go again. I couldn't...I can't go through what I did again. And while I know I'm being selfish because you were the one that was taken... I can't do that again. I can't ever lose you again, Genevieve.

I know everything between us has happened so fast, so fucking fast, and honestly, I'm terrified of the hold you have over me...but I want you, I want us. I want to dive into this head first with an open heart. If you'll have me, that is."

"Yes," I sobbed out and kissed him and laid my head on his shoulder again.

The man who I had met the day of my interview was a stoic brute who was expressionless and hardened by a life unknown to me, but the man who was now holding me in his arms as he walked up his stairs was emotional and vulnerable for me, because of me.

He was my Sun, my warmth, my life and I would give any and everything for this man.

"I love you, Dominic," I whispered as I heard him shut the bedroom door behind us.

"I love you more," he stated as he turned on the bathroom light and set me on the counter.

"I brought some things from your apartment over for when I got you back," he said in a low voice as he opened a cabinet under me and pulled out a bag and handed it to me.

I opened it and found my toothbrush, razor, deodorant, and other essential toiletries.

Thank God for this man, honestly.

He had moved to the shower and was now testing the temperature as I hopped off the counter and put my toothbrush to good use.

When I had spit out the last of the toothpaste and had cleaned my mouth, I looked up at him in the mirror and while I knew he was trying to be respectful of me in my state of 'vulnerability', the lust in his eyes as he looked over my body was anything but respectful.

It sent a pool of heat to my lower stomach and I bit my lip.

I peeled the dirty dress over my head and stripped the undergarments and with one finger I beckoned him into the warm shower with me.

I shut the door behind me and through the foggy glass saw him hurriedly peeling his suit from his body as I placed my shampoo, conditioner, and body wash on the shelf in the corner.

I applied a generous amount of the vanilla scented body wash onto my loofah and began scrubbing the dirt and grime from my body.

I was straightening from having scrubbed my legs as he pushed the shower door open and stepped in with me.

"Let me get your back for you," he took the loofah from my hands and I turned around.

He first started at my shoulders, using a circular motion before moving further down my back before stopping at the bottom.

I turned my head slightly, "I need to be cleaned everywhere, Daddy," I whispered.

I heard him take a deep breath before continuing the loofah down and, once again, used circular motions against the cheeks.

"Turn around," he commanded in a low and husky voice.

I did as asked and he pushed me back into the water stream, wetting my hair more before he pressed his body to me and placed his lips over mine in a gentle kiss.

"Keep your arms down," he whispered against my lips and continued kissing me again after he pulled me out of the stream.

I heard a cap pop open and heard the sound of something squirting out and then the cap was popped closed.

He brought his hands to my hair and started lathering the shampoo into the strands, first scratching at my scalp before working it into the ends, all the while his lips never left mine.

I felt so emotional at the feeling of him being so gentle with me, so kind and caring, so loving.

Why had there ever been a time when I didn't think he was all I ever wanted?

He continued scratching my scalp lightly before he pulled back, "Keep your eyes closed."

I complied as I felt him tilt my head back and into the stream of warm water, rubbing my hair to help rid it of the shampoo.

He repeated the notion with conditioner, except replacing the scratching of my scalp with running his fingers through the strands to dislodge any tangles before tilting my head back and letting it all run down my body and into the drain.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, rubbing his fingers gently around my face; first my forehead, my temples, the apples of my cheeks, to my chin and then down the bridge of my nose and across my lips.

He took my breath away.

I opened my eyes and knew they were swimming in tears so I had to get out what I needed before I started full on sobbing.

"Dominic, I just wanted to say that I'm—"

He shook his head, "It's okay, Prince—"

"Please, let me finish. I need to get this out."

He closed his lips in a hard line and I continued, "I'm sorry for not listening. I'm sorry for being so stubborn and hard headed and for being so stupid and naive. You know what's best for me, you always have since I met you, and I was fighting giving you that much control, but you already had it, you always have."

He looked to the side, his jaw clenching and I could swear I saw his eyes watering before he turned them to the ceiling and then shut them all together for a moment.

"Please, Genevieve. I need you to promise me something."

I placed a hand over his heart, "Anything."

He looked at me and I could see a tinge of red within the whites of his eyes, "Please, never do anything like that to me again. I can't lose you."

I pulled his head down and brushed my lips to his, "I swear."