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Molly twisted out of his reach and hurried to crawl away from him. It felt like her face had a permanent grin on it. She didn’t think she’d smiled this much or laughed this often in her life.

Not that she’d ever been unhappy or sad or depressed. She just hadn’t ever fully fit in with other…with anyone. She’d been here only a few hours, and she felt a connection with Gavin that excited her and gave her a sense of belonging. Of peace.

She scrambled faster, loving the way he pretended to chase her. He was moving at a snail’s pace. She was hampered by the long dress and the layers of shifts. Her knees kept getting caught up.

Eventually, she nosedived forward. For a split second, she feared she would hit her head on the floor, but suddenly Daddy was there. His hand slid under her and scooped her up before she could injure herself.

She was breathless as he hauled her to her knees, averting a possible collision with her face. “You caught me.”

“I’ll always catch you, Little one. I’m sorry. That was my fault. I should have taken this dress off you.” He plucked at the front of it. “All this material. I’ve never understood how women in the valley can stand the hinderance.”

She turned to face him again, staying on her knees, which put them eye-to-eye with him sitting. “What do you mean? Won’t I still wear dresses like this here?”

He gave her a devilish slow smile. “Never. We don’t adhere to the same custom of modesty as in the valley. When it’s warm, you’ll wear short dresses with tiny sleeves. When it’s cooler, I’ll put legging or tights on under your dresses and add a sweater. You’ll have more freedom to play.”

Molly blinked at him. “Short dresses?”

He chuckled and pushed to his feet. “Come. I’ll show you.” He held out a hand to help her stand.

She nearly tripped over the layers doing so. Finally she followed him to the closet. And her eyes bugged out of her head when he opened it. It was filled with rows of pretty dresses. He wasn’t fibbing. They were short.

Daddy bent to lift her by the waist and hold her up higher so she could see them closer. He lifted her up so often, and it didn’t cause him a bit of exertion. He was so much stronger and larger than any shifter she’d ever known.

She should have expected that to be the case.

It wasn’t as if Alpha Protectors never came to the valley.

They did sometimes. People would whisper about their size and fawn over them.

But Molly mostly ignored the larger-than-life male shifters.

She rarely paid attention. She mostly didn’t want to think about her own doom—the Fate that had always been growing closer and closer.

Today, the day she would be plucked from her life and forced to live in the mountains with a stranger.

She was still nervous. There were so many unknowns. She had yet to have sex or shift—two of the biggies. But somehow she felt a calm washing through her that settled inside her and told her everything was going to be okay.

“Would you like to change into one, Baby girl?” Daddy asked.

She wrapped an arm around his neck, leaning her head against his. The idea was tempting. “They’re so pretty. All the other women wear these?”

“They sure do. It won’t seem as strange after you get together with other Littles. I promise.”

“They don’t look long enough to cover my…” Her face heated. She wasn’t about to say what she was thinking.

“Panties?” he teased, tickling her.

She giggled and swatted at him.

“They’ll cover the important parts, Little one. No one but me will see all of you.”

He’d mentioned before that he would eventually know every inch of her, and the idea unnerved her. “You don’t need to see all of me,” she murmured.

He tipped her chin so he could make eye contact. “Are you sure you’re fully aware of what mates do together in the bedroom, Molly?”

She flushed and lowered her gaze. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Did your mother tell you we would have sex in the dark or under the covers?”

“Not exactly. She didn’t go into detail. I just assumed.”

“Little one, I meant what I said. I will be intimate with every bit of you. I don’t want you to misunderstand. When I take this dress off of you, I will explore your entire body—with my eyes, my hands, and my mouth.”

She shuddered. Surely he was exaggerating.

He cupped her head and kissed the top. “Every inch, Baby girl. I will spread you open on the bed and suckle your pussy until you scream so loud in pleasure you scare all the animals in the vicinity.”

She gasped.

“Glad we had this chat. I wouldn’t have wanted you to be surprised. I think your mother left out a few parts.” His voice was jovial, and he gave her another tickle, but she was rather horrified.

Daddy chose a dress from the closet and turned to stride across the room. Before she fully grasped his intention, they were in the hallway and then entering a larger bedroom. The bed was huge. This was his room. Theirs she supposed.

Nervous energy sizzled around her. She wasn’t sure what his intentions were, but she kind of hoped he was going to let her change into the small dress. That idea intrigued her.

She’d spent her entire life stifled by the ridiculous modest clothing worn by women of the valley. The thought of shedding this silly ceremonial gown and leaving the layers behind for good sounded like a win.

Gavin lowered her onto her back on the bed and set his palms on either side of her head, hovering over her. He held her gaze with his intense stare.

Her heart raced. She had no idea what he meant to do right now, but she wasn’t scared. She wanted to know.

He inhaled deeply, and Molly was smart enough to know he was scenting her. She could scent him, too. In fact, she turned her head toward his marked wrist and reached up to clasp the entire thing with her hand.