“Arms up, please.”

She raised her arms and he drew her sweater off. Then her T-shirt.

“You’re not wearing a bra,” he stated as he stared down at her breasts.

“Nah, the girls weren’t in a bra mood. They didn’t feel like being constricted. Free-the-boobie!” She pumped her fist into the air.

He gaped at her.

“Sorry. Too much?”

“Of course not. You could never be too much.”

“You’re just so sweet sometimes, you know that?”

“Only sometimes?” he queried as he lifted her off the counter.

“Yes, well, when you get all bossy that’s not very sweet,” she informed him. “You should do that less often.”

“Should I?” he mused. “I’m not so sure about that. I think if I was sweet all the time then you’d get away with murder.”

“Dada, I already know how to get away with murder and it’s not by being sweet.”

Oh shit.

As soon as that popped out of her mouth, she wished the words back. But he simply threw back his head and laughed.

Right.

It was funny.

Because she was joking.

So she forced herself to smile in reaction.

He crouched in front of her and started to undo her shoes. “Hold onto my shoulders. Good. Right foot up.” He slid off her shoe and sock. “Now left.”

Then he drew her pants and panties down, being very careful over her knee.

“Good girl. Now, I’m just going to clean your knee a bit before you hop into the bath.”

She wasn’t sure why he needed to do that, but she nodded. He grabbed a cloth and wet it, before dabbing gently at her knee.

“Is that all right?” he asked. “Not too sore?”

“No, it’s not sore at all, Dada. I really have had worse injuries.”

“I don’t like to hear that,” he told her. “And it also doesn’t matter. Because this is the injury you have right now and I need to make sure that you’re taken care of.”

More sweet.

He was killing her.

He stood and put the washcloth in the basket. They were in the bathroom off her playroom. She still couldn’t believe that these guys had created a playroom for her. It was like something out of a dream.

And she never wanted to wake up.

He took hold of her hands. “Step carefully into the bath. I don’t want you to slip. That’s it. Good girl. Now sit. How is your knee? Is it stinging?”