Page 184 of Daddy’s Fortitude

“Why is the water so cold?” she said, her teeth chattering.

He just shot her a look of disbelief. Yeah, she got it. It had obviously come from further up the mountain.

“I told you to be careful around the water,” he scolded as he started to strip her off.

“Wait, what are you doing?” she said.

“Getting these cold clothes off you.

“But what will I wear?”

He stripped her down to her underwear, then took off his shirt. He slid it over her head, and she instantly felt warmer. It actually came down to her knees, and the sleeves fell just past her hands. He grabbed each sleeve and rolled it up so she had her hands free.

She wasn’t paying a lot of attention to what he was doing, though. She was too busy admiring his muscular chest. Damn. Hot.

The light smattering of hair on his chest was sexy as hell. And those abs. God, she wanted to lick those abs. She wondered what he’d think if she just reached out and touched them.

Then he reached under the shirt and grasped hold of her underwear.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“We need to get it all off,” he said. “To keep you warmer.”

“All right, I’ll do it.” She managed to get off her underwear and bra and stuffed them with her other clothes. Okay, that did feel a lot better, except for her wet hair, which was trailing down her back and making her shiver.

Crouching down, he also took off her shoes and socks.

“I’m going to need those to walk home, though.”

“You’re not walking home,” he told her, sending her a look.

He grabbed the blanket off the ground, shook it out, and then wrapped that around her as well.

She was a lot warmer now, and her teeth stopped chattering as he stuffed all of her wet clothes in the bag that he’d brought the food in.

Then he put the bag on his back before turning to her and lifting her up into his arms.

“You’re going to carry me all the way home?” she asked.

“Yep,” he said.

“But you can’t do that. It took us ages to get here,” she said.

“That’s because you walked at a snail’s pace,” he said. “It’ll be much quicker going home.”

She didn’t think so. She’d sped through the forest. She was super fast, like the Road Runner. She had no idea what he was talking about.

“Sorry you have to carry me home,” she told him. “Are you cold?”

“No, I’m fine.”

He kept carrying her through the woods. He did it with such ease, as though he hardly even noticed that he was carrying her around.

“You’re very strong, Daddy,” she told him.

“And you’re very naughty,” he told her.

“I am not naughty.” She leaned back so she could glare up at him.