The first lesson life had ever taught him was that attachments were a liability. Love, friendship, trust - those were just weapons people could use to gut you when you least expected it. And he had never been willing to give anyone that power over him. It was easier to turn his back and walk away before anything could take root.

But that was before her.

You were nothing like the people who had passed in and out of his life like fading embers. And damn, Toji had never known he could crave something the way he craved you - not just your body, not just the fleeting rush of pleasure, but all of you. Your presence. He had never been the kind of man to treat a woman like some fairy tale princess. He had never been the kind of man who cared about things like that at all. But with you, it wasn’t even a conscious decision - it was instinct. He found himself doing things he never thought he’d be capable of: bringing you small gifts when he had the money to spare, making sure your apartment was safe before he left, running his fingers through your hair when you were too exhausted to keep your eyes open.

And he was possessive. Hated the way his gut twisted whenever another man so much as looked at you. Hated the way he caught himself curling an arm around your waist when they walked through crowded streets, a silent warning to anyone who might think of getting too close. He clung to you. It was subtle at first. The way he always found a reason to be near you, the way his fingers would brush against yours, testing, searching, making sure you were still there. He didn’t beg, didn’t say the words aloud, but it was there in the way he touched you, in the way his lips ghosted over the crown of your head when he thought you wasn’t paying attention. A silent plea: don’t leave.

Because if you did, he knew what would happen. If you ever left, you wouldn’t just take a piece of him with you - you would take everything. So yeah, treat your woman like a princess.