Page 53 of Rescuing Brinley

It was official, he was a lovesick fool…but he didn’t care. Not even the smallest bit. To him, this woman was beautiful inside and out, and he doubled down on his vow to make her see herself through his eyes.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Brinley was nervous.

But excited.

If all went well, tonight would be the night. The night she lost her virginity.

She’d seen the heat in Dash’s eyes when she asked to leave. She had high hopes that meant they were on the same page with what would happen when they got back to his apartment. But she’d taken Cypress’s words to heart. She needed to talk to Dash. Be clear about what she wanted. Not make him guess.

She was worried about her friend, but she’d reassured her via text that she was all right and told her to have wild monkey sex and they’d talk tomorrow.

Brinley wasn’t sure about the wild monkey sex part, but she knew better than to push Cypress. She’d talk when she was ready and not a second earlier.

Dash pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex and they both got out. He immediately came to her side and took hold of her hand. It was such a little thing, the hand holding. But Brinley liked it. A lot.

She’d never really gotten to hold hands with a guy growing up, because she’d never had a boyfriend. She hadn’t realized how intimate it was. That seemed silly, but she and Dash actually communicated quite a bit through their clasped hands. A squeeze here, a squeeze there, checking in on each other or when something was amusing. He’d pull her gently out of the way of anyone who was walking toward them, and the feel of his thumb brushing back and forth over the back of her hand as they walked made goose bumps race down her arms.

If just holding his hand felt this intimate, she couldn’t imagine what being naked with him would feel like.

Like her own, Dash’s apartment was on the second floor of the building, and she had no problem taking the stairs. He’d told her the other week that while he wasn’t technically claustrophobic, he preferred the stairs over the elevator because of an incident while on a mission. He didn’t go into detail, and warned that he wouldn’t be able to tell her about most of the things he did while deployed, which Brinley understood completely.

He kept hold of her hand as they walked down to his apartment and he unlocked the door and opened it. He locked the deadbolt once they were inside, then turned to her. Without a word, his head lowered, and Brinley eagerly lifted her chin to accept his kiss.

As he kissed her, he backed them slowly into the main living area of the apartment. He stopped by the couch and stared into her eyes as he asked, “You good? Need anything? Food? Water? Drink?”

Brinley’s response came without thought. “You. I need you, Dash.”

She could feel the all-over body shiver that went through him.

“Cypress said I should be clear about what I want. That I should tell you what I’m thinking so we don’t have any misunderstandings. I want to have sex with you, Dash. I want you to be my first. And yes, that means I’m a virgin. I hope that doesn’t turn you off. I mean, I know I’m thirty years old and it’s crazy but⁠—”

Dash stopped her nervous babbling by putting a finger to her lips. “Are you sure? Because I never want you to feel like I’m rushing you. I’m perfectly content to sit on this couch and make out instead. Or I can make you come without taking things all the way.”

“You aren’t rushing me. I want this. But if you’re not sure, if you don’t want to⁠—”

“I want to,” he said quickly. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dreamed of this moment. Of bringing you to my room and seeing you in my bed, naked and waiting for me. Of showing you how much you mean to me. I just don’t want you to have any regrets. You only get one first time, hon, and I’m beyond honored and thrilled you’re choosing me to share that with. But if you regret it afterward, it’ll break me.”

“The only way I’ll regret this is if it’s something you don’t really want.”

“I want you, Brinley Deaton. I have since Fiji. And when we were in that plane? And I saw you behind the controls, in complete command, not freaking out about what we were doing and what had just happened. I knew then.”

Brinley swallowed hard. She and Dash were facing each other, almost touching from hips to chest, his hands on either side of her head, where they’d been when he pulled back from kissing her to ask if she needed anything. The apartment was quiet, and it felt as if they were the only two people in the world at that moment.

“Knew what?” she whispered.

“That you were the woman I wanted to marry. That anyone who could do what you’d just done, who would volunteer to do something so crazy and dangerous in the middle of a damn terrorist attack, to save the lives of others, was someone I wanted—no, needed by my side.”

“Dash,” Brinley said, desperately trying to blink back the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks.

“I want you, sweetheart. And I swear I’ll do everything in my power to make your first time memorable, in the best way. It’s probably going to hurt though, and I’m sorry in advance for that.”

Brinley smiled up at him. “I know. The good thing about being a virgin at thirty is that I know what’s about to happen. But I trust you to do what you can to lessen the pain and make me remember nothing but the pleasure.”

“Damn straight.”

“Um…we should probably talk about protection.”