Chapter 52

Naked on my bed, I waited for Dash to appear. My heart was thrumming like a hummingbird trying to take flight in my chest and my skin was warm, my nipples peaked and the space between my legs already damp.

I'd never done anything like this before, but I'd always thought it could be fun. It was thrilling, not knowing how he was going to react but being naked anyway, but it was also nerve-wracking. I felt like I'd really put myself out there with this, and if he'd had a bad day, was in a bad mood, and simply wasn't in the mood, I was going to be beyond embarrassed.

Not for the first time, I glanced at the robe hanging over the chair at my dresser and wondered if I should've kept it on. I'd still have been naked underneath, but at least I wouldn't have been completely exposed.

Slow footsteps sounded from the hall outside my bedroom then and I sucked in a breath, my gaze flicking back to the door. It was too late to lunge for the robe now. I'd probably trip if I tried to get to it before he appeared and now wasn't the time to be clumsy.

Propping myself up on my elbows, I kept my eyes on the doorway and decided to own the decision I'd already made. Several heart-racing seconds later, he finally came into view.

In the same fitted navy suit he'd put on in Vegas this morning, he paused when he got to the door, his eyes heating as they raked over me. The top couple of buttons of his crisp white shirt were undone and his tie was gone, but I didn't know if he'd taken it off after he'd gotten here or if he'd lost it sometime during the day.

Either way, his suit stretched over every bulge of his muscles. He looked so damn sexy that I bit my lip to keep from moaning. He lowered his chin as he drank me in, and a lock of dark chocolate fell over his forehead. His hands slid into his pockets before he looked back up into my eyes.

"Hello to you too," he murmured, pushing away from the door to walk into the room.

I held up a finger to stop him. "No clothes in this room, sir," I purred, feeling like an idiot until he started complying without hesitation.

Those honey-colored eyes locked on mine as he reached for his jacket, slowly sliding it off his shoulders with measured movements before he hung it on the hook behind the door. I watched intently as his fingers moved to his buttons, calmly sliding them out of each hole. Eventually, he pulled his shirt off too.

He clearly wasn't in any kind of hurry, even if I could see the tent starting to form in his slacks. He might be dragging this out, but he was already ready for me and it turned me all the way on to see how fast I could get to him.

He toed off his shoes and socks with his eyes still locked on mine. Shirtless and barefoot, his long fingers worked at undoing his belt, and he looked like he might've been posing for a Sexiest Man of the Year photoshoot.

My heart had already been racing and my body had already been primed, but seeing him like this and having to watch him strip for me so slowly got all my juices running. He opened his belt and undid his pants with a practiced flick of his fingers. My eyelids grew heavy and my breathing got faster and faster.

All the while, he remained completely silent and he never broke eye contact with me. It was so damn hot, but also a little unnerving and I squirmed, noticing the flare of his nostrils in response. Even then, he kept moving oh so slowly until finally, he was down to only his underwear.

A smirk tugged at the corners of his lips when my gaze dropped, zeroing in on the black waistband. He pulled it away from his hard cock and pushed the fabric off after, stepping out of it. My breath caught. I stared at him now that he was fully naked. My gaze ran over the powerful muscles of his thighs and that cock I knew he could use so freaking well.

Dash held his arms out to his sides, turning in a slow circle as if showing me that he didn't have a stitch of clothing left on him. Then he joined me on the bed, still not saying a word as the mattress dipped under his weight.

Taking my hands in a firm grip, he flattened me down on the bed with his torso and slanted his lips over mine. He lifted my arms above my head, his fingers twined around my own as he pressed them into the pillows. I moaned when his tongue swept into my mouth, parting my lips and stroking mine with the perfect level of intensity.

Right then, I felt like I was the one person in the world with him. Like everything else had faded into the background. He kissed me hungrily, the hard heat of his body fusing with my own. Then he pressed me into the mattress, soft groans of pleasure emanating from the back of his throat as his hips started rocking slowly.

My body was on fire for him, my breathing stuttered. I kissed him back just as intently, my legs wrapping around his ass to hold him to me. I was so wet that I knew it would only take a single moment for him to thrust inside.

I was tempted to angle my hips to make it happen, but I held back, knowing that we had enough on our plates without adding a surprise pregnancy to the mix.

Dash murmured my name between kisses before he dragged his mouth away from my lips to kiss my jaw, my eyes, ears, and throat. I pushed my fingers into his hair, committing every second of this to memory.

I'd never felt so cherished. So appreciated. So loved, which was saying something since I'd had a wedding night before, but being with Ethan had never been anything like this. Dash made me his focus, forgetting everything else as he got lost in my body for hours at a time just like he was doing now.

Allowing myself to get fully immersed in him in return, I ran my fingertips over every inch of his body, scooting out from underneath him so I could touch him and taste him to my heart's content. The air was filled with our moans and sighs, building up to an explosive end.

When we were finally finished, we collapsed together, still holding on to one another as our breathing returned to normal and our bodies calmed down.

"Hi," I said finally, giggling when I realized how absurd it was that I was only saying it now when the sun was already setting outside. "How was the rest of your day?"

He chuckled softly, stroking my hair, and looked down into my eyes. "I don't remember right now. All I know is that the rest of it paled in comparison to how it ended. Yours?"

"Same," I murmured. "That was okay, right? Me waiting for you like?—"

He arched an eyebrow at me. "Okay? It was more than okay. I think I should move in here and you can welcome me home like that every day for the rest of our lives."

"Really? Even when we're old, and saggy, and wrinkly? It may not be so sexy by then."

"It'll always be sexy," he said confidently. "We'll be old, saggy, and wrinkly together, so we won't know any better because we'll have forgotten what we look like now."

I chuckled, but I couldn't deny that I liked the sound of growing old with him. "I took so many mental pictures of today, I'm never going to forget even a single detail. You might forget it, though, which is fine. In fact, it may be better if you do. That way, you won't be tempted to go find a young little plaything when you're eighty."

He scoffed. "You're not the only one who took mental pictures, baby. I'll still have mine when I'm eighty and those memories will give me the only young little plaything I'll need. You."

I cuddled into his side. "How is it that you always know exactly what to say to me? Even after a day like today when I should've been the one comforting you?"

"Why would I need to be comforted?" he asked, confused. "Because of the Ethan thing?"

I gave his stomach a playful smack. "Don't be so modest. I've never had anyone stand up for me like that and I might not know what he said, but I'm sure it wasn't pretty. It's okay if you needed a little comfort after that."

"Needing comfort is fine. I need comfort all the time. Especially if that's how you're going to comfort me." He grinned. "That being said, I really am fine. Ethan is an asshole. I'm just sorry I didn't believe you about him sooner."

I frowned. "You only believe me now?"

"No, but I should've believed you from the minute I met you. Before that, even. I should've believed you when all those stories first broke during your divorce."

"It's okay, Dash. No one believed me then, except my lawyer, but she was paid to believe me. Oh, and Julie, but she was there, so that doesn't count."

"Still, we're all idiots for believing that front he puts on instead." He drew in a big breath, held it for a moment, and then blew it out slowly, but I still saw the anger flickering in his eyes. "Are you going to ask me what happened?"

I shrugged. "I want to know, but I didn't want to push you. Like I said, no one has ever stood up for me like that. You definitely don't owe me an explanation."

A crease appeared between his eyebrows as he shook his head at me. "We're going to work on that. If you ever want to know something from me, all you need to do is ask, Serenity. Fuck whether I owe you the answers or not. Just ask. I'm not him. You don't need to wait until you think I owe you something before you ask what you want to know."

I felt a small smile ghosting across my lips. "Fine. What exactly happened today?"

He grinned, leaning forward to press a kiss to my forehead. "Ethan was waiting for me at the office when I arrived. I think whoever recorded it started the video soon after he reached me, but he was trying to scare me. He warned me to stay away from you. As you saw, it didn't work."

I burrowed deeper into his side, holding him closer, and looked back up at him. "I'm sorry. All this trouble is because of?—"

"Ethan," he said firmly. "It's not your fault. He's one of the worst kinds of people there is, Serenity. That's not on you."

As he held my gaze, I nodded, knowing he was right. Sometimes, it was difficult not to think of it as my fault. At least where Dash was concerned. I'd known all about how possessive Ethan was when I'd kissed Dash in my office that day. I'd also known that he wouldn't take kindly to it if I entered into a new relationship.

Dash shook his head at me. "Not. Your. Fault."

"Okay," I said finally, taking a deep breath. "Okay. Thank you, though. I know how convincing he can be. It would've been easy for you to walk away from me instead."

"Never," he said intently. "It's never going to be easier for me to walk away from you than it is to do anything else. I'm not going anywhere."

Pushing up against his body, I brushed his hair off his forehead and kissed him again, so damn grateful to have him in my life that I couldn't bring myself to stop. Eventually though, I had to. We were making out, but my stomach was about to start grumbling and I couldn't ignore it anymore.

"I'm starving," I murmured against his lips. "I need food before we keep going, or I'm really going to embarrass myself."

"Great minds think alike. We definitely need to refuel. I'm just glad you said it before I had to." He chuckled as he rolled away to reach for his phone. "I'll order some food for delivery. What are you in the mood for?"

"Nothing too rich," I said quickly. "The cleaner and crisper, the better."

He nodded. "Got it. Bacon cheeseburger and a chocolate shake."

I laughed. "Guess again."

He opened a delivery app and lay down, patting his arm for me to lie down on it again. "These are our options. Come take a look and stop me when you see something you're up to eating."

It took a while, but we settled on chicken salads, a variety of freshly baked breads, and some tapas before he finally placed the order. With that done, I turned to him again, settling in for the wait with my palm on his chest and my eyes on his profile.

"How is everything so easy with you? I've never had that before. It's like I have to keep waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"You don't," he said, his voice strong and sure as he rolled over so he was facing me too. "I've never had this before either, but I suspect this is the way things should be. Besides, not everything has been easy."

I rolled my eyes at him as I laughed. "You know what I mean. This. Me and you. When we're alone and together like this, it's easy."

Dash waggled his eyebrows at me as he leaned in. "Let's test your theory, shall we? We've got some time before the food gets here."

I wrapped my arms around his neck once more and kissed him, surprised that he felt the same way I did. I knew he'd never been in a serious relationship, but I'd kind of thought that maybe he was just like this when he was hooking up with a girl.

Knowing that it was more than that for him too and that we really were in this together made me feel all warm inside. He was right about one thing though—this probably was how it was supposed to be. If that was true, then we would have one heck of a happily ever after ahead of us.