I nodded and sniffed. I hoped I wasn’t getting snot all over his neck. How gross would that be?
“I’m going to tell you this one time, so listen and listen good. Phoenix is the president for a reason. This ain’t his first rodeo. On top of that, he has years of military experience. He was highly decorated and highly ranked before he returned home. Badger is the VP because he is a close second to Phoenix. They can handle this. As for the four of us, we have a plan and a backup plan that we will go over when we get there. If anything goes wrong, we’ll all know what to do. I’m not going to promise that something won’t happen to me, but I will promise that Octavius will not get you.”
“Dash, don’t say that,” I pleaded.
“Do you know why Phoenix sent me up here with you?” I shook my head, I really had no idea why, but I was very happy that it was Dash he sent. “Because your father knows that I would lay down my life for you just as fast as he would. When there is a cause close to the heart, people fight a lot harder for it.”
I pushed back from him just a little so I could look at his face. It was hard to see him, but the tiny touch light on the other side of the trailer allowed me to see the shimmer of his eyes. “Why would you do that?”
“Because I care about you, Ember. A lot. I know you just came from a shit situation and this is a whole new world for you, so I’ve been trying to give you time to get adjusted and settled, but know this, you are mine.”
This time, it didn’t make me angry when he said I belonged to someone, to him. Not at all. I couldn’t help the smile that slowly spread across my face. My voice came out raspier than I intended when I asked, “What exactly does that mean?”
He leaned closer, so his lips were right against the shell of my ear. For a few moments all I felt was his warm breath and then he spoke, “It means you are mine. In every way. Body, heart, and soul.”
“And you will be?”
“Silly girl. I’m already yours.” He nipped at my earlobe and then pressed a warm kiss on my neck, which made me shiver. He carefully pulled me to him and arranged me so that I was straddling him.
My arms went around his neck and I slid my fingers into his thick hair. I felt really awkward, but I had to know, “So, you’re like my boyfriend?”
He scoffed. “Do I look like a fucking boy to you? And I damn sure don’t want to be your friend. I’m your man, darlin’. You good with that?”
“Yeah, I think I’m good with that.” I tried to hide it, but I knew he heard the tremble in my voice. I wanted to be with him. I enjoyed his company, I felt safe with him, and I really liked the things he had done to my body. Still, I was nervous. I’m sure he had plenty of experience with dating and sex, while I had none other than what I had done with him. How could he even want to be with someone like me? I wouldn’t even know how to make him feel the way he made me feel the other night. I mean, the romance novels Reese had me reading explained a lot of stuff I had never even heard of, but reading about it and doing it were two very different things.
“Hey, what’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Nothing,” I answered quickly, too quickly.
He gave my hips a gentle, but firm squeeze. “Don’t lie to me. If this is going to work between us, we have to be honest with each other. No matter what. You can talk to me about anything.”
My mouth suddenly felt dry. I decided I would say it fast and get it over with. “I-don’t-know-how-to-please-you-because-I-don’t-have-any-experience-and-I’m-afraid-that-will-make-you-not-want-me.” It all came out like one really long word. I sucked in a huge breath and waited to see how he would respond.
His voice was soft when he spoke and I could hear his smile, “Baby, I know you don’t have a lot of experience. I prefer it that way.”
“Y-you do?”
“Yeah, I do. I get to be the one who helps you figure out what you like and don’t like. I’ll show you what I like and what I don’t. I never expected you to just know those things.”
I sighed in relief and laid my head against his chest. At least one of my current problems had been solved.
“We need to stop talking about this. It’s making me hard and I’m not touching you like that while you’re hurt.”
I smiled against his chest, “Okay, Dash.”
He lightly slapped my butt. “Get some rest. We’ll be there before you know it.”
***
I couldn’t fall asleep. I had too many thoughts flooding my mind and too many emotions flooding my heart. Even with all of my inner turmoil, I felt safe in Dash’s arms. Because of that, I didn’t make a move to get up when I felt the Blazer come to a stop, followed by the engine shutting off.
“Come on, beautiful. We’re here,” Dash murmured against my ear.
I gingerly got to my feet. My body was sore from straddling Dash for hours and my wounds were starting to ache again.
“I’ll get you something to eat and some pain medicine once we get everything inside.”
“Thank you. What can I help with?”
