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“I’m saying we belong to each other. We’re in a relationship, both as a man and woman, and as a Dom and sub. Which means I won’t be doing any sessions with another sub, unless it’s a demo thing for Mick or someone that I’ve told you about first, and made sure you’re okay with. I won’t be seeking sexual satisfaction, in session or out, with anyone but you.”
His teeth bared in what no one would ever safely call a smile. “And every man at your school better be equally aware that you are fully, thoroughly taken.”
A flock of birds took off in her chest. “How about women?”
He reached out to grip her behind the neck, bringing her to him like he had that day when he’d showed up at her school. The hard kiss was dizzying. Her hands landed on his chest to grip and steady herself, but he had different ideas.
“Wrong time to be a smartass, doc. Put your hands down to your sides. Keep them out of my way.”
Oh, hell. All that arousal swirling around with no outlet for the past few days caught fire. It spread through her thighs and sex as he put his hand on her shoulder. His thumb slid under her bra strap beneath her T-shirt in that erotic gesture he liked to do, but he didn’t stop there. She gasped as he pushed his hand into the cup to cradle her breast, caressing her nipple and the flesh around it.
It didn’t matter that they were in his truck on the side of the highway. What he wanted was what mattered. As she strained against him, she wanted to prove she’d heard his words, as well as what he was saying to her without them.
“I need you inside me. I can’t let you go back to Richmond without that. Please. Sir.”
“Good. Because I’m not going back to Richmond without fucking you so deep you’ll feel branded.”
He bit her throat. As he suckled on her flesh, she leaned into his touch, his hand squeezing and kneading her breast as she whimpered, a crazed plea. When he released her a long moment later, he adjusted and smoothed her neckline with deliberate care, but his gray eyes looked savage. It told her he’d felt the lack of physical intimacy between them as keenly as she had.
It was reassuring. All of it was, enough that she managed to put together a couple brain cells. “May I…”
She’d lifted her hands, needing to touch him again. At his nod, she put her hands on his face. “I will figure out how to accept everything you just said. And try not to micromanage. But I have a really important condition.”
He lifted a brow, waiting, his hand resting against her hip. “You have to let me take care of you, too,” she said. “I get that Rufus or your co-workers are there for you about work-related stuff, the same way I have Beulah on the medical things. But if you have a really bad day, I want to be the person you call. If I’m insanely busy with exams or whatever, it doesn’t matter. I don’t want you to spare me.”
She curled her fingers against his jaw. “I want to be your person, the way Daralyn and Rory are for each other, and Thomas and Marcus. The way my mother and father were for each other. If we lost each other, I want it to hurt every bit as badly, because we’ve done everything they have to become part of each other’s hearts, minds and souls. Every honest moment, every stumble and mistake, all of it. We share it together.”
He nodded slowly, then touched the badge and cross on her neck. “With one condition of my own.”
“What’s that?”
Those gray eyes were like the Easter sunrise sky, hints of gold light in the gray. “I want you to belong to me in every conceivable way, doc. I intend to marry you. The day you graduate, I’m bringing you a ring. We get married when you start your residency in Fairhope. Doesn’t matter if we’re living in the same place yet, that’s what’s going to happen. Deal?”
How did he know the right question to ask, the right demand to make, to put all her fears to rest? With Brick, it would be okay if they had to be apart until they figured it out. If they belonged to one another, that was all that mattered.
She was trying to speak, which made those gray eyes get fiercer, as if he thought she’d need more convincing. But then she managed a half laugh and wrapped her arms around his back, pressing her face into his neck.
“Yes, yes, yes.”
He put a tender kiss on her mouth. “There will be a better proposal when I bring you that ring. But you’re a planner. I figured it’s good to give you some heads up.”
“You’re one of the few people whose surprises I like.”
“Well that’s good. Because I’ve got another one for you. We’re going to make a stop outside Charlotte. At Julie’s theater.”
“Really? I’d love to see her.” She really would, though a guilty part of her calculated how much that would subtract from the thoroughness of that “branding” once they reached Durham. “Are we having lunch with her and Des?”
“No.”
She studied him. “There’s something going on.”
“Yep.” With an enigmatic look, he started the truck again and pulled back onto the highway. He kept his eyes on the road, but laid his hand on the console palm up. A deliberate switch from reaching for her hand, it was a silent requirement that she lay hers in his grip. When she did, his strong fingers closed over hers, sliding along her wrist, teasing her vibrating nerve endings.
“You’re just going to have to be patient and wait for it. Because that’s what I say you have to do.”
As she made a face at him, her phone buzzed. Though everything seemed to have been resolved, she couldn’t help the kick of nerves as she saw it was her advisor. She put it to her ear as Brick glanced her way. When she spoke, his hand tightened on hers.
“Hey, Dr. Portland.”
