Chapter Twenty-Three
Brooke took a sense of dread with her when she walked away from her parents.
She’d never seen them like this, even after her terrible ordeal, and never wanted to see it again.
From the minute her dad had come into their lives when Brooke was still very young, her parents’ relationship had been solid, loving and steady.
They’d inspired her to want what they had, and now…
Would they be able to come back from this nightmare with their marriage intact? She was beginning to fear not.
“What’s wrong?” Nate asked when they were in the elevator on the way to the lobby. “You’re all tense again.”
Thank God for him. He’d barely left her side while they’d waited for word of Ethan’s fate, or after they’d heard he was safe.
“My parents. I’ve never seen them as far apart as they are now.
They’re barely speaking. I don’t think my mom will ever be able to forgive him for caving to Ethan and letting him go out with his friends. ”
“I can see why she’s angry. Can you?”
“Of course, but my dad feels terrible, and she doesn’t want to hear it. She goes silent when she’s furious, but I’ve never seen her quite like this. She’ll blame him forever for allowing Ethan to end up in a mess like this.”
“It’s a tough situation.”
“Can I be honest?”
He took her hand for the walk to his car. “Always.”
“I’m mad at my dad, too. I mean, after what happened to me, I’d have expected him to be extra careful with Ethan and Abby. I’m shocked he allowed this. He was super overprotective of me until I was in high school. Then he finally started letting me go out more, but before then, no way.”
“Sometimes parents are different with their daughters, which I understand. But boys can find their share of trouble, too.”
She glanced at him. “Did you?”
“I had my moments. Nothing terrible or life-changing, but certainly things my parents wouldn’t have wanted me doing.”
“Like what?”
He held the car door for her, smiling. “You want, like, details?”
“Details would be good.”
“Hmmm.” With a coy look, he closed the door and went around to the driver’s side. As soon as they had left the parking lot, he reached for her hand again. “I’m trying to think of what I can tell you that won’t get me in trouble.”
“Haha. I’m not your mother.”
“Believe me, I know.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “It was mostly drinking, smoking and some fun with girls.”
“They must’ve loved you.”
“I did all right.”
“He says with pretend modesty.” As she looked over at him, she noticed a slight flush to his cheeks. “Oh. My. God. Are you blushing?”
“Secret Service agents don’t blush. It’s in the manual. We’re not allowed.”
For the first time in days, Brooke laughed. “Oh, this must’ve been something. Remind me to discuss your dating history with your mother the next time I see her.”
“There’s absolutely no need for that.”
“Oh, there’s every need. I needed that laugh, so thanks a lot.”
“Happy to be of service.”
“You’ve been an incredible support to us. I never would’ve gotten through these last couple of days without you by my side.”
“Yes, you would have, because you’re the strongest person I’ve ever known.”
“That can’t possibly be true.”
“Brooke, come on. A lot of people who know what you’ve been through think that.
Look at you now… I mean, some people understandably never recover from what happened to you.
But you… You’ve not only recovered as much as a person can, but you’ve been determined to thrive in spite of the trauma.
You’re on the dean’s list. You got into Princeton… ”
“I have you, a man all the girls wanted.”
He rolled his eyes at that last part. “And you have me and everything that goes with me, which was certainly never guaranteed after what happened. I’m so proud of you, sweetheart, and everyone who knows you is, too.”
“Thanks. That’s nice to hear.”
“I’m not just saying words. It’s true. You’re an inspiration.”
“Before everything happened with Ethan, Sam texted me about a woman she recently met who’d been through a similar thing.
Attacked and sexually assaulted. Like me, she doesn’t remember the assault but has to live with the aftermath of realizing it happened.
Sam asked me if I might be willing to speak to her at some point. ”
“What’d you say?”
“I told her I would. If I can help her, why wouldn’t I?”
“Are you sure that’s the right thing for you, though? To reopen that wound?”
“That wound is never really far from the surface, and I’ve come to accept that it’ll always be a part of who I am. In fact, I’ve been thinking about adding a psychology minor when I get to Princeton and possibly pursuing counseling for victims of sexual and domestic assault.”
“Wow, that’d be amazing, if you can handle dwelling in that space every day.”
“That’s my one hesitation, but I figure I can try it and see how it goes. Maybe helping others would help me, too, you know?”
“See why I’m amazed by you?”
“Oh stop. It’s all just talk at this point.”
“But the fact that you want to give back says a lot about who you are, and I love who you are.”
“I hope you know how much your love and support means to me. It gives me strength I didn’t have before I had you in my life.”
He brought her hand to his lips. “And I hope you know that works both ways. I hate every minute we spend apart, and I can’t wait to live in the same town with you.”
“Two more weeks until no more long distance. I can’t wait either.”
They settled into companionable silence flavored with his classic rock playlist. Brooke dozed for a time and woke up as they arrived in Charlottesville. “I can’t believe we’re here already.”
“Time goes by fast when you sleep for hours.”
“Was it hours?”
“Hours and hours. I missed you.”
“I’m sorry. You’ve been doing nothing but driving on your days off.”
“I’ve gotten to be with you, which was my only goal for my days off. We have one more night together. What do you feel like doing?”
She needed to get back to work on the paper that was due this coming week and study for her last final exam, but that would keep until tomorrow, when she was back to living without him again for a couple of weeks.
“I want to be with you.”
“I’m here all night, babe.”
She reached over to place her hand on his thigh, giving a suggestive squeeze. “I want to be with you.”
“Why didn’t you just say so?”
She laughed. “I thought I did.”
“Men are dense sometimes. You have to be clearer.”
“In that case, you want to go to bed, Agent Zimmerman?”
“Um, yes, I do. I want that more than anything.”
They walked into her apartment ten minutes later, dropping their bags inside the door and turning toward each other in a move that would’ve seemed choreographed if anyone else had seen it. But with both her roommates at work, they had the place to themselves.
“Hi,” he said, smiling as he kissed her.
“How’s it going?”
“Much better now that we know my love’s baby brother is safe.”
“Thank you for being my rock.”
“I was where I always want to be—with you.” As he kissed her, he hooked an arm around her waist to lift her and walk toward her bedroom. With her still suspended, he kicked the door closed and lowered her to the bed, coming down on top of her without missing a beat in the kiss of all kisses.
She’d been too distracted and upset to do more than hold hands with him for days, and they had time to make up for now that the crisis had passed.
“That was very sexy,” she whispered against his lips.
“What was?”
“The lift, the carry, the door kick, the bed landing. Smoothly executed. A ten out of ten.”
“You liked that, huh?”
“I like you. So, so, so much.”
“That’s a whole lotta like, baby.”
“So much like and even more love.”
“Right back at you.”
He multitasked kissing and undressing them both while she helped where she could, tugging his shirt over his head and running her hands over his smooth, warm skin and making him tremble. She loved the way he reacted to her, how he never made her feel anything other than well and truly loved.
So many of her friends were dating guys who had them constantly in distress as they tried to interpret the unsavory word or action of the moment.
Brooke never felt that way with Nate, probably because he was a grown-ass man and not a boy pretending to be a man like so many of the guys they knew at college.
He also knew what he was doing in bed, which she’d heard was another thing her friends found lacking. That certainly wasn’t a problem with Nate.
With her breasts pressed to the soft hair on his chest, she shuddered with the desire that still took her by surprise despite the many times they’d done this since the first time.
Once she’d had a taste of the pleasure she found with him, she couldn’t get enough.
And after she’d feared she might never be able to enjoy sex after being violently attacked, it’d been such a relief to discover otherwise.
But only with Nate, the love of her life.
As he kissed her breasts and teased her nipples until she was wriggling under him, she couldn’t imagine sharing this kind of intimacy with anyone else.
“I’m obsessed with your soft skin, your sweet breasts, your curves, your face, your silky dark hair and stunning blue eyes, your freckles.” He dabbed his tongue against a mole next to her belly button. “I love everything about you.”
Brooke grasped handfuls of his thick hair as he moved down to part her thighs and love her with his tongue as his fingers slid inside her.
The combination always did it for her, and this time was no different.
He was also really good at keeping it going until she was almost begging him to let her take a breath.
When he’d reduced her to a quivering mess, he kissed his way back up her body, stopping to give each breast the full treatment as he sank into her, filling her in one deep thrust that sparked a second wave of ecstasy. There was simply no other word for what she felt when she was with him this way.
“Mmm, hottest thing I’ve ever felt is you squeezing me so tightly from inside,” he whispered. “It’s all I can do not to explode when that happens.”
“Don’t let me stop you from exploding,” she said with a smile.
“Not yet. I want one more from you first.”
Brooke groaned dramatically as he pushed himself up on muscular arms and began to move, giving her deep thrusts that hit all the right spots and had her climbing toward another peak in no time at all.
Making her senseless with desire was his superpower, or so it seemed to her as they clung to each other in a moment of perfection that never ceased to leave her stupefied in the aftermath.
Until him, she hadn’t known such things were even possible.
Now she couldn’t imagine living without him or the special kind of magic he brought to her life.
“I can’t wait until next fall when we get to sleep together every night,” she whispered.
“I can’t wait until this summer when you can sleep at my place every night. In fact, you should just plan to stay with me rather than moving home. You can still be with your family all the time.”
She hadn’t considered that possibility. “We wouldn’t have to wait months to be together every day.”
“What do you think your parents would say about it?”
“They know we’re planning to live together in the fall. I can’t imagine they’d object to us spending the summer together, too. They love you almost as much as I do.”
“If there’s tension between them, it might be better for you not to be on the front lines of that.”
“But I’d hate to leave Abby and Ethan to deal with it on their own.”
“They won’t have to deal with it. Your folks won’t fight in front of them.”
“No, they won’t, but the silence can also be deafening, you know?”
“You’d be right there in town if the kids needed you.”
“True. The thought of being with you like this every day, with no school to deal with for a few months, makes me feel breathless with excitement.”
“I like when you’re happy. All I want is to make you happy every day.”
“You do. Even when we’re not together. But when we are…”
“That’s the best thing ever.”
“It sure is.”
Brooke felt guilty for feeling as if she was on top of the world when her parents and Ethan were struggling with so many challenges.
But even as she stood ready to support them through whatever came next, she took a little moment to enjoy the sheer joy of being completely in love with the most wonderful man.