Seraphina swallowed, her eyes wide. She nodded her head and then realized she was answering a question he hadn't asked. She felt her cheeks turn red but she tilted her head up to lock eyes with him, letting him know that she wanted that as well. Very, very much.

When he met his lips with hers, she felt her entire body light up, her chest and pelvis and fingertips bursting with light and weightlessness. She felt whole, complete, the entire world suddenly right. And Seraphina was glad that this happened, that she boarded that plane even though she begged Katella to drive, she was glad she went to this stupid meeting and got into a fight with Brandon about it and bought the dress and had Katella do her hair and makeup. And she was glad she pushed Brandon in the lobby because then he kissed her the first time and this was just as sweet as the first time and her entire body tingled and she felt special and beautiful and everything wrong that had happened was suddenly right again.

She didn't even regret Phil Bambridge and what happened between them. She didn't regret hurting her hand and kissing Brandon in public, in front of Bambridge and -

It was all worth it. All of it. It was all worth it because it led to this moment and she wouldn't trade this moment for the world.

He slowly slid his tongue across her bottom lip and she opened her mouth slightly. She didn't even hesitate because she wanted the kiss to get deeper. She wanted to have this moment go on forever. She didn't want it to stop. And as long as he wanted to kiss her, she wouldn't push him away. Not now. He took full advantage of the fact that she opened up for him and tilted her head back even further so he could become acquainted with every crevice of her mouth. It was almost as though he was worried this would be the only time he ever kissed her and he wanted to prolong it as best as he could so he could memorize it to the best of his abilities.

His fingers were tangled in her hair, gently tugging at her roots so she felt pressure in her scalp. It wasn't painful; if anything she felt her thighs moisten at the tug, at the kiss, and his scent. He smelled clean and masculine, like the ocean at night. She reached up with her left hand - she couldn't clutch anything with her right hand since it hurt now. And more than anything else, at least she was here with him in this moment.

When they had to break for air, Brandon pressed his forehead against hers, just closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"I've wanted to do that for a very, very long time," he said in a raspy voice.

"I'm glad you did," she replied back.

"I hated watching you walk away," he told her before placing a kiss on her neck. She shivered and clutched him closer to her. She tilted her head to the side so he had access to her throat. "When Katella said something happened, I..." He let his voice trail off and he placed a kiss on her pulse before pulling back just slightly so he could lock eyes with her. “I didn’t know what happened so I didn’t know what to feel. It was a bunch of feelings all at one time. I was livid. I was furious. I was worried.” He clenched his jaw together so tightly it popped and he cradled her cheek in his hand. The look on his face was fierce but his touch was gentle. The confliction of the two made Seraphina shudder and she couldn’t help but lean into his touch. He had never talked this much about his feelings before. She wouldn’t dare interrupt him. “Katella didn’t tell me anything, not at first. And I understand, I guess. Who am I, anyway? But when you called again and she left, I made Negan tell me. And then I followed him to you. Because I had to make sure you were okay. I had to see for myself that you were okay.”

“I didn’t realize how worried you were about me,” she murmured, though her cheeks were warmed with happiness.

“Of course I was worried about you,” Brandon said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. In fact, he almost seemed offended that she hadn’t realized it in the first place. “Sera, I don’t think you realize…” He let out a little growl and looked away.

“If I don’t realize something,” Seraphina said slowly, carefully, “it’s because I was never told anything.”

“I shouldn’t have to tell you for you to know how I feel about you,” he told her.

“Of course you do,” Seraphina said. “I’m not a mind reader, Brandon. And you’re so closed off from the rest of the world, if I did have to guess, I would assume you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“That’s bullshit,” he said before clenching his teeth together.

“It’s not, actually,” Seraphina said. “When you came into my office yesterday, we talked more then than we have since we first met each other. How am I supposed to know your feelings are different? You’re supposed to tell me!”

“Or I could show you,” Brandon said before he leaned forward and claimed her lips once again.

Seraphina’s head with spinning with possibilities. She felt her nipples harden as his hands traced the curves of her body, letting his fingers trail against her breasts, against her hips. When he began to untie the dress, he kept his eyes on hers. She knew, in that moment, that he was in love with her. That it should have been clear from the get-go, and the fact that it wasn’t didn’t mean anything. It was there, deep inside of him. She could see it now.

The dress crumbled to the ground, leaving her in nothing but a sheer pair of lacy boy shorts and her jewelry. Seraphina watched as Brandon gulped, taking her in, his eyes respectfully feasting on the view she gave him. Her nipples were hard due to the cold, residual effects from the kisses they had just shared. Without taking her eyes off of him, she slowly began to remove her earrings, placing them on her nightstand as he went to close and lock her bedroom door.

This was going to happen. They were really going to make love.

She stepped out of her heels by the time Brandon returned, feeling more naked than she ever had in her entire life. She wasn’t a virgin by any means – before Brandon, she had had two guys she had slept with while they had been in relationships – and while she had appreciated the sex for what it was, it didn’t seem to be that big of a deal for her.

That would change, she knew, with Brandon.

He started pulling off his own clothes as he walked over to her so there was a trail of them leading over to where Seraphina waited by the bed. He placed both hands on her cheeks and kissed her, pressing his chest against hers. He started heading to the bed, Seraphina still wrapped in his arms, up until her knees hit the back of the bed. He gently pushed her back before he climbed on top of her. She could feel his hardness press into her hipbone and she moaned.

He trailed kisses down her throat, across her collarbone, between her breasts. His fingers slipped between the thin material of her and he hissed when his fingers slipped between her folds to find how slick she was. She let out a groan and he nearly ripped the flimsy material in two.

“Do you have anything?” she asked when she was completely naked underneath him.

He shook his head. “To be honest, I hadn’t expected…” He let his voice trail off. “We can wait. I can go down to the lobby and-“

Seraphina cut him off with a kiss. “We have tonight,” she told him as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I don’t want to waste it.”

He nodded once and kissed her long and hard. From there, he positioned himself on top of her and slowly entered her tight core. She groaned when he entered and every muscle inside of him tensed.

“Jesus Christ,” he breathed out. “You are so goddamn tight, so goddamn wet. I can’t move or I’m going to come inside of you right now.”

Seraphina groaned. She pushed her brows together as she felt herself get wetter and wetter with every word he said. She bit the bottom of her lip as she got used to his size, the way he stretched her core like it was his, like she belonged to him and this was his right as owner of her core.

This felt right. And glorious. And Jesus Christ, her head was spinning. She couldn’t even think straight.

He filled her up entirely, wrapping himself in her warmth. There was a little bit of pain, but the rush caused butterflies to dance in her stomach and her arms weaved around his shoulders and pulled him closer to her. She needed there to be no air between them, no space. She had waited too long for this moment and now that it was finally happening, she wanted to take her time and really feel it because she didn't know she they would get this chance again.

"You're so goddamn beautiful," he kept saying over and over again, his lips on her skin so when he spoke it vibrated against her surface. His lips were soft against her, gentle but passionate. 

His voice, low and hungry and raw, gave her goosebumps and she couldn't suppress a groan as he continued to slowly rock back and forth inside of her. It would seem he didn't want to rush, there was no need to rush, and he was focusing on speaking in order to keep his passion at bay. Every time he moved, he sent lightning to her core and her thighs spread to give him more access to her. 

Her grip on him was tight. She didn't want him to leave her, didn't want him to ever separate himself from her body. It was stupidly romantic but if he pulled out, she felt that she would lose a piece of her, that she would feel somewhat empty when compared to him being inside of her, surrounding her.

He looked down at her with piercing green eyes. She looked back up at him, even though her first instinct was to look away. Eye contact during sex was ideal, certainly, but it also exposed her ever more than she already was. Sure, she was naked but look into her eyes meant seeing into her soul and she wasn't sure she was ready for anyone to do that. But she couldn't look away. It didn't matter that she wanted to, he wouldn't let her.

The look on his face was pure awe, like he couldn't quite believe this was happening and that it felt this right. Her eyes narrowed. He was just as vulnerable as she was. She had never expected to see him look this way, to look at her this was at all. She knew he cared for her but didn't realize how deep it went until now, until this moment.

Her pelvis started to tingle as he moved deeper inside if her at a consistent rate. His thrusts were deep and firm, not too fast, and she angled her hips so hit her just right...

It wasn't long before she felt the familiar tingle start to bubble up in her pelvis, like a shaken up soda can ready to be cracked open. What took her by surprise was the fact that she hadn't needed to stimulate herself in order to achieve orgasm but she wasn't going to question it. Her breathing got shallow, her forehead wrinkles, and just as she reached her peak, a smile eclipsed her face.

He knew, too. He kept his thrusting steady and she shattered around him. It was like sunshine melted around her and she was bathing in the afterglow. 

Brandon kissed her cheeks her nose, her chin, her lips.

"Are you good?" he asked in a gentle voice. It was only then did Seraphina he had stopped moving. "Because we’re not finished yet."