He suddenly moved under her, and Ashlyn let out a girly screech. But she didn’t have to worry about falling off Slate, because he kept one hand firmly on her hip as he reached for the drawer in the small table next to the bed.
He grabbed something, then reached for her left hand. Without a word, Slate slid a ring down her finger.
“There, now it’s not naked anymore,” he said with a satisfied grin.
Ashlyn could only stare at the ring he’d put on her finger. It was a princess-cut diamond solitaire that winked in the muted light from the lamp on Slate’s nightstand. Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. She couldn’t seem to form any coherent thoughts.
“I’ve rendered you speechless,” Slate said with a small chuckle. “Mark this day down.”
Ashlyn swallowed hard and blinked fast to keep from crying all over him.
“It’s not huge,” Slate said after a moment. “I wanted to get you the biggest diamond I could find, but that would just put you in danger. The last thing I want is someone seeing it and thinking they can steal it from you. So I went conservative.”
“It’s perfect,” Ashlyn said after a moment.
“You’re perfect,” Slate countered. “I thought I wanted casual. But from the moment I touched you, I think I knew that was impossible. You crawled under my skin from the get-go, babe…and I’ve never been happier.”
She waited a beat, but when he didn’t say anything else, she raised an eyebrow and rested her palms on his chest. Seeing the ring on her finger made her want to smile in glee, but she forced herself to look serious. “You put a ring on it, but I still didn’t hear you ask me anything,” she told him.
In response, Slate lifted his hands and palmed both her breasts.
Inhaling sharply, Ashlyn let her head fall back.
He kneaded her sensitive nipples, and she felt his thumb brush over the scar under her left breast. She wanted to reassure him yet again that she was all right. That she was alive and Aiden’s bullet hadn’t killed her, but Slate moved a hand to her back and encouraged her to lean down.
His mouth closed over one of her nipples, and Ashlyn couldn’t think about anything other than how good he was making her feel.
Slate spent a good bit of time worshiping her breasts before gently turning her onto her back. He immediately scooted down her body and kissed both inner thighs before turning his attention between her legs.
This wasn’t the fast and desperate sex they used to have. While Ashlyn adored their rougher sex, and couldn’t wait until they were both so out of control they felt like they had to have each other or die, she also craved this.
It felt like a reaffirmation of their love. It was so different from where they’d started, just wanting to feel good without the deeper complication of affections.
Slate worshiped her as he slowly brought her closer and closer to orgasm. But instead of pushing her over, he stopped when she was right at the precipice. He stripped off his boxers and scooted up until the tip of his cock brushed against her clit. Slate took hold of the base of his dick with one hand and balanced himself over her with the other.
He gently pressed himself against her, sliding inside inch by inch.
Ashlyn moaned and gripped his ass cheeks. “Faster,” she begged.
But Slate ignored her. His gaze was locked on hers as he took her. When it felt as if he’d melded their souls, not just their bodies, Slate eased down onto his elbows.
Ashlyn could feel the slight hair on his chest rub against her nipples. She felt surrounded by him, and never wanted to move.
“I love you,” Slate said softly. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to wake up with you next to me, and go to sleep with you curled into my side. I want to laugh, cry, and watch annoying chick flicks with you.”
Ashlyn wrinkled her nose at him.
He smiled. “I’m gonna be a pain in your ass a lot. I’m probably going to be even more overprotective than I was before.”
“Probably?” Ashlyn quipped.
“But I can promise you that while on missions, I won’t take risks. I won’t do anything stupid that will take me from you. You’re it for me, Ash. I’m never gonna want another woman. Ever.”
Ashlyn took a deep breath and nodded.
“Will you marry me? You could do so much better, but I’m not letting you go. I mean, I would if you hated me, because I’m not a psycho stalker, but it would literally kill me. I’d probably waste away into a shell of the man I am now. I’d stop eating, lose a ton of weight, the Navy would have to kick me out because a ninety-eight-pound weakling as a Navy SEAL isn’t exactly a good thing.”
Ashlyn couldn’t help but giggle. Leave it to her man to make her want to laugh instead of cry.
“And now she’s laughing at me,” Slate said with a sigh.
Ashlyn reached up and put her hands on her man’s cheeks. The engagement ring winked at her, and she couldn’t help but smile. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
Slate beamed. “Good.”
“I mean, the Navy would probably be really pissed if I said no and they had to replace you.”
This time, Slate chuckled. “Right. Any other reason why you want to marry me?”
“Well…” Ashlyn pretended to think about it. “That’s a tough one. You like gross Hawaiian food and you definitely drive too fast. You also have a tendency to stalk me on that tracker app. I’m thinking maybe it wasn’t a good idea to give you access.”
Slate’s hips shifted, and he began to slowly rock in and out of her.
Ashlyn’s thoughts scattered. All she could think about was how good he felt inside her.
“True, although I might have some redeeming qualities,” he said as he continued to make love to her.
Ashlyn’s hands clutched his sides as he continued to slowly fuck her. She dug her nails into his skin. “Faster, Slate,” she moaned.
“No.”
“No?” she echoed, frowning at him.
“I know what the doctor said, but there’s no way in hell I’m gonna fuck you the way I’ve dreamed about for months. That’s gonna wait until I’m completely satisfied you’re one hundred percent healthy.”
“Slate,” Ashlyn whined. “What’s that gonna take? Me running a 10K? Doing a thousand jumping jacks? I’m fine.”
“You’re gonna have to humor me,” he told her with a straight face. “I lost twenty years off my life when I realized you were shot. For now, I’m gonna make love to you. Slow and easy. You don’t like this?”
Ashlyn did like it. A lot. She swallowed. “I like it,” she admitted. “But I like when you fuck me too.”
His lips twitched. “You’re insatiable.”
“For you.”
“Damn straight. You want to come?”
“Duh,” she fired back.
His lips spread into a full-fledged grin. “Right. How about you do that then? Touch yourself, babe.”
Ashlyn didn’t hesitate. She slipped one hand between their bodies, grateful when Slate lifted his hips a bit to give her room. Then she began to flick her clit as he gently moved in and out of her.
“I love you and can’t wait to marry you,” Slate said as she got closer and closer to exploding.