Ayda’s eyes widened almost impossibly as she scrambled to a sitting position and looked between my face and the box several times before her eyes landed on mine and stayed there. The sheet was pooled at her waist, and one of her hands was pressed to her chest as though holding her heart in place.
“Drew?”
My grin exploded as I stared straight into her eyes, unblinking. “My answer is yes. I’ll marry you, darlin’.”
A surprised squeal of absolute joy fell from Ayda’s lips, only seconds before she threw her naked body at me. The wordsI love youfell from her lips over and over again as theytraversed the available skin on my neck, and tangled with the dampness of her tears.
I held onto her tightly, laughing and squeezing her as happiness poured out of both of us. Mine was more relaxed. I’d had my shock the night before. Hers was fresh, and so, so, so fucking adorable. Her naked skin was pressed against the coolness of the leather cut wrapped around me, but it seemed like she couldn’t get close enough. I pushed up with all the effort I had within me, bouncing her in my grip as I pulled my chin back and forced her to look at me.
“I’ll marry you. I’ll fucking marry you today if you want me to, Hanagan. I’m not scared of a lifetime by your side. There’re no doubts in my mind. Not one. You’re it for me. I want this forever with you.”
Her tears fell freely as she just stared at me, her mouth open and lips curled into a smile of complete happiness. Freeing one arm, she pressed her palm against my cheek and swallowed a sob. “How do you always know the right things to say?”
“It’s just how I feel.”
“And you had a ring?”
“I’m always prepared. Of course I had a ring. Picked it out not long after the whole shit with The Emps. I knew before then I wasn’t letting you go, but that night made me realize I had no reason to wait to make things happen. Only, you being you…” I paused, raising a disapproving brow, but my stupid grin didn’t back up that judgment. “You made me bring the date forward a bit. Not that I’m complaining. As far as proposals go, asking me to spend my life with you while riding my dick was always going to be a winner.”
Ayda let out a guffaw of laughter, her hand moving to hermouth as she studied me. The absolute joy that lit up her eyes wasn’t going anywhere soon. “You’re officially mine, Drew Tucker. I love you more than I think you’ll ever know.”
“A speechless Ayda,” I whispered, leaning up to place a kiss on her mouth before I spoke against it. “My favorite kind.”
“Hey!”
“C’mon, old lady. Let your fiancé show you your engagement ring.” I spun her around, dropping her to her feet by the bed so she was facing the box that held her ring. I wrapped my arms around her naked waist and pulled her back against me, resting my chin on her shoulder. “I hope you like it.”
Ayda reached for the box with trembling hands, the tips of her fingers tracing the initials on top before shakily opening it to reveal the square cut yellow diamond. Her gasp of surprise was followed by a shake of her shoulders and a building sob that she trapped inside with her other hand. It took her a moment to stop crying enough to stroke the ring on the cushion and just stare at it.
“Drew, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
I squeezed her tighter and pressed my lips to her neck. “Not even close.”
I could almost feel her eye roll as she dropped her head back on my shoulder. “Can I put it on?”
“Let me,” I said, releasing her and spinning her around to face me. Her cheeks were flushed brighter than I’d ever seen them, and her baby blue eyes were sparkling under the daylight that had filtered into the room. I kept my eyes on her the whole time as I took the box from her grip, spun it around in my hand and got down on one knee in front of her. “Thisis how it was supposed to go.” I smirked. “Originally. I was going to get on one knee, ask you to marry me and watch the shock on your face make your eyes light up and that smile of yours break free. I figured you’d squeal a bit. Bounce around, throw yourself at me and cry. A lot.” I paused, watching her reactions.
Shuffling on her feet, Ayda stared down at me, her smile growing with every word. “It was the power of your penis that did it. But I think I delivered on the squeals, the smiles, and the crying.” She pointed at her face where tears were still sliding down and falling from her chin. With that, she slid down to her knees where she was facing me. “And just to seal the deal, you’ve made me the happiest woman alive.”
I reached out for her hand, running my thumb over the top of her wedding finger as I held it out in front of me. “Let’s really seal the deal, shall we? Keep that there.” I let her go and reached inside the box for the ring, tossing it on the bed and grabbing hold of her hand again. I stared into her eyes as I slid the ring on her finger, pushing it over her knuckle carefully. The very moment it sat in place, something clicked inside of me. Something had a grip of my heart again and was squeezing the life out of it again.
Happiness. That fucker. It sure as shit did make me feel alive.
Ayda stared at her finger as more of those happy tears gathered and rolled down her cheeks. Lifting her left hand, she placed it on my cheek again and kissed me. It was a kiss that said she was happy, too. A kiss that had her falling against me as close as she could possibly get.
I kissed her back with everything I had before I picked her up, never breaking our kiss until I draped her over the bed andleaned down over her.
“About that round four?”
“Shut up and get moving, Tucker.” She grinned up at me.
“Power of the penis, coming right up.” I kissed her roughly, melting away into this one perfect moment where the two of us were only focused on each other and nothing else.
I wished it would last forever.
Chapter Thirty
AYDA
