“Punishment?” He crushes his mouth against mine and I tug on his hips. I want the full weight of him against me. I always want it all, no holding back. “Babe, I should thank you every single day for being so persistent.”
“Then you’re welcome. Will you please spank me?”
He laughs and squeezes my ass. “One hundred percent.”
“Where do you want to walk tonight?” I ask him as we step off again.
“There’s a garden up ahead I found last week,” he says. “Full of statues. It’s kind of cool.”
I grin up at him. “Awesome.”
We turn right at Elizabeth Street. It’s dark and quiet, although there’s traffic just a block away. The street lights glow, though, and up ahead I see a fence. “Is that it?”
“Yeah,” he says. “This is it.”
As we reach it, I realize the glow is coming from inside the garden, too. Hundreds of lanterns are hung from tree branches and perched beside the statues.
“Wow,” I breathe.
Scott wraps his arms around me from behind. “Happy birthday,” he whispers. “I’m sorry I fucked up the last one.”
I shake my head. “All a part of our journey, babe.”
He squeezes me tight, then takes my hand and leads me deeper into the garden. It’s positively magical.
“I think this might be the best birthday I’ve ever had,” I whisper, turning in a slow circle. A fat, lazy snowflake drifts in front of me, and I look up at the sky. “It’s going to snow tonight, huh?”
“We can stay in bed all day tomorrow,” Scott says from behind me. “Celebrating, I hope.”
I turn around.
He’s down on one knee, holding a ring in his hand.
I don’t cry. Not unless my heart is broken.
And apparently, when I’m proposed to. “What are you doing?”
He grins at me. “Taking a really big risk, because I don’t want to fuck up another birthday.”
I laugh weakly, swiping at my wet cheeks. “Okay.”
“Ali, the last year has been the best of my life. You are the best in my life. The best late nights and early mornings. The best texts, the best jokes, the best serious conversations.” He looks up at the sky. “The best walks. The best adventures. I want to share all of that with you, for the rest of my life.”
“Okay.”
He reaches for me with his other hand and I stumble forward, squeezing my fingers around his. “Will you be wife? The mother of my children and the savior of my world?”
“That’s a big ask,” I mumble through the tears.
“The kids can wait a while if you want.”
I shake my head. “That’s not the big ask. Of course I want to have your babies, you dork. Yes, I’ll marry you. Yes, I’ll share my adventures with you. Yes, yes, yes. I need you by my side, always and forever.”
He slides the ring onto my finger before tugging me onto his lap. “Forever sounds perfect.”
THE END (FOR NOW)
Join my VIP reader list at http://ainsleybooth.com/wordpress/newsletter/ to hear about my next Forbidden Bodyguard release (Dirty Love, Wilson and Tabitha’s story, coming this summer!).
And if you haven’t read Cole and Hailey’s story, Hate F*@k, seriously get on that, because you need Cole’s dirty mouth in your life.
www.ainsleybooth.com
BOOTY CALL
the postscript
If you’re wondering about that secret Tumblr inspiration board I mentioned… here it is.
Please note that this link contains pictures of people doing all sorts of awesome, sexy things to each other. Don’t click on it at work, in front of children or mothers-in-law, or at the supermarket.
nsfwromwriter.tumblr.com
—acknowledgments—
Sadie Haller has been my first reader since the very first Hate F*@k serial part. I love that she loves my dirty heroes and my lippy heroines as much as I do, and I’m grateful beyond words that she drops everything to fact check and comma check and do the occasional real life choreography check, too. I don’t believe any Mr. Hallers were injured in the making of this book, thank goodness.
Maria Rose gets my second sincere thanks for her amazingly quick turnaround on proofreading. A reader who can catch a missing article in the middle of a sex scene is a valuable friend indeed.
My Ainsley’s Angels Facebook group. I’m sorry I’m so quiet most of the time. I promise it’s because I’m busy creating filthy scenes for your favorite characters.
Every single reader who loved Hate F*@k and has been waiting a year for more from this world. I promise the next one won’t take me another year.
My husband, for being proud of everything I write. Even the fisting scene. Sorry if anyone asks you about it. You can tell them I saw it on Tumblr. Your call if you want to share my secret inspiration board. I love you. Stop blushing.
~ Ainsley
www.ainsleybooth.com
—also by ainsley booth—
contemporary military romance
writing as
— ZOE YORK —
SEALS UNDONE
I named this series SEALs Undone because that’s exactly what happens. Big, tough Navy SEALs are undone by the women they fall hard for. These stories are light on conflict, big on romance, and short enough to read in a single night.
I hope you enjoy!
~ Zoe York (Ainsley Booth’s contemporary romance alter-ego)
— FALL FAST —
Navy SEAL Nathan Meyers and recent divorcee (as of an hour ago) Emme Ryan both want a night of escape from their real lives, for very different reasons. A chance meeting and a single drink at an airport bar turns into a night of unexpected fun and pleasure when a freak snow storm keeps them on the ground. But when morning comes, will they stick to the rules they set out at the start of the night?
— AN EXCERPT —
Nathan Meyers stood in the Terminal 2 departures hall at O’Hare Airport and groaned. He shouldn’t be surprised that his flight from Chicago to San Diego was now delayed by more than two hours—a vicious winter storm was working its way toward the city. His sister had bugged him to check the flight status before he left her house, but as much as he loved Kelly and her brood—six kids, plus her husband and Polish mother-in-law—he’d been ready for some peace and quiet after three days of non-stop Uncle Nathan Fun Times.
He found a map of the terminal. It looked liked all the beer was on the other side of security, so he had two options. Head back out into the snow, or go through security early and find a burger or something.
Easy choice.
Dodging around travellers with oversized suitcases and grumpy faces, he scanned his e-ticket from his phone at the nearest available self-serve kiosk, printed his boarding pass, and headed for security.
Most of the time he flew around the world in military transport planes. But when he took detours like he had this weekend, hopping over to Chicago for some post-Christmas family time to make up for being in a South American jungle over the actual holidays, he had a simple travel routine down pat. One carry-on bag, boots unlaced in line, Navy ID visible at the top of his wallet.
The pretty redhead in front of him had the same idea, but where he carried a canvas rucksack and wore Doc Martens, she had a small wheeled suitcase and zippered boots. She wore dressy clothes for a stormy night, a slim black suit over a green t-shirt, but her iPhone case had a big No Doubt sticker on the back and when she turned around to be wanded, her shirt rode up a bit and he caught a glimpse of a navel piercing with a dangly skull resting against the slight swell of her belly. His gaze stuck on the curved waist of her dress pants, and he imagined an entire dirty-girl fantasy in the two seconds it took her to be cleared.
Damn.
When she motored ahead, her scarf slipping off her jacket and landing on the floor between them, he knew exactly how he wanted to spend the next couple of hours.
“Hey!” He snagged the cream silk from the floor and jogged after her. “Excuse me…”
Even in her heeled boots, she was small compared to him. Small and speedy. He gently tapped her elbow when he caught up, getting her attention. When he snagged her gaze, it was wary. With a smile, he stepped back and held out the scarf. “I think you dropped this.”
Her eyes flared wide and her lips pulled together in a surprised O. “Thank you.”
Holding out her hand, she grasped one end of the silk, but he wasn’t ready to let it go, not when he’d just gotten her bright blue eyes pinned on his face. He liked them there, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “My flight is delayed.”
“Pardon?”
“I think they’re all delayed right now.”
“Yes.” She tugged on the scarf and he let it go. “Thanks again.”
“So I was going to get a beer and a burger, and if your flight is delayed as well, I’d be happy to buy you dinner.”
“Ah. No thank you.”
“No strings attached, promise. I’m flying home to San Diego tonight, and we’re under the watchful eye of the TSA. Sure I can’t keep you company? I know some good knock-knock jokes.”
— —
Emme knew when she was being hit on in the casual, just-for-fun kind of way. In her early days as a flight attendant, she’d indulged in this game more than once. But today wasn’t the day for fun. She couldn’t help but smile back at the tallest, broadest, sexiest man she’d ever seen and wish she’d dropped her scarf in front of him any other day but today. And maybe that he lived a hair closer than San Diego, a city she rarely flew into.