ROYAL ROCK(152)

“Where’s this coming from?”

“Just answer.”

I shrugged. “I guess so.” I was living in the same apartment I had always lived in ever since moving out to college. My roommate had left, and Nathan had basically moved in, though he was still paying for his other place. He barely went there, though, mostly just to get a change of clothes and a shower when I was hogging the bathroom.

It had been a few months since I’d graduated school, and I had no clue what I wanted to do. I was working, not doing anything interesting, but paying the bills. Nathan would bring the future up occasionally, wondering if I had any plans, but I kept telling him that I had none. When I asked him the same question, he would get all mysterious and ignore me. It was frustrating, but he was like that. He loved to push my buttons.

And there was the matter of the Navy SEALs. Ever since his last mission, he hadn’t talked much about them. As far as I knew, he was still involved and still a member, or whatever they called it, but that was another question he didn’t feel like answering.

Suddenly, he grabbed me by the hips and pulled me into his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him deeply, his hands holding onto my waist. I could feel his heart beating and knew mine was beating fast, too, though I didn’t know why.

It was like that every time with him. Every time we touched, every time we kissed, I couldn’t help myself. Excitement would flood through my body, spiking through my pussy, making me soaking wet. It was because I knew what he could do to my body, even after a year of continual, body-shattering fucking. Because he was around all the time, we basically spent most of our days in and out of bed.

I was much less of a virgin. Really, I’d all but forgotten what it was like before sex. With Nathan it was constant, our bodies in constant want and need, and there had been a few times where I was late to class because Nate wouldn’t stop trying to get me off.

“We should talk about the future, babe,” he said.

“I like it here. I guess I really wasn’t thinking too far ahead.”

“My commanding officer called me up yesterday.”

I stared at him. Those were the words I had been dreading for months. “And?”

“And we have a mission. I don’t need to leave for another week, but I’ll be gone for a few months.”

I nodded. I knew what I had been getting into, loving a Navy SEAL. He had a job to do, an important job, and although I was going to be a mess every single second he was gone, worrying about his safety, I knew he would be okay.

Nathan was invincible. He was my man, my everything, and I was his. Ever since that day in the warehouse, I had known. I couldn’t be with anyone else, and he would never, ever let me down.

“Okay,” I said softly.

“Hey,” he said, kissing me, “don’t start the damn waterworks already.”

I took a deep breath. “I can’t help it.”

“It’s going to be okay. But I’d like to know where you’re going to be a few months from now.”

“I’ll be wherever you want me to be.”

He grinned. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

Suddenly, he stood up, picking me up into the air. He placed me down in front of him, and I marveled again at his strength.

“Because you know,” he said, getting down onto one knee, and my heart was beating too fast, and my breath was barely coming, and I felt dizzy as hell as he pulled a small black box from his pocket and flipped it open, and I nearly fell onto the floor, but his hand was strong on mine as he held the ring up, “you know I want you to be mine, forever. Marry me.”

I opened my mouth, closed it, opened it again. “Yes. Holy shit, yes.”

He grinned and slipped the ring onto my finger.

“You’ll be mine always, and I’ll be yours always. And you’ll never have to worry about anything again.” He stood up and kissed me deep, so deep, my head was a whirl of emotion. “Because you’re going to be my wife.”

“Is that what you wanted with my dad?” I said suddenly.

He laughed and nodded. “Seemed quick to give me his blessing. I guess although I’m not rich, I’m good enough.”

I threw my arms around him, around his tough body, his rough chest, and hugged him tight. He laughed loudly, his voice booming, filling the room.

“You’re more than good enough.”

“I know.”

Six Months Later

THE WIND WHIPPED my dress and my veil. It was a beautiful day, sunny with a slight breeze, and the sand felt warm beneath my toes.

“Fuck, bitch, your wedding day!”

I laughed at Lydie. “I know, right?”