Royal Rock:A Bad Boy Royal Romance(77)

I'd never forget what he said to me when he appeared out of nowhere:  "I'm back, princess, and I'm not going anywhere for a long time."

He hadn't been lying. I didn't know what had happened, but he found an  apartment near mine, and we didn't go a single day without seeing each  other. We had still been hiding our relationship from our parents, right  up until the divorce was all but final.

Dad seemed to take it well over the phone. Nate said he had tried to  tell his mother, but she didn't answer his calls, and he didn't give  enough of a shit to force it. He figured she'd find out eventually.

Dad stood up, and we followed. "I guess I'll leave you two kids alone."

"Thanks so much, Dad." I walked around the table and gave him a hug.

"You're sure about this?" he whispered in my ear. I could hear the slight disapproval in his voice.

Dad had always expected me to end up with some rich business executive  just like him. He wanted me to be taken care of, to never have to worry  about money. He wanted what was best for me, and I completely understood  that.







But Nathan was the best thing for me. Nathan made me feel safer than  anyone else in the entire world. Without him, I could have been taken  much sooner and kept for much longer. I would never forget Nathan  breaking into the room where I was being held, covered in blood, looking  like he felt a fury unlike anything I'd ever witnessed before. He had  looked like a demon from hell, and yet I loved him.

"I'm sure, Dad. He's the right thing."

Dad nodded and pulled away. "I'm happy for you two," he said.

"Thank you," Nate replied.

They shook hands, and then Dad left.

"Hold on a second," Nate said. "I'll be right back."

"What are you doing?"

He grinned at me, kissed my cheek, and then ran out the door after my dad.

I shook my head to myself as I collapsed down onto the couch. Nate was  always doing stuff like that, making up his mind in a split second and  following through with his decision. He was the most decisive person I'd  ever met, though sometimes that meant he did some unexpected things.

It didn't take him long before he returned, grinning ear to ear.

"What's the matter with you?" I asked him, laughing.

"Nothing, just had some business with your father."

"What kind of business?"

He ignored my question and sat down next to me. "Are you happy here?"

"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?"

"I never thought it was going to happen. Hell, I thought you were going  to own ten cats and write letters to your local newspaper every day."

"Me too, honestly." We laughed together, enjoying the amazing weather. I  felt on top of the world, like nothing could stop me. It was like a  dream, like I was walking through a dream, except I was awake and it was  happening.

"And him? Never seemed like your type, honestly. But damn does he clean up."

I felt a thrill run through me and smiled, catching Nate's eye. He  smiled back, looking incredible in his tuxedo. My toes laced through the  sand, and everything felt right. I looked out over the water, the  private beach empty except for us and the guests. I caught sight of a  boat floating slowly in the distance, bobbing up and down with the  waves.

The ceremony and the receptions were held on the beach in the Outer  Banks near my father's house. It was the perfect place with the perfect  people, and I was finally meeting so many of Nathan's SEAL friends. They  were all an intense bunch but funny and incredible. His mother hadn't  shown up, despite the fact that I had sent her an invitation and  personally left her a few messages. Ever since the divorce from my dad,  she had really spiraled. Apparently she was hiding out with some movie  producer doing coke all day and trying to get into acting. She didn't  seem to want anything to do with her son or his future wife. Nate said  good riddance, and that was that.

Meanwhile, my whole big family had shown up: aunts, uncles,  grandparents, everyone, plus my dad's business associates, friends from  school, and more. So many more. I barely knew all of the people, but I  didn't care. I was too busy floating on air.

Everything was white, so incredibly white, clean and smooth and modern.  My dad had gone all out for the wedding, hiring anyone I'd wanted,  buying anything we had needed. He had said that I was his only daughter  and that he wanted to give me the most incredible wedding possible.  Frankly, I could have married Nate in a run-down motel in front of  strangers and it would have been amazing, but I couldn't complain. The  day was perfect.