Shifting her grip to balance on one hand, she reached between her legs, the warm water bouncing against her knuckles as she touched first him, then herself, where she stretched around his cock, and finally where she was most aroused.
It didn't take much. A few slow rolls over her aching clit and she started clenching around him, urging him-dragging him-into the abyss with her.
"Well that was better than grocery shopping," she finally said once they'd recovered and rinsed off, standing up and using the shower this time.
He laughed. "I grabbed dinner stuff this morning. When I ran into town to drop off the building permit applications."
"You meanie!" she gasped. "And here I was feeling all conflicted and guilty, being a terrible housewife."
He kissed her soundly. "Never."
She climbed out of the tub and grabbed two towels-if she wasn't contributing anything else to the care and order of their little home, at least she could do that small kindness for the man she loved. "I did cook for you once last week … " she said, squinting as she tried to remember if that was in fact true, or maybe just something she'd meant to do.
She'd been so busy the last few weeks, diving headfirst into her new role, which was a bit of a work-in-progress, since her crazy boyfriend had offered her a job that didn't exist, on a payroll funded by a guy who had no clue what was going on.
And it had all worked out, somehow, miraculously, just fine.
Except for the part where she remembered to buy groceries and make dinner.
"You're perfect," Mick said with a satisfied grin as he wrapped his towel low around his hips. Her gaze tangled up on the deep vee carved between his lower abs and his hips. "And … eyes up here." He winked. "I'm not a piece of meat, kitten."
"Maybe not, but you are very pretty."
He snorted. "Covered in scars?"
"Every last inch a beautiful, wonderful man." She tightened her own towel over her breasts and headed for the bedroom. There was something so lovely and intimate about getting dressed together.
She tugged on shorts and a new tank top, then dropped a quick kiss on his shoulder as she cruised by to fix her hair before it got out of control. "What are we having for dinner, anyway?"
He swung through the bathroom to collect their beer bottles. "Rice with peas and mango, chicken drumsticks."
"Yum."
He held up the beers. "You want to take a walk down to the beach with these while the chicken cooks?"
"Sure." She flashed him a smile from under her arms as she worked on twisting her hair back into decent looking spirals. Daphne's hair cream was good, but it didn't work magic if the frizz got out of control.
He disappeared, and she heard some kitchen noises, but by the time she made it out to the living room, he was waiting for her with a little smile on his lips. "Ready?"
"Yep."
He handed her beer over and they headed down the path to the beach, hand in hand.
She kicked off her sandals as soon as they hit the white sand and he followed suit. They walked a little ways down the shoreline, but the jungle encroached on a headland not too far along, so they turned back, taking their time.
When they got back to what she thought of as their beach, she sat down on a piece of driftwood and dug her toes into the sand. There was something soothing, healing about just sitting and listening to the waves. A sound as old as the ages, it whispered right into her heart that everything would work out.
Mick watched her for a minute, then joined her on the log.
"I went to see your mother yesterday," he said quietly.
"Oh?" Her mom had met Mick twice already-the first time right after Cara had told Mellie she was quitting her job. Her mother had stood up and insisted she be introduced to this man that made her daughter crazy in the head.
But Mick had won Mellie over. Not enough to explain a spontaneous visit, but … Mick was that kind of guy. Sweet-deep down inside, anyway.
"I was in town, and I thought … " He shrugged and mimicked what she was doing with her toes, burying his own in the sand beside her. "She said that when you were a kid, you used to talk turning Villa Sucre into a Bed & Breakfast."
She turned pink. "Yeah. It was a pipe dream."
"Any room for a B&B in the living history proposal?"
Her heart rate picked up. "I don't know."
"You should think about it. Might be a nice idea. We're going to have to use one of the resorts on the other side of town. Could be good to have closer accommodation options as well."
She was already picturing the proposal. It would mean only doing re-enactments on the main floor, and they'd need to do something about the kitchen … She licked her lips. "What did my mother say?"
He laughed. "You don't want to ask her yourself?"
God, her cheeks were warm now. "I don't want to get her hopes up. If I did something like that, part of it would be for her, you know?"
He nodded. "I know. One of the many things I love about you."
"My guilt over the fact that my mother still works as a maid?"
"That you're kind and giving and a good daughter." He bumped his shoulder against hers. "She doesn't stop talking about you, you know."
"Really?" Cara knew her mom was proud, but hearing it from Mick was something else. "Thank you."
He stood up and walked down toward the water. The sun was dropping fast behind them, and cast the entire sky pink and purple.
He turned around. "I didn't know," he said, his voice carrying a bit.
"What?"
"That this was what I was looking for." He came closer again. He was smiling, and it reached his eyes, softening his entire face. Still strong and capable, but he was also truly relaxed. It made her heart nearly explode from the joy of it.
"Me too," she said.
He slowly sank to one knee, and her chest got even tighter as she watched him duck his head for a second, then look back up at her.
"What are you doing?"
"I talked to your mom about something else," he said slowly. She stood and walked toward him, her legs shaking. "I told her how much I love you. How I never want to let you go and I always want to be there for you."
"Oh, Mick … " She blinked back the tears. "You're a crazy, wonderful man."
"So I don't have a job," he said with a laugh.
"That's okay, neither do I," she whispered.
"And I live in a shack."
"It's got a beach."
"Filled with rocks."
"Keeps the tourists away."
"Good point." He took a deep breath and pulled a thin gold ring from his pocket. She recognized it immediately. "That's my mother's engagement ring," she said through the tears she couldn't hold back any longer.
"She thought that since I was a broke-ass American vet, she might do me a solid and let me use it to propose to you."
Cara hiccuped as she laughed. "She did not say that."
He shook her head. "No. She said that she didn't regret a single day of her marriage to your father and that it would be foolish to wait until the right time. Life is short and love is precious. So Cara Levasseur, would you make me the happiest man on the planet and be my wife?"
She nodded, over and over again, as she sank to her knees and threw her arms around his neck. "For richer and for poorer. I'll marry you tomorrow, Mick Frasier."
Keep reading in the ASSIGNMENT: Caribbean Nights series … Anne Marsh's Sweet for a SEAL, Finn Callahan's story, is coming soon! Turn the page for a list of titles in this collection. Have you read Dex and Emma's story? If not, go back and discover Claiming her SEAL by Kat Cantrell!
And coming later this summer … BOUND BY THE SEAL. The last thing Brayden Lucas expects to find when he lands on Miralinda is a sexy woman in a catsuit breaking into what should be an empty estate. So he does the only thing that makes sense: he ties her to a chair.
ASSIGNMENT: CARIBBEAN NIGHTS
Duchess Island by Kat Cantrell
Claiming Her SEAL
Revealing Her SEAL
Miralinda Island by Zoe York
Ruined by a SEAL
Bound by a SEAL
Angel Cay by Anne Marsh
Sweet for a SEAL
Her One Best SEAL
Visit us at Navy SEAL Romance and never miss a story in the ASSIGNMENT: Caribbean Nights series!
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WHAT TO READ NEXT
Visit www.zoeyork.com to explore all my small town and military romance novels. And you can get started with the Small Towns, Big Dreams two book starter set.
What Once Was Perfect, Wardham Book 1
She's always owned a piece of his heart. He was her first love. Is a week of holidays enough time for Kyle to prove to Laney he's a different man than the one who let her go?