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SARAH RELAXED IN RYAN’S arms later that night, after they’d finally made it to bed. She yawned and stretched, nestling even closer to him. “I missed you last night, baby,” she said sleepily, watching as Ryan’s fingers drew circles on her upper arm.
“I missed you, too,” he said, ducking down to brush his lips over her hair.
He hadn’t shaved since yesterday, and the scruff on his chiseled jaw made him look sexier than ever. His gray eyes heated as he looked down at her, but she could see the circles beneath them. He’d been up all night working and instead of crashing the moment he’d gotten home, they’d made love for hours.
Now she was nestled naked in his muscular arms, exactly where she wanted to be.
“And the guys are all on their way home?” she asked after a moment.
“Yes, they’ll be wheel’s up within the hour and heading back to U.S. soil. The mission was a success.”
Sarah nodded, knowing Ryan could never tell her any of the details of his work. She was used to it, with her brother Patrick “Ice” Foster leading the Alpha SEAL team that Ryan commanded. It was somewhat unusual, she supposed, to be dating her brother’s commanding officer, but she wasn’t in the Navy, so what did it matter?
She and Ryan had danced around their attraction to one another for nearly a year, and when they’d finally gotten together? It wasn’t just fireworks in the bedroom, it was practically a nuclear explosion.
“You looked concerned for a minute when you first got home,” Sarah commented, glancing up at him.
Ryan raised his eyebrows.
“What? You think I’m not as observant as you?” she teased.
He shrugged. “I’m trained to be observant. And I just had a weird feeling earlier, like I was being watched or something. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary though or see anyone else around. I’ll look over the security footage in the morning.”
“Did you turn the security cameras back on?” she asked.
“They were just off for an hour so we could enjoy each other by the pool—I didn’t want to forget about them as you tempted me with your feminine wiles.”
Sarah giggled. “I think you tempted me, remember? You were hard the moment I jumped into your arms.”
Ryan growled and rolled them both over, pinning Sarah beneath him. “I doubt any man stood a chance against you in that skimpy little bikini.” He kissed her briefly but then moved down her body, nuzzling her breasts. The scruff of his jaw abraded her tender flesh, and she whimpered, loving the feeling of him against her.
“There’s no need to worry about me, baby girl,” he said, his voice gravel. “Everything’s perfectly fine, and I have other concerns right now. The team is on their way home, the mission was a success, and I want you to come one more time for me before we go to bed.”
“Ryan,” she pleaded as he began kissing her bare breasts.
His hot lips on her skin were already driving her crazy with need. He sucked one taut bud into his mouth, his tongue flickering over her nipple, his fingers moving down to her pussy.
Her lower lips were still soaked, swollen from their repeated lovemaking, and Ryan fingered her gently. He slid his thick fingers from her opening up to her clit, making her cry out beneath him. All thoughts of worrying ceased to exist—just the way it always was when Ryan made love to her.
Releasing her nipple, he kissed his way down to her sex. His whiskers rubbed against her sensitive inner thighs, and then he was kissing her intimately, pleasuring her with his mouth as she lost all sense of reason.
His tongue laved through her folds, teasing her, and then he licked her clit.
Sarah cried out, arching her back as he spread her thighs wide for him.
She was open and exposed, at his complete and utter mercy. He sucked her tender bud between his lips as she writhed and whimpered for more. She was lost to everything but the feeling of Ryan. He always loved controlling her body, making her cry out and come for him, and goodness if she didn’t love the attention he bestowed on her.
His muscular arms wrapped around her legs, holding her in place, and within seconds she screamed out his name as a tidal wave of pleasure washed over her.
As she lay panting for breath moments later, Ryan collected her in his arms, holding her tightly to him. “I love you,” he said. “I hated being stuck on base without you at night.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered. “I hated being here alone.”
***
SARAH AWOKE THE NEXT morning to the scent of breakfast cooking. Glancing at her phone on the nightstand, she saw that her alarm was going to go off in any minute. Grumbling to herself, she sleepily got up, letting the tangled sheets fall to the floor.
Ryan would have the day off after putting in crazy hours on base while one of his teams was on an op, but she still had to get to her physical therapy job. She had patients lined up all morning, and just because she’d rather sleep in and relax didn’t mean she had that option.
Groaning, she grabbed her silk robe, loosely tying the sash, and piled her hair on top of her head in a messy bun. Ryan’s side of the bedroom was perfectly neat, her own side somewhat of a colorful mess with her clothes, exercise ball, yoga mat, and hobo bag all jumbled together. Even his pajamas, if he bothered to wear them, were simple, boring plaid. Her own silky robe was a splash of bohemian color, and her lingerie was in every shade of the rainbow.
That usually ended up on the floor, too, she thought with a grin.
She padded down the hallway, wrinkling her nose at the smell of bacon. Even though she was a vegetarian, Ryan was very much a meat eater. She knew he’d have heated up her gluten-free, egg substitute quiche though.
Ryan smirked as she walked into the kitchen, probably looking like a rumpled mess, and handed her a cup of herbal tea.
“How can you look so wide-eyed and alert this early?” she asked, stifling a yawn.
“It’s called caffeine,” he commented dryly. “And I’m usually on base at oh-five-hundred. This is sleeping in for me.”
“Don’t remind me,” she mumbled. “Caffeine. Yeah. I might need some of that.”
“What happened to your seven-day detox to cleanse your toxins and center your whatever you called it?”
“Plans change,” Sarah said, setting the herbal tea on the counter and walking over to Ryan’s stainless-steel coffee maker as he chuckled. “I might need something more industrial strength this morning.”
“Wonders never cease,” he quipped.
“What’s so funny anyway?” she asked, glancing over at him before pouring a cup of steaming black coffee.
“You. You look like you were thoroughly pleasured last night.” The smug expression on his face and gleam in his eye let her know he’d be happy to do it again as soon as possible.
“Pleasured within an inch of my life,” she teased. “I need a long, hot bath this morning, not a full day of patients.”
Ryan’s phone buzzed, and he glanced down at a text while he turned off the stove, moving the pan off the hot burner.
“Is everything all right?” she asked, taking in his expression.
“Yep. I just have to go into base after all for a debrief with the team. Something unexpected came up, and they’re arriving back at Little Creek this morning. Luckily, I’m already up and dressed even though we were all off duty today. I’ll meet them there at oh-eight-hundred.”
“Bummer. I’ve got back-to-back patients this morning anyway though, so it’s not like we could be lazy in bed together.”
“Who says I’m lazy in bed?” he asked, his lips quirking.
“Touché.”
“You should switch all your patients here to the Virginia Beach office,” he said, crossing the kitchen to her. She barely came up to his shoulder and loved the way his large frame towered over her. She always felt safe with Ryan and taken care of—not that she needed a man to take care of her, but wow. She didn’t know what she’d been missing before she’d met him.
“I know, I know,” she said. “Driving back to Norfolk once a week isn’t something I plan to do forever. But this way I can check on my place and keep seeing a couple of patients there.” She shrugged. “It works for me.”
“What if you moved all your stuff in here?” he asked, his voice deep as he looked down at her.
“Then I’d live here with you for real.”
“That you would. You’re here almost all the time anyway—I want it to be every night.”
Sarah smiled, feeling somewhat giddy at making things official. “But you own your house. What if we broke up eventually or something? Or if I decided I needed a few burly SEALs to make me happy? Then I’d move out and wouldn’t have anything.”
“You wouldn’t be moving out,” he growled. “Besides, I wouldn’t let another man have what’s mine.”
He reached out and took her steaming cup of coffee, setting it beside her on the counter. Then he stepped closer, crowding her, so that her breathing hitched as she looked up into his gray eyes. “I want you here all the time, Sarah,” he said, reaching out and caressing her cheek. The rough pads of his fingers sent shivers racing down her spine. Those hands had explored every square inch of her body last night, and her skin heated just remembering it. “I want you here in the morning and here at night and all the other times in between.”
“Well, I do have to work some of the time,” she teased.
“Damn it, woman,” he muttered. “I’m trying to ask you something here.”
She reached up and lightly ran her hand over his chest, loving the feel of his muscles beneath her fingers. “Well, I do like your swimming pool, and the way you buy vegetarian food for me even though you grumble and complain about it....”
“I don’t want you to just move in, baby girl. I was waiting for the right moment, but hell. This has been sitting in my nightstand for a month, and there’s no time like the present. When I got up this morning, I knew it was today.”
She gasped as Ryan suddenly knelt down, folding his large body before her, and pulled a small box from his pocket.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Is that...?”
Her voice trailed off, and Ryan’s lips quirked. “It is. Holy hell, Sarah, I never thought I’d see you speechless.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” she said, feeling slightly faint.
“Sarah Foster,” he said, taking her hand in his, “I know this isn’t a fancy romantic dinner or weekend away, but hell. I don’t want to wait any longer. I want you to make me the happiest man in the world because I can’t imagine living life without you. Will you marry me?”
“Ryan,” she whispered, tears smarting her eyes. “It’s gorgeous.”
Ryan’s eyes filled with warmth, and he slid the ring on her finger, holding her trembling hand in his. “Don’t worry, it’s ethically sourced.”
She let out a shaky laugh, tears rolling down her cheeks. “You know me too well,” she whispered as Ryan stood up and thoroughly kissed her.
“So that’s a yes?” he asked, cocking a brow.
“It’s a yes,” she said, grinning up at him.
“Well thank God,” he muttered. “Nothing like making a man sweat it out. I’ve led men into battle, but that was the damn scariest thing I’ve ever done.”
Sarah giggled, playfully swatting at him. Ryan glanced at the clock on his stove, and then slowly began to untie her robe, moving even closer. “How hungry are you anyway? I don’t have to leave for base for an hour,” he said, planting kisses across her bare skin. The scent of his woodsy soap and aftershave filled her senses, and she trembled slightly as he kissed her again. “I can think of better ways to spend my time than eating breakfast.”
Her robe fell to the floor, and he growled in approval, caressing her bare skin.
“I can eat later,” she murmured, watching as his large hands slid over her breasts.
“I love seeing you naked, with nothing but my ring on your finger,” Ryan said huskily.
Ryan’s hot lips were on hers in the next instant, and he carried her down the hallway to his bedroom and made love to her until she was nearly late to her first appointment.
