Page 76 of Her Wild Warrior

“How did I get in front of you?” she whispered the question when she found herself standing inches from him.

“You floated across the room,” he whispered back.

“I don’t mean to hurt you,” she told him.

“Then stop doing it.”

“I love you. I love everything about you, and I want everything I can possibly have with you, all the strings and duct tape. I want to tie us together,” she breathed out the words.

“In that case.” Ryker smiled. His hand slid into the inside pocket of his leather coat and he pulled out a small blue box. He opened the lid, and Amy stared at her future.

“You’re willing to tie yourself to me? Really?”

“Lady, of course I’m tying you to me. I’m a sailor; I know knots and you’re never getting loose!”

She looked back down at the princess-cut diamond with emeralds on either side. It was beautiful.

He pulled it out of the box, then threw the box over his shoulder. He lifted her left hand. “Amy Linden, I love you. You’re who I think of when I go to sleep at night, yours is the face I want to wake up to each morning. Will you marry me?”

“Yes. A million times yes! I love you, Ryker!”

He slipped the ring on her finger and she burst into tears. He gathered her into his arms and kissed her.

He didn’t care that he was going to miss out on birthday and Christmas presents for the next hundred years. That was the deal he’d struck with the powers that be if he could have just one thing instead, and it was worth it. He’d gotten the best present in the world—Amy Linden in his arms, finally admitting that she loved him and that she wanted to have a real relationship with him.

Wanting to marry him.

He swooped her up into his arms and carried her over to the couch and nestled her onto his lap.

“This isn’t my bedroom,” she teased shyly.

“Stick with me for a few minutes, would you?”

She nodded her head, then wrapped her arm around his neck and stroked her other hand in his hair. “Right now, for just this moment, I want… No, I need a kiss. A deep kiss that I’ll remember forever. Can I have one of those?”

“Oh yes.”

He tilted her chin and brushed her lower lip down with his thumb. She swiped her tongue against it and he groaned.

“You’re going to burn me up before we even get started.” He feathered a gentle kiss on her temple, gliding ever closer to her lips. She held her breath in anticipation until he finally rested his lips on the side of her mouth. She turned her head and captured his mouth.

He groaned, and soon his tongue was curled around hers until he heard her needy whimper. Ryker tangled his fingers in her hair as his hand coaxed her closer, slanting her so their mouths met at the perfect angle. Their noses brushed—just another caress, another connection making them melt into one another.

Ryker felt his blood begin to boil, but he had some suspicions from their make-out sessions, and he wanted to take tonight slow. Amy squirmed on his lap and Ryker broke the kiss, resting his forehead on hers, trying to get his body back under control.

“Why are you stopping?” she asked.

“I want to touch you more, so I was just gearing up and making sure I could keep myself under control,” he admitted rawly.

“Doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose? Aren’t you supposed to be out of control?”

“Amy, honey, I might be wrong about this, but I don’t think I am. I think I’m the one bringing the most experience into that bed in there, would you agree with that statement?”

She ducked her head and started fiddling with the hem of his Henley t-shirt. “Yeah.”

“As a matter of fact, I’m thinking that what you have in the way of experience is close to none, am I kind of right?”

No sound from her this time, just a little nod.