But Finn wasn’t about to let that kind of comment pass. He smacked her hip in a light spank, beyond pleased that she moaned and a full-body shiver ran through her at the discipline. “Don’t call yourself stupid or I’ll have to spank you. Got it?”
She went breathless, her hands fisting in his hair. “Promise?”
His brain glitched and he started growling before he figured out what the hell was happening. Lauren managed to lift herself up enough his cock slid into place and almost into her, already slippery and slick from the shower and her excitement. He fully meant to keep telling her how amazing she was, but everything else disappeared. Finn manhandled her a little to make sure everything lined up, then dropped her down on his cock. He held tight to her waist so she wouldn’t flail around and reveled in her tight channel pulsing around him. Lauren gasped and moaned, arching to rise up, but Finn kept her right where she was, ass flush against his thighs.
He palmed her breast and squeezed, kissing the back of her neck, and waited for her to collapse back against him. He chuckled and casually teased her clit, rubbing around it until her body clutched at his cock and he couldn’t wait another second. Finn kept her steady as he thrust slowly, still seated and enjoying the spray of hot water. Lauren held on to him, and he held on to her, and rode the connection into a slowly-building climax that left them both sated and panting in the middle of the steam.
LAUREN
Reality blinked slowly in and out as Lauren sprawled across Finn in the shower. The only realization that stuck with her was how the water stayed so hot for so long. It was like a damn miracle. She couldn’t even process the sheer ecstasy of lying there in Finn’s arms and letting him pleasure her while she flopped around like a beached fish and made entirely inappropriate noises that echoed in the beautiful bathroom.
It felt like an eternity and just a few minutes at the same time before he reached for the washcloth. Lauren stirred, ready to stand up, but he murmured something and kept her exactly where she was in his lap, their bodies still connected even as he softened. Finn quickly washed her, being careful but also not trying to get her all worked up again, then stood her up and made sure they both rinsed off.
The soap smelled lovely, subtle and spicy and utterly like him, and almost distracted her from how her knees wobbled when he finally got up. Finn turned off the water, careful to keep a hand on her so she wouldn’t fall to pieces, and lifted her out of the shower and wrapped her up in a towel from the fancy metal contraption—which was warm. A warm towel. She almost cried,wrapped up in it, and inhaled from the unbelievably soft fluffy terrycloth so she didn’t start sobbing like a child.
Everything he did was careful and loving, but natural. He did those things because he wanted to and they made sense to him, not because he expected something in return. Finn thought ahead and put towels on a warmer before the shower, something that wouldn’t have even occurred to her as an option, because he wanted her to have warm towels when stepping into the cool air. Lauren shook her head when he glanced at her, a little concern in his eyes, and she managed to smile and go up on her toes to kiss him. How did she get so lucky?
Finn kissed her again on the forehead, then swooped her up to carry back to the giant bed covered in luxurious sheets and a floofy comforter. No wonder she thought she’d been surrounded by clouds. He put her down and puttered around to find sweatpants and to rub his hair with a towel to dry it a little. Lauren would have done the same but she couldn’t get any of her limbs to actually cooperate.
Finn’s knee dented the mattress as he knelt on the bed next to her and leaned down to kiss her forehead and cheek and then her mouth. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
Lauren smiled and started to link her arms around his neck. “All I need is you.”
“Good,” he said, grumbly and growly. Her skin prickled and she stretched, ready to cuddle up and go back to sleep for an age. Finn kissed her, then murmured, “I’ll be right back. There’s something I want to give you.”
Her eyebrows arched as he untangled himself and went to another room, rummaging around loudly enough she sat up and got a little worried. What could he possibly want to show her? They’d only been there a few hours, at least she thought that was how long it had been. Maybe she was supposed to follow him.Lauren had just decided to figure out how to make her legs carry her into the other room when Finn reappeared.
His hair stood up in every direction, as wild as his beard, and he still wore only sweatpants as he hopped back into bed and nearly bounced her off the mattress. He held out a small box, grinning, and waited for her to take it. Lauren’s heart beat faster as she studied it. A jewelry box. A ring box? It looked and smelled quite old, definitely not something from the store.
She didn’t know what to say and turned it over in her hands for a long moment. What did it mean? He wanted to show it to her. Did he want her to admire it? She couldn’t get over the feeling it meant something more, but she didn’t dare jump to conclusions. Even after everything, he definitely felt too good to be true. Just handing her a ring… It was definitely too good to be true.
Lauren finally opened the box, holding her breath, and nearly dropped it. A small ring was inside, like she’d expected, but it took her breath away. It was pale gold with a small setting of stones: rubies forming small petals around a central diamond. It wasn’t ostentatious, it wasn’t enormous and gaudy enough to be obviously fake. It was small and tasteful and obviously really, really valuable. She swallowed the knot in her throat. “It’s beautiful.”
“It was my great-grandmother’s, and my grandmother’s, and my mother’s.” He watched her, occasionally glancing at the ring box. “I don’t have any other family, so it came to me. And I’ve been holding on to it ever since. Gave up hope I’d have someone to give it to.”
His voice got rough with emotion, and Lauren’s heart cracked for him. Such a beautiful heirloom. No wonder he wanted her to see it. Obviously it had been loved and handed down, carrying a great deal of commitment and family history.She smiled and offered the box back, too nervous to hold it for long in case she dropped it. “It’s very lovely.”
His dark eyebrows went up and he didn’t take the box. “I thought it could be your wedding ring.”
“My what?” She fumbled the box and sucked in a breath as she grabbed it with both hands.
“Your wedding ring. Or engagement ring. I don’t know the difference, but I want my wife to wear it.”
Lauren shook her head, trying to catch up. “I…what?”
Finn lost a tiny bit of his self-assurance and the casual relaxation as he sprawled on the bed next to her. “Uh…do you not remember me asking you to marry me?”
She sat straight up, not caring that the towel fell away and she didn’t even have sheets to cover her. It didn’t matter, since she could only stare at Finn. “Youmeantthat?”
“Well, yeah.” Finn blinked. “Didn’t you?”
Lauren couldn’t breathe. She’d hallucinated all of those sweet things he’d said in the helicopter, or so she thought. But he actually meant them? That he wanted to marry her and be with her forever? “I just… I didn’t think I heard you right.”
Finn collapsed against the mattress next to her hip, laughing hard enough he actually jostled her too. Lauren watched in confusion as he flopped to his back, still chuckling. He wasn’t mad?
He sat up and then faced her, picking up her left hand as well as the ring box. “Lauren Tucker, you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’ll say it every day until you believe me. Will you marry me?”
Lauren stared at him. For once her brain couldn’t produce a single thought, much less the flurry she was accustomed to. Her mouth worked soundlessly. Her mother would have laughed her ass off to see Lauren so flummoxed, although it would have beenlaughingather instead of with her. And Finn’s smile meant he was amusedwithher, that Lauren wasn’t the joke.
