The Bodyguards' Princess

by Mayburn, Ann

  She rubbed her cheek against his chest and smiled at him. In all of her wildest dreams she never would have imagined the depth of love that she felt for her men. "Well, I guess that's fair." She turned her head and gave Kent a nod with a significant look before turning back to Asher.

  Kent leaned over her and kissed Asher's forehead. "Lalita and I had a talk while we were waiting for you to wake up."

  His heart sped beneath her cheek and she smoothed her hand over his gown covered chest. "Don't worry. It was a good talk."

  Leaning back, she let Kent hold her and stroked the soft hair on his arms. "We wanted to ask you a question."

  "What's that?" Asher's eyes filled with a crushing vulnerability as Kent rubbed his chin on top of her head.

  She looked to Kent and he nodded. Taking a deep breath, she got down on one knee next to the hospital bed and Kent followed suit. "Will you marry us?"

  "What?" The look of apprehension fled his eyes, replaced first with disbelief, then joy.

  Kent stood and took his hand again. "Well, it won't be really legal--"

  "But who needs a piece of paper to make it real?" Lalita felt nervous waiting for Asher's answer. He watched them together and said nothing, his face closing down into that unreadable bodyguard expression. "We'll take it one day at a time. I know it won't be easy--"

  "Nothing worth having is easy," Kent added.

  "But we both love you too much to lose you."

  The heart monitor slowed as Asher's heartbeat returned to a normal rhythm. "What about your father?"

  Blushing, she looked down at his hand and traced the paleness of his nails against his dark skin. "He doesn't want to know the details, but he's okay with it."

  Asher's hand stirred beneath hers and his fingers lightly entwined with hers. "Do you have a ring?"

  Startled, she looked at him and blushed. "Uh, no."

  "Some proposal this is," Asher huffed. His eyes sparkled and he groaned as he tried to sit up again.

  Kent moved over to the other side of the bed and they both pushed him back down. Asher reached out with both hands and cupped the back of their heads, bringing their faces down to him. With their cheeks pressed together, he moved his lips across theirs in a soft kiss. "Yes, I would love to be your husband."

  Elation filled Lalita’s heart, turning to a soft whisper of desire as they shared a kiss together that had Asher's monitor beeping. The door opened behind them and a startled female voice said, "Oh! Oh, uh--stop upsetting … heart rate … oh my."

  Kent broke the kiss ,and Lalita felt her face heat with a blush as she blinked at the staring gray-haired nurse. "Sorry about that. We asked him to marry us."

  Lalita didn't believe the nurse's face could get any redder than her own. She was wrong. The nurse played with her stethoscope and said in a faint voice, "Did he accept?"

  "Yes," Asher said from between them with a wide grin.

  "Well … congratulations. Who's going to be the … never mind." Trying to scrape herself together, the nurse backed out of the doorway. "Try to keep calm. You need your rest. Yes--rest."

  The door clicked shut, and they all began to chuckle, then laugh until Lalita and Kent had to lean on the bed. Feeling blessed beyond all words, she hugged her men to her and looked forward to a future filled with unimaginable love.

  Series by Ann Mayburn

  Club Wicked Series

  Prides of the Moon Series

  Chosen by the Gods Series

  My Wicked Valentine

  Amber Moon

  Blessed

  My Wicked Nanny

  Emerald Moon

  Dance of the Gods

  My Wicked Devil

  Turquoise Mon

  Dreamer

  My Wicked Trainers

  Onyx Moon

  Virtual Seduction Series

  My Wicked Gypsy

  Amethyst Moon

  Sodom and Detroit

  For the Love of Evil Series

  Opal Moon

  Sodom and the Phoenix

  Daughter of Lust

  Sam and Cody

  Long Slow Tease Series

  Princess of Lust

  Want

  Still

  Ultimate Fantasy

  Cherish

  Scandalous Wish

  Adore

  Pursued by the Prisoner

  Stand Alone Books

  Peppermint Passion

  Sensation Play

  Bound for Pleasure

  Summer’s Need

  The Breaker’s Concubine

  Wild Lilly

  Diamond Heart

  The Bodyguards’ Princess

  Blushing Violet

  About the Author

  Ann is Queen of the Castle to her wonderful husband and three sons in the mountains of West Virginia. In her past lives she’s been an Import Broker, a Communications Specialist, a US Navy Civilian Contractor, a Bartender/Waitress, and an actor at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. She also spent a summer touring with the Grateful Dead-though she will deny to her children that it ever happened.

  From a young age she’s been fascinated by myths and fairytales, and the romance that often was the center of the story. As Ann grew older and her hormones kicked in, she discovered trashy romance novels. Great at first, but she soon grew tired of the endless stories with a big wonderful emotional buildup to really short and crappy sex. Never a big fan of purple prose, throbbing spears of fleshy pleasure and wet honey pots make her giggle, she sought out books that gave the sex scenes in the story just as much detail and plot as everything else-without using cringe worthy euphemisms. This led her to the wonderful world of Erotic Romance, and she’s never looked back.

  With over thirty published books, Ann now spends her days trying to tune out cartoons playing in the background to get into her “sexy space” and has learned to type one handed while soothing a cranky child.

  Ann loves to hear from her readers and you can find out more about Ann at:

  http://www.annmayburn.com

  https://www.facebook.com/ann.mayburn.5

  https://twitter.com/AnnMayburn