by Lori Ryan
“What are you up to, Garret Hensley?” she asked, her full-blown librarian voice on board. Why that shot straight to his cock, he would never know. He pulled her down the hall to the bedroom.
When they stepped into the room, she gasped, and he knew she was taking in the candles, the rose petals on the bed, the jewelers’ box sitting on her pillow. He went to the edge of the bed and sat, pulling her into his arms. He reached beside him for the box and opened it to show her the solitaire diamond ring set in platinum.
When he looked at her face, there were tears shimmering in her eyes. “I hope those are happy tears,” he said.
She didn’t speak, but nodded vigorously, and he laughed, then slipped the ring from the box and put it on her finger.
“You’ve made me the happiest man in the world simply by letting me be in your life. But if you say yes to making it official, to making this permanent and building a family with me, you’ll make me even happier. Marry me, Ashley Walker?”
She nodded again and he couldn’t help the laugh that came from deep within him. He meant what he said. He’d never been happier. And it was all her doing.
“I love you, Ashley.”
“I love you, Garret,” she finally said, wrapping her arms around his neck and nuzzling her face to his. His body had already been primed and ready for her, but her simple act brought out the raging primal need to be inside of her again. His vixen had other things in mind. She lifted herself and took hold of him, slipping his hard length between her legs so he jutted up along her wet slit. She began to move her hips in small circles, teasing and taunting him with a gleam in her eyes.
“If you loved me, you wouldn’t torment me like that.”
All he got in answer was a soft moan as she continued, adding her hand, her palm skimming the head of his cock as she moved.
“Evil, demon woman.” He said the words, but they weren’t harsh. And he felt nothing but love for her as he slipped his shirt off her. He grasped her by the waist and tossed her on the bed, then moved over her to begin some torture of his own.
He spent some leisurely time working his way with his lips and tongue down her neck, her shoulder, the slope of one breast, then the other. When he bit down lightly on one nipple, grazing the tight bud with his teeth, she pushed up into him with her hips on a groan. He laughed. He planned to thoroughly enjoy this and wasn’t about to let her rush him.
He quickly realized he’d have to pin her hands if he wanted to have his way with her, but he didn’t mind. He grasped her wrists together, having a somewhat caveman-like reaction to the flash of his ring on her finger, before raising her hands above her head and holding them there. He continued to worship her breasts, loving the perfect round globes and the pink nipples that seemed to strain for more attention from him.
He wanted nothing more than to love on her like this forever, but there were other parts of her body calling to him. He released her hands as he worked his way down, kissing a trail as he went. He stopped and pressed his face into the softest part of her stomach, something that always made her squirm, but it was one of his favorite things to do. He loved the soft feel of her. Loved how her body felt so welcoming to his.
“Stop,” she said with a giggle and pushed his head away. Always the response he got, and he loved that, too. He nipped her skin in punishment and continued down her torso, spreading her legs wide. He stopped to look at the gorgeous folds and the hooded tangle of nerves waiting for him. She was so damned gorgeous, she took his breath away. He licked her from the base of her slit to her clitoris, then circled and suckled as she writhed beneath him.
One finger, then two, slipped inside of her as he clamped down and suckled hard, and she burst for him, just as he’d hoped she would. Her body flew beneath him as her hips moved with the orgasm. He marveled at the look on her face, then kissed her mouth while she came back down to earth. He raised himself above her, looping one knee up over his arm and sheathing himself inside of her.
“I love you, Garret,” she said as she laced her arms around his neck and pulled him close. He kept his pace slow, leisurely withdrawing from her, before slowly—so damned slowly, he thought it might kill him—pushing back into her.
“I love you, too,” he said, his eyes locked to hers as they began to move as one. Within minutes, they were both sent flying over the edge, this time, going together.
When they caught their breath and Garret had Ashley tucked into the curve of his body, his chest to her back, her backside snug against his hips, she sighed. It was the kind of sigh he loved to hear from her. The one that told him she was deeply satisfied. Content and happy, and he loved to know he’d put her in that state. And now he’d get to spend the rest of his life doing that, bringing her happiness.
“What do you think of me throwing my name in the ring for chief and relocating here permanently?”
She twisted in his arms and turned those gorgeous blue eyes on him. “You’d do that? Would you be happy with the job? The small town? The slower pace?”
“Yes, yes, and yes,” he said, laughter sneaking its way into his voice. “I’d love the job. New challenges and the chance to build my own team. I might just see if Doug is interested. I love the town, and as for the pace, I’m not sure it will be slower. Just different. But either way, slow is good, Ash. I need more time to spend with you. Time to start a family. Time to build our life together. And we need to be near your family.”
“We do?” she asked, eyes round as though she couldn’t believe he would take her family and her roots in this town into consideration.
“Of course we do. You need them, and they need you. Hell, this town needs you. Where else would they find a hell-raising, soft-porn-writing, kick-ass librarian?”
She smacked his chest. “I do not write soft porn!”
He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. “Yes, you do. I’ve read it.” He dropped a kiss to her lips. “I loved it. I hope to inspire more of it. I’m at your disposal day or night for research and testing anytime.”
She harrumphed at him and he laughed, pulling her close.
“So, yes to the chief thing? Yes to relocating?”
She looked into his eyes and nodded. “Yes to it all, Garret Hensley. Yes to it all.”
The End
Be sure to catch all of the action in Lori Ryan’s
Heroes of Evers, Texas Series
Love and Protect
Promise and Protect
Honor and Protect
(Red Soles Clues Collection)
Serve and Protect
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Acknowledgments
Thank you for taking the time to read this book. You guys rock. Really. I can’t remember if I’ve told you this before, but some books I have to work for, while others simply come to me. Ashley’s story came to me one day on a walk several years ago, as if she were walking with me and told me what to write.
I didn’t know at the time who her hero would be or how the story would unfold, but I knew I had to write her background story exactly as she’d told it to me. S
ince you made it to the end, you know it wasn’t an easy story to write. I was crazy nervous to put this one out into the world. I didn’t know if people would hate that Ashley had such a brutal background or if the story would just fall flat in the writing of it. My beta readers convinced me it was okay to stick out there. I’m still praying they were right!!!
I love to hear from readers and especially love keeping in touch with you. If you go to my website at www.loriryanromance.com, you’ll see a place to sign up for my readers’ list at the top. Sign up there and I’ll send you fun stories, updates, chances to win prizes or get ARCs of future books, and more! I hope to see you all there. Oh, and if you loved Ashley’s story, please tell a friend, loan the book to someone who might enjoy it, or write a review on the retailer of your choice. Thank you!!!!
About the Author
Lori Ryan is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense. She lives with an extremely understanding husband, three wonderful children, and two mostly-behaved dogs in Austin, Texas. It’s a bit of a zoo, but she wouldn’t change a thing.
Lori published her first novel in April of 2013 and has loved every bit of the crazy adventure this career has taken her on since then.
She is a hybrid author, publishing both as an indie author and through SilverHart Publishing. She also has a new side hobby of creating coloring books for adults! Lori loves to connect with her readers. Follow her on Facebook or Twitter or subscribe to her blog.
Oh, and if you’ve read Lori’s books and loved them, please consider leaving a review with the retailer of your choice to help other readers find her work as well! It’s a tremendous honor to have her work recommended to others or written up in reviews. Lori promises to do a happy dance around her office every time you write one!
@Loriryanauthor
loriryanromance
www.loriryanromance.com
Also by Lori Ryan
Heroes of Evers, Texas Series
Love and Protect
Promise and Protect
Honor and Protect
(Red Soles Clues Collection)
Serve and Protect
Triple Play Curse Series
Game Changer
Game Maker
Game Clincher
Sutton Capital Series
Legal Ease
Penalty Clause
Baker’s Bodyguard
Negotiation Tactics
Billionaire’s Suite Dreams
Wedding Bell Blues
Her SEALed Fate
Lori’s Adult Coloring Books
Serene Shapes: Coloring Your Way To Calm, vol 1
Serene Shapes: Coloring Your Way To Calm, vol 2
Serene Shapes: Coloring Your Way To Calm, vol 3
Serene Shapes: Coloring Your Way To Calm, vol 4: Children’s Companion Book