“It’s okay, sweetie. Go back to bed, we’re just talking,” Aziza said, turning sideways. “We’ll keep our voices down.”
While she spoke Aziza wore a reassuring smile, which fell away when Sunita moved out of range.
Ryan rubbed his jaw, which was itchy. His beard needed tending. “After promising me you would stay here, you left without even a note to say you were going out. I’m definitely not okay with that. D’you know the places my mind went to when I came back and you weren’t here?” He waved one hand to encompass the space around them. “The only reason I didn’t start tearing this hotel apart was the fact that the room didn’t look as if someone dragged you out of it.”
Aziza flinched, then murmured, “I’m sorry.”
As his skin heated, he inhaled to calm himself. “I didn’t ask you to stay here because I wanted to restrict your movements. I wanted you here with me because I care about you.” He brushed past Aziza, walked to the sliding door, and stared into the darkness. The blackness of the sky would be nothing compared to what life would look like if she hadn’t survived. When he faced her and spoke, his voice was husky. “In case I haven’t made it plain to you, woman, I love the very ground you walk on. If anything happened to you, I do not know how I would make it without you.”
As she approached him, he kept talking. “Dropping everything and coming halfway around the world to find you must be a clue to how I feel about you, Aziza Hampton.”
She rested both hands on his chest, then slid them around his neck. After kissing his chin softly, she said, “Forgive me?”
He let out a heavy breath. “Yeah, when I’m done ranting at you.”
With both hands, she pulled his head down and brushed his lips with hers, then rained soft kisses over his cheeks and jaw. “How about now?”
“That’s unfair, but I suppose you know that.” He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. “Despite all of that, if you’ve made any plans, whatever they are, you need to change them.”
“I beg your pardon?” The penitent expression that took over her face disappeared as Aziza’s head reared back.
He took his time caressing her features with his gaze while his hands descended to her hips. “Seeing that I can’t trust you to be where you say you’re going to be, I need you where I’m sure you’ll be safe.”
“And where might that be?” she asked, her tone cautious.
“By my side, of course.” He pulled her in close, sank his teeth gently into her earlobe, then soothed it with a kiss. “Aziza Hampton, will you marry me?”
She pushed against his chest and leaned away so she could see his face. “Are you serious?”
Ryan sank one hand into her hair and nuzzled the skin behind her ear. “Why on earth would you think I’m joking at a time like this?”
“Because it’s so unexpected?” She gasped, then moaned when the tip of his tongue stroked her skin.
“I agree that life is full of surprises.” He pressed his lips to hers, claiming her mouth while he fused her body against his. He raised his head to stare into Aziza’s glazed eyes. Instead of giving in to his need, he forced his mind back to settling certain matters between them.
“The one thing I learned after you left Paradise Island was that we should seize the moment.”
“What do you mean, specifically?” Aziza asked.
“I’ll show you in a minute.” He guided her to sit on the end of the mattress, then went to the closet where he opened the safe and removed the ring.
Curiosity filled her eyes as he approached with his hands hidden behind him.
Ryan prodded her thighs apart and kneeled between her legs. He hugged her around the waist, pressing his head to her chest and breathing in the scent of jasmine and lemon. A familiar aroma from her favourite perfume.
Looking deep into her eyes, he prepared to get his words in the right order. “Aziza Hampton, will you do me the honor of marrying me, staying by my side, having my kids ... “ his lips curved in a grin, “and generally being where you say you’re going to be when you say you’re going to be there?”
Her lips twitched and for a second he thought she was going to laugh, then her eyes went liquid and she hugged him, kissing his forehead and cheeks. Aziza sniffed, then cleared her throat. “I don’t know about always being where I should be one hundred percent of the time but, of course, I’ll be your wife.”
Ryan wanted to jump up and roar, like he did at football matches when his team was winning, but the thought of frightening the child in the next room stopped him. He released the happiness bubbling inside him by grinning wide and hugging Aziza. “Say no more, my love.”
He opened the jewelry box, removed the ring, and slid it on her finger.
While Aziza studied the diamond, he brushed a tear from her cheek.
“Did you come prepared or what?” She rested both hands on his shoulders as she looked deep into his eyes. “How did you know you would find me?”
“I came to do what I should have done the last time we were together, and I wasn’t about to be denied.”
“So, why didn’t you ask me then?” she said softly, massaging his shoulder muscles.
“I was being a fool, I guess, thinking we had all the time in the world when I could have lost the best thing in my life.”
While her agile fingers eased the tension from his shoulders, Aziza asked, “So you’re saying if I wanted to keep my job, I don’t have a choice?”
He chuckled. “I’m not saying any such thing, but the one thing I know is that wherever I go, you go.”
She cupped his face and delivered a steamy kiss, swirling her tongue around his and making him want to
