Aiden comes up from behind me and slips his tie over my eyes, pulling it tight. He presses his lips to the shell of my ear, his breath sending chills down my arms.

“I have a surprise,” he says, his voice low and husky.

“Are we playing a game?” I reach up to touch the silky fabric, and Aiden grabs my hand.

“No peeking,” he says, before lifting me up to throw me over his shoulder.

“Whoa!” I hook my arms around his neck. “Where are we going?”

“Shh…Don’t ruin the surprise. I want you to see, hear, and smell everything.”

I don’t argue. Excitement bubbles in my chest as he walks through the living room and hits the button to call the elevator. A car opens up to our floor with a loud ding. Aiden doesn’t set me down until we reach the parking garage, my head spinning from the rush of adrenaline flowing through my veins.

Is this one of his crazy sex games? I’m dying to know what Aiden has planned for me. My pussy throbs from the anticipation. We almost never have sex in public places anymore, but today is not a date night, so all bets are off.

Aiden drives us to an undisclosed location with the top down on his Mercedes, the wind blowing through my hair. He doesn’t speak a word, the only sounds coming from the radio and the cars on the freeway with us. We eventually get off the highway, and the traffic builds, the car slowing down until we reach our destination.

“Am I allowed to look yet?” I ask, afraid to touch my blindfold.

“Not yet, my love. Be patient.”

He said to use my sensory perception. My nose perks up at the scent of the ocean, a distinct smell that I would know anywhere after growing up so close to the beach. We’ve had sex on the beach plenty of times but not in the daytime.

He gets out of the car and comes around to my side to scoop me up and into his arms, throwing me over his shoulder once more. I love when’s like this. Over the past year, I’ve grown accustomed to every one of Aiden’s desires, and I love all of them. I still have marks all over my body from him, but now they’re in less obvious places. I couldn’t wear the tank top and jean shorts I have on if we hadn’t come to an agreement about the dos and don’ts of the bedroom.

When Aiden puts me down, he stands in front of me and slowly removes the tie from my eyes. He’s smiling, unlike any smile I’ve ever seen on his handsome face.

“I love you, Scarlett,” he says, throwing the tie on the floor. “Sex was just sex to me before I met you.”

“I love you, too, Aiden. I feel the same way.”

“I know, my love.” He caresses my cheek with his hand, and I lean into his touch. “That’s why I think we should make things a little more permanent between us.” Aiden grabs both of my shoulders and spins me around to show me the surprise.

A wall of glass separates the living room from the ocean. Waves crash against the beach from a distance, the air in the house thick with a salty sweet taste. I raise my hand to my mouth in shock.

“This place is incredible,” I mutter.

Most of the space is white marble, like Aiden’s penthouse, with nothing but windows as far as the eye can see. I glance up at the second floor, the spiral staircase spinning down to meet us, and find even more windows upstairs. It’s like being inside a massive fish tank.

“I’m glad you think so,” he breathes against my ear. “Because I bought it for us.”

I turn around to stare into his eyes, still in shock. “This is ours. We live here?”

He nods and lifts my hand up to his mouth to kiss my skin, before getting down on one knee, still holding onto my hand. Aiden removes a black box from his pocket and holds it up.

I gasp. “Oh my God. You’re…”

He bobs his head. “I want to replace your submissive ring.” Aiden opens the box to reveal a massive princess cut diamond engagement ring. “You were never submissive, no matter how much you try for me. The band on your finger was a promise not to stray from our relationship, but this ring is my promise to love you for the rest of my life. I can’t promise that I will never hurt you again or that I won’t take things too far in the bedroom on occasion, but I will take care of you. Forever. Always. Scarlett, will you marry me?”

Tears stream down my face that I have to wipe away. I give Aiden’s hand a squeeze and smile. “I love you, Aiden. Of course, I will marry you. As if you even had to ask.”

“Good girl.” He flashes a wicked grin as he tugs on the submissive ring, pulling it off my finger so that he can replace it with the diamond. “Now that we have that matter settled, go in the kitchen and bend over the island for me.”

As if I wasn’t already elated about the recent change in events, my body is on fire with the promise of Aiden being inside me.

“Yes, sir.” I smile down at him and walk into the kitchen.

I bend over the massive granite counter in the center of the room and lift my ass up in the air. Aiden positions himself behind me and pulls down my shorts. I’m not wearing any panties since those haven’t been allowed since the beginning of our relationship. Not until he reaches between my legs and drags his finger along my wetness do I realize we’re in a house made almost entirely of glass.

“People can see us,” I choke out between moans.

“No, they can’t. You can see them, but they can’t see you.”

I smile at him over my shoulder. “You found a way to fuck me in public without being in public.”

A wicked smirk turns up the corner of his mouth. “Now, we both can have what we want on date night.”

“Aiden,” I hiss, my eyes closing from the pure pleasure rocking through my body.

All it ever took was one touch from this man, and I was his. While our love may seem strange and corrupted from the outside, it helped Aiden heal. He will always have demons he needs to address. There’s no denying that. But I love him, down to the darkest part of his soul.