Lauren

 

Six months sailing on a boat ought to drive anyone a little crazy. And yet, six months later sailing with Asa and I felt like I could live my whole life with her on the water. As I dropped anchor in the little cove for the evening, I knew I'd made the right decision. No more running, no more hiding. Just living and sailing. Asa and I still checked in on dry land every couple weeks, and we'd followed the news after the Fortress went up in a ball of flames, but no one ever mentioned us, and no one from his outfit ever came looking for him.

 

I relaxed in the cockpit of the boat now, a romance novel spread on my lap while Asa rummaged around below deck. I didn't need the romances the way I used to, I'd had enough adventure to last me a lifetime. But they were still fun to read. My man came clomping over the deck on his bare feet and came into the cockpit, bottle of chilled champagne in one hand and two flutes in the other. He'd switched to just board shorts with no shirt, and his tan was rich and dark, making his smile somehow even brighter. Scars crisscrossed his body. A few old were old, but many were new – still purple, and reminders of what we’d escaped.

 

“Champagne for the lady/” he asked, a smile dancing on his lips as he began to pour a glass of bubbly for me.

 

“Well, don't mind if I do,” I said, putting my book aside and taking the offered flute.

 

“You know,” he said as he finished pouring his glass and set the bottle aside, “it's amazing how this boat seems to have everything we need.”

 

“Really?” I asked with a grin. “Because I can think of one unnecessary thing here, especially since I got my new load of novels.”

 

“Oh really?” he said, leaning back against the cockpit wall, his eyebrow raised. “What that might?”

 

“You,” I teased, rising from my seat and pressing my body into his, running my hands over his naked chest and abs. “You can still barely sail, and you eat more than twice your body weight.”

 

He laughed as he pulled me into his arms, his hands finding my lower back and beginning to massage my sore muscles. I lay my head against his chest, just listening to his even breathing and the thump-thump of his heartbeat.

 

He reached into his pocket and rummaged there for a moment. “One thing I did find down there, in a secret compartment,” I leaned back a little and looked up at him, then down at his hand, at the little box resting in his palm, “was something that might not be absolutely necessary.”

 

I looked back to his smiling face, then back to the box as I covered my hand with my mouth.

 

He opened it up, revealing a diamond ring. It was beautiful, a solitary stone on a band of gold, at least a carat.

 

“Would you?” he asked.

 

“Do you even need to ask?” I grinned up at him, threw my arms around his neck. “Yes! I'd love to!”

 

He pulled my lips to his, kissed me again, long and deep. As we kissed, he pulled first one hand behind my back, then the other. I wasn't sure what he was doing, but I didn't struggle or fight his strong arms. He reached into his pocket, and there was the sound of metal rubbing on metal as he reached back behind me, his tongue now pushing into my mouth.

 

I felt the cuffs as they locked over my wrists, securing them together. I shivered a little at the memory of the first time I'd had these on, of those nights in the motel.

 

“Found one other thing down there, too,” he replied with a sly grin.

 

The cove grew darker as he stripped me of my clothes. The quarter moon rose as we made love. We weren't finished till well after it went back down.

 

THE END

 

 

 

 

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