ChapterSeven
Ryker
Brandy was sprawled out on the floor of the living room, her tablet above her face as she read a book. I smiled at the sight of her. My girl was fucking weird, but it was one of the many things that made me love her.
She looked over at me. “Hey,” she breathed.
I grabbed her beneath her arms and pulled her to her feet. I was already in my fall semester of school, and after the night of the fourth, Brandy hadn’t had any more flashbacks or nightmares. She was sleeping through the night again, and so far, that spark in her eyes hadn’t dimmed.
“What are you doing on the floor?”
She shrugged. “It was comfortable.”
I snorted and led her into the kitchen. She was a strange one. “You had lunch yet, or were you too buried in your book to notice what time it was?”
Her cheeks flamed red, and I knew I had my answer. I spun her around to face the counter. “Hands on the counter,” I ordered. “Bend over.”
Drawing in a shaky breath, she did as I instructed. I yanked her shorts and panties down before I grabbed a wooden spoon and smacked it across her ass ten times before massaging the sore, red, tender flesh. “Will you forget again, Little Star?”
She instantly shook her head. “No,” she told me.
I lifted her to sit on the counter, and she hissed in pain but didn’t voice her discomfort. She watched as I made us each a sandwich, and I stood between her legs as she ate hers. I finished way before she did—I was fucking starving—and spent the time waiting on her to finish sliding my hands along her bare thighs and up the shirt she was wearing.
I couldn’t keep my fucking hands to myself around her. She was addicting as hell.
Once she was finished, I washed our dishes and dried them before putting them away. Then, I grabbed her ring from my pocket and turned to face her. “Marry me,” I blurted.
Her eyes widened in shock. Tears welled in her pretty eyes. She instantly began nodding her head, her lips trembling from the intensity of her emotions. “Yes,” she croaked. “Yes, Ryker, I’ll marry you.”
I slipped the ring on her finger and grabbed her face in my hands, slanting my lips across hers. Gripping her hips, I yanked her closer to me. She linked her legs behind my back, her fingers plunging into my hair.
And for once, I made love to her.
Because this moment wasn’t a time for me to brutally fuck her.
She’d just agreed to marry me—to spend the rest of her life with me.
She deserved something a bit more tender at that moment because she’d essentially just given me every single piece of her that she had left to give.