“I apologize,” he said. “I was grabbing another present for you.”
The fire in her eyes blazed. He’d seen Ana mad before, pissed off, annoyed, even furious, but this was the closest to rage he’d ever seen. She might murder him if he told her she was fucking gorgeous.
“I will tell you exactly what you can do with the butt plug, you jackass. You can stick it so far up your—”
He reached out and covered her mouth again, and he was momentarily afraid she was going to bite him. He held the box up so that she couldn’t miss seeing it. Her eyes went wide.
“You ready to listen now?”
She nodded and he took his hand from her mouth. One handed, he flipped open the box to reveal its contents.
“Jake?” She reached out to the ring box, but hesitated. “Is it really...?”
He maneuvered the box so he could see it, too. “The Staffordshire Diamond,” he said.
He’d had it set in a ring. Temporarily anyway. Just like all the other jewelry, the diamond could be removed. The ring was still a thing of beauty, though, if he did say so himself. It was a thick platinum band with tropical flowers and trees etched into it. It matched their island better than he could ever have imagined.
“Where? How?”
He shrugged. “Like I said, I’m a criminal. I want to marry you, Princess. Spend the rest of our lives here in paradise. Raise babies. Let my parents come visit, which they are dying to do by the way. Robert Barnes, who’s the one who paid me to steal the necklace in the first place, wants to come visit, too. Also, he happily parted with the diamond once I told him what I wanted it for, so way to go with that.”
He knew he was rambling, which was very unlike him. But silence was also unlike Ana and he found it unnerving. He was pretty sure she was happy with him here. She seemed to be, though he supposed he’d kept her naked and in bed so much it was hard to tell. The longer she was silent, the more nervous he got that maybe he’d read things wrong. Maybe she didn’t want to be with him here. Forever.
She reached out, he thought to the ring, but then her small hand touched him. Right over his heart, right over the diamond tattoo. “I can have them both?”
He stepped toward her so that their bodies touched. Relief coursed through him. She did want him half as much as he wanted her.
“You can have anything you want,” he said, his voice husky.
“I only want you. I’ve always only wanted you.”
He pulled the ring out of its protective box and slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand. “It’s a bit much for every day, but I wanted you to have something of your own that the diamond would attach to, not just your grandmother’s collection.”
“It’s perfect,” she said. Then she laughed. “You’re right, a bit much, but still perfect.”
He dropped the box and jerked her toward him. She crashed into him, her hand with the ring landing right over his heart.
“You did not just try to run away from me, did you?”
She couldn’t have missed the warning tone in his voice.
“I, uh, you didn’t bring any of those toys with you, did you?”
Of course he did.
He took her hand and led it to his pocket so she could feel the slim plug. Her eyes went wide again. This time he didn’t mind so much.
She walked her fingers up his chest, around to play with the hair at the back of his neck. It was one of his favorite things she did. Of course, he had a lot of favorite things.
“And now you’re trying to distract me?”
“I—”
He didn’t let her speak. Instead, he kissed her. Hard and punishing, he demanded entrance to her mouth. She didn’t fight him at all. He knew she wouldn’t. She’d give him anything he asked for.
They fumbled with their clothing as they made their way back to the bedroom. They reached the king-sized bed and Jake moved away from her only long enough to kick the box of toys to the floor. He heard things roll under the bed, but he didn’t care. Later he could ask Ana to dig them out for him. He loved when she was on her hands and knees.
Jake tossed the plug onto the bed when she tried to toss his pants out the door. They tumbled onto the bed, arms and limbs tangling, both desperate to touch as much of the other one as possible. He gently removed the nipple clamps while there was still rational thought left in his brain.