Page 44 of All The Way Under

“Brody,” I say. “When we were at the lake house, you said you never wanted shore duty. You called it the Broken Flipper Club . That real SEALs never ask to stay back.”

His neck works as he swallows. “I think I said SEALs never ask to stay back unless they have a reason.”

“What’s your reason?”

He looks away.

“I’m tired, Saylor.” He meets my gaze, and he smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“And Nolan found Catherine. I want that. I want what they have. I’m not a jealous person by nature, but I’m jealous of him because now he’s never lonely.

Seeing him reach a milestone has never affected me the way it did when he found his person.

It made the jagged hole in my heart and my life glaring. ”

He strokes my cheekbone with the back of his knuckles.

“I’ll never assume anything about you again, but I want you to be my reason.”

I cup his hand and hold it against my face. The sun sets completely, and now the only light is from the fairy lights and the lights embedded into the deck.

“I thought you wanted me to be your friend,” I say. “This doesn’t sound like friendship territory.”

“I do want you to be my friend. What’s that saying? Marry your best friend, and there will be laughter every day?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. That sounded suspiciously like a marriage proposal, Brody McCoy.”

“If it was?” he asks, a line forming between his brows. “If it was, what would you say?”

His blue gaze dances over my face.

“I’d probably ask if you were feeling okay,” I say, honestly. “Because you didn’t ask in a cantankerous way, but then I’d say yes.” I lick my lips. “That is, if you had actually asked,” I amend.

Brody bends down on one knee, taking a box out of his shorts. He opens the ring box, exposing the most stunning sapphire ring I’ve seen in my entire life. It’s a color I’ve never seen before. Then it hits me where it’s from.

“You got that stone in Madagascar. It’s native there.”

He nods. “I found it while we were installing that sprinkler system and knew I had to keep it for right now.”

“Brody,” I say.

He waves me off and looks like he’s going to pass out. He exhales noisily.

“I’ve been shot at, dropped out of planes, nearly drowned, dragged teammates out of hell, and none of that scared me like this does.

Like you do. Marry me, Saylor Wyndham. Marry me and do life with me.

I’m probably going to mess up, and God knows I’ll be an asshole every once in a while, but I will be loyal to you.

I will love you like no one else can. All in.

Every damn second. I can’t live without you. ”

“Are you done? Are you going to put that ring on my finger or make me wait another year?”

He slides the ring on. A perfect fit. It’s so beautiful and perfect that I cry.

“Next time you propose to me, maybe lead with the part where you can’t live without me instead of war.”

“I did live without you, and it was unbearable. I don’t want to relive that.” He stands, pulling me to him. “Was that a yes?”

I’m still looking at my left hand, holding it out, watching the cobalt stone sparkle in the moonlight.

“A thousand times, yes. A million times, yes. I can’t believe this is real. I was so nervous for tonight that I played out scenarios all day, and this one wasn’t even on the list.”

“Can I kiss my fiancée?” he asks, tone lowering. “Please.”

I reach my hand around his neck, and he leans down to kiss me. His hands rove over my ass, and he pulls me against his hard-on sharply. I can’t help the quiet moan that escapes my mouth.

This is the connection that’s been missing. Most of the pieces of the puzzle of my life were in place, and even though I knew this was what I was missing, Brody needed to be ready.

I taste him this time, and it makes my head swim and my stomach dance. His big hands are warm as he runs his hands up my sides, and then he holds my neck in place.

The hollow ache is finally dulled.

Brody pulls back. “You like the ring?”

“I love the ring.”

“When we got back to the States, I took it to my dad’s friend, who is a jeweler.

It looked like just a dark blue rock when I found it.

He turned it into that. I don’t know fuck-all about jewelry, but I designed the setting and stole one of your rings for twenty-four hours so I could get your size. It was a mission in and of itself.”

“I’m so impressed. It’s the color of your eyes. It’s perfect.” I shiver.

He pulls two notecards out of his back pocket and holds one in each hand.

“I planned a few things, but I wanted to make it fun. Pick one.”

“Right,” I say, grabbing the one on my right and reading it. “It says, Brody McCoy is certifiably insane.” I flip it toward him. “Night swim? Are you crazy?”

“There are no sharks here. It’s too shallow. Just a quick swim so we can say we did it,” he says.

“I don’t even know who you are anymore,” I say, folding my arms. “What’s the other card say? I pick that one instead. Black water swimming is terrifying, Brody.”

“It’s sailboat sex,” he says coyly. “Which we can do after we swim.”

I take off my dress to expose my bikini and toss it down into the berth.

“Take off your clothes,” I order. “The sooner we dunk ourselves in that ocean, the sooner we can move on to more entertaining, safer options. Plus, I have a gift for you too.”

He’s undresses, except he doesn’t have a bathing suit underneath.

“Oh, this is just not fair,” I say, licking my lips. “I’ve waited a year for this, and you’re going to parade it around, yet make me wait?”

His smile is white against the dark sky, and his dick, like it always is around me, is hard.

“You could make it fair if you wanted to.”

“Skinny-dipping? Here?”

He nods firmly. “Break some rules, Wyndham. We’re living a little tonight, McCoy style.”

And I do. First, I make him check the sonar system to make sure nothing big is swimming near or under us, then he holds my hand, standing starboard, and we jump off the gunwale.

The water is electric cold, but Brody pulls me into his body—his warmth—and I stop shivering. He treads water so easily. I just lean my head against his wide chest and savor the closeness and this connection. The embrace is gentle, but his arms are strong.

“I feel like nothing can touch us here,” I whisper.

“Nothing can ever touch us. I will always protect you,” Brody replies, bringing my ring up to kiss it. “Look. The bioluminescence.”

The tiny blue lights float and sway in the distance like stars trapped in the ocean.

That’s always what I think about when I’m sailing at night, and I see the living light the marine plankton emit.

It’s alive, just like the stars, swirling and warping with the waves, never breaking, always flexing. Always bright and stunning.

Brody pulls me down and kisses me underwater, just for a few moments, running his hands over my breasts and down my sides.

The warmth from his hands sends a thrill through my body, my stomach flipping with excitement.

We surface, bodies entangled as he swims us toward the ladder and lets me climb back on board first.

There are two big towels folded nearby. I grab one and drape it over my shoulders. I hand a towel to Brody, and he does the man thing, dries his hair, then a half-assed towel off for his body, then wraps it around his hips.

I head to the berth where it’s always warmer and climb onto the edge of the king-sized bed. The tray of food is in the center, so Brody gets on the other side.

“From the moment I began working on this fucking time suck, I thought about you. I wanted to show you stuff as I went. It almost made it bittersweet because I couldn’t.”

“Or it makes it sweeter now because I can see how well it came out. You did a fantastic job, Brody.” I pause. “I got you a little gift too. Let me give it to you,” I say, reaching into my tote bag and handing him the box.

“When I sailed around the world, I did stop in Madagascar. Not because I’m crazy, and only for a brief stint to get some of the sand.

” I pause as he opens the box, eyeing what’s inside.

“The cage wasn’t there anymore, but of course I knew exactly where it was.

They did convert it to a base like you said, but I talked them into letting me do this. ”

I look away, hoping this brings back the same sweet memories as it does for me.

“Sand is mostly silica or quartz. You can heat it, and silica can crystallize into a gemstone.” I nod at the leather bracelet he’s tightening on his wrist. “I was going to have Cat give it to you if the wedding run-in didn’t go the way I wanted.

I thought you should always have a piece of that time.

To remind you of how sweet life can be in the middle of madness and desperation.

” I swallow down the emotion. “I still think about our time there, and the good outweighs the bad.”

“Saylor, I don’t know what to say,” Brody says, voice breaking on the last word. “I love it.”

I blow out a breath. “Good. I’m glad. You don’t wear jewelry, so this could go one of two ways. I made the stone myself, but I did have to send it to our family jeweler to get it mounted and put on the leather so it would last forever. You can get it wet and everything.”

He fingers the stone, tilting it so the dim cabin light catches the nuances.

“I can’t believe you went back on that base,” he says, finally. “Alone.”

“Sometimes we have to do things alone,” I say, shrugging. “If I had it my way, you would have been with me, remember?”

His face drops. “I’m sorry. Torturing myself is one thing. I’m used to it. I thrive in hostile environments. Torturing you is quite another thing entirely.”