My heart raced as I took in the sight. Memories of the day that changed everything for us filtered through my mind—of us finding a similar intimate place among the enchanted wood, and what had ensued there and after.
It was the beginning of everything. It was the beginning ofus.
“Do you like it?” he asked as I remained pressed against his chest. “I stumbled upon this place years ago and have been longing to bring you here since we arrived.”
“It’s stunning,” I answered as I took a step away and turned to face him. “Now please tell me you didn’t bring me out here just to look.”
My hands reached for the bottom of my shirt and pulled it over my head. When my gaze met his, he captured his bottom lip between his teeth as he watched me. When my fingers aimed to unbutton my pants, his own shot out and handled it for me. He pulled my pants past my thighs and silently assisted as I stepped out of them.
“I will never have intentions of ‘just looking’ when it comes to anything with you,” he breathed.
His eyes roamed over me while I stood before him, wearing only a bandeau fastened around my breasts and the undergarments that were beneath my leathers.
My fingers worked to unbutton his shirt and then pulled it down his arms. Now my own eyes leisurely explored his chest, and the markings from all the previous battles he had fought. My fingers lightly traced over them, working their way down to the muscles that led below his belt.
When my eyes lifted to meet his, my breath caught under his gaze. My touch lifted once more to reach the scar that marked his perfect face—one of our many combined markings that was a testament to everything we had endured together.
Jace took my hand in his and then pressed his lips to the back of it. While he guided me to the water’s edge, my gaze drifted towards the hill that led to the falls.
“I should have known,” he said knowingly.
“For old times’ sake?” I challenged him, while tugging both of his arms to come with me.
“I go where you go.” He watched me with a grin.
We each moved to climb the steep, grassy hill that led to the top of the waterfall, his presence a constant support at my back as he followed my lead.
With the moon now ascending and casting its glow, the atmosphere surrounding us became enchantingly beautiful.
At the top of the waterfall, the cascade was a ribbon of liquid silver, shimmering in the moonlight as it fell to the pool below.
It exposed hidden dewdrops on the canopy’s leaves, making them shimmer as if they were the stars in the sky above. Bioluminescent fungi emitted a soft, pulsating light on the forest floor. Fireflies danced around us as we neared the small cliff’s edge, freely weaving through the air.
It was so eerily similar to the scene in the rift at the isles, yet I felt comforted more than anything.
From the top of the most breathtaking view I had ever seen, a sense of peace washed over me, realizing that this moment would forever be incomparable.
“My Lia,” Jace breathed from behind me.
Turning to face him, my heart skipped a beat at what my eyes beheld—Jace on one knee, his hand extended uptoward me with a ring delicately held between his fingers. His eyes then locked with mine, filled with adoration.
“Jace.” My voice was barely audible. “What is this?”
“Every word I have ever spoken to you regarding where I stand has been true, and that is to be at your side for the remainder of my days—in victory or defeat, in sickness and in health.”
My lips parted as I took in his words.
“While I cannot fathom the responsibility you bear on your shoulders, I can still feel it every waking and sleeping moment of the day, and I plan to alleviate any burden from you that you allow. It would never matter to me where we end up after our victory. A cottage on the coast, an estate in the valley, a castle in Isla… I am nothing if you are not with me. And while I plan on us both surviving what is to come, I wish to approach our final stance with you, not only as my mate but as my wife.”
A single tear slipped down my cheek at his confession. “You wish to be my King Consort?”
As he stood up, he cradled my hand in his, slipping the ring onto my finger. “I wish to be anything you need me to be, as long as it entails being at your side.”
I sucked in a sharp breath.
“What say you, Elianna Valderre? Will you make me the happiest mate in the realm and be my wife?”
My eyes drifted down to the ring now encircling my finger. A silvery sheen sparkled in the starlight, the band carved into two dainty wyvern wings that wrapped tightly around an oval-shaped emerald. My jaw dropped as Iobserved it, twisting my hand at all angles to view the one-of-a-kind jewelry he had created for me—his queen.
