I shiver. “Are we…really going to do this?”
“If you want to. If you’re ready.”
I do want to. I don’t know whatreadylooks or feels like. I’m still so scared. I have never wanted to love someone like this before. No one else has ever mattered this much.
Gripping his shoulders, I take a deep breath and hold his gaze. “Our marriage was stupid.”
“Hey.”
“It was. It was so bland. Generic. A real courthouse wedding. Practically screamedwe’re doing this for tax purposes.”
“We eloped, secretly, in the heat of the moment. It was, incredibly, romantic.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
He rolls his eyes off me. “Okay, fine. It wasn’t. It was functional. It was serious. It was making a point.”
“The point being?”
“I love you to the brink of insanity, and whatever you think about yourself that’s less than palatable, I can and will top it.Have you even realized how little crap you’ve given me over marrying you? You throw more fuss at me for dirty laundry or getting my sandwich crumbs on the floor when I eat by the fridge. Now I’ve given you the best reason to be livid, and you hardly seem bothered. Shocked, sure, butbothered? Not really. Want to demystify that for me, dearest?”
Warmth skates up my back. “You were trying to bother me by marrying me?”
“I was trying to show you I don’t have a limit to what I will do for you and that I am more than willing to impose upon you in outrageous ways that can’t begin to touch whatever it is about you that you think pushes people away. I thought you’d go off, but I wasn’t doing it to set you off.”
“I still can’t believe it happened. I still feel like I need to wait for the certificate and then go check the state records myself. I know you’ve mentioned marrying me plenty, but I don’t think I ever believed that youwould. Then, you just did it. Without question. Without hesitation. You sprung it on me as though it wasn’t some big choice, as though you didn’t need to think or consider or weigh whether or not you wanted me. You were sure. And I…” I sniffle. “I don’t know. I can’t wrap my head around the idea that someone issureabout wanting me.”
Kyran scrubs his thumb beneath my eye, catching a teardrop. Then he moves to capture the moisture on his tongue. “There’s very little else I’m half this sure about, Morana.”
“You made an excellent point,” I whisper, find a shaking breath. “It was a very loud point. So loud, actually, it’s still ringing in my head.”
He hums, and I shiver, because his mouth has found a place at my throat, kissing sweetly, toying, teasing. His hands grip my thighs, tight enough to relay desperation as he grounds and paces himself—restraining.
“I’d like to give you better vows,” I say.
He pauses, drawing back to look me in the eye. I know I look pitiful. I’m shaking with how badly I want more of what he was just doing. My eyes are glassy with tears and every inch of my flesh is on fire. He takes in the sight, swipes his thumbs against my legs, and becomes mildly predatory. “You would, mistress?”
Shy, I nod.
He unlatches one hand, skims his touch up my body, and cuts his thumb across my jaw. “Go on.”
Heart thundering in my head, I whisper, “Kyran Bachelor, I promise to communicate openly with you and never let you question what happened between us. I promise to honor and protect. I swear the rest of myself, everything I have to give, everything that hasn’t already been taken, to you. I want to be a good wife. I want to be kind to you when it matters. I want you to know that you’re important to me. I want to be your safe place. I want…to be your forever.”
He catches several more tears on his knuckle, smiling as he runs his finger along my cheekbone. Deep with conviction, he murmurs, “Morana Bachelor, I promise to never leave you wondering where you stand in my heart. I promise to treasure you in every way I can. I will put you first. I will love you wholly. I will become your safe place, because I am your forever—just as you are mine.” His fingers find mine and stretch them until our pads and palms meet. “There is no future without you. You are my eternity. I feel it in every breath and every moment between. I love you. Can youfeelhow much I love you, Morana?”
“I…think I’m starting to.”
“Do you know that I’ll love you even more in the morning? No matter what happens right now, I will keep loving you more, and more. No matter what you do, or don’t do. No matter what you say, or don’t say. I love you for everything you are and everything you aren’t and everything you will or won’t become. You…Morana…are precious to me.”
I settle my forehead against his and let the tension leave me. “I…would like to love you like that. Will you teach me how?”
His lips graze mine as his eyes close. “I will show you that you already do.” He kisses me, and electricity sparks in my soul. “Are you ready?”
“Y-yes.” A gasp fills my chest as his mouth settles against my collarbone.
“Do you trust me?” He nips.
Right here, right now, I am choosing to. “Yes.”
