Page 56 of Return to the Island

“Juliet?” I exhaled as violet eyes smiled down at me. A hand pressed against my chest. My heart raced underneath it. “Am I dreaming?”

She shook her head, her smiled growing.

“I’m here.” I sat up abruptly and wrapped her in my arms.

“You feel so real,” I murmured into her hair, kissing her neck.

“I am real,” she giggled, and I pulled back to stare at her.

“What are you doing here?”

“Finding you,” she whispered, and we took a moment to drink each other in. With my arms wrapped around hers, I flipped her over me to lay on the bed beside me. She giggled as her head hit the pillow. I was hyperaware of being mostly naked and her mostly clothed, but I couldn’t take my eyes from hers. Violet. Beaming. Glistening.

“You’re real,” I whispered, wanting confirmation one more time.

“I’m real.” My hand instinctively reached for her jaw, and I kissed her without thought. To my relief, she didn’t pull away but kissed me in return. It wasn’t heated. It wasn’t heavy. It was light, tender, seeking.

My lips asked of hers, can you forgive me?

Hers told mine, I already have.

We kissed for long seconds, taking our time as if nothing had passed and nothing mattered going forward. Only this moment was what we needed. It felt every bit like being on the island. We had no sense of time, no rush for time. We just lived.

I pulled back after several minutes, staring down at her. She smiled slowly up at me.

“How did you get here?”

“Eight million dollars goes a long way,” she deadpanned. I fell back to the mattress, my head hitting the pillow with a soft thump. Staring at the ceiling, I could feel her eyes on me as she rolled to her side. “Why did you do it?”

“I told you I would,” I said to the spackled ceiling.

“Why did you leave?” she corrected, and I rolled my head to face her.

“Because you couldn’t look at me. You no longer saw who I was. You didn’t see me. You saw something else.” My voice faltered, and I closed my eyes. All I’d ever wanted was for her to notice me. The real me. Not the façade I put on for my parents, my false friends, my business practice. Me. A man who wanted to be loved, given permission to take love and return it.

“I see you, Tack,” she said, stroking the side of my cheek. “Even when you were hiding in Baltimore, I saw you beneath it all. I just wanted you to stay you, and it scared me.”

I nodded rolling my head back to face the ceiling.

“I thought I could merge the two parts together, but I can’t, and I don’t think I should. I’m much better who I am now.” I looked back at her. “And it’s because of you. You make me better.”

She smiled sweetly, but I don’t think she understood me.

“I don’t like to be alone. It’s one of many reasons I searched for you. I felt incomplete knowing you were out there, and I couldn’t get to you. Does that make sense?”

“Perfect sense,” she said, and her smile grew larger. “Two pieces of a puzzle,” she muttered.

“If you no longer want to be with me, I understand. I do. But know that I’m willing to beg you not to leave me, even though I walked away from you.” My eyes hadn’t left hers, and she swiped at a forming tear.

“You don’t have to beg, Tack. You just have to ask nicely.” Her eyes sparkled, mischievously.

“I—” A delicate finger over my lips cut me off.

“I know why you did it. You want their permission, as well. But you have to accept that sometimes when you ask for things, the answer is still no. No, they won’t approve. No, they won’t like me. No.” She bit her lip before proceeding. “I imagine ‘no’ is not a word you’ve heard often.”

It wasn’t. I’d been told I couldn’t do things, and I did them anyway. I’d been assured I could do things, when I wanted someone to care enough to say I shouldn’t. No was not part of my vocabulary.

“If I ask you to still marry me, and you say no, it will crush me,” I admitted, allowing myself to be vulnerable as hope erupted through me like a volcano. Her presence here meant something.

“No,” she said, and my heart plummeted but her eyes still playfully sparkled.

“What the…” My voice drifted off as I rolled my head away from hers. My fingers dove into my hair. What the fuck was she doing here, if she was only going to deny me?

“Hey,” her hand cupped my jaw, tugging me to face her. “No, I’m not saying no.” Her lips curled. My face lifted, a smile breaking my cheeks.

“You little vixen,” I muttered, rolling my whole body over hers, this time taking her mouth captive like the hunter in me. She giggled against my attack, her body rippling as well with vibration. We kissed through the chuckle, before I broke free.

“Thank fuck,” I murmured, rolling her to lay with her back to me. My arm slipped between her breasts, and her hand guided me to rest my flattened palm flat over her heart.

“I can’t promise I’ll be perfect, but I’m asking permission to spend each day of my life trying to prove to you that I’m good. You deserve any fantasy you wish, and I want to make them all a reality.” I tugged her to me, relishing the feel of her heartbeat under my hand, in a position we had perfected together.

She rolled to face me, kissing down my chest to my heart. My breath hitched, desperate eyes following her trail. I was the man that fell to my knees and said I’d submit to her, as long as she promised not to leave. She whispered to my heart, saying the same words she’d said in a tent, on an island, after I asked her to hold me for the night. I’d made a mistake that night as well, but she forgave me. As she’d forgiven me again and again, because that’s what love does. I reached for her left hand and pulled it up to my mouth, kissing over the engagement ring.

“I haven’t taken it off,” she murmured, looking up at me with those eyes that could pierce my heart and warm me with their heat.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you wildly,” she replied, and I tugged her to me. Those were the only words that needed to be said.