Page 2 of Promise

He whispered it during the quiet of us coupling and playfully teased it in public in front of others, ones questioning how he ended up with me. Something I still wonder as well. Knowing it’s going to hurt like hell when this ends.

Dart has a reputation for being a flirt. He’s easy on the eyes and easily swayed others into bed. It’s difficult to believe there is anything remarkable enough about me that he’d choose me for eternity.

“Marry me, Forever,” he says as I smooth my hands over the ripples on his abdomen.

“You’re just saying that, so I’ll find the key and unlock that handcuff.” I keep my tone light, coy even, while my pulse skitters.

He sets his hand over one of mine on his belly and nods toward the key on my white nightstand, implying I don’t need to search anywhere for the mechanism.

“You’re the key to me.”

Something in his voice has me tilting my head. Dart is always joking around, tossing out cheesy lines like swiping playing cards off a stacked deck.

My gaze pinches the slightest, questioning the vulnerability in his eyes.

“Come on, Trin. Put me out of my misery.”

He gently bucks his hips, and I lean deeper into his stomach with the motion.

“You want to have endless sex, with only me, for the rest of your life?” I tease because marriage is sacred to me. It means monogamy, faithfulness, and unending trust, like my parents have.

“I do.” His response is sharp and serious, like he’s making that vow at an altar before a priest.

I laugh, but Dart tightens his fingers around my hand. The chain attached to the cuff at his wrist clangs against the beam of the headboard, reminding him, in case he forgot, he’s handcuffed. He doesn’t look toward the clinking reminder but keeps his gaze focused on me.

“Dart?” I whisper, no longer certain if he’s toying with me or being heartfelt.

“I mean, I do want to have sex with you forever.” His mouth twists, the corner pops up. A teasing fishhook catching me unaware.

“See.” I smack his bare chest, the thwack snappy and loud, cracking through the momentary quiet that lingered after I’d exhaled his name. “I knew you couldn’t be serious.”

Still, my heart blooms. Petals unfurling from the mix of reality and fantasy.

“But I am.” His voice drops again, those eyes killing me with their sincerity. Their fear.

What could this man possibly be afraid of?

He races cars for fun. He was a philandering flirt, having countless women before me. He stood on rooftops and built houses.

“Say yes, Forever.” The emotion in his voice emphasizes the nickname. The infinity in it.

“Dart.” My throat thickens as I spread my fingers and coast them up his chest. His heart races beneath my palm.

“Trinity Haven, please be my wife. My life. My forever.”

With my knees on either side of his hips, my body stiffens from his genuine plea. As if something deep inside me hears the quiet truth.

I might still feel puzzled that he’d want me above anyone else. Maybe, a little afraid of his restless, almost reckless, spirit. But the love inside me is nearly suffocating. Instantly, I imagine a life with this man, who I believe is good at his core and faithful to a fault, at least with friends. With the few people he truly allows close to him, like me.

He really wants to marry me. No more fucking around. No more endless flirting.

Just me. Permanently.

“I won’t break you, Trinity.” He slides his large palm to my knee, skimming up my thigh, along my side, to pause over my heart.

A promise.

One said more like a reminder to himself to never be like his parents.