Page 45 of Stealing Cinder

"And you didn't answer me in the shower. You challenged me instead." I open the box and hold it so the sapphires catch the garden light. "Marry me, Cinder. I'm done playing, done waiting, done pretending a life without you in it is worth living."

She sits up. The sheet pools around her waist and her hand trembles when she reaches for the ring. Her fingers brush the diamond and then she cups my face with both hands and pulls me to her mouth.

The kiss is warm and slow, her lips softer than they were ten minutes ago, the fire replaced with something quieter and more devastating.

"Yes." She breathes it against my lips. "Yes, I'll marry you."

I slide the ring onto her finger and the sapphires settle against her skin. The fit is right. I knew it would be. I memorized the circumference of her ring finger five months ago while she slept in my arms and I spent two hours staring at her hands.

I climb into bed beside her and pull her against my chest. She tucks herself under my chin, her palm resting over the black hole and my name, her ring finger catching light every time she moves.

The house settles around us. The climate system hums low enough to register in my teeth. Beyond the glass, an enforcer's shadow crosses the far fence line and disappears.

"How can I rest when I know what's coming?" Her voice is barely louder than a whisper.

"Because I'm here to protect you."

Her fingers trace the edge of the vines climbing from the void over my heart. "Why do your friends call you Bones?"

My jaw tightens and then relaxes. If she is going to wear my ring, she deserves to know the man behind the name.

"It's a dark story."

"I want to know the man I'm marrying." She angles her head up, her eyes clear and steady. "Please trust me with your darkness as I trust you with my light."

I pull her closer and rest my chin on the crown of her head. The garden beyond the glass is still and silent, the hedges pale green under the landscape lights.

"Years ago a man in my territory killed his wife. She was a good woman. Kind. She had the nerve to defy him in front of his associates and he beat her to death for it. He dumped her body at the edge of my property."

Cinder's fingers curl against my chest. Her breathing changes, her chest expanding slow and careful.

"I cared for her body. Cremated her with respect and ground the remains to ash. Then I invited the husband to dinner."

Silence.

"He left that night with a belly full of his wife's ashes and a spirit so broken he never harmed another person as long as he lived." I exhale through my nose. "Valerian was there. He started calling me Bones after that and it stuck."

Cinder is quiet for a long stretch. Her thumb traces slow circles against my ribs, her ring catching the light with each pass. When she speaks, her voice is thick with sleep and raw from the night's intensity.

"You punished a man who killed an innocent woman." Her lips press against my chest, right over the black hole. "And you honored the dead."

"Some would call it monstrous."

"Some didn't know the woman who died."

My arms tighten around her. The warmth of her body seeps into mine and fills the cold places in my heart that have been frozen for longer than I want to remember. The baby shifts between us, a small kick against my forearm, and I spread my palm wide over the curve.

Her lashes flutter against my skin. Sleep is pulling her under and she's fighting it, her fingers still moving against my ribs, her breath growing longer and deeper.

"I love you, Samuel." The words are barely louder than an exhale.

I press my lips to the crown of her head and hold them there. In a few hours, the sun will rise and the work of ending Edgar will begin. Blood will spill. Orders will be given. The world outside these walls will demand the version of me that grinds bones and buries enemies.

But right now, my ring sits on her finger. My child kicks against my palm. And my princess sleeps in my arms.

I close my eyes and hold on to her, feeling the emptiness in my soul fill with love. A love I’ll do anything to protect.

CHAPTER 14