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“Ma,” I said, “This is my Brielle.”
My mother studied Brielle with open interest. I recognized the look from my youth. She’d once given my teachers, my friends, and anyone who might influence my path the same attention. Then she smiled. “You’re the one.”
I smiled. “She’s the one.”
Áine reached out and took Brielle’s other hand in hers. Brielle let her, though I could see the surprise in the set of her shoulders, the slight parting of her lips. “You take good care of my boy.”
“I will,” Brielle promised with a smile. “I’ll always do right by him.”
“From what I hear, you’ve already proven you will, dear. My Mághnus couldn’t find a better woman than you if he tried.”
“Well,” I brought Brielle’s hand to my lips, “I have no intention of ever trying. I know what I’ve got. And I’m not letting go.”
Later that night, after Hannah and Lavender helped Brielle and me get my mother settled in the apartment down the hall from us, I sat with Brielle on the balcony, looking out at the lights coming from the river. I’d wrapped a blanket around us and we both sipped coffee. Mine black. Hers laced with a liberal amount of Bailey’s.
“You know I love you, right?” I looked down at Brielle, hoping she understood how completely and thoroughly under her spell she had me.
“I know,” she said with a soft smile. “I love you, too.”
I kissed her forehead, breathing in the scent of her shampoo and the Bailey’s on her breath. “Then marry me.”
Brielle stilled against me, her coffee cup freezing halfway to her lips. “What?”
“You heard me.” I turned to face her fully, the blanket slipping off my shoulder. Cold air hit my bandaged side, but I didn’t give a shit. “Marry me, Brielle. Make it official. Make it forever.”
She gave me a confused look. “I thought that’s what the property cut was for.”
I blinked down at her. “So, that’s a yes?”
She huffed out a breath, blowing a curl from her forehead. “Honestly, Dane. How many times do I have to agree to be yours forever? Because, if it’ll make you feel more secure in your manliness, then yes. I’ll marry you.” Her lips twitched once before she burst into giggles, throwing herself at me, peppering my face with kisses. “It’s definitely a yes. This is exactly what my grandmother wanted. For me to be happy. And you, Mághnus Rourke, definitely make me happy.”
One kiss led to my dick in her pussy in the cold autumn air. But that was OK. The blanket was heated, and soon she was screaming my name, and I groaned, coming deep inside her pussy.
I took her inside, and we laughed as we cleaned up. As we climbed into bed, I reached for her, pulling Brielle snugly against me and wrapping my arms tightly around her.
It didn’t take long before Brielle’s breathing evened out, and I could hear her small, contented snores. I couldn’t help but smile. I had my biological family and my found family under the same roof. I had the woman of my dreams in my arms, in my bed, and permanently in my life. For the first time, my life felt complete. And I felt like the luckiest son of a bitch in the world.
