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‘Apart from feeling like a fool for letting you go?’ He shook his head softly. ‘I realised that the anger I felt when I got my memory back was so strong because I was in love with you. I never stopped being in love with you—even when your father came to me, even when I lay on the ground with you holding me and begging me to live. And when I found you again those feelings were always there, drawing me back to you. Back to where I belonged. Once I’d worked past my own stubbornness, and once I’d realised how much I hurt you by telling your father you meant nothing to me, I saw that my anger was only towards myself, and I saw how blind I’d been to what I’d had. And I saw that I’d had the kind of second chance that most people can only dream of...’
Nora felt her breathing become shallow as she took a step towards him, flattening her hands against his chest and feeling the steady beat of his heart under her fingertips.
‘I don’t want you to jump back into my arms,’ he said. ‘I know you have every reason to wait and see if I can keep my promises. But if you give me another chance I will do everything right this time. I will show you every ounce of love I possess.’
Nora claimed his lips then, unable to wait another moment to be in the warmth of his embrace. They kissed for what felt like hours, her heart singing with joy at his words, at how his body moulded around hers in a mirror of the relief and longing she felt.
When they finally separated he still held her close and breathed in the scent of her hair. He laughed. ‘I think I might have to go back on that promise to leave.’
‘I think so.’ She smiled. ‘I know we have a lot of plans to discuss, but about your proposal—’
He cut across her. ‘I was wrong to make that proposal. I wanted to force you to stay with me, to be mine. If we do this now I want you to be with me because you want to. I don’t care if we never get married, as long as we’re together.’
‘And if I say I want to live here in the rainforest for ever...?’ Nora breathed, keeping her expression deliberately serious.
His eyes widened slightly. ‘Well, it would be a hell of a commute, but I would make it work somehow.’
She closed her eyes, laughter bubbling in her chest along with an intense euphoria such as she had never experienced before. ‘Well, if that isn’t love I don’t know what is.’
He lowered his mouth, nipping at her neck with his teeth and making her shiver. ‘You are a cruel negotiator, Nora Beckett.’
The kiss that followed was even steamier than the first, leaving both of them out of breath and her shirt wrapped around her waist by the time she had the sense to break away.
‘I don’t really want to live here,’ she said quickly. ‘I’ve spent all week applying for internships in London. I want a fresh start. I want to create a family with you and turn your big house into a home. Our home.’
Her hands travelled over his chest, feeling a bump under his shirt. He smiled self-consciously, revealing a chain around his neck and on the end of it...her diamond engagement ring.
‘I spent hours that day, picking this out.’ He pulled it over his head, placing it in her palm. ‘It doesn’t need to mean anything. It can just be a symbol.’
‘You know, I always dreamt of having my wedding here, in the local chapel, surrounded by the friends of my youth, my mother and our little community.’
Nora held the ring in her palm for a moment, watching it glitter and sparkle in the light. When she finally met his eyes again she felt a wave of emotion so strong it took her breath away. She placed the ring back in his hand.
‘I want it to mean something, Duarte. If you’ll still have me.’
He needed no further encouragement, getting down on one knee right there in the rain-soaked mud and taking her hand in his.
‘I didn’t give you a proper proposal the first time and I won’t make that mistake again.’ He looked up at her, the ring glittering in the light between them. ‘Will you marry me?’
‘I thought you’d never ask,’ she breathed, getting down on her knees with him as he slid the ring onto her finger.
‘I never thought I’d be so grateful for almost dying,’ he murmured against her lips. ‘If that pain was what I needed to go through to bring us back together I’d go through it all again right now, just to have you here in my arms where you belong.’
‘Please don’t,’ she said. ‘I was quite looking forward to celebrating our engagement somewhere private before we’re interrupted.’
He laughed, standing up and scooping her into his arms to carry her into the house in search of the nearest bed.
‘Lead the way, my love.’
‘I always will.’
EPILOGUE
AS A YOUNG GIRL, Nora had dreamt of her wedding day. She’d imagined herself walking down the aisle in a flowing gown to the sounds of a classical melody. As an adult, once she’d learned the truth of her parents’ history, she’d stopped seeing marriage as something to celebrate. But now, as she walked down the planks at the sanctuary’s wooden dock, hand in hand with the man she’d just vowed to love and cherish for ever, she felt her heart swell with joy.
They’d spoken their vows in the old chapel in the village, taking Liam into their arms between them towards the end of the ceremony when he’d begun to fuss. Nora wore a simple white strapless dress, with flowers from her mother’s garden woven through her hair. Duarte looked effortlessly handsome in a tux, the shirt collar unbuttoned. She’d chosen the colour scheme, even convincing him to tuck one of her favourite purple orchids into his lapel.
They reached the small speedboat at the end of the dock and Nora turned to her husband, looking over her shoulder at the small crowd of their loved ones, still enjoying the wedding reception and dancing on the bank of the Amazon behind them.
