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She tips her head and presses a kiss to the center of my chest. “You’re not morally gray. You walk the line of being intensely supportive without being overbearing perfectly. Look at Nadia. Look at me. Life gave you some sour fucking lemons, and you added the sugar and made yourself some lemonade. You love so fiercely. I think she’d be proud of you. Just like I am.”
The only thing that’s certain about where I’m going is that Mira will be with me when I get there. I’ll make sure of it. I’m playing for keeps.
“If there was any uncertainty in your mind about where we stand, let me clear that up for you now.” He slows his thrusts, pulling out and then driving in hard, rattling my body with the force of his claim. “You are mine.” My hands slip on the desk, and my legs shake. “And I am yours.”
This thing between us feels new—like it’s going somewhere.
Tugging her pants up over her deliciously round ass she asked me quietly if we were exclusive now. Vulnerability written all over her beautiful body. I pulled her into my arms and assured her. Absolutely.
Are we dating? What do you call this? I laughed. She scowled. I don’t give a fuck what you call it so long as you’re mine.
But the look she gave me when I told her she was mine was worth the risk. Over and over again. Worth
Because she looked at me like I was her prize as much as she is mine.
“Then take him. I saw the way that fool looked at you when you were here. You might have thought you were tricking us by bringing a fake date to fend off the questions, but not me. And nothing about that day was fake for him.”
I need to tell her I love her.
The smoke I can handle. Losing her when I’ve only just found her, is what I won’t survive.
“Mira. I love you.”
What if she dies saving everything that she thinks is dear to me without knowing she is everything to me? I love you. I love you. I love you.
She pats my chest and shakes her head. “Poor sweet fool. That girl was coming back for you. Don’t you know her well enough to know she doesn’t quit? She walked into that barn because that’s the type of person she is. A little prickly, but as loyal as they come once you get her. And don’t worry, you’ve got her. I rather think you’re stuck with her.”
And I’m going to tell her I love her. Over, and over, and over again.
“He went into the burning barn—when everyone told him not to—and carried you out. If it wasn’t for him, I’m not sure we’d be sitting here today. I mean, he literally walked through fire for you.”
Billie reaches up to wipe them away, drawing my attention away from Stefan. “The guy is a total nightmare.” Her voice cracks, but she blinks quickly and forges ahead, “But not in the way I thought. Never mind his barn, I think he’s been ready to burn this whole fucking hospital down to get you the best care available and what I’m pretty sure is like a twentieth opinion.”
“You love so fiercely. Just like I told you. Just like me. I didn’t think twice about walking into that barn.”
“Who told you that?” His eyes dart to the opposite side of the bed where Billie sat earlier, but I tip his chin back down toward me. “You did.” “Did you hear me in the barn?” His voice is raspy, his accent shining through a little more than usual as his free hand lands on my knee and strokes me there. I quirk my head, knowing I’ve struck a chord. “No… but have you walked through fire for any other girls lately, Stefan?”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep you safe. But I want to spend forever trying if you’ll let me.”
“You make me a better man. A happier man. I said it once before, and I meant it: you are mine and I am yours. I will drink whatever ungodly coffee concoctions you bring me. I will worship your body.”
“I would walk through fire for you any day. Over and over again.”
She’s looking up at the sky, all pink and orange as the sun crosses the horizon of the mountains, when I drop to one knee.
“I’ve never considered myself a particularly good man. I never thought I was a bad man either. I was just a man with a sad past and no one to love. And then I saw you. It only took one look and I swear some part of me knew.”
“I knew my life would never be the same. You didn’t treat me like I was a bad man. You didn’t always treat me like a good one, either. But you made me want to be a better one. You make me want to deserve you. And I have every intention of spending the rest of my life trying.”
“This fire almost stole you from me. I almost lost you. And that’s a mistake I never intend to make again. I intend to cherish you like the treasure you are. This fire burned everything else away. My anger, my vendettas. The only things that mattered to me I pulled out of it. And so, I’m taking this as a fresh start. Everything else is ash—dust in the wind. And now I realize that the only thing that matters is what made it out. You and me.” I pause here, watching my love reflected at me in her eyes. “Mira Thorne, would you do me the incredible honor of being my wife?”
“Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Nothing would make me, or my aunt, happier.”
