So she can’t leave.
“I love you too,” I say between kisses, holding her so tight I’d risk cracking her ribs if the searing pain from my arm didn’t prevent me from getting her even closer. “I love you so?—”
“Dex, you don’t have to—” she says, clinging to my shoulders and trying to kiss my cheek as I bury my face in her shoulder and kiss her neck ferociously.
“I do.” I’m grasping at her clothes like I’m a desperate animal, ravenous to kiss her and touch her and tell her all the things in my heart simultaneously. “I’ve loved you from the beginning.”
“No, I know it’s just because of the London Maths?—”
“No.”
“But—”
“Okay, wait-wait-wait.” I force myself to stop pawing her and pulling her nearer. She whimpers as I cup her face, draw back, and gaze into her eyes. “Look at me.”
I’m lost for a second in her mossy eyes, the pattern of gold and brown and green. There’s vulnerability and worry there that I’ve never seen so clearly before.
“I proposed marriage because I wantedyou.”
Her breath hitches. “Really?”
Brushing my thumb over the drying tears, I nod. “It was never anything less than real, to me.”
“Me neither,” she says, a smile lighting her face. “That list described the only man I’ve ever wanted:you.”
I lean my forehead on hers and close my eyes. I cannot believe this.
“My darling, my little one. I love you so much.” It’s a relief to tell her this and feel her nod in agreement. “You make me real. Almost forty years, and I’ve never felt this way. Before you, my life was a question I couldn’t answer, and then you appeared, and it clicked. I knew that I’d never want anyone else. I can’t breathe without you.”
For a few seconds, there’s just the peace of having her close, and knowing we’re both in love. My heart expands big enough to envelop her and half the city.
“No more bet. That was only to ensure you had no reason not to marry me. I’m in love with you, and you’re mine.” My voice is gravelly. “Whatever happens next, whether you’re pregnant or not, you’remy wife. Forever. I could never have let you go.”
She giggles. “I think I’d have had to resort to stuffing a pillow up top if I hadn’t been pregnant after six months.”
“I’d have gone along with it.” I run my hands up the curve of her back. “And I’ll still give you a baby, I swear.”
“But no more waiting.” She reaches for my belt, and I groan. “Enough restraint. I want you to come inside me.”
“With pleasure.” And then we’re undressing each other, hands clashing, arms tangling, and I try to kiss her at the same time. I can’t get her close enough.
I consider the wall as the quickest place to breed her, but I do have a tiny part of me that’s still sane, so grab Sophia to me and drag her to our room and to the bed.
“Dex! Your arm! Be careful of your arm!”
I ignore her protest, and set her down, immediately covering her body with mine. It hurts, but I don’t care. I need her more.
“Get your clothes off quickly, before I rip them off.” She’s wearing too much, having focused on pushing off my tuxedo jacket.
Yanking off my tie, I lift my shirt over my head and shove down my trousers. Both of our shoes were lost somewhere over by the bedroom door.
She’s scrabbling at her back. “Help me with this zip?”
Rolling onto her side, she sweeps her hair away from the back of her neck and exposes a barely visible seam.
“This is a fussy dress,” I grumble as my big fingers fail to grip the tiny button at the top.
“It doesn’t matter. Just get it off.”
