“Death is in the future,” he replied wisely. “Today, I’m focusing on the present.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Violet said wearily, knowing she was losing the battle with him. His patience andpersistence—so blasé on the surface—camouflaged the dark vein of stubbornness that was nearly impossible to beat.
“I would’ve told you when you said yes.”
“Yes to what?” she demanded hotly, turning back to face him again.
Only, he wasn’t where he’d been standing just a few seconds ago; no, the jackass was on one knee, damp gravel forming a wet patch on his pants, gazing up at her like a servant idolizing his queen. There was a rueful half-smile curving one side of his mouth, but his eyes were direct and serious.
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
“This is the present, Violet. This is me, tired of waiting for the perfect moment because, fuck, every moment with youisperfect. Good, bad, ugly… every one of them is part of us, and I’m sick of wasting them.” He extended his hand out, unfurling his fingers to reveal a familiar box before flicking it open. “I love you, Violet. It has never wavered, faded, or died. It only grows stronger. It belongs to you and you alone.”
“Why now?” This time the words were barely audible even to her own ears.
“Because each breath that passes is one less. However many I have left, I want to spend them with you as my wife, with my name. In a week or so, we’ll find out if we created something spectacular, something precious, and I…” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Child or not, my feelings and wishes won’t change, Violet. I want us to be secure in each other before we take that test.”
Christ, he was smooth. Knocking her off balance with the whole inheritance thing, then taking her out at the knees with a proposal that left his emotions hanging in the wind. This was probably the most vulnerable she would ever see him, and that was saying something when she’d had him trussed up with an anal hook in his ass.
They were going to the clubhouse to tell everyone she was leaving, she reminded herself. Going back home where she belonged, but the truth was, she belonged with Reaux. They’d always been good together, at least until the shift in her dominant consciousness.
Was it possible they could be more, could be what he envisioned?
Equals.
Violet stared at the open box sitting so innocently on his palm. The ring inside was stunning—white gold band, marquise-cut diamond surrounded by a halo of emeralds—but was it a promise, a collar, or a façade?
Not a collar, she decided. Reaux was aware she was no longer the submissive she once was; she could allow herself to submit, but being a full-time sub was no longer on the cards.
After all the shit they’d been through, she was having trouble imagining him using an engagement or marriage as a façade. He understood what he stood to lose if he played another stunt like before, and she hoped he knew that if he fucked up that badly again, when she walked away, there would be no going back.
A promise then. To have and to hold, cherish and obey, all those traditional values spoken reverently during the vows. A fragile promise, held together with words and a piece of jewelry.
One he’d carried around with him for years, she reminded herself. A promise he’d been intent on keeping for over a decade.
Loving him wasn’t a stroll in the park; it was a rollercoaster, full of epically wondrous highs and frighteningly disastrous lows. Somehow, despite the hate and the fury, it survived the brutality of her emotional destruction, sheltering where she couldn’t physically rip it out of her heart and throw it away.
Inhaling slowly, Violet rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. “If a man proposes to a woman and doesn’t take the ring out of the box, is it a serious proposal?”
It took him a few seconds, his brow furrowing as he worked out her version ofIf a bear shits in the woods… Hope, beautiful hope, illuminated his face when it finally clicked, and he stared at her with those remarkable eyes alive with the true extent of his love.
Quite honestly, she began to wonder how she’d ever doubted him when he looked at her like that.
Composing himself quickly, Reaux acted without delay, plucking the ring from its snug velvet bed. The box dropped to the gravel, discarded without a second thought, and he offered the ring between his thumb and forefinger. “How rude of me, Mistress. My apologies.”
“Forgiven.” Violet stepped closer, setting her chilled hands on his cheeks. “All is forgiven, Reaux. We both made mistakes and we both paid the price. Ask me now.”
“Violet, my queen…” Reaux’s eyes darkened with anticipation. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes.”
Gently, he took her left wrist, tugging it from his face to hold her hand steady. He didn’t fumble, didn’t shake, as he slipped the ring over its rightful finger, sliding it where it belonged. It fit perfectly, adorning her hand like the center stone in a crown; he must have thought so too, by the way he kissed it with such veneration. “I’ve waited a long time for this, Bennie. Maybe you should pinch me to make sure I’m not dreaming.”
Laughing, she thumped him lightly on the shoulder instead. “Stand up and kiss me, you idiot.”
“Yes, ma’am. My pleasure.” Still holding her wrist, he rose and curled his other hand around the side of her neck, stealing her breath as he said quietly, “I will love you until my time in this world runs out, Bennie, and through whatever comes after that. This is always where we were meant to be.”
“I’m starting to believe that.”
