‘Say it again,’ he murmured against my lips, breath warm, voice barely holding itself together.
Heat flooded my face. ‘No,’ I whispered, not sure I could get the words out a second time without combusting. And it was definitely his turn to say those three little words. Or one big word, in my case.
He huffed a laugh that was mostly disbelief and entirely adoration. ‘Stacy Wise,’ he growled, tugging me closer until my toes lifted off the floor for a heartbeat. ‘You think I’m letting you get away with saying that once? I need it a million times over.’
I suspected he did. He who’d been so starved of family and love. Goddamn it, I’d give him everything. ‘Iloveyou,’ I blurted again and hebeamed.
Still, he didn’t repeat it back to me, and I tried to bury my face in his shoulder, but he caught my chin gently, forcing my gaze up to his. His silver eyes were molten. Reverent. Hungry. A little undone. I didn’t think I’d ever seen a seven-foot-tall ogre look so close to falling apart.
‘I love you,’ he said to me, voice whisper-quiet. Sure,hemanaged to say it in three words. Gods, but he had said it. To me. Helovedme.
Tears welled in my eyes from happiness and relief that he felt the same as I did.
‘I died half a dozen times when I got the call that you’d been taken,’ Robbie admitted. ‘When Loki said he couldn’t feel you … I was terrified. More scared than I’ve ever been in my whole life. And I’ve been through some shit.’
I cupped his face and stroked his cheek with my thumb. ‘I’m sorry you had to go through that.’
‘I left the den,’ he admitted, ‘without even looking to see if the flames were banked. Without even knowing where I was going, just knowing I had to move. To find you. I knew then that I can’t ever be without you, Stacy. This is it for me. You are it.’
Robbie closed his eyes as though the confession was too much to face. When he opened them again, I could see the world inside them had shifted in a way that made my breath stutter.
‘Kærasta,’ he repeated, voice thick. ‘My beloved.’
He drew in a shaky breath, and then he slid off the sofa and sank to one knee before me.
My stomach swooped.
He looked at me with mercury eyes I saw in my dreams. ‘I know this is fast. I know it’s a lot. But I want that title for you. The honour, protection and inclusion it will bring. I don’t want you to live life on my periphery, but in the heart and centre. You arefierce.You are strong. You are everything I could have ever wanted, and so, so much more.Hersmóðir. It is right. It feels right. You feel right. Stacy, will you marry me? Please?’
The answer bubbled out of me without conscious thought, because if I thought, the answer would be different. ‘Yes,’ I said illogically with all of my heart. ‘Yes.’
Tears filled his eyes. ‘Takk fyrir,’ he said, voice wobbling. ‘For seeing me. Forchoosingme.’
Emotion hit my chest like a punch. Wasn’t that what any of us ever wanted? To be seen, accepted, and loved as we were?
I sank to my knees and cupped his face. For a moment we simply breathed together, noses brushing, foreheads touching.
‘Stacy,’ he breathed. ‘My kærlíka. My heart.’
I pressed my lips to his in a gentle kiss, my own eyes hot, and my heart so damned full it felt like it might burst. Talk about a day of two halves, from kidnapping to proposal. He’d really turned my day around.
‘Tell Maktel and Hanlon I accept the title,’ I said fiercely. ‘I’m keeping you now. Forever. No take-backsies.’
His grin was wicked and soft all at once as he lifted me off my feet with ease. ‘You’d have to fight to get rid of me.’
‘That’s one fight I’ll pass on, love,’ I said, looping my arms around his neck. ‘Any other and I’ll be ready.’
A shudder passed through him at the term of endearment, and he kissed me with urgency.
‘Sweetheart,’ he purred, carrying me toward the bedroom with determined purpose, ‘let’s see how ready you are.’
Well now, this day reallyhadturned around.
Chapter Thirty
A yawn overtook me as I surveyed my new office space. Since I was the official head of Unit 13, some wiseass had given me the office on the third floor likeIwas the brass. I supposed as far as the building went, I was. Thackeray and Faraday would still be ensconced at Chester Headquarters; their absence would have been too obvious, too notable, for them to move into the Other-only premises.
My fridge from Robbie had already been plugged in and was whirring quietly in the background. I didn’t have my computer set up yet, but I had my fridge, because … priorities.
