A sob rose in Blake, but she covered her mouth before it could escape. ‘What about all the other reasons?’
Harlan’s arms went around her, his chin resting on her head. ‘They’re not reasons. They’re just noise we must block out.’
There was no holding back the tears then; they soaked the front of Harlan’s uniform.
‘Tell me that’s a yes,’ he said when her shoulders finally stilled. ‘Because I’m done being apart.’
She looked up at him. ‘Are you sure about this?’
His mouth tilted up. ‘Very sure.’ He took hold of her face again. ‘I love you.’
She pushed herself up onto her toes to kiss him, tears rolling freely down her cheeks. Harlan brushed them away until they stopped coming, and then Blake’s heels returned to the sea floor. ‘What if my uncle says no?’
His eyes were penetrating. ‘He’s already agreed.’
‘What if he changes his mind?’
‘If you think I’m going to let that man weasel his way between us, you’re crazy.’
Her toes were going numb from the cold. ‘Your father said—’
‘I know what my father said. Stop worrying about everyone else.’
She nodded. ‘It’s just that everything good gets taken from us eventually.’
‘Not this. Not me. Understand?’ He kissed her again, his mouth soft and reassuring. He lowered his forehead to hers. ‘Just say yes and let me worry about the rest.’
Blake wiped her face. ‘Is there by any chance room for a duck in the house?’
‘How is that thing still alive?’
‘It turns out he is ashe.’
‘So?’
She shrugged. ‘So better to have eggs for several years than stew for a week.’
‘Christ.’ He took her hand and led her out of the water. ‘The duck lives outside.’
‘We don’t have to decide that now.’
Laughing, he said, ‘If you think we’re having that thing in our bed, you’re crazy.’
She smiled up at him. ‘Yes.’
He stilled. ‘Yes to the duck living outside, or yes you’ll marry me?’
‘Yes, I’ll marry you.’
Then he was kissing her again, unfazed by the people glancing in their direction. They broke apart at the sound of a fishing boat docking and looked over to where a crowd of people were already gathering.
‘Let’s go get you a fish,’ Harlan said, taking her by the hand.
Blake shoved her feet into her boots, and Harlan led her along the beach towards the dock.
If someone had told her six months earlier that she would marry a defender, she would have thought them mad. If someone had told her six months earlier that she would marry for love, she would have laughed in their face. Now her entire body sang with the realisation that Harlan would soon belong to her. Hers to fuss and cry over, to argue and play games with. Hers to protect with her life, run through arrows for, wake up beside.
He would be hers to love as she pleased.
