Our next kiss could’ve set fire to the world.
I’m not sure I would’ve noticed.
Fierce and tender. Demanding and yielding. Dizzying me up until it felt like I was at once floating and falling deeper into him. Until I was his air, and he was mine.
But the ruthless pounding of my heart was nothing compared to the beautifully uneven rhythm when Gray began speaking. The rough, whispered words dancing across my lips like the sweetest vow.
“Mallory, I promise to take care of you just as fiercely as I fight with you.” My eyes flashed open to find him already staring at me. The passion in his gaze and conviction fueling each word were enough to make my own traitorous emotions flare. “I promise to stand by your side on missions and at festivals you secretly love.” The corner of his mouth tipped up when a breathless, shaky laugh tumbled past my lips. Cradling my neck in his large hand, he swept his thumb along my bottom lip as he continued. “And I promise to love you, even after this world tears me from you.”
I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead to his when unbidden tears blurred my vision. But when I opened my mouth, the words caught in my throat, and only a strained sound left me instead.
“Still not sure what to do with this Mallory,” Gray murmured as he continued making lazy passes with his thumb. “But I’ll take your tears, just as I take your anger. I’ll take your shields, just as I take your laughter.”
My chest heaved with a muted sob. How was I supposed to follow any of the beautiful things he was saying?
“I don’t have pretty words,” I finally managed to say, my voice strained.
“You don’t have to say anything,” he assured me as his mouth brushed across mine, as if he’d never intended for me to respond.
But just as a glimmer of relief began settling over me, every trapped thought tumbled free. “I promise to let you past my shields, no matter how much I want to cling to them, because I know you see me anyway. You’ve always understood me in away I’m not sure I even understand myself.” I swallowed thickly and squeezed my eyelids tighter, even as the corner of my mouth ticked up. “I promise to forever infuriate you and get infuriatedbyyou before storming off, because the next time you find me, I have no doubt we’ll fight. And I really do love fighting with you.”
I felt Gray’s next laugh, and when I opened my eyes again, his were dancing with amusement and joy and love.
“And I promise to love you—with every closed-off, hardened part of me—for the rest of time.”
Pressing his thumb against my jaw to tip my head up, Gray whispered, “Those were some pretty words, Mrs. Gray,” before sealing our vows with a kiss.
In all the years of wanting this, I’d never once thought I’d actually wake up with Mallory Monroe in my arms. And yet, there she was.
Long legs tangled with mine. Hand gently curled on top of my bare chest. Full lips parted just slightly, making her look more defenseless than I’d ever seen her before.
Not that I’d never seen her sleep. There’d been plenty of missions where we’d sleptbyeach other, and other nights where I’d struggled to focus on our surroundings instead of her when it was my turn for watch. There were even more nights where we’d fallen asleep near each other on my couch, but never like this. But with every one of those nights, she’d been tense. Ready for anything.
This Mallory was different.
This Mallory?—
My head slanted as I caught sight of something wholly unexpected, my hand slowly moving toward the object as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.
Being mindful not to wake her, I carefully hooked my finger around the thin gold chain she’d been wearing for months now, and lifted the attached object that had slid free from her shirt.
A gold band.
Identical to the one I’d spent too many minutes and hours gripping over the past three months, all while it’d felt like my world was crumbling around me. And she’d been wearing this around her neck the entire time.
ThisMallory was full of surprises.
“That’s private,” she whispered, her voice soft and husky from sleep.
My gaze darted to her, taking in her peaceful features and the slow, even rise and fall of her chest. Her words were the only indication she was awake.
“I can see that,” I mumbled as I spun the ring between my fingers before gently laying it down. “All this time?”
She hummed in acknowledgment, but didn’t otherwise answer. Still, the worry and wonder that poured from her was so potent, it was as if she’d voiced them.
“Mine goes where I go,” I answered her unspoken question as I began trailing my fingers up and down her back.
At that, she tipped her head up, her chin resting on my shoulder as she searched my eyes. All that curiosity and vulnerability bleeding into hers as she waited for me to explain.
