“What if I am no longer the one chosen for you. What if it was only because of the grove, our own connections to it?”
It was something that he had considered, yet it didn’t matter. But, if proof is what Nina needed, then he would provide it.
Coming to his feet, Orion cradled her soft cheek and leaned in to kiss her, then quickly glanced out of the corner of his eye.
No vines.
Perhaps the kiss hadn’t been long enough, just as it hadn’t been in the past because no flowers had bloomed.
“There is nothing,” she said quietly, worry heavy in her tone.
“Yet,” Orion said and kissed her again. He didn’t care that her brother, his sister, and five dryads stood not far away, because he needed to offer Nina proof that nothing had changed. His proof was in his heart, she just needed to know that it was true as well.
Tilting his head, he deepened the kiss. When her hands came to rest on his shoulders, he put his hands on her waist and drew her as close as he dared, given their witnesses.
Nina may have hesitated in the past, but today she joined him in matching his desire and passion and for the first time, did not push him away.
If they were alone, he’d sweep her up in his arms and take her back to her home for the past twenty years. It was only because Cassian stood not far away that Orion only kissed Nina.
“Are those vines?” Petra asked from behind him. “Those vines are wrapping around their legs.” His sister was in a near panic and Orion couldn’t be happier.
He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against Nina. “Have all doubts been satisfied?”
“Yes.”
“Why are there vines?” Petra demanded.
Orion laughed. “I will let Mother explain.”
Epilogue
Nine months he had to wait. Nine long, agonizing months, but the day had finally arrived.
When Orion and Nina had announced their intention to wed, his mother and father had first been thrilled, then quickly put a halt to any immediate wedding plans.
It’s not that they doubted that Orion and Nina should wed, there were vines after all. They did not think it was fair that Nina not experience life outside of the grove as any other available miss before she became a wife.
They had both argued, but his parents were adamant.
Orion had assumed that the family would travel to London and Nina would be taken shopping, attend the theatre, and attend a few balls that may be held and then they could marry.
That had not turned out to be the case. His parents insisted that Nina enjoy a full Season, which included meeting and dancing with eligible bachelors. They wouldn’t even let it be known that she was already betrothed because they wanted Nina to experience everything any miss would during her first Season.
Worse, she had not resided with his parents, brother and sister, or Orion in their Mayfair townhouse. His mother didn’t trust Orion sleeping under the same roof, so Nina had resided with his cousins and Cassian in the Cardwell townhouse.
Those months had tried his patience and tested him in ways Orion didn’t think he would survive.
Dandies flocked to her side and her dance card filled early in the evening. There were even times that he wasn’t given a dance.
The whole situation was outrageous.
Yet, he also enjoyed seeing Nina happy, laughing, and smiling, even when she partnered a rogue during a country dance or a rake for a waltz. While she basked in the attention, she looked his way often enough and her eyes would be nearly silver in the candlelight as she sent him a sweet smile.
She enjoyed being courted, but never let him ever worry that he would not have her in the end.
Orion still wasn’t certain if his parents insisted on Nina having a Season to punish him for sneaking into the sacred grove or they really wanted to give Nina an experience of London as a miss before she became a wife.
None of that mattered now because they were soon to wed by Special License.
