Nothing could wake her faster than the sight of an amethyst, polished and gleaming in a platinum setting.“How did you manage that?”she asked, laughing in surprise.Her hand strayed to the gold chain at her neck.“We only exchanged these last night.”
“Malta has some of the most remarkable jewelers, and I have some remarkable friends.”
“You certainly do,” she agreed, admiring the ring’s brilliance and deep purple luster.
“Well?Are you going to put it on?”
“I want you to do it,” she said.“Honestly, Elijah, I don’t know what to say.”
“Just say yes.”
“To wearing your ring?”
“To becoming partners for life,” he said, drawing her back into his arms.“Marry me.Make a half-decent man of me.”
She pulled a teasing face.“Right now, I’d rather have the less-than-decent man, if that’s all right with you.I want the downright filthy guy I love.”
“How can I refuse when you ask so nicely?”
“You can’t,” she said.
* * *
The engines of theSeraphimthrummed beneath them, the vibration a gentle pressure against her naked body as she whispered, “Love you, Elijah.More than you know.”Bringing the ring he’d given her to her lips, she kissed it.“You’ll never get rid of me now.”
Something raw crossed his face.“I can’t believe you kept that amethyst all those years.”
“Always.”She reached for the chain at her neck.“Just as you kept this.”
“Every morning for seven years, I woke and checked the chain,” he said as Sable slipped the gold band on and off her finger.“I told myself that if the ring was still there, one day, you might walk back through the door.On other days, I told myself to throw it away and that I was better off without you.”
“Were you?”
“I hated that you had that power over me.”
“Not power.Love.But we didn’t realize it then.I’m not sorry I left to save you when Black Meridian was trying to find and kill you.I wish I’d found a way to tell you what I planned to do.”
“If you had, I’d have kept both of us safe.”
“I couldn’t take that chance.Not with your life.”Sorry felt too small a word.She glanced at the ring on her finger, glowing like a promise.
“It may not be the perfect ring?—”
“It’s absolutely perfect,” she insisted fiercely.“This stone has more history than any other piece of jewelry could hold.”
He caught hold of her hand and stared into her eyes.“No more ghosts.If you walk away again, you take me with you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.I’m home.”
Swinging her into his arms, he carried her to the shower, where the warm stream of
water was like a benediction, washing away the pain of the past.Pulling her close, he buried his face in her neck.She felt the hammering of his heart against her ribs.
“I missed you so fucking much,” he admitted.“I don’t know how I kept breathing some days.Don’t ever do that again.”
She threaded her fingers through his hair, drawing back enough to meet his gaze.The storm had subsided in his eyes, replaced by something gentle and real.
And then he kissed her.
