I put my hands on her shoulders. “My father warned me. He told me that if I married you, I would be putting a target on your back.” I shake my head. “I thought I could do this, but?—”
She tilts her head, looking confused. “You changed your mind?”
I shake my head. “No, I want to marry you. But I can’t lose you.”
Utterly confused now, she jerks from my hold and moves away from me. “Just say it, Cole. You don’t want to marry me. You changed your mind.”
I put my hands in my pockets to keep from reaching for her. “No, just the opposite. I want to marry you more than anything.”
She softens her stance. “But…”
I shrug. “But if I marry you, I am putting a target on your back. There will be people that think they can get to me through you, and if anything happened to you, I would die, Luna… I can’t lose you.”
I blow out a harsh breath and say the words I told myself I wasn’t going to say. Even though it’s the right thing to do. “If you don’t want to marry me, say it now.”
She takes a small step toward me. “Can I ask you something?”
I nod. “Anything.”
She lets her arms hang at her sides. “Why haven’t you touched me since… that night?”
She has no idea how hard it has been to hold her each night and not have her. I lift my shoulders. “I felt like I shouldn’t… like I didn’t have the right. I didn’t protect you.”
She takes another step toward me. “You saved me.”
I shake my head. “I’m the reason you were taken.”
She moves against me, pressing her chest against mine. “Can you tell me one thing, Cole?”
I nod.
Slowly, she asks, “Do you love me?”
When I don’t answer, she shrugs. “It’s an easy question. Do you love me? Yes or no.”
“Yes, I love you. I love you enough to know that if I marry you, I put you in danger. I love you enough to walk away if that will be what keeps you safe. If something happens to you, I wouldn’t survive it.”
I take a step back even though what I want to do is pull her closer.
“This isn’t me changing my mind. This is me loving you more than everything else… including myself.”
She inhales and walks right up to me. Her hands go to my waist. “We’re getting married today, Cole.”
“But…” I shake my head.
She cuts me off. “We’re getting married today because I love you, too, Cole, and I can’t imagine my life without you in it. More than anything, I want to be your wife.”
Slowly, I start to breathe again. I start to hope. “I promise I will protect you. I promise that if you marry me, I will protect you, and nothing?—”
She stops me. “Cole, I don’t need promises from you. I just need your love, that’s it. That’s all I need.”
I put my hand on her chin and lift. “You have it. I love you so much, baby.”
She goes to her tiptoes and kisses me. I try to deepen the kiss, but she puts a hand to my chest and pushes. “We have a wedding to get to, Cole Kingston. You can kiss me all you want after that.”
Our breath mingles, and I whisper, “You promise?”
She laughs. “I do. Plus, I promised your dad we’d give him a grandchild soon.”
