He took another step toward her. “But every day you were gone felt like a hole in my heart. You haunted my dreams and my waking hours. Everywhere I turned, I saw your ghost. I heard your laugh, smelled your perfume. I felt your touch.”
Catherine remembered her own ghosts, how she had woken up crying out for him. The way her heart had shattered when he told her to leave. She hardened the wall around it and said nothing.
Alaric stepped closer to her again, and she did not move. “I left you once, and it was a mistake. The second time… I could not do it. I never want to leave you again.”
“Then why did you chase me away from your side?” Catherine wrapped her arms around herself, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
“Because I was terrified.” Alaric stood before her, arms spread wide. “Terrified of my feelings for you, of how strong they were.I knew that it was not duty nor obligation that drew me to you, but admitting it… I thought it would make me weak.”
“That is ridiculous.” She shook her head.
“I know.” He gave her a pained smile. “I have been a fool, Catherine. A complete and utter fool, but I suppose that is often the case when one falls so deeply, so utterly, and so completely in love.”
“What?” Catherine blinked at him, certain she had misheard.
“I love you, Catherine. I think I loved you since the moment I first met you. The more I get to know you, the more I love you.” He closed the distance between them, gently resting her hand on his chest. “My heart beats for you. It will only ever beat for you.”
“You sent me away.” Her voice was small, not quite a protest, not quite a plea.
“I will regret it for the rest of my life.” He closed his eyes. “I came here with only hope in my heart. I came here to do what I should have done that day and was too much of a coward to do.”
Catherine’s heart was pounding in her chest. She could not breathe. The room was spinning, but she could not look away from him.
“I love you, Catherine. I love you, I love you, I love you. But love is not enough.” He closed his eyes. “I thought I was protectingyou from my family, from myself, but really I was hurting you. I am sorry. So here I am, giving you a choice. I do not expect you to agree, and I trust you to say no.”
Alaric let out a long, slow breath that tickled Catherine’s skin. “I want to be your husband. I want to spend the rest of my days by your side, loving and cherishing you. I want to start a family with you, grow old with you, and laugh and cry along with everything that makes life worth living with you.”
He stepped away from her. “I am asking you to come home, Catherine. Though I ask with no hope, nor agenda. I only wanted to give you the choice. To understand the facts, and to leave the decision in your hands.”
Catherine nodded slowly, her thoughts whirring in her head. This was no fevered confession; this was real. He had told her that he loved her; told her more than once.
He wanted a life with her, a family. The silence stretched between them, so thick she was sure she could cut it with a knife. She stepped toward him, reached up a hand, and touched his face.
She felt the coarse stubble under her fingers, watched his eyes widen, and saw hope emerge in them. She smiled at him.
“I love you too.”
“Then why are you crying?” He wiped a tear from her cheek.
“Because you are an idiot. Because you broke my heart and then saved my life.” She shook her head. “And yet, despite all of that, I love you. I want to start a family with you, to give Oliver the loving home he deserves. I want to love you until we are old and withered. My heart beats for you, too, Alaric.”
She guided his fingers to her exposed skin. “It always will.”
“I love you.” He murmured, forehead resting against hers.
“Then kiss me,” she whispered.
He did. His lips found hers, cautious at first, and then all-consuming. Fire raced through her body, and every part of her seemed to explode into life. He lifted her into the air, and she pressed herself against him.
Her heartbeat was in time with his, and she lost herself in him completely. She did not know where his body began or hers ended, and she did not care. She wanted him, and he wanted her. She had waited long enough; it was time to indulge.
When they finally separated, they were both breathing hard. Her head spun, and her smile was so big it made her cheeks hurt.
“Let’s bring Oliver home.” Alaric pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “It is time we became a family.”
And without waiting for a response, she felt him lift her into his arms again and walk out the door. They left laughing, and she knew their life was finally beginning.
EPILOGUE
