He sighed when I stayed silent. Rowan leaned forward, gripping my thighs with his large hands. “Evie, I am perfectly content to be your mate, but I’d also like to be your husband. Legally. I want you to wear a wedding ring so everyone, human and paranormal alike, knows you are taken. I want to introduce you as my wife and mate to anyone who asks.”
A vision of a gold band on Rowan’s finger flashed in my mind.
“What happens if you shift?”
His eyes lit from within. “We’ll have two rings, one we wear on our finger, and one we wear around our neck. Just in case we lose the one on our finger.” Rowan shrugged. “We’ll commission ten of them if we need to. I don’t care. I just want you to be my wife.”
I slowly put my legs down. A moment later, I launched myself at him.
With a grunt of laughter, Rowan caught me, but not before he tipped over backward, the chair cracking in several pieces.
I claimed his lips in a heated kiss, my fingers already busy unbuttoning his shirt. Rowan’s fingers tangled in my hair, his lips dragging down my neck.
“That’s a yes?” he murmured against my throat.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Always, Rowan.”
And then there were no more words.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
ROWAN
Declan burst out laughing when he walked into the house and saw the scattered remnants of broken dishes and breakfast scattered all over the table and floor, and the destroyed chair.
“Looks like the mating is going well,” he mused, eyes sparkling with mirth.
Gods. I know I’m mussed, and I caught a glimpse of my shirt earlier and hadn’t fixed it before Declan interrupted me. It’s buttoned wrong.
I ran a hand through my hair. “We’re fae bonded, too.”
Declan’s eyes went comically wide. “Shit.” He sank onto an unscathed chair and swept a hand out. “Is that what all this is? A normal shifter mating isn’t quite so…volatile after the first twenty-four hours.”
I grinned. “Yep. It’s fucking amazing.”
Declan’s low chuckle made me laugh. “Good for you, man. Evie is exactly what we hoped you’d find. More than we ever expected, actually.” He eyed me. “You sure you can handle her?”
I eyed my friend and Second. “Why, you in the market for a wife?”
Declan grinned. “Most of the shifters in the Keep are vacillating between jealousy and euphoria. Evie is a powerhouse.”
My mate was so much more than that, but I understood what he was saying. “We’re getting married.”
Declan blinked before a wide grin settled over his face. “Sonofabitch. That’s awesome.” He scrubbed a hand over his chin. “The Keep hasn’t had a big celebration in a long time.”
He nodded and slapped his hands on his thighs. “Is Hope planning the shindig?”
I got up and made us both a cup of coffee. “No idea. I just asked her to marry me.”
Declan’s wicked chuckle dragged an embarrassed grin up.
“So that’s the real reason for all of this,” he said, gesturing to the debris all over the floor. “You did well, brother.”
I had. “Touch and go there for a while,” I admitted.
The smile slid from Declan’s face. “I know seeing her with another man must have been devastating, even if you didn’t realize what she was to you yet.”
