“Mmm.” He’s not who I’m concerned about right now. Why doesn’t Nina understand?
Oh fuck. Maybe I didn’t tell her the exact words.
“Don’t you want to know what my confession is?”
“Maybe?” Still so cautious.
“Bunny, I love you.”
Her mouth falls open in a perfect “o”, her eyes wide.
“This is endgame for me. You are mine, and I am going to keep you. Everything I said, I meant. I love you, I want you. I want you to get pregnant as soon as you’re happy to. I’m obsessed with you. I was from the beginning. From the first.”
Her brows pinch together. “I thought…”
“What?” I ask, with no hint of my impatience.
“Aren’t those just things men say but don’t mean?” she says timidly.
“Oh, Bunny.” I close the gap between us in quick strides. Then I’ve lifted her, and sat her onto the countertop so we’re face to face, and she’s in my arms. She doesn’t resist, slightly leaning into me like a flower towards the sun. “Do you remember asking me what I wanted to do? In one of our message conversations. You asked what I really wanted. And I didn’t know.”
“Yes?” She blinks in confusion.
“I know now. It’s you. I want you. I want our family. I want to wake up next to you in the morning, and fall asleep with you in my arms at night. I thought I was bored of Norwood, but it wasn’t exactly that. I still want to run Norwood, but I was looking for meaning in going after the Essex Cartel, and it was never there. I thought work could fix the feeling of loneliness and boredom with more power or money. But that was impossible.” I steel myself. “I didn’t have my soulmate.”
Hopefully she doesn’t think I’ve lost my mind in one of her shifter romance paperbacks.
“Blake.” With slowly dawning understanding, she brings her hands to the back of my neck, and leans into me.
“You are the half of my soul I didn’t know I was missing. I felt your absence, but I didn’t understand it. I just kept making money, and working, and searching, thinking that would make me happy. Satisfied.” I smile, half wry, half sad. “And in a way, it worked.”
“You found me,” she whispers.
“I found you, Bunny.” I cup her jaw gently. “If you think I’ll let you go now, I’m sorry to say that won’t happen. I will help you achieve everything you’ve ever dreamed of, but you’remine. I meant it when I said that.”
“It’s okay.” She looks up into my face. “I’m yours. I love you too. It’s crazy, but I’ve fallen totally in love with you.”
For a second, I can’t quite believe it.
Then I’ve swept her into me, and I’m crushing her against my chest and whispering her name, over and over. “Nina. Nina.”
She melts into me. The perfect fit in every way.
I have zero cool. I kiss her with the enthusiasm of a golden retriever. For most people, I’m scary. But Nina always recognised something good in me, and I’m determined to be the man she deserves.
“I meant it about getting you pregnant, Bunny,” I say, in between kisses.
“Good. Because bunnies are very good at that.” There’s a smile in her voice. “And now we’ve done it, I don’t think I could live without the feel of you inside me.”
“Constantly,” I growl. “You’re going to be high with orgasms.”
“Yes, Boss,” she giggles.
“And one more thing,” I say as I carry her back to my—our—bedroom.
“Go on,” she says, face pressed to my shoulder.
“We’ll have to go to Paddington Station.”
