My tears turned into laughter, which turned into more pain. “You gotta brag about your perfect uterus so soon?” I asked her.
Liv smiled.
“Marry me,” Luka declared, and my whole body froze with shock.
I must not have heard him right, too much morphine still in my system. My gaze flicked to the others, and they too stood there like statues.
Oh.
I finally found my voice. “What?”
“I want you. All of you.Forever.” His eyes burned yellow as he reached up and grasped the back of my neck. “You’re stuck with me forever anyway. You might as well get some perks out of the relationship.” He grinned.
My cheeks burned and I swallowed hard. Was he seriously asking me to marry him? His late wife’s body was barely ash and he was already moving on? To be fair, she was never his wife, she was a business arrangement.
Footsteps retreated as my mother and Liv and the doctor left so we’d be alone.
“Luka. You’re not thinking clearly.” What he asked, the commitment he was throwing out there, was no casual thing. It was what I wanted from Sterling for so long.
Luka’s brows knotted together. “I’ve never been more clearheaded. I know what I want, Aspen. I’m in love with you and I want you to be my wife.”
Shock ripped through my system at his boldness and surety. He was dead serious, and I allowed myself to have some bit of hope that this could be real.
“But … don’t you need to marry a vampire? What will the council say?”
“Screw the council, Aspen! I’ll do as I please,” he roared. “Are you saying no?” His hand dropped away from me, hurt running across his face.
I smiled, letting a full-fledged grin light up my face. “I’m in love with you too, and my answer is hell yes.”
“Dammit, woman, you almost gave me a heart attack.” Stepping closer, he bent down and pressed his nose to mine. “My wife is dead and you’re technically my fiancée. Does this mean I get a kiss?”
I was in pain, exhausted, and totally not looking super-hot, but I couldn’t help but beam at him. Lifting my chin, I brushed my lips against his. He reached up and traced his fingers across my neck, sending a shiver down my spine.
After a moment, I pulled back, still processing the news from the doctor.
“What if I can’t have kids? What if the two eggs don’t take?” It was a little early to be talking about kids—he’d only just proposed—but I knew having heirs was important for him, especially as a king. I didn’t know much about IVF, but I knew it could take multiple rounds, and that was assuming I had enough fey in my system to even have a child with him. I wasn’t sure how all of that worked.
“I don’t care about any of that, Aspen. I want you in whatever package you come in.”
My throat tightened. “But—”
“I’d rather lose my kingdom than you.” He stroked my hand. “They took my mother and my sister from me, but they won’t take you.”
My throat tightened and I nodded. How did I get so lucky?
“Rest.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, reaching out to pull the blue clip off the morphine line. I nodded, laying my head back, heaviness pulling at my eyelids, and then I fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
* * *
Over the nextweek I was nursed back to heath by Liv, my mom, and Luka. Maple helped a little when she could be pulled away from the TV. She was learning about the outside world through Netflix, which was a dangerous thing, but we were all just focused on letting her live an innocent childhood and not get caught up in the dangers of life yet.
Luka only fed every two days in order to give me the best chance to fully heal. The doctor had done a great job, and with my slightly advanced fey healing I was already walking around and eighty percent back to normal. My shoulder was completely healed, and other than being unable to work out or do sit ups, my stomach felt fine as well.
Liv, Sage, Demi, and I all stood around the kitchen island, snacking. The girls had stopped by to check on my healing.
Demi wagged her eyebrows. “Luka went ring shopping with Sawyer yesterday.”
Sage reached out and smacked Demi’s arm. “You aren’t supposed to tell her!”
