He...really did. He loved her. Her. Plain Nicola Lane, who’d spent her life in one hospital or another and endured one tragedy after another. And he wanted to marry her. By the world’s standards, she was unexciting, not worth a second glance. And yet, this man loved her enough to give her the desires of her heart. He loved her enough to let go of his past. To want to build a future with her.
“But I’ll age,” she said, wanting to save him heartache later. “You won’t. And—”
“No. Your life will be bound to mine, and as long as I live, you will live. As long as you live, I will live.”
How...how...perfect. He was offering her a life she’d only begun to dream about.
“I love you, too, Koldo,” she said, voice trembling. She did. She loved him. Loved the man he was, the man he was becoming. The man he would one day be. She loved his strengths and recognized his weaknesses. He was good for her, and she was good for him. “And yes. Yes, I will marry you.”
His lips lifted in a slow grin. “You will?”
“I will.” He was the other part of her, a necessary part.
He was on his feet a second later, flashing her to a bedroom she’d never before seen. He flashed her again, and this time she landed on the large bed, Koldo poised over her, a lacy canopy over him.
“So confident I would say yes?” she asked with a chuckle, sliding her hands up his chest.
“So hopeful.”
Her gaze moved over the room. She saw dark velvets and light silks, Victorian furniture and an old-world aura. The scent of roses drifted on a soft breeze. “Where are we?”
“One of my favorite homes.”
“How many do you have?”
“We have sixteen. I’ll give you a tour of each one. Later.”
He lowered his head, pressed their lips together, and...sweet heaven. The need they had for each other once again exploded. They were frenzied, eager for more. For all.
“We won’t stop this time,” he said.
“Not for a second.”
“Not for any reason.”
If they did, her heart would finally give out. Not from sickness but from frustration. They’d just admitted their love for each other. Now she wanted to show him.
She tugged at the collar of his shirt, saying, “I want your skin against mine.” Need it.
He helped her out, jerking the material over his head. Her robe was the next to go, leaving her in a bra and panties. A growl rose from him.
“You are more dazzling every time I see you.”
He made her feel that way. As if it didn’t matter how she fixed her hair or whether or not she wore makeup. As if he would like her no matter how much she weighed. “I feel the same about you.”
He lifted to his knees, hastily worked at the waist of his pants. But he had trouble and ended up yanking hard enough to send the fabric flying to the floor in pieces. Any other time, that would have made her laugh. Whenever they were in bed, clothes were destroyed. But one look at him, and she lost her breath. He was intense, determined.
“You make me happy, Koldo,” she said truthfully.
His weight returned to her, pressing into her, thrilling her. “Hopefully as happy as you make me.”
“Let’s see if I can make you happier. Stay just as you are. Don’t move.”
“Why?” he asked, even as he obeyed.
“I want to learn everything I can about the man I love. Everything you like. Everything you want.” They’d done things before, but this was different. This was a commitment, body and soul. She would give him all that she was, and he would know a satisfaction like no other. She would make sure of it.
Her hands roved over the muscles of his chest, even tunneled underneath his arms to the tattoos and the softness of his wings. Then she brought them to the front again, moved lower...lower still. The ripples of his stomach. The hairless calves. The smooth bottoms of his feet. Other than the feathers, there wasn’t a yielding spot on him. He was rock solid, the strength she’d always craved for herself.
And he was silken heat, a smooth whiskey that intoxicated, melting away inhibitions. He was everything. He was light in the darkness. He was...hope.
“Nicola,” he gritted out. “I don’t want to stay just as I am. I want to move.”
The jaggedness of his tone caused her to shiver. “So you like what I’m doing?”
“I love.” A trickle of sweat slid down his temple. “I hate.”
A breathless chuckle left her. “Then I’m doing something right.”
“Very right,” he said on a groan. “And very wrong.” His features were strained, his lips compressed. His desperation was growing, just like her own.
How could she not love this man? He never tried to play it cool, never tried to hide the depths of his feelings or his pleasure or his need. And oh, the smell of sunshine he emitted, a smell her body had begun to associate with pleasure. Now was no different, and stunning need became incomparable hunger.
“Nicola. I can’t... I must...” One second she was poised over him, the next he was poised over her. “This is all right, yes?”
With his weight pressing into her, forcing her to revel in her own vulnerability? “Yesss.”
He was a flurry of movement, smoothing his hands over her, preparing her for what came next, singeing her with the intensity of his heat, wringing gasp after gasp out of her as he gave her what her body so desperately wanted.
“There won’t be anyone else for you,” he said.
“Nor you.”
“Never. I’m so glad I found you, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart. An endearment sweeter even than his touch. “Me, too.”
A masculine purr of satisfaction. “You’re so soft. So warm. So mine.”
“So desperate for you.” For all that he was. Rough or gentle, rushed or slow.
But he stilled and peered down at her, intense and determined. “I want to be man and wife before we come together.”
“Here?” she squeaked. “Now?”
“This very second.”
Melting all over again.... He was so eager to claim her legally, he was willing to put sex on hold. How many men would do that? “Okay,” she breathed. “All right. But hurrrry. Please.”
He kissed her before saying, “I belong to you, Nicola. I pledge my life to yours.”
“I’m glad. Now, if you would just—”
“Say the words back to me.”
Oh. “I belong to you, Koldo.” She rubbed her knees against his waist, squeezing. “I pledge my life to yours. Now, do you need me to tell you what to do next or—”