“Of course, your high…” Eli paused mid-nod. I’d already requested that they stopped using the royal titles on me. King or not, I much preferred to be called by my own name. Only my father and brother really ever felt the need to use the titles in the first place.
“Sofia, come with me.”
“Where are we going?” she asked.
I couldn’t help but smile when I heard the hint of breathless excitement in her words. I knew without a doubt that she was excited to be with me too.
“Off to where I can have you to myself.”
I didn’t need to tell her where that was. We were off to the lighthouse.
CHAPTER 35: SOFIA
It felt like forever since we’d been in the lighthouse together, and though I was surprised by his impulsive urge to leave the dome and run off to the lighthouse with me, I was thrilled he did it. I missed him so much.
Before he could whisk me off to the Crimson Fortress and make the deadly hundred-foot leap that would lead us to his only sanctuary at The Shade, I requested that we make a stop at my quarters in The Catacombs. It’d been so long since I had Derek all to myself. I really wanted the next few hours to be special.
I wore a green, sleeveless dress that Ashley used to tell me highlighted my eyes. With it, I wore the necklace Derek gave me for my birthday.
The smile that lit up his face when he saw me was enough indication that he appreciated the gesture.
“You like it?” I asked timidly. I felt awkward asking the question, surprised that I was secure enough to believe that he would like me just the same if I were wearing an oversized t-shirt and pajamas.
“Yes,” he said. “Very much, but you know you don’t have to dress up for me, right?”
“I know, but I want to…I want to look good for you.”
He caught his breath and I couldn’t keep the smile from my face when he gently laid his hands on my waist and drew me closer. He’d been treating me like a fragile piece of porcelain ever since he told me that he wanted to do things right this time around, to treat me differently than he did the other women in his life. I missed his touch and I knew right then that I wanted to be with him. I wanted what he wanted—for us to find a way to stay together forever.
He kissed me on the forehead, then on my temple, on my cheekbone, on the corner of my lips, before claiming my mouth once again—wooing, alluring, coaxing. He was intoxicating me.
Tears came unbidden. I couldn’t stop them. When Derek realized I was crying, he immediately stepped back, afraid that he might’ve crossed some sort of boundary.
“I’m sorry. Sofia, did I…” He was doing a careful inspection of me, wondering what he could’ve done wrong.
I chuckled as I shook my head, tears still streaming down my eyes. “Just kiss me, will you, please?!”
Relief replaced the anxiety in his countenance. He was about to once again hold me and draw me close when confusion marred his features. “But why are you crying?”
I grinned as I wiped my tears away. “Please don’t force me to say something corny.” I giggled as I bridged the gap between us by lifting up on my tippy toes and letting my weight fall on him. I reached forward to press my lips over his, but he pulled his head back.
He scrutinized me before a smirk formed on his lips. “Something corny? Like what?”
I rolled my eyes. “You know…the usual sappy stuff…I’m crying because I’m so overcome by joy.” I mocked an overdramatized version of typical romantic flicks I’d seen before. “I couldn’t hold back the tears because I’m so in love with you…”
He wrinkled his nose. “You’re right. That really is corny.”
I pouted, then shrugged. “Doesn’t make it any less true though, does it?”
He responded with a kiss. By the time our lips managed to part, we were both breathless.
“Let’s go to the lighthouse, shall we? Before I end up doing something I’ll regret…”
At first, I wondered what he was talking about. It wasn’t until after we took the leap down the Crimson Fortress that I realized what he meant. He was going to stay true to his word. He wanted our love chaste and I knew without a doubt that he would never dare take me to his bed again until he married me.
After everything he’d done for me and all the times he stood up for me and fought for me, that was the first time it really sank into me just how much Derek Novak truly loved me. I felt like I’d given up everything for him. I realized that he was willing to do the same for me if he needed to.
Thus, that night, standing in the middle of the lighthouse’s octagonal top floor, dancing to the music in his head which he shared with me by humming, my heart leapt when he once again whispered in my ear the same heartfelt plea he gave me on my birthday.
“Marry me, Sofia.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face against his chest, breathing in his scent, adoring the way his heart was now thumping at a quicker pace than normal. I couldn’t even remember why I had hesitated before, because the most sensible thing to respond with was a simple: “Yes.”
CHAPTER 36: DEREK
I couldn’t believe my ears. I asked her out of a wishful whim, expecting her to once again decline my request, telling me that what we had could never last forever and that we needed to accept that. I expected her to look at me with those lovely green eyes of hers and tell me that she loved me, but that she was sorry, because she couldn’t marry me. She simply couldn’t.
But no…what she responded with was something that sounded strangely similar to the word “Yes.”
“What?” I asked her, stepping back, so that I could look at her and make sure that she wasn’t joking. “Did you just say what I thought you said?”
She laughed at my reaction. “I’m not sure…” She tilted her head to the side, her long auburn locks falling over her shoulders. “What did you think I said?”
“It sounded like you were agreeing to marry me.”
She paused and wrinkled her nose before shuffling on her feet. When she heaved an anxious sigh, I was already certain that I was just hearing things.
But then a huge smile broke into her face. “Then you definitely heard right.”
I stood there stunned, letting the news sink in, taking in that moment and how stunningly gorgeous she looked in that green silk gown that clung to her curves in just the right places. I wanted to remember every single detail of that moment, because I wanted to treasure it forever.