Noah reached for Claire’s hand. His fingers threaded through hers. He just needed to hold her. To feel her, warm and alive, against him.
“That was too close,” he rasped to her. “Please, baby, don’t ever do that to me again.” Because for a while there, his whole world had gone dark.
He bowed his head, and he kept holding her.
***
When Claire opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was…Noah. He was in the chair right next to her bed. And his gaze was on her.
She tried to smile at him.
He immediately leaned forward. “Baby?” His hand was holding hers. So warm and strong.
But that was Noah. Her strong, sexy Noah.
“I…it’s over…” Her throat was desert dry, so she swallowed and finished, “isn’t it?”
His fingers tightened around hers. “Ethan’s dead.”
She didn’t remember him dying. She remembered a gunshot. Remembered falling. Remembered Noah begging her to hold on.
She’d tried so hard to hold on to him. “Didn’t…want you hurt…” The machines beeped around her.
“You were going to trade your life for mine.” He shook his head. The faint lines around his eyes and mouth were deeper, and Noah looked more grim than she’d ever seen him before. “That shit just wasn’t working. No one takes you from me. You’re mine, Claire and—”
“You’re mine,” she whispered back.
She could see her ring gleaming on her finger. The bracelets were gone, but the ring was still there. Noah had asked her to spend her life with him.
And, even though Ethan had tried to take that life away…I’m still here. “I wasn’t…leaving you.”
He pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “Good. Because I was ready to fight death to get you back.” His jaw clenched. “I love you, Claire Kramer, more than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone or anything.”
That was how she felt about him. No, Claire hadn’t thought that she could love. Then Noah had walked into her life. He’d changed everything for her.
“We’re not having a long engagement,” his voice warmed as he stared into her eyes. His hand still held hers. “I…can’t wait. I need you too much.”
And she needed him.
“As soon as you’re out of this hospital, we’re heading to Vegas. Or, hell, we’ll go any place you want. I just want you with me.” He kissed her again. “Always, Claire. Always.”
There was no other place she wanted to be. “Always, Noah,” she swore, and the love she felt for him filled her. “Forever.”
***
The chapel was covered in roses. Noah knew they were Claire’s favorite, so he’d made sure the florist he used in Vegas brought in as many roses as possible.
He suspected that every rose in Vegas was in that little chapel.
The Justice of the Peace smiled as Claire walked down the aisle.
She wore a simple white dress. Her bracelets gleamed around her wrists, but the blue reminding him so much of her eyes.
Her eyes had gotten to him from the very first moment. If the eyes were the windows to the soul, then Claire’s soul was perfect. Beautiful.
Drake walked Claire down the aisle. The guy was grinning as he put Claire’s hand into Noah’s.
And when he touched her, some of the tension Noah felt eased away. Trace stood behind Noah. The guy was his best man. Skye was Claire’s matron of honor, and she wore a grin nearly as big as Drake’s.
The Justice of the Peace started speaking. Noah didn’t look away from Claire. He’d never thought he’d be getting married. Never thought this was the life he’d have.
But without her, I don’t have a life.
“Noah?” Claire whispered as alarm flickered in her gaze.
He tensed and leaned toward her. Then Noah became aware of the silence. All around them.
“You’re supposed to repeat after him,” Claire said, nibbling her lower lip. “I…is everything okay? You haven’t…haven’t changed your mind?”
“Hell, no, I haven’t.” He’d just gotten lost in her eyes, and he hadn’t heard a word the Justice of the Peace said. He curled his fingers under her chin and kissed her. A deep, long kiss, as he savored the sweetness that was his Claire.
The Justice of the Peace cleared his throat. “That comes later.”
No, it came any damn time Noah wanted.
After a moment, after he’d enjoyed her, Noah lifted his head. The uncertainty was gone from Claire’s gaze.
“Ah…repeat after me,” the Justice mumbled. “I, Noah Robert York, take Claire Cassandra Kramer to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold—”
“To hold forever,” Noah promised her, cutting through the other man’s words. “I’ll love you forever, Claire.”
She smiled at him. Her lower lip curled. The dimples winked. Her eyes glinted.
And he knew that he’d spend the rest of his life loving this woman.
Claire was his, and that was only fitting because the woman truly owned him, body and soul.