Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
I close my eyes and tip my head back against the rim of the tub, taking in the fragrance of the lavender and roses, the heat of the water, and the feel of Jonas against me, his hands doing wonderful things to my feet.
“You’re not wrong. Goddess, I love you.”
His hands still long enough that I open my eyes, only to find him frowning down into the water.
“What’s wrong?”
He shakes his head and starts rubbing my foot again, but I pull it from his grasp and move through the water to loop my arms around his neck.
“What’s wrong?” I ask again.
“There are moments, such as these,” he begins and twirls a wet lock of my hair around his index finger, “that I’m reminded just how deeply I love you and how absolutely terrified I am at the same time.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“Losing you, of course.” His eyes are on the lock of hair around his finger. “I can’t ask you to marry me, to truly claim you as mine, until we resolve the mess of the curse and find a witch murderer.”
“Why not?”
The question seems to trip him up. “What do you mean, why not?”
“Why can’t you ask me to marry you? Why can’t you claim me?”
“Because when all is said and done, we may not be able to be together, Lucy. If we don’t lift the curse, I’ll be gone, and you’ll forget all about me.”
I shake my head as I straddle his lap and slowly take him inside me. His hands instinctively glide up my back. Once I’m seated on him, I take his face in my hands once more.
“I want you to understand something, Jonas Morley. Whether it’s for a day or a hundred years, I am yours, and there is nothing that could ever happen that would make me forget you. I carry your mark.”
I show him my hand and smile when he leans forward to kiss it.
“We belong to each other, my love.” I kiss his lips tenderly as he cups my ass in his big hands and urges me to move. “I’m yours until I take my last breath.”
His muscles bunch beneath my hands as the water sluices around us, and when we go over together, he presses his lips to mine as if memorizing me.
“Mine,” he whispers between gasps for breath, and I smile against him.
“Mine,” I agree softly.
“Let’s make it official,” he says and then laughs. “I know that’s not the most romantic of proposals, but I don’t want to wait. Marry me, Luciana.”
“Tonight.”
His eyebrows climb into his dark hair, but his eyes are full of humor.
“That’s a bit quick to organize a wedding.”
“I don’t need the pomp and circumstance. At least not right now. We can perform our own handfasting ceremony together and bind our souls. We don’t need witnesses for that.”
He brushes his fingertips down my sternum and over my heart.
“Do you think your cousins will let you live another day if you don’t invite them to be here for such an occasion?”
I bite my lip and then let out a little laugh.
“I’ll call them over. But I want it done tonight, Jonas.”
His expression sobers, and he pulls me in for another long, slow kiss.
“Then it’ll be tonight.”
Chapter Eighteen
Jonas
“I’m sorry if you were all sleeping peacefully. Kind of,” Lucy says to her aunts and cousins with a sweet smile lighting her gorgeous face. She radiates with excitement and joy, and it’s a nice change after all the fear and grief lately. “But I’m only a little sorry.”
“Are you kidding?” Breena jumps up and down in excitement, fiddling with a bouquet. “Who needs sleep when one of your favorite people is getting married?”
“The coven will want to throw you a big party,” Astrid reminds her but pulls her in close for a hug. “And you know that we wouldn’t miss this for anything. Of all our girls, you were the most likely to want to do this on a whim and in the dark.”
“It’s almost midnight,” Hilda says as she sets one final white candle on her picnic table.
I wave my hand, and all the wicks light, making the girls smile.
We decided to do this in the aunts’ garden.
“I’m sorry that your coven isn’t here with you,” Lucy says as she takes my hand. “I know you care about many people in Hallows End and wish they could be here for this.”
I kiss her forehead and take a long, deep breath. “One day, they’ll know. We’ll celebrate with them then.”
“It’ll just be a long string of parties,” Lorelei adds with a smile. “As it should be.”
“I’ve kept this for you.” Hilda steps forward, holding a braided leather strap in her hands. “This was the cord that your parents used for their ceremony, and I know that your mom wants you to use it for yours.”