He’d gotten the ring ready again. She’d panicked when he’d proposed a few weeks ago. This time, after seeing Martin, after everything they’d been through, she smiled.
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll marry you.”
“You’re ready?”
“I don’t know if anyone’s ever ready, but I don’t want to go another moment without you, Noah.” The cuffs stopped her from touching him.
He reached up, clicking the locks open, and she touched his face. Noah took her hands, rubbing her wrists. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
She smiled. “No. You could never hurt me.”
And that was what she knew.
Noah King had been forced to hurt her from the very beginning. He’d done so to stop her being hurt.
He’d taken her virginity, and even as she struggled in that cell, he’d given her pleasure. Against all odds, Noah had helped her.
Touching his cheek, she rubbed her fingers back and forth. “I never thought I could love someone like this. Not after everything we’ve been through, but I now know I can and I want to. I want you, Noah, only you. There was no need for you to worry today. Martin, he’s nothing. He means nothing to me. He never will.”
“I wasn’t worried today,” he said. “I was fucking jealous.”
“Why? He’s married. He’s got a family of his own. There’s nothing to do with me.”
Noah kissed one wrist, his lips gliding across the rough skin that had been left there by the cuffs. He took the second one and did exactly the same, soothing her pain.
How long had he been doing that with her?
Skye waited.
“I know how good you are, Skye. You’re fucking amazing. Any guy would give everything in the world to have you by his side. Every treasure, there would be nothing left.” He stroked her cheek. “Martin may be happy, but she’s not you. No woman will ever match up to you because you’re the best woman there is.”
Noah had opened up his doors, and she saw … everything. He was completely, totally in love with her.
“I’m not everything.”
“You are to me. You are the single most important person in my life. I’d give up my fortune to be with you. It’s why I know I’ll never leave you alone. I’ll never let you go, and I will make you the most loved woman in the world.”
She cried with him. “I love you too, so much.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing against him. “I’ve missed you so much. I tried to live without you, but it’s impossible. I don’t want to do it. I can’t do it.”
“Then let’s get married. I want this to be official. You and me.”
“Really? You and me.”
“Yes. I don’t need any big, elaborate affair. I only need you, Skye. It took me a long fucking time to realize it, but that’s all I need. You.”