He places his finger on my lips. "You didn’t want me to protect you. You wanted to face the world with your truth, and I respect that."
"You do?"
"I bow to your courage of conviction, your fierce determination to show everyone your reality, to share your truth, no matter how much it was going to hurt you."
I swallow. His words form an invisible fortress around me, one in which there’s only me and him and our intimacy. This thing that connects me to him—it feels bigger than love. Bigger than each of us. Because it is. When we’re together, we’re more than the sum of our parts. We’re unassailable, indomitable, invulnerable… At least, it feels that way.
"But you have to realize, I can’t just stand by and let you carry the load. I’ll never be the kind who can look on as you go through the biggest test of your life and not try my best to alleviate the distress it’s causing you."
I sit up, then straddle him with my knees. I loop my fingers around his neck, then rise up and kiss him on top of his head. I place my cheek on his smooth shaven pate and marvel at just how much my life has changed. When I finally lower myself into his lap with my knees on either side of his thighs, a familiar hardness pokes into the flesh between my legs.
"Oh!" I blink. "Oh, my."
His lips kick up. "I’m still only a man—holding the woman of his dreams in his arms. I fucking adore your soul. I worship your spirit. And when you combine that with your body, baby, that… is my downfall."
I laugh. "These words of yours are everything. You are everything."
"But without you, I’m nothing."
He slides his hand into his pocket and holds up the ring. Then, he takes my other hand and slides the ring onto the finger on my left hand.
I weave my fingers through his, then reach up and kiss him. He lets me brush my lips on his once—then takes charge. He pulls me close, slants his mouth over mine and kisses me so deeply, every pore in my body seems to open, every cell seems to catch fire, and every last molecule in me sighs in happiness.
When he finally lets go, we’re both panting.
A burst of clapping reaches us. I glance over my shoulder to find my mother, his mother and the rest of the Knitting Club gathered behind us.
I flush and try to rise, but he doesn’t let me go. "Liam, they’re watching us."
"Let them."
My flush deepens. "Liam, please," I hiss.
He smirks. I blink. Without his hair, he looks like a younger, hotter, more arrogant version of Bruce Willis a la hisDie Harddays. Bruce Willis meets Tom Ellis meets Jason Stratham if you want to be specific. Those grey eyes of his seem even more piercing. Of course, Mr. Alphahole would look devastating any which way.
"You’re staring, baby," he drawls.
"So are you."
"I’m looking at the woman who occupies my dreams and my every waking moment. To have you with me, in my arms, to be able to hold you and know we have the rest of our lives together, forever, every day, makes me so fucking happy."
My heart feels like it’s filling my chest, extending to my stomach, and filling every cell in my body. I feel like I’m floating.
"I want to kiss you so badly again. In fact, I can’t imagine a scenario where I don’t want to jump on you, kiss you, tear your clothes off, and fuck you every time I see you."
"Keep going; don’t stop."
"If I had to dream of the person I was going to share my life with, it wouldn’t have been you."
I blink. "No?"
"No." He cups my cheek. "You meet so many people in your life, and none of them touch you. And then you meet the one, and you realize you don’t deserve her."
My cheeks grow fiery. I wriggle about in his lap, and that rod in his crotch seems to grow bigger, thicker, more stabbier, if that’s possible.
"Don’t move again, or I might embarrass myself."
I bury my face in his throat. "Liam, you’re embarrassing me."