"Jordan." Her name caught in my throat. "Will you marry me? Will you join yourself to me in the tradition of your people?"
Tears spilled over, tracing silver paths down her cheeks. Time seemed to stop. My heart forgot how to beat. Had I misread everything? Moved too fast, assumed too much?
"Yes!" The word burst from her like sunlight breaking through clouds. "Yes, yes, Ruka, yes!"
She collided with me like a force of nature, and I caught her on instinct as her arms locked around my neck.Her tears dampened my skin while she laughed and sobbed simultaneously, her whole body trembling against mine.
"Happy tears," she gasped, pulling back to meet my eyes. Her face was radiant despite—or perhaps because of—the tears streaming down it. "I promise, these are happy tears."
I framed her face with my hands, my thumbs chasing away the wetness on her cheeks. "You're certain?"
"I've never been more certain of anything." Her kiss was an answer, a promise, a beginning. She poured her soul into it, and I felt the truth of her words in every heartbeat.
When we finally surfaced for air, both of us breathing hard, I lowered her carefully to her feet. My hands shook—actually shook—as I lifted the ring from its nest of soft cloth. Jordan extended her left hand, fingers spread wide, and I slid the band home onto her fourth finger, just as the texts had instructed.
It fit perfectly.
She raised her hand to the light, rotating it slowly, watching how the emerald captured and reflected the sunset in its depths. "Ruka, it's exquisite. You made this?"
"Yes. Every element is from my ancestral home, for the woman who has become my home."
Fresh tears welled in her eyes, and she pulled me down into another kiss. This one was different—slower, deeper, filled with promise. Her hands slid up my chest to my shoulders, then into my hair, and I felt the shift in her scent, the sweetness intensifying into something headier.
"Make love to me," she whispered against my lips, her breath warm and sweet, carrying the faint scent of the wildflowers we'd passed on our way here.
I needed no further invitation. My hands found the laces of her tunic, working them loose with trembling fingers as she tugged at my shirt with equal urgency. We shed our clothingpiece by piece, letting them fall carelessly to the soft grass beside the pool until there was nothing left but skin and want and the electric anticipation crackling in the air.
In the fading light, Jordan was radiant. The spray from the falls had left a fine mist on her skin that caught the last rays of sunset, making her seem to glow from within like some ethereal being. The sunset painted her in shades of gold, highlighting every curve, every dip and swell of her body. I traced the line of her collarbone with reverent fingers, traveling down between her breasts, following the valley of her stomach, marveling as I always did that she was mine. That this incredible female had chosen me.
"My mate," I murmured against her throat, tasting the salt on her skin. "My wife."
"Not yet," she said with a smile that was equal parts mischief and promise, her fingers threading through my hair as she pulled me down to the blanket with her. "But soon. Very soon."
I kissed her again, deeply, before beginning a slow journey down her body. My lips traced the elegant line of her throat, feeling her pulse flutter beneath my mouth. She sighed softly as I continued lower, kissing across her collarbone, then down to the swell of her breasts.
I knew what she liked—had learned every preference, every sensitive spot that made her breath catch. Taking my time, I circled one breast with kisses before drawing her nipple into my mouth, using my tongue in the way that always made her gasp. Her reaction was immediate and gratifying—her back arched off the grass, pressing herself more firmly against my mouth.
"Ruka," she moaned, her fingers threading through my hair, holding me to her.
I lavished attention on her breast, alternating between gentle suction and the flick of my tongue, while my hand cupped and caressed the other, my thumb brushing over the peaked nipple. Jordan writhed beneath me, her hips shifting restlessly, soft sounds of pleasure escaping her lips that drove my own desire higher.
When I switched to her other breast, giving it the same devoted attention, her moans grew louder, more desperate. Her legs shifted against mine, her body seeking friction, seeking more. I could smell her arousal, sweet and intoxicating, making my own need almost painful.
"Please," she breathed, her voice trembling with want.
I covered her body with mine, supporting my weight on my forearms as I settled between her thighs, fitting against her like we were made for this, made for each other. The heat of her skin against mine sent sparks of electricity through every nerve ending, igniting a fire that started in my core and radiated outward. She was already warm and ready for me, slick and inviting, her body welcoming mine as I entered her slowly, deliberately, inch by glorious inch, savoring every sensation, every flutter of her muscles around me. The feeling of being inside her was indescribable—like finding the missing piece of my soul that I hadn't even known was lost until I found her.
Jordan's back arched beautifully off the grass, her hands gripping my shoulders with desperate intensity, nails digging into my skin just hard enough to leave marks, to claim me as surely as I was claiming her. She gasped my name like a benediction, and the sound of it on her lips nearly undid me. I began to move, setting a rhythm that had her matching me thrust for thrust, our bodies moving together in perfect synchronization, a dance we'd practiced countless times but that never lost its power. The sound of the falls surrounded us, a constant rush of noise that seemed to echo the blood poundingin my veins, the thundering of my heart against my ribs, the roar of pleasure building between us like a gathering storm.
"I love you," Jordan breathed, her eyes locked on mine with an intensity that threatened to undo me completely. Her gaze was full of trust, desire, and something deeper—something eternal, something that spoke of forever and all the tomorrows we'd share. "I love you so much."
"I love you," I managed, though coherent speech was becoming increasingly difficult as pleasure clouded my thoughts and made everything fuzzy except the feeling of her around me, beneath me, with me. "My heart. My everything."
Her inner walls tightened around me as her pleasure built, rippling and clenching in waves that threatened to send me over the edge before I was ready, and I felt my own release approaching like a tide I couldn't hold back, powerful and inevitable. I reached between us, finding the sensitive bundle of nerves that made her cry out and arch her back, and stroked it in careful circles, in time with my thrusts, watching her face as ecstasy played across her features like the most beautiful artwork I'd ever witnessed.
Jordan shattered beneath me, her body convulsing in waves of pleasure as she called my name to the darkening sky, her voice raw with emotion and release, her nails digging into my shoulders hard enough to leave marks I'd treasure tomorrow. The feel of her climax triggered my own, pleasure coiling tight at the base of my spine before exploding outward in a rush that left me breathless and trembling. I buried myself deep as my release poured into her, hot and endless, marking her as mine in the most primal way possible, claiming and being claimed in return.
We lay tangled together afterward, limbs intertwined and hearts racing, cuddled together as the evening air cooled our sweaty skin. Jordan's hand rested on my chest, right over mythundering heartbeat, the ring glinting even in the twilight, catching the first shards of moonlight. I covered her hand with my own, lacing our fingers together in a promise that needed no words.