“I made a bid on you two years ago.”
“What?” she whispers in disbelief and I nod.
“You’re my promised, Fae. You’re my forever.”
“Oh.”
“Oh?” I chuckle, nuzzling into her. “You think I would ever let you walk away?”
I feel her smile against me as her arms wrap around my neck and I tighten my hold on her.
“But I’m a Swallow, I thought…”
“You thought wrong. I don’t care what role you take in The Company and when you become my wife, I have the right to request you change expertise, or at the very least not take on sexual duties.”
Her breath hitches at that and her bottom lip quivers.
“I will marry you, Fae. You will take my name, bear my children, and stand beside me.”
“Wh… what… who is your other?”
Her eyes are uncertain as she looks at me and I take a slow breath.
“Quinn.”
“Gross.” She scrunches up her nose and a chuckle falls out of me as I bend down and gently kiss the wrinkles she made.
“Yup. But listen, I need you to trust me. Can you try? It’s going to be hard. I need to keep up appearances with my dad, it was part of the deal, and Quinn is a political move for him. I’ll need to be seen at some public functions with her?—”
“Will you fuck her?” she cuts me off.
“No,” I respond firmly so she understands. “No fucking, no kissing. I’m not interested in her, Tink. This is simply to placate my dad until graduation, okay? I do not make empty promises, and I promise not only that I will be faithful to you, but that I will be marrying you. No compounds. No running away. No doing things on your own anymore. It’s me and you… okay?”
She gives me a soft smile and steals my lips in a gentle kiss. Her hands curl into my shoulder like she needs something solid to ground her and I kiss her back with all the words left unspoken. Breaking away, I brush my thumb over her lips before pulling her back into position, her back pressed tight against my chest. The peace I search for during the day settles over me like a weighted blanket as I inhale her vanilla and honey scent.
Her breathing begins to steady. The tension in her body slowly unwinds as my palm makes small circles on her stomach.Hopefully soon, our baby will be growing there and she will understand just how serious I am about keeping her forever.
“You are mine,” I whisper into her hair, “not because of a promise, not because of politics. Because I chose you.”
She nods once, small and fragile, before sleep takes her. I stay awake, running through the day and what we found.
As I lie in the dark, listening to her breathing, memorising the weight of her in my arms, I make another silent promise to myself.
No one takes her from me.
Not blood.
Not contracts.
Not legacy.
No one.
CHAPTER 27
ROMAN
Iwake before my eyes open. There is a warm, wet heat on my cock as I groan. The slow, deliberate movement pulls me from sleep like a hook beneath my ribs. For a second, I think I am dreaming. It feels unreal, like the kind of dream that is too vivid and too warm to question. Heat blooms low in my body, heavy from the haze of sleep and my senses dull at the edges. My world is still distant, but there is a steady, insistent pull dragging me upward from the dark.