Page 30

Cate

Six words.

Lach and I hadn’t spoken for the better part of a week, and that was all I warranted. Six shitty words. I stared at the crumpled note in my hand.

Meet me for dinner at six.

No apology. No explanation. No I love you . He hadn’t even bothered to sign his freaking name.

Maybe it was part of his plan. Break things off in a public place with lots of curious humans watching so I wouldn’t make a scene. Clearly, he wasn’t interested in working through our problems—mating bond or no. I turned away from the door that led to the Avalon’s dining room, but I only made it a few steps toward the elevator before I changed my mind. Maybe it was better if he wanted to end things. How much harder could my heart break, anyway?

A deep pang in my chest answered. I rubbed away the ache and pushed open the door.

Inside, chairs were turned over on top of tables, and the overhead lights were off. The entire place was deserted save for an intimate table that had been set for two in the center of the room, adorned with silver candlesticks and a ridiculously large bouquet of red roses whose deep crimson petals seemed to glow in the flickering candlelight.

So maybe I’d read the note wrong. Still, it wasn’t going to be as easy as tossing a few flowers and lighting a few candles.

The side door opened, and Lach stepped through, carrying a bottle of wine. Our eyes met and held so long that I forgot how to breathe, my resolve diminishing with each passing second.

“I got your note,” I blurted out, the words bouncing in the large, empty space. I crossed my arms over my chest, fixing him with a guarded look. A million questions piled into my mind, but only one seemed important. “What do you want?”

Now? Tomorrow? For the rest of our lives?

We could start with the first and work our way toward the rest.

“Sit down.” Lach gestured to the table. “I just want you to hear me out.”

I stared at him, my eyes trying hopelessly to adjust in the dark so I could get a better read on him.

“Please,” he added, not budging from his spot across the room.

“Finally, some manners,” I muttered, and a cautious smile tugged at his lips. Releasing a slow breath, I walked over and took a seat at the candlelit table. I tapped the handle of the spoon. “If you think that we can just sit down and pretend like nothing happened…”

I didn’t know where I was going with that threat.

“I know that.” He took a single step before he frowned down at the wine in his hands. Depositing it on the nearest table, he raked a hand through his hair. “I meant to plan a whole speech, but dinner took longer than I expected.”

“You…cooked?” Possibly the biggest surprise of the evening.

He nodded, rubbing his palms together as he looked around the room.

“I’m right here,” I reminded him. “Or are you looking for an exit so you can keep avoiding me?”

I braced myself, expecting him to lash out. To remind me that I had been the one to walk out last week. But he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Reaching to his wrist, he unbuttoned a cufflink and let it scatter to the floor.

“Are you—”

He raised a single finger to silence me.

I slumped into my chair as he rolled up one of his shirtsleeves, revealing the toned muscles of his forearm and a tattoo slowly trailing out of sight. “I was wrong,” he said quietly. “About a lot of things.”

It took me a second to process the words. When I finally did, I tilted my head to acknowledge them, half of me too shocked to speak and the other half not quite ready to let my guard down. Some of my anger ebbed at his admission, but I stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

He flicked the next cufflink across the room and rolled up his other sleeve. “I’ve been an asshole—a complete and utter asshole—to you.” Regret laced his smile, and I found my own lips tugging at the corners in spite of myself. I pressed them into a flat line before he stopped.

“Not going to argue with you on that.”

He snorted. “Fair enough.”

And he wasn’t even going to let me pick a fight. Maybe he had learned his lesson. I opened my mouth to let him off the hook, but he held up a hand. “Let me finish. I need to say this.”

But he didn’t speak. He dropped onto one knee.

I was going to need a defibrillator. My breath caught in my throat. “Gage, what the—”

“Go with it.” He grinned. Still holding my gaze, he lowered his other knee to the ground.

Disappointment splashed in my chest, dashed away when he planted his palms on the ground and lowered his head.

“I’m so sorry, Cate.” He started to crawl. “For everything. I was stubborn and pigheaded and completely blind. I fucked up. I don’t deserve your forgiveness…”

I gripped the arms of my chair, afraid I was going to fall out of it. I’d expected an apology, but this…

Lachlan Gage was ruthless. He was powerful. He held New Orleans in the palm of his hands.

And I had him on his knees.

He continued to me and stopped. “But forgive me.” His head finally lifted, allowing me to glimpse the raw vulnerability shimmering in his green eyes before he bowed it once more. “I’ve spent so long with the world at my feet that I forgot…my true place is here. At yours. Please, fucking forgive me.”

My heart stuttered in my chest and then began to race. Reaching down, I threaded my fingers through his dark hair, gently tilting his face up to mine.

“I don’t want you at my feet,” I whispered. “I want you with me. At my side. I want to be your equal. Your partner.”

“I will never be your equal.”

I smiled down at him, unable to resist. “Well, you can try.”

He laughed softly. Cupping his chiseled jaw, I leaned down and pressed my lips to his. Lach shifted upward, and his hand cupped my cheek, the touch almost tentative. I opened for him, and he swept in, restraint abandoned as he deepened the kiss.

When we finally broke apart, both breathless, his hands slid purposefully under my skirt, warm on my bare thighs. “But what if I want my place to be right here?”

The question stoked an ember to life at my core, but I blinked. “Is the groveling over?”

“I can continue,” he offered, something wicked dancing in his eyes as his fingers hooked the elastic sides of my panties. “Or I can show you why I belong here…”

“Actions speak louder than words,” I said, then swallowed hard.

His smile widened as he dragged my underwear down my legs and brought the delicate lace to his nose.

“Delicious.” He inhaled deeply before shoving them in his pocket.

I licked my lower lip, wiggling in the chair. “I thought we were having dinner.”

“We are, but there’s only one thing I’m craving.”

Shivers sprinted across my skin as he kissed and licked his way up my inner thigh. When he reached the softest point, he gripped my knees and slid me to the edge of the chair. “That’s it,” he crooned, urging my legs wider. “I need to fucking taste you, princess.” His warm breath fanned across me, and I gasped, my head falling against the back of the chair. Lach growled as his thumbs spread me open. “I fucking need you .”

I shuddered at the first, hot lash of his tongue. “I need you, too.”

I needed him like air. I needed him to survive. And I was tired of questioning that.

I grabbed a fistful of his hair and jerked his face from between my legs. “Don’t push me away.” My voice cracked.

“I won’t,” he swore.

“Don’t hide things from me.” I couldn’t stand the thought of any distance between us. Not when he was part of me. Not when I was part of him. “We only work together.”

He brushed a kiss to my arm. “I won’t.”

“I need you.” The words sounded different as they fell from my lips, but he seemed to understand. Lach rose to his feet with inhuman speed, his arm sweeping across the table. Glass and porcelain shattered around us, and then I was across the table, my legs hanging over the side. I vaulted up, hooking an arm around his neck and dragging him on top of me. Our mouths collided, his fingers fumbling for his belt buckle. I whimpered at the promising swish of leather as he freed his cock.

“You have me.” He gripped my hips as he positioned and slid inside me inch by inch. “All of me.”

I clung to him, my nails biting into his skin as he thrust, each stroke deepening the bond between us.

“Being inside you feels like home,” Lach rasped, eyes searing into mine. “Nothing will ever be more right than this.”

He rolled his hips, hitting a spot that sent stars bursting into my vision. His thumbs brushed reverently over my hip bones. “I knew from the first moment I saw you that you were mine .” He punctuated the declaration with a sharp snap of his hips, darkness curling around him.

“I love you,” I moaned.

A grin carved his mouth, my words chasing away some of the shadows. “You better.”

My hands fisted his shirt and dragged his face to mine. He groaned into my lips, plunging faster and faster as we hurtled toward the edge.

With one final, deep thrust, Lach roared, his release triggering my own earth-shattering climax.

Gradually, I floated back to reality, limbs heavy and body spent. He rested his forehead against mine as we fought to catch our breath, pulses gradually slowing.

He stared into my eyes with a tenderness that made my heart ache as I smoothed a sweat-dampened strand of hair from his brow. His eyes fluttered open, meeting my awed gaze.

“You’re the only thing that chases the darkness away,” he whispered hoarsely, raw emotion coloring his confession. “You are the light in my world.”

Tears burned in my eyes as he kissed me once, the brush of his lips full of promise.

Barely drawing back, he closed his eyes. “I’m so s—”

I pressed a silencing finger to his lips.

“Stop saying you’re sorry,” I told him, and his eyes flew open. “I’m not keeping score.”

One dark brow arched skeptically, and a giggle bubbled up my throat.

“At the moment,” I amended with a playful grin.

“That’s my girl.” He helped me to my feet as my stomach rumbled so loudly that he flinched. “I guess I have to actually feed you.”

“I guess so.” I held out a hand. “Panties, please.”

He frowned as he reached into his pocket, muttering something under his breath as he helped me step into them. Smoothing my skirt into place, I looked around at the destruction. “I guess we aren’t eating in here.”

“Hopefully I didn’t scorch it.” He took my hand and guided me toward the kitchen.

The rich, spicy aroma hit me first, causing my mouth to water and another embarrassingly loud rumble from my stomach. Lach laughed, leading me over to the stove where a large pot sat simmering. He lifted the lid with a flourish to reveal a hearty gumbo. I peeked inside, surprised to see it looked nearly as delicious as it smelled.

“You actually cooked this?” I asked, hardly able to believe my eyes. Lachlan Gage, powerful fae prince, slaving over a stove ? Too domestic. Too normal.

He stuck his tongue out. “I’m only mildly offended.”

Grabbing a spoon, he scooped up a generous portion, blowing on it before offering it to me. I accepted the bite, and flavors exploded on my tongue. Rich. Spicy. Incredible. An involuntary moan escaped my lips.

“This is better than sex.” I swiped the spoon from him.

“Now I’m definitely offended.” But he was smiling as he ladled some into a bowl.

I clutched the bowl as he dished up his own. “I wish it could always be this simple.”

“Me too.” He dropped the ladle in the pot and settled against the counter, holding his own gumbo. But he didn’t take a bite. “We caught the murderer.”

I stilled, processing the information. Relief warred with a sense of unease in my gut. Finally, I managed a quiet, “Good.”

“It was a vampire.” He told me more as I continued to eat, his own food forgotten. When he admitted to staking him, I put my bowl down, fingers trembling. He fell silent for a moment. “I shouldn’t have told you that part.”

But I shook my head. “I meant what I said before,” I murmured. “I want to know everything. You just have to remember I’m new to all of this. I’ll get comfortable with it.”

At least I hoped I would.

“Part of me doesn’t ever want you to be comfortable with this, Cate,” he admitted, the shadows returning in full force. “I wish you didn’t have to face this darkness.”

“I’m not scared of the darkness. I’m only scared of losing you.”

“You have me,” he promised, sadness shining in his eyes. “Every breath I have left is yours.”

Because he couldn’t promise me forever. Not with that mark burned into the back of his neck. The reality of our situation crashed over me like a tidal wave, dragging me under its weight. We stared into each other’s eyes.

“I wish it was longer. I wish it was forever,” he added softly.

And in that moment, I knew it could have been. I knew that I’d been holding myself back. I knew I had been waiting to lose everything again. But I also knew that whatever pain lay before us was nothing compared to this—to the bond that fate had gifted us. Because I had been meant to find Lachlan Gage, to find my family, to find my home.

“What is it?” he asked, concern knitting his forehead.

But I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t explain it. There weren’t words. All I could do was show him.

Reaching down, I grasped my ring, unsurprised to find it loose. It had been waiting, too. Waiting for me to be ready. With a gentle tug, I slipped it off. Fear jolted through me as I held it out to him, my heart hammering in my chest.

We both stared at it in stunned silence, hardly daring to breathe as we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened.

No magical rush.

No otherworldly sensation.

Nothing.

My gaze found the floor, shame dashing the clarity I’d felt a moment before.

“Are you disappointed?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. “That I’m not fae?”

Not fated to live forever. Not part of his world. Just two lost souls that had somehow found each other on their own.

His gaze snapped to mine, eyes blazing. “Disappointed?” The word was choked. “ Never . I wanted you to be fae because I couldn’t bear the thought of a world without you in it.”

“But the Terra Court,” I croaked, tears streaming down my cheeks. “And the spell and…I was supposed to help you get what you wanted. To help you resurrect the court.”

He cupped both sides of my face, his thumbs brushing away my tears. “I want you. That’s it. You . For who you are. I will always want you.”

“I thought when I took off the ring…” My throat tightened, words bottling inside it.

“You don’t need that ring,” he said, pulling away abruptly. Then, to my utter shock, he dropped to one knee before me, his hand clasping mine. He grinned up at me. “I didn’t have time to plan this, either, but I am prepared.”

All I could manage was a single sob as he reached into his pocket and produced a velvet ring box.

“My life started the day I met you, and I want to spend the rest of it with you.” He popped open the lid, revealing something sparkly. I blinked back tears just enough to make out a stunning diamond solitaire. Simple. Elegant. Freaking huge.

I swiped at my eyes, still blinking furiously. “I can’t wear that. I’ll hurt someone.”

“I’m not buying one any smaller,” he warned me, taking it out of the box. “Marry me.”

Not a question. We were past that point. But I nodded anyway and held out my finger, new tears springing to my eyes as he slipped it on—for a moment, the future stretching before us bright and beautiful and full of hope.