Page 116 of Walking in Darkness

I washed and stepped out, drying quickly before I changed into leggings and a fluffy black sweater.

The ribbon still adorned my finger. I lifted it as I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

There was a chance that I might not ever take it off.

It was the sweetest gift I’d ever received.

Though it wasn’t hard for me to piece together how this man who was so forbidding—a minister of violence—could still remain so gentle underneath.

His deeds had been defined by the purpose he’d been given. By this life that had forged us into the people we were.

And I realized then I would never want to change that. I wanted all facets of him. All his rough, steely intimidation and the soft caresses he worshipped me with at night. His gruff words and his undying devotion.

I wanted his everything. Every single thing he’d just offered to me.

Clearing my throat, I forced myself to finally move, and I tied my damp hair up into a messy twist, then slipped from the bathroom.

Pax was dressed, leaning over with his elbows resting on his thighs where he sat on the edge of the bed.

When he felt me there, he lifted his head. Worry had edged back into his features, as if the few moments without me had set him off-balance. “How do you feel?”

“I feel like I’m standing in front of my future.” It billowed from my mouth. My own promise that it was us.

That I wanted it.

Forever.

He pushed to standing, his feet bare, the man so beautiful he stole the breath from my lungs. I wondered if there’d ever be a day when that would change. When he would stop having this effect on me.

I doubted it, with the burn that slipped through my body when he reached out and took my chin between his fingers. Wonderment was etched into every stark line of his expression. “You astound me, Aria. The resilience inside you.”

“And you’re the one who’s still standing at my side when danger tracks me everywhere I go.That’sresilience.”

Dedication and loyalty.

His thumb brushed over the scar on the left side of my mouth. “Ah, Princess, don’t you know the only place I want to be is at your side?”

My teeth raked my bottom lip, my own playfulness sliding into the tease. “I thought I was your fiancée?”

Softness hooked at the side of his mouth. “That’s right. And I can’t wait until we make thatwife.”

He grabbed my hand and threaded our fingers together. “Come on. We need to get you something to eat. Make sure we keep your strength up.”

“I’d rather stay here in this room with you all day.”

“One day, Aria. One day we won’t be dealing with all this bullshit; then it’ll just be you and me.”

I gave him a small nod, and he started to walk backward, taking me with him, still wearing that grin on his face as he led me toward the bedroom door.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

“I don’t want to take my eyes off you.”

Affection crawled into my cheeks on a bout of redness. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Nah, baby—I’m enamored.”

That flush only deepened, a sheet of warmth that slipped around me like an embrace.