Page 133 of Brutal Birthright

“My brute. My love.” She bit her lip, trying to find the words to say the thing she’d been holding in ever since that night they’d first kissed.

Rowan rubbed his thumbs over the swell of her hips and arched an eyebrow. The handsome asshole would absolutely know she didn’t usually stumble over her words, and the playful challenge in his expression said it all.

“Ever since the first day we met, you’ve pushed me to be the best version of myself. You gave me something I didn’t know I even needed until I met you, and that was the drive to find myself… and while doing so, you helped me find something else at the same time. The last thing I was expecting to ever find.”

The liquid sapphire of his gaze burned into hers, and Ri chewed the inside of her lip for a long second. Steeling herself for what was to come next. She reached down and cupped his strong jaw in her hands. Taking a shaky, deep inhale through her nose under his watchful eye.

It was now or never.

“In discovering my love for you, Rowan of Nocturne, I also found my fated mate… and I stand here today asking you to allow me to be yours in return.”

Rowan’s eyes darkened, and his pupils dilated. His entire body stilled. The grip of his hands over her hips tightened while his fingers dug in with a bruising hold.

Soft gasps filled the night air from among the crowd.

“Oriana,” he murmured. Moving faster than her rapidly-welling eyes could take in, Rowan wrapped her in his arms and lifted her up so that they were at eye level. “You knew this whole time?”

She couldn’t do anything but nod dumbly. Rolling her lips to press together.

“You are the most beautiful and stubborn thing I’ve ever encountered.” Rowan rested their foreheads against one another. Lips twitching as he fought off the hint of another smile. Oh, fuck, was she a goner for a secret smile from Rowan of Nocturne. “I’m so fucking relieved to hear that you have no idea. Please, please, don’t make me go another second without you officially becoming a Nocturne.”

Ri nodded. Tears rolled thick and fast down her cheeks as she grabbed his face and kissed him.

There was no stopping the celebrations now as noise erupted all around them. Music blossomed and filled the clearing, and as she drew back, she could see everyone hugging and kissing. Some had already begun dancing as the clearing shone with magic and pulsing orbs of light. Flower petals rained down from above their heads like brightly coloured snowflakes.

She nestled against his chest and felt Rowan kiss her hair as he squeezed her tight against his torso.

Then, his quiet words were right at her ear; his wicked mouth pressed up against the pointed tip. Ensuring no one else would hear amongst the revelry going on all around them. “Hearing you say that I’m your fated mate is the best thing to happen to me in three centuries of misery before I met you. But don’t think for one second you’ll get away without punishment for that, little faerie.”

A shudder of anticipation rolled through her as his dark chuckle rumbled through his chest and into her own body.

She could gladly bottle up that rich, velvety sound and drink it for an eternity.

Which was what they now had together.

Forever intertwined as kindred souls. No matter how blackened or bruised their essences might have been before finding one another, none of that mattered now.

From this moment onwards, they were simply divinely matched.

A pair of nocturnal hearts, beating as one.

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