Page 112 of Forever Touched

“What is it?” Everett asked, reaching up to brush hair off my cheek.

“I’m yours,” I burst out, rapidly blinking as tears filled my eyes.

His expression softened. “Yes, Adalyn. You’re mine. But you’re still your own person.”

I gave him a trembling smile. “I get that now. We belong to each other, but we’re still free. I’m still me, and you’re still you.”

He smiled back, murmuring, “And you’re okay with that?”

“More than okay.”

He kissed me then, and I kissed him back, marveling at my newest revelation. I was his, but I didn’t have to give up who I was. He didn’twantme to, and that made me love him all the more. I poured that love into our union, making sure he felt it in every way possible as the moment became heated. As he showed me just how unbreakable I now was.

And when we were finished, our bodies humming with contentment and the bed beneath us thoroughly destroyed, I provedmy love one more time by whispering, “Yes.”

“Yes, what?” he whispered back, brushing a kiss to my brow.

“Yes, Everett. I’ll marry you.”

36

ADALYN

It was almost dawn when we arrived back at the castle.

Noah had portalled back a few hours ago, but Everett had wanted me to adjust a little bit more to the transition before we headed back. Not surprisingly, the Faircrofts hadn’t returned to the house, so we’d used the alone time to answer each other’s many questions. We’d stayed on my broken bed for hours, resting in each other’s arms while I told Everetteverything.

Each word spoken was another weight off my shoulders, a reminder that I was free. Free of thrall. Free of the pactums. Free of my father’s blood debt. And, most importantly, free of the Faircrofts.

We had no idea where they’d slinked off to, but at the moment, I didn’t care. I was free of them at long last. Free to go where I pleased. Mistress no longer owned me. She was no longer mymistress. I could call her whatever I wanted now. She couldn’t stop me. Couldn’t control me.

She seemed so small now. Small and helpless.

I was no longer the fragile creature stuck in a dangerous world.Shewas.

“We’ll get them. They can’t hide forever,” Everett had assured me as we’d driven off in the Aston Martin, leaving the place that had witnessed the end of my old life and the start of my new one. I’d left it behind without a backward glance, taking nothing with me but the clothes on my back, my familiar, and my soulmate.

The only things I needed for my new beginning.

“You sure I won’t burn when the sun rises?” I asked Everett as he pulled into the circular drive at the castle. There were a few cars still parked there, but most of them were gone now. Some of my tension eased at the sight, and I allowed myself to hope that most of the Venturi had survived the fight. They weren’t completely innocent in all this, but they hadn’twantedthis either, something I could understand.

Once he became king, I didn’t know how forgiving Everett would be toward the males who’d treated me like a blood whore, but knowing that I would soon be theirqueenwent a long way toward repairing the damage they’d caused.

“You’re a vampire witchhybrid, Adalyn,” Everett answered me before killing the ignition. “None of the normal rules apply to you. You’re basically a Venturi with magical powers. Nothing about you is fragile anymore, even if you still look like a porcelain doll.”

I snorted. “A doll? Come on. I’m notthatfragile-looking.”

He threw me a crooked grin. “You’re practically a waif, baby girl.”

I scowled at him. “Take that back. I’m not a homeless child.”

With a laugh, he opened his car door and hopped out. “You can’t deny that you currently look like a street urchin. Kind of like the orphan girl inAnnie.”

I glanced down at my dress, now hopelessly ripped and soiled. Then scrambled out after him and shot back, “Who does that makeyou,then? Daddy Warbucks?”

His smile turned wicked. “Iamkind of robbing the cradle.”

Huffing, I placed Pepper on my shoulder before saying, “I’m almost twenty-one, and you don’t look much older.”

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