Page 72 of Grave Curse

“It’s not a sacrifice when it’s something I’ve always wanted.” He turned in his seat as well so that our knees wound up touching. He reached over and caught both my hands in his, and the callused, warm strength of them steadied me like nothing else. “You know as well as anyone that any swinging dick can knock up a bitch. That doesn’t make him a man, and that sure as fuck isn’t how a real man makes his family. You’re right, wedidn’t grow up with the greatest role models. But at least they showed us the most important things a kid needs, if only because those assholes denied us those very things. Things like love, and caring, and comfort. But love is by far the big kahuna in that mix. If a kid’s got that, they’ve got everything.”

A knot of tension I didn’t even know was there loosened in my chest. “So you get it? You understand that love is what a child needs? And that you have to be there every damn day to show love to that kid, even when you’re tired or busy or whatever?”

“Baby girl, that’s the story behind every long-lasting, successful relationship. Love is what keeps people together, because love is everything. Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Without warning, I could barely find my voice, but it wasn’t the usual choking sensation I suffered when fear made me go mute. No, it was that scary L-word that came out of his mouth that had me in a tizzy. Somehow hearing him apply that word to all relationships, and not just to his would-be child, made me feel like I had the world’s brightest spotlight on me, because now I had to deal with it. Question was, how? “L-love is, um, everything. Yep. Wow, is it getting hot in here?”

“You’re hot. Does that count?”

Clearly he had no idea I was in the throes of the world’s biggest panicky meltdown, all because I couldn’t handle this wholelovebusiness. What sort of pretend-goddess was I? “Yes. No. Oh, boy.” I took a deep breath, then looked him straight in the eye.Say it, dummy. Just say it… “Okay. Tyr.”

He waited a beat. “Ginger.”

Smartass. “Okay…”

“You already said that.” He gave me a funny look. “Are you okay?”

I wasn’t even in the neighborhood of okay. “We need to talk.”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing?”

“Ineed to talk, and you need to sit there and listen. Don’t interrupt,” I added when he opened his mouth. “This is unbelievably hard for me to put into words, so just sit there and let me get this all out.” When he nodded but didn’t say anything more, I sent up silent thanks and tried to find the right words. “I’m good with having a baby.Yourbaby. I already love it, as crazy as that must sound. I never had love like that, so I don’t know if I’ll be any good at it. But I’m ready. I’m ready to love. I know I am, because… I… I… love…”

His brows slammed down. “Don’t you dare go mute on me now, woman.”

“No, it’s not that.” It was me. I was the problem. There was no clever way to say these words, to camouflage their meaning and spare myself any possible rejection, so I took another breath and dived in. “I’ve lost my damn mind, because I… I’ve fallen in love with you.”

He went still. “Say it again.”

“I’ve lost my—”

“No, not that part. The good part.”

The good…?

Oh.

Oh.

I locked my gaze with his. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Tyr.”

I was in his arms and crushed against his chest before I even knew how I got there. As the hammering of his heart drummed against my breasts, the most amazing thought began to dawn on me.

Maybe I wasn’t the only one who had fallen.

“Love you so damn much, Gingersnap,” he said into the curve of my neck, as if he’d read my mind. With those few words, my world became so perfectly complete I was afraid to believe any of it was true. “Loved you my whole life. We’re going to beat the Colgrave curse and make it all work, baby girl. You and me, we’regoing to make the best goddamn life together this world has ever seen, and there’s never going to be a day that goes by where we forget to tell each other how much we love each other. Say it again, so I can believe this isn’t another dream.”

Anotherdream? “I…” Without warning, a wave of uncharacteristic shyness hit me, and I couldn’t help but laugh at my own idiocy. “Geez, why is this so hard to say?”

“Because it’s everything. Those words… they’re not just words, Snap. They’re a sacred vow your soul is making to my soul, if you believe in that kind of thing. They’re the foundation that the rest of your life is going to be built on. They’re vulnerability and strength all rolled into one, because those words give your heart to me to take care of. I’ve done the same by giving you my heart, and yeah, that’s fucking terrifying.”

My laugh sounded as shaky as I felt. “No kidding.”

“I don’t think I’d even believe that you loved me if you weren’t as freaked out by those words as you obviously are.” A faint laugh escaped him as he moved back just enough to brush the hair from my brow. “Thing is, it’s worse to live without love, and you know that better than anyone. You know it because you’ve lived that life, and you never want to go back to that darkness again.”

“No.” I shuddered at the thought. “God, no.”

“So we’re not going to go back. The only way to go now is forward, and we do it together.” He brushed his lips against mine, then smiled into my eyes. “Say it again, baby girl. Get used to it.Feelit.”

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