Page 58 of Wickedly Yours

“What were you looking for?”

The truth.I reminded myself. She deserved that much. If she was going to marry me, I should at least tell her this. “You,” I admitted.

“Why?”

My thumb brushed over Luna’s bare leg, the one that peeked out from the opening in the robe. “I needed you.” I rubbed back and forth over the skin, glad that she was at least letting me hold her like this. “No, Ineedyou. That fact hasn’t changed.”

“But… why me?” She sounded surprised. Didn’t she know how incredible she was? “Novalie said something earlier. That you’d been waiting for me for a long time, is that… true?”

Longer than you know.I nodded. “Damien was only in the human realm because I’d sent him there. To look for you.” Those big green eyes widened. “A powerful witch was foretold to be my queen.”

“But I’m notpowerful,” she admitted, her voice low. “Not really. I don’t even know how to control my powers. I hid them my whole life.” Her hands spread open, little bits of light filtering through her palms. “It’s nothing more than a party trick.” Her throat bobbed as she paused. “I mean, I still see things—sometimes. Brief flashes of the future. Dreams I can’t explain. But mostly…” Luna’s shoulders slumped. “When those demons attacked me, I froze.Froze.I should have been able to do something. But my legs wouldn’t move.”

Tracing a finger over her brow, I cradled her face with my free hand. “It’s okay,” I murmured softly, trying to soothe her.

“It’s not.” Luna sprung to her feet. She huffed a frustrated sound that seemed to echo through the empty room. “I should be able to take care of myself. I feel like I’m always depending on someone, and I’m sooverit. First Willow, and now… you.” A furrow formed in her brow like a thought had only just occurred to her. “The demons who attacked me,” she started, her body trembling slightly. “Did you send them to find me, too? To convince me to come back here with you?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think I would do that?Riskyou? After all the trouble I went through to find you?”

“I don’tknow!” She practically shouted the words at me, throwing her arms up. There was fire in her eyes, burning brighter than normal. They were almost white. “That’s the problem. Because I thought I knew you, and now what? Everything’s changed. And I don’t even know whoIam anymore.”Her arms slid around her middle like she was trying to make herself smaller.

“You’re still you,” I said, voice soft. “My moonbeam. Nothing has changed. Not really.” Luna’s eyes connected with mine. Endless emotion swirled in those once again bright green depths. “Does this change anything for you?” I asked because I needed to know. If it made a difference.

“I… Just answer this first. Was any of it real?” Her face sagged, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. “I gave upeverything. My life. My sister. My home. So I need this to bereal.” Tears filled her eyes. “Because if this is just a game you’re playing…” She shook her head, brushing the wetness away. “Was it real? What we shared at the bar? All those nights at my apartment? Us?”

“Of course it was. All of it,” I said, standing at her side and cupping both her cheeks with my hands. “You have to know that. I’ve always wanted you,” I admitted. “Regardless of who you were to me, from the moment I saw you sitting there, all my plans went out the window.”

“And now?”

I rested our foreheads together. “I want you still. In any way you’ll have me. I wantyou, Luna. Your body, mind, and heart. Just as I always have.”

Her eyes fluttered shut, and I watched her pulse beat in her neck.

My teeth ached. Clearing my throat, I forced out the next question. “Do you still want to do this, Luna?”

She blinked. “What do you mean?”

“To marry me. If not, I’ll take you back to Pleasant Grove. We can forget any of this ever happened. You can forget aboutme.”

“But then…” Her finger fidgeted with the ring on her finger. She stared off into space for a moment before her gaze connected back with mine. “You promised to keep me safe,” Luna said, though it sounded more like a question, so I nodded. Of course I would. I’d sooner die than let her get hurt.

“Yes,” she answered finally. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

It was a promise, the answer to a question I’d been searching for long before I’d known of her existence. It was one I’d waited a lifetime for, and I’d do my best to earn every single day.

“Thank you,” I whispered, brushing my lips over her forehead. “You have no idea.”

How much I wanted her. Needed her.

And that I’d never risk her slipping from my grasp—never again.

SEVENTEEN

luna

Aknock on my door startled me out of the book I’d been reading. Trying not to get my hopes up it was him, and trying not to analyze why that was my first thought, I pulled myself out of the chair by the window. In the days I’d been here, I’d fallen in love with this little corner of my room.

It was still weird to think of it as mine. All of my stuff might have been here, and Selene seemed happy to prance around like she owned the place, but sometimes I felt like a stranger floating through this place. My home was in Pleasant Grove, and I’d left it behind.

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