Page 26 of Samhain

One of her eyebrows lifted up her forehead, a mischievous look in her eye. “Unless…”

I didn’t like the tone she used. It usually precipitated some silly idea that would likely get us in trouble.

“What if you and I got married in Vegas next week?”

“What?” I laughed, rolling toward her so I could grab her waist and give her a soft kiss on the forehead. “That’s ridiculous. Your grandmother would kill us.”

Miri mulled it over before replying, “She’d have to find us first.”

I narrowed my eyes, shifting them between hers when she didn’t start laughing with me. Was she serious? There was no way her family would let that happen. And when Ivy or Lex found out? Good lord.

Of course, what leg did they have to stand on?

Miri blew me off when I didn’t immediately respond with a yes. “It’s only a thought.”

“Miri”—I didn’t know what to say—“anyone would be lucky to have you. Lex knows that. Ivy knows that.”

Tears formed at the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them back and wiped her grief away. “Not lucky enough to announce it to the world, though.”

I would if I could. I would if it meant anything. But it didn’t. What good would it do? Her grandmother would make her come home and deny it. The paparazzi would swarm us more than they already did. I was a nobody and a nothing and not good enough to so much as kiss the ground she walked on, let alone marry her in some dramatic elopement to Vegas.

I could just imagine the headlines on The Puck: “Beautiful Titled English Princess weds relative peasant from nowhere…Hey, wait, wasn’t he dating Ivy Washington?”

“I love you, Miri,” I told her, leaning in to give her a tender kiss. “I may not have always shown it. But I do love you.”

“I love you, too.” She kissed me back, cradling my face like it was precious to her. The thought warmed the piece of my heart that had started to beat for her and her alone. “Thank you for being here for me. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

I sighed and leaned up to kiss her again. “No, thank you, Juliet. We have each other, yeah?”

“Yeah, Romeo. We have each other.”

I rolled between her legs again and slotted myself inside her warm, soft body. Up until now, we’d taken our emotions out on each other. Fucking and clawing and bleeding our pity in the space between us. But now, it was different. Now, I made love to her the way I’d done to Ivy thousands of times. Miri and I filled a space in each other that we’d never made room for before.

When she left, when this was truly over, it would hurt.

But I’d be better for having it.

7

Miri

Carter wasn’t in bed when I woke up. He’d left a note that said, “Went for a run. Be back soon,” but I heard the shower in the bathroom suite, so I assumed he had already returned.

I stood and stretched, walking to the balcony to open the doors on the beautiful beach below, squinting into the afternoon air. A dying plant on the table next to me caught my attention, and I touched a finger to its leaf, giving it a momentary prayer.

“Hang on, darling,” I thought before going into the room for a glass of water. I hadn’t had much luck before now, but maybe I could perk her up at least a little. When I returned to the balcony, I startled and dropped the glass of water where it shattered on the ground.

The plant, which I swear had been wilted only seconds ago, now stood upright, perfectly in bloom. It had grown at least an inch and flowered two new sprouts.

“What the bloody hell?” I murmured.

I hadn’t imagined that…had I?

Blinking, I walked closer, touching the small purple bud. The second my finger made contact, the flower opened and grew another few centimeters. I jerked my hand back and froze.

I did that.

I definitely did that.

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