Page 247 of Kiss the Villain

“I’m not even surprised.” He smiles at me and then continues exploring the area. “Love this so much. We can get Moka a few siblings. I can set up an archery range, and you can use the pool for your morning swims. Is there another one indoor?—”

His voice catches when he turns around and finds me on one knee. I’ve never been on my knees for anyone else. I asked Cassandra to marry me over coffee as if it were a business deal. And it was, in a sense. We toasted to it and that was that.

But this is different.

Gareth is the only one I’d get on my knees for.

“W-what’s going on…?” he whispers, his eyes widening and red creeping up his neck.

“I know you said you don’t believe in marriage, and you can say no if you truly hate it, but you also said you love my last name on you, so…” I reach into the pocket of my pants and pull out a ring with his name and mine carved on the inside. “I love you in ways I thought were impossible, and I want to spend the rest of my life being yours and you mine. Gareth Anthony Carson, would you marry me?”

“Fuck, oh fuck…” He drops to his knees in front of me, grabbing my hand in both of his, softly, with reverence.

He’s breathing so harshly, he’s almost panting.

“You’d marry me?” he asks in a murmur. “You’ll give me your last name?”

“There’s nothing I want more in the world, baby.”

“Kayde, fuck…yes…yes…it’s a goddamnyes.”

“Thank fuck.” I slip the ring on his finger and kiss his hand, and he shivers, my little monster, vibrating, against me.

“Do you have another ring?” he asks with glittery eyes.

I nod and drop the matching ring in his palm.

Gareth slides it on my finger, then holds my hand, and grins. “It looks beautiful.”

“It’s the only ring I’ll wear for the rest of my life, baby.”

“Fuck…I need you…” He’s about to kiss me but then stops. “Wait.”

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s something I want to show you. My proposal commemoration gift.” He fumbles with the sleeve of the jersey and then lifts it to his elbow.

My eyes widen.

Where the scars from the knife slashes once marred his skin, a new tattoo now takes their place.

A skull is inked into the flesh, its hollow eyes staring back at me with a chilling intensity. Coiled around the jagged bone is a snake, eerily similar to mine, its sleek body threading through the cracks of the skull as if it’s alive, writhing just beneath the surface.

The ink is fresh, the bold black lines still vivid against his skin, cutting through the old scars like a defiant, permanent declaration. Above it, etched with stark finality, are the words‘My Villain K.D.’Each letter is a bold, raw shout of devotion.

“I know you always hated those scars.” He smiles. “So I carved them out and replaced them with something deeper that only we can understand.”

“You hid them for me?” I ask in a low voice.

“For us. So we can kill the past and just be us. I promise to never hurt myself again, and you already promised to never hurt me again.” He kisses my forehead, my eyes, my cheek. “This is our new beginning.”

“Now, I’ll have to get some clichéd tattoo with your name on me.” I pull his arm and kiss around the tattoo.

“Then I’ll get one with your full name, too. We should do it together. Be clichéd as fuck because, who cares? We’ll be married anyway.”

I hum against his throat. “You’ll be my Mr. Davenport?”

His eyes ignite like fire. “Hell yes. Mr. and Mr. Davenport sounds hot as fuck.”

---