We lay in silence, just enjoying being together after so long.
“I’ve been thinking,” Killian whispered, tugging at me so I laid on my back facing him.
“Dangerous,” I murmured, making him chuckle.
“Maybe,” he conceded. “The past two weeks have shown me I don’t want to be without you.”
“Killian—” I thought he’d come to terms with me working with Peter and needing to have some nights when we weren’t together.
“Hear me out.” He propped himself up on one elbow to look at me. His hair was mussed, his eyes gentle, almost timid in the soft glow of the city lights, and a tender ache of love bloomed within me. Whatever his fear was, we’d figure it out.
“I’m listening,” I said, far more gentle this time.
He took a deep breath. “Move in with me.”
I blinked. Whatever I thought he was going to say, this was not it. Memories of the last time he’d said a similar version of those words—well, demanded, to be precise—had been a defining change in our relationship, even though now I was seeing just how much.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he continued quickly. “It’s too soon. Last time, I was being?—”
“A possessive jerk?” I supplied, hiding my smile as I ran my fingertips down the tattoos of his arm until they stopped at his cast.
“I was going to say I was being less than considerate, but sure, let’s go with your words.” His signature smirk barely tilted the corners of his lips.He was nervous.“This isn’t like before.I’m asking you, not telling you. I want—no,I need—to wake up every morning with you by my side. It’s me realizing my place feels too empty without you. It’s knowing that I can shore up the memories of our days together so when you do have to go away for work, maybe it’ll hurt a little less.”
I bit my lip, blinking back tears. His words affected me in ways I hadn’t been able to anticipate. Damn this man and his sweet side. “You sure you won’t get sick of having me around all the time? I talk during movies and leave glasses of water everywhere.”
“I know your flaws, Tink. None of it matters.”
This was a big step for us, but how could I say no? “Okay.”
“I’ve made a list of all the reasons why we … Wait, what did you say?”
I giggled. He’d been so in his head, ready to list the reasons why we should do this that he’d barely comprehended what I said. I grabbed at his cheeks, his stubble rough against my palms, and tugged him to me. As my lips met his in a frantic kiss, his body lowered down over mine. “Yes, you silly man. Yes, I want to move in with you.”
The smile that broke out across his face was worth every moment of doubt, every obstacle we’d overcome to get here.
“Should we go back to the gala?” I asked, breathless as he placed tender kisses along my jaw and the column of my neck.
He didn’t even bother looking at the nearby alarm clock to see how much of the night was left. “Nah. We’ve got better things to do.”
I turned to look at the wall of windows. Outside, the lights from the city glimmered and the stars and moon above us cast us in a cool glow. All the planning in the world couldn’t have brought us to this point. That this reality—this magic that was just us—was better than anything I ever could have imagined.
And not for the first time, since we declared our love to each other, I could recognize that home was Killian. It wasn’t those outside things … It was the feeling inside me, knowing I was where I was supposed to be and with the person I was meant to love forever.
Home was us together.
Tris and Killian one-hundred-percent stole my heart. I’ve been thinking about their story and how they got together for the past year. And once I got over the initial bumps things just fell into place. I loved watching how Tris found herself again after making herself small for Peter and how fiercely Killian loved her. All of her. These two were just meant to be!
While Wicked Rockstar is a standalone you can catch Killian’s appearance in the first book in the series Wicked Billionaire where he was not pleased to find out Jareth had signed on Peter’s band.