Page 146 of Set me Free

The only sound in the suite was the quiet hum of our breathing. Serenity was curled up against me, her head resting on my chest, her fingers tracing absent patterns against my bare skin. We weren’t asleep—we hadn’t even bothered pretending.

My mind was racing.

After everything we had just done, everything we had just said without saying, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this moment was different. This wasn’t just another night. And I couldn’t let it be.

“Beautiful,” I murmured, my fingers trailing lazily up and down her spine. She hummed, not looking up, but I knew she was wide awake. “You still up?” I asked.

She exhaled softly. “Mmhmm.”

Good. Because I had something to say.

I took a breath, my chest rising beneath her. “Does this mean we’re back together?”

She stilled against me, her fingers pausing in their slow dance across my ribs. Then she propped herself up, shifting soshe was straddling me, her hands resting against my chest. Her curls were wild from how I’d been gripping them earlier, and her lips were still swollen from how thoroughly I had kissed her.

She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. And she was mine.

“I want to be with you,” she admitted softly, her eyes locking onto mine. “I've been thinking about it since… since everything that happened with Papa Joe.”

That hit me. Because I had been thinking about it too.

“I was thinking about it before that,” I admitted, gripping her hips and holding her there, just in case she got any bright ideas about moving. “But something he said before he passed really put it into perspective for me.” Serenity nodded, like she understood exactly what I meant. Because she did.

“What did he say?”

“He told me not to take you for granted, that I was blessed with a good life and that you were a part of it. He told me not to let you get away.”

“He’s a smart man.”

“I can’t go another day without you,” I told her. No hesitation. No doubt. She blinked, lips parting. “I want us together,” I said, squeezing her hips a little tighter. “I want our kids in one house—not going back and forth. I want to wake up next to you every day. I want to go to sleep with you every night.”

She swallowed. I could see it—the way my words were hitting her, the way she felt them deep in her chest.

“I want that too,” she whispered, fingers sliding up to rest against my jaw. “I love you, Creed. I never stopped.”

That was it. That was all I needed. Without thinking, without questioning it, the words left my mouth before I even had time to process them.

“Marry me.”

Serenity blinked. “What?”

“Marry me.”

A slow smile started to creep across her lips. “Now?”

I nodded. Dead serious. “Yeah. Tonight. Let’s elope. Just you and me.”

Her laughter was soft, breathy, disbelieving. “Creed?—”

“I’m serious.” I sat up, forcing her to grip my shoulders to stay steady. “Right now. We can go to a chapel and do it. Just us.”

I expected her to hesitate. I expected her to tell me we needed to slow down—to think it through. Instead, she stared at me for a long second, her head tilting, really considering it. Then she grinned.

“You really wanna do this?” she asked.

I lifted a brow. “Do you?”

She bit her lip. “YOLO, right?”

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