Page 63 of A World of Ruins

Darius takes a deep breath that expands his chest as he looks at me like I am his source of determination and salvation. ‘You deserve it all, Nara, and I will do everything to ensure you have it, because the day you don’t smile, I will know I have not done my job right. I dream of your smile, of that laugh that comes out of you when you feel free. I don’t ever want to stop hearing it, and if that day ever comes, I will rip worlds apart just to hear it again.’

Tears kiss my cheeks as they roll down, and the cool touch of the ring he crafted for me presses against my skin as he slides it onto my finger. Even in the grim darkness of the dungeons, it still shines with a silver sheen as I tilt my hand.

With a sniffle, I glance up at Darius. ‘I don’t have a ring,’ I whisper comically.

His chuckle is soft and a whisper in itself. ‘You’re all I need.’

I rest my hand at my side. Excitement floods my system as I stare at him. My thief, my dragon, my king. ‘I, Nara,’ I say. ‘Take you, Darius, as my husband.’

He smiles.

‘To love and respect you and to fight you for eternity if you misbehave.’

We both laugh, and he nods, looking to accept that proposition with no trouble at all.

I wipe a stray tear from my cheek. ‘I never thought—’ My throat thickens with emotion. ‘That I would marry someday, especially not someone who drives me insane half the time.’

He smirks.

‘But I did think I would eventually find an adventure . . . and it just so happens that adventure was you all along.’

Darius can’t take his eyes off me. His gaze lingers on every curve of my mouth as my vowing words settle between us, and it is the most enchanting feeling.

‘I’m helplessly in love with you, Darius,’ I tell him with a crack in my voice. ‘I always will be.’

Everything comes to a standstill as he slowly exhales. He closes the gap between us, dropping his forehead against mine.

‘That’s it,’ he whispers, and my heart leaps. ‘We’re husband and wife now, Goldie.’

I smile like a child, wrapping my arms around his neck and biting my lower lip as I stare up at his face.

His eyes are on my mouth. ‘May I kiss the bride?’ he murmurs against my lips, and my smile stretches even wider.

‘I’ll kick you if you don’t.’

He palms my face in less than a second, pressing his mouth against my lips. His tongue instantly seeks permission, and I let him, opening up and kissing him back with hunger. The taste of desperation grows between us as our fingers clumsily reach for each other’s clothes, ripping them apart.

He sinks to his knees, his unwavering gaze fixed on me as he hooks his thumbs inside my trousers. Their deliberate descent, gliding along my skin, stirs an ache in my core. I tip my head back and release a weighted sigh doused with arousal.

Grabbing my thighs from behind, he keeps a tight hold on me as he drags his bottom lip across my skin, sucking and kissing up my thigh. My legs start to tremble, and I know he can feel it because his grip burns into my flesh as he squeezes.

I gasp, my breaths coming out scattered as I look down at him kneeling before me. ‘Don’t stop,’ I say to him when his head nears that mound where no one but him is allowed to go.

‘I don’t plan to.’ His voice vibrates against my skin, sending a shiver of pleasure through me before he withdraws his hands from my thighs.

I feel him rise, and I frown, looking at him. ‘You just did.’

A chuckle rolls out of him as he picks up his shirt and tears off another piece of his sleeve. ‘Just trust me.’

Annoyingly, as always, I do trust him.

He holds up the dark piece of fabric between his hands and leans towards me.

‘What are you—’ I start to say when the cloth wraps around my eyes, and I’m plunged into darkness.

I breathe heavily, feeling every bit of my senses heighten. I want to yank the blindfold off, but something in me tells me not to move or even make a sound as I stay on the spot, waiting.

Anticipation builds inside my chest, knowing he is walking around me, teasing me with his steps. His featherlight touch slides across my bare shoulders and then traces along my back’s contours as if memorising every curve.

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