Page 73 of Echoes and Oaths
Footsteps padded lightly behind him.
He turned.
Eira stood just inside the kitchen archway, one hand over her heart. Her dark hair curled softly around her shoulders. Her blue jeans were new and clung to her soft curves. She wore one of his old flannel shirts. It hung loose on her frame, sleeves rolled halfway up her forearms and tied at the waist. Her eyes shimmered. He wasn’t sure if it was hopeor disbelief, but he prayed her love was mixed somewhere within the visible emotion.
He didn’t speak. He couldn’t. His ability to say everything he wanted to say slipped away as the emotion of the moment throat punched him. She was beautiful and his.
Eira broke first, rushing into his arms, burying her face into his chest as she sobbed against him. Jinx held her, swearing he’d never let go again. His arms curled tightly around her, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other flat against her spine, memorizing the feel of her against him.
“I didn’t know when I’d see you again,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
“I promised I’d come back,” he said, his voice gravel rough. “I’ll always come back to you.”
She pulled back just far enough to look at him, her fingertips brushing his jaw. His stubble was three days old and thick. “You look tired.”
“I am,” he admitted. “But seeing you, God, Eira…you are the reason I breathe.”
Her lips parted, but a small, delighted shriek broke through the moment.
“Papi!”
Jinx turned, heart skipping.
Teo ran in barefoot from the mudroom door, jeans dusty, cheeks flushed from playing. Behind him, Mr. Macy called out an apology, holding the door open and waving once before vanishing with a knowing smile.
Jinx dropped to one knee just in time for Teo to launch himself forward, small arms flinging around his father’s neck.
“Hey, pequeño caballero,” Jinx choked out, holding him tight, burying his face in the boy’s dark curls. “Did you take care of Momma? Did you take care of the cows?”
“New cow,” Teo announced proudly, but it sounded likenude dow.
Jinx looked up at Eira, who was smiling through tears. “We bought a cow. For the raw milk. The thing you buy in the stores isn’t milk.” She shivered and rubbed her arms. “We got her from a dairy north of here. The Macy’s son arranged it. She was very expensive. I told Mr. Macy it was too much, but he just laughed and said you could well afford it.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Jinx picked up Teo and hugged him before draping an arm around Eira. “And it doesn’t matter. If you or Teo need anything, it is yours.”
“We don’t need much.” She put her hand on his chest. “Just you.”
“Dow!” Teo said and pointed out the door. “See?” He looked at Jinx like he’d hung the moon and the stars. Teo tugged his hand. “See!”
“In a bit, hijo.I need to talk to Momma first.”
Teo wiggled to be released and ran through the house toward the back hallway, yelling something about thenude dow.
When they were alone again, Jinx stood and reached into his pocket, while Eira watched him warily.
He took out the ring and dropped to his knee.
The ring wasn’t large. It wasn’t flashy. It was simple and solid.The stone was pale, almost translucent blue, set into a band shaped like three braided threads. One for each of them. “I know I don’t deserve you. But if you let me, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make up for our lost time. I want the rest of my sunrises, sunsets, and every damn star in the sky shared with you and Teo. Eira Isaacson, will you marry me?”
Her knees buckled. She grabbed his shirt and kissed him, fierce and trembling. He framed her ribs with his hands and held the woman as she gasped. “Yes,” she breathed. “Yes, Mateo.”
Jinx stoodbehind Eira as they opened the door and peeked into Teo’s bedroom. A nightlight illuminated the small boy in his bed. A stuffed donkey that had been washed too many times was clutched in his hand. Eira slowly closed the door and took his hand, leading him to the bedroom, and he shut the door behind her. She backed up, taking off her shirt as she stared at him. He lifted his shirt over his head and moved closer. He mimicked her actions, removing his jeans when she did and taking off his underwear when she slipped out of hers. He covered the few feet between them and drew her into his arms. The feel of her skin against his was incendiary, burning marks of possession into his skin with every touch. This woman owned him. He backed her to the bed and lowered them onto the mattress.
He trailed kisses from her jaw, down her throat to her shoulder. Her fingers trailed down his back, leaving gooseflesh in their wake. The feel of her hands against him was addictive and as necessary as oxygen. She made him feel alive and needed in ways he’d been afraid to imagine he could be.
When he rose over her, she placed one of his hands on her heart. “All I have is this. My heart. I don’t have anything else to give you, Mateo. But what I have, I give to you, freely and with love.”
He lifted their hands to place hers over his heart. “My heart, my life, and my love belong to you. I was insane to think I could stay away from you.”
