Page 53 of The Beast Between Us
I hold her closer. “To make you happy… for the rest of your life.”
Ignoring my nudity, I hold my mate close to my chest and sprint for the manor, her warmth pressed tightly against me.
“You’re not as big and growly as you were when you were the Beast,” she teases, breathless as the wind rushes past. “But you’re just as handsome.”
“Tis good you think so, mate,” I laugh, the sound light and free on my lips.
“Oh? And why’s that?” she asks, squealing when I pick up speed.
“Because you wouldn’t want to be married to someone you find ugly.”
She gasps dramatically. “Oh, am I to marry you then?”
“Of course, my mate,” I grin, heart pounding for all the right reasons now. “We are to marry tomorrow.”
We reach the manor just as the first fingers of dawn stretch across the sky. The moment my feet hit the stone steps, the front door flies open.
Oswin stands in the entryway, eyes wide, jaw slack.
“Sire?” he breathes. Then his gaze drops to Ella in my arms and fills with emotion. “By the stars… She did it. I knew she would bring you back one day.”
I nod, unable to speak past the lump in my throat.
Oswin doesn’t question the nudity, nor the blood, nor the tears staining Ella’s cheeks. Instead, he steps aside, one hand pressed over his heart, and whispers, “Welcome home. Both of you.”
∞∞∞
Later that evening, the manor is still and quiet. Ella lies curled on my bed, freshly bathed and wearing one of the soft nightgowns Oswin went out and bought for her. I sit by the fire, still trying to accept that this peace isn’t a dream.
“Thorne?” she says softly.
I turn to face her. Her hair spills across my pillows like wild honey.
“You’re not joining me?” she asks.
I smile gently. “Not tonight.”
Her brow furrows in confusion.
“I told you once I’d never take what wasn’t freely given,” I say, standing and walking toward her. “And while your love is the greatest gift I’ve ever known, I want our first night together to be after we’re wed. I want to honor you, Ella. Fully. Properly.”
Tears spring to her eyes again, but she nods. “You’re unlike any man I’ve ever known.”
“I need to say something else,” I add, my voice lower now. “About your father…”
She sits up slightly.
“I killed him.”
“I know.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “For taking the choice away from you. For the blood on my hands. For your tears.”
She shakes her head, tears falling freely now.
“They’re not for him,” she says. “They’re for what I never had. For the father who never loved me. Never protected me. Never saw me.” She wipes at her cheeks, smiling through the pain. “You avenged me, Thorne. You protected me when no one else ever did.”
I kneel beside the bed and take her hand. “I would do it again. A thousand times over.”
