Page 78 of A Dragon's Miracle (Fires of Fate)
When we were alone again, I took a deep breath and looked at Finn, who seemed to be thinking very hard about something. Small lines creased his usually smooth forehead and he chewed on his lower lip in a way that made him look like he was pondering a difficult math problem.
He wasn't saying anything though, so I directed my gaze at the window instead and bit my own lip. “I knew I shouldn't have done the chemo,” I mumbled.
“No,” Finn said immediately. “Doing it was the right decision. It's working. The cancer's shrinking.”
“I don't care about the fucking cancer right now. I care about ourchild.“ I glared at Finn, and instantly regretted it. It wasn't Finn I was mad at, and I shouldn't be unloading my frustration on him.
“I know,” he said softly. “You know, we do have one other option the doctor didn't mention.”
“We do?” I looked at him as if he was holding the Holy Grail in his hands. Right that moment, I was open toanysuggestion other than what the doctor recommended.
Finn locked his eyes with mine. “Bond with me.”
I blinked. I'd rejected that idea so completely I'd forgotten about it entirely.
“You'd be stronger,” Finn went on. “You could carry the baby for longer without risking your health. Or the baby's.”
“But I'd be risking yours.” I shook my head. “It's not an option, Finn. You'vealreadydone so much for me, I don't know how I'm ever going to repay you.”
“Thisis how you repay me,” Finn said, gesturing emphatically. “You know I've been wanting to do this for a long time.”
“And you know why I don't want you to. What if I die? You'll--“
“You're not going to die,” Finn shot me down. “You've already started beating this cancer back and you'll be able to recover a lot faster when you have my strength to fall back on. We don't have to worry about Jin anymore, and even if we did, we'll soon be able to replicate the medicine you need locally. It might take a while, but we're going to beat this, I know that.”
I looked down at the sheets, not knowing what to say. He was right of course, but I'd spent so long thinking this disease would eventually kill me that I couldn't fathom surviving it, getting to be Finn's mate, raising our children...
How could I be so lucky?
“You don't get to feel guilty anymore either,” Finn said.
I raised an eyebrow at him. What did he mean by that?
“I made Jin return everything you've stolen for him. Everyone got their stuff back, no harm done.” He rubbed his hands as if satisfied with a job well done.
“I'm glad about that.” And I was, although I didn't think Finn's actions absolved me. Still, I was happy some of my wrongs had been righted. But... “I just...” I took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. “I love you, and I would love to be your mate and all of that, but I don't want to think that we got bonded because I was sick. Because you felt bad for me.”
“Oh, Ryan...” Finn gave me a small smile and sat on the edge of the bed. “People say I'm silly, but you're not much better.” He poked my forehead and I responded with a look of indignation. Ignoring that, he came a little closer until his nose was just an inch or two from mine. “I would have bonded with you years ago if I'd thought I had a shot, and I didn't know about the cancer back then. The cancer didn't make me want to claim you. I want to claim youin spiteof it. Don't you get that? Don't you guys have a saying? Like when you get married? About caring for each other in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad? I've seen it in the movies.” At that last part, he poked his tongue out a bit as if trying to remember and I had to laugh.
“What?” he asked. “I'm being serious here.”
“I know, I know. You're just...”
“What?”
“You're too damn adorable.” And perfect, and sweet and everything I'd ever wanted. And if I hadn't laughed I would have cried. But I didn't tell him that. I kissed him instead. I dug my fingers into his hair and kissed him with all the wealth of emotions I felt that moment. Love and happiness and utter adoration, to name just a few of them. He responded in kind, easily matching the intensity of my feelings, and if we hadn't been in a hospital room with a weighty decision to be made, I'm sure we wouldn't have done any more talking after that.
As it was, though, I pulled back after a minute to look into his eyes. “You know, I used to curse my fate, thinking it was so unfair that I got sick and all, but...” I felt the corner of my lips quirk up. “If I'd never gotten sick, I might never have met you.” Fate was a funny thing, wasn't it?
Finn gave me a smile and another short kiss. “I would have found you.”
I grinned at him. “By stowing away on a ship?”
He leaned our foreheads together. “By doing whatever it takes, of course.”
I closed my eyes, breathing him in. “Isn't that what we do best?”
“Yeah, it is.” Our lips met again, as if seeking each other out on their own. We were meant to be together. In that moment, I truly felt that. My place had always been here, with him.
“Let me join your fight,” Finn said, asking me again to bond with him, and I couldn't muster up a voice of dissent anymore.
“Okay,” I said, finally giving him my agreement and knowing instinctively that it was the right decision. For him, for me, our baby. Our lives together. Ourfuture.
It seemed I had one now.
