“Why are you telling me all of this, Lucius?” I asked, still confused where he was taking this and not sure how I felt about him bringing up the past like this.
“Because I want you to know that my only regret is not that I prevented anybody from dancing with you.It was that I never had the courage to ask you myself.”At this my heart melted and I finally understood why this moment meant so much to him. Why he had wanted to dance with me on the rooftop, our first date. Why this moment was so significant now…or did I?
“Oh, Lucius, that was the past and I…Oh Gods…”This quickly ended as my breath left me in a whisper before my heart began hammering in my chest. Because Lucius had started to lower to one knee, and I felt as if I had suddenly forgotten how to breathe. This even more so when he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a red velvet ring box. Then once looking up at me, he flipped it open and I gasped the moment I saw it. It was a stunning black band of delicate vines, with leaves and thorns that held tiny black diamonds. All of which, entwined a stunning, glittering blood red diamond at its centre, and one that had been cut into an exquisite rose shape. I gasped at the sight, knowing that this ring also represented a piece of my soul that Lucius had claimed that day.
But then he started to speak and my watery gaze flicked from the magnificent ring to the beautiful man in front of me now down on one knee.
“Amelia Faith Draven, I vow that from this day on to always be the man at your side, the one who takes your hand and leads you to the dancefloor. For I will strive every day to be the man you deserve, as nothing else matters to me more in this world than loving you. I would rather die and have my soul perish than to spend second of this life without you in it… So I ask of you, my sweet, little scholar, My Sun, My Queen, and My Love…My Forevermore…will you marry me?”
The moment I heard this I quickly fell to my knees in front of him, cupped his face, and placed my forehead to his before telling him the only words that ever needed to be said.
The only important words left in my heart.
The words of my soul.
“I would marry you today, tomorrow, and every day after.” Then I kissed him and whispered over his lips…
“Yes, Lucius, I will marry you.”
13
A BLANKET OF CRIMSON
That night, I found myself more than thankful for the beautiful living dream that was becoming Lucius’s fiancé and that it wasn’t tainted by any nightmares. As for the rest of our perfect date, it was spent dancing, laughing, and teasing each other, basically being wrapped up in our own little beautiful world. In fact, we only stopped dancing when my stomach would not cease its rumbling, much to Lucius’s amusement.
This is when he led me over to a table that had been decorated with domes of silver upon a black table cloth. Then once removed, I instantly burst out laughing.
“Cheese!” I shouted before folding myself at the stomach as I couldn’t contain the laughter anymore.
“Oh, but that isn’t all or the end to your food oddity,” he said before lifting the last dome and revealing a small mountain of doughnuts, some of which were topped with bits of crispy bacon. Again, I couldn’t help but laugh, despite still knowing how thoughtful this all was.
“Well I have to hand it to you, honey, you really have thought of everything,” I said before putting a hand to the back of his neck and pulling him into me, so as I could kiss him before whispering,
“It’s perfect.”At this he squeezed my sides at the same time his eyes heated, this time an amber colour like the burning sun before settling down again. Then he held out a chair for me to take, and it was like we were now in the most lavish gothic restaurant that had been all but abandoned. But as I took my seat, I couldn’t hold back from telling him,
“Honestly, Lucius, this is one of the best nights of my life.”
“What… even better than the time mercenaries tried to kill us or the night of cheese, long island ice teas, and dancing.” I groaned at this and dramatically put a hand to my forehead as I pleaded,
“Please don’t mention the dancing.”
“Oh, but how could I not? After all, I remember enjoying the drunk dancing immensely, especially when you threw your underwear at me. That part was definitely fun,” he teased, making me roll my eyes and the second I did, he raised up another finger, reminding me that he was still counting. In fact, he teased me even more when he leaned across the table and asked,
“Tell me, Pet, how much do you really want to roll your eyes at me?” At this I burst out laughing, and then pretended to see something suddenly over his shoulder. Naturally, he took the bait and the I second he looked, I rolled my eyes. However, Lucius being Lucius, he caught me doing this just in time, now knowing exactly what I was up to.
As for the night, it continued like this, with our teasing banter making me smirk and grin like some insanely happy girl, who well… just got engaged to the man she utterly adored and loved. This thought caused me to continuedly look down at the ring on my finger, making me wonder if I would ever get used to seeing it there. If there would ever be a time that I wouldn’t look at it and smile to myself.
“Do you like it?” Lucius finally asked, after catching me looking at it yet again.
“It’s perfect, I honestly could not have chosen better myself.”
“I agree, only that its perfection is only achieved now it is on your hand.” I blushed at this, whispering a small,
“Thank you.”
“You never need thank me for speaking the truth, sweetheart, but I will take your blushes all the same,” he replied, deepening that blush and just because I needed something else to say before turning shy once more, I added,
“And my finger bites.”