Page 118 of The Fighter
We were at the bottom of the stairs when I stopped and turned to her. “You did good, Raven. You gathered evidence and found answers. That’s good work.” With Raven on the first step, she was almost my height. Her beautiful smile made me grin back at her. “I shouldn’t have said that. You’re going to be overconfident from now on, aren’t you?”
Wrapping her arms around my neck, she pulled me closer and kissed me. “That’s right. I’m so confident that I’m going to make a strong claim.”
“Oh yeah?”
She nodded with a smile. “Remember how I told you I would be the best lover you ever had?”
“Uh-huh.” I gave her a cheeky grin. “And you lived up to the hype. You’re definitely the best lover I’ve ever had.”
Raven tilted her head with a cute smile. “What if I told you that I’ll also be the best wife you’ve ever had?”
My grin morphed into a look of surprise. “Wife? Did you say wife? What the hell, Raven, did you just… did you just agree to marry me?” Her smile was blinding me and it was a good thing she had her hands around my neck, or I might have lifted from the ground with all the butterflies that were swirling around in my stomach.
“It’s just that if the Northlands become a democracy more women are going to want to live here, and I saw you first.”
My eyebrows furrowed closely together. “What does democracy have to do with us marrying? I don’t follow.”
With a firm grip on my collar, Raven pulled me in and spoke in a low sexy voice. “You are mine and I’m not sharing. Don’t think I’ve forgotten how Gennie looked at you. Marrying you is just a matter of closing the deal before the competition gets here.”
“Hmm…” Narrowing my eyes, I let my hand slide down to the small of her back and pulled her close against me. “You’re crazy if you think there’s any woman in the Motherlands who can compete with you.”
“You haven’t seen how many pretty women live there.”
“You’re right. I haven’t. But unlike those women, you are fearless, funny, and not afraid to stand up to me when I get too bossy.” I kissed her. “I would pick you any day, Raven.”
We were almost nose to nose, and she had a teasing smile on her lips when she released her tight grip on my collar. “Okay, well, in that case. Forget about the wedding.”
I realized my colossal mistake and hurried to correct it. “No, I mean, I can’t imagine wanting another woman, but you’re obviously right; I haven’t seen them so I can’t really know for sure. I completely get why that would make you insecure. We should definitely marry and ease your fears.”
We laughed together and Raven gave a sweet sigh when I wrapped her in my arms and whispered in her ear, “The sooner the better. I want all of you, don’t you ever forget that.”
The sound of running steps burst our bubble, and we looked up to see Khan come down with a determined expression on his face.
“Did you make a decision, Lord?”
“We did. I need to speak to Pearl and start preparations. It’s time to be strategic.” He hurried past us.
Raven raised her eyebrows. “Is it just me, or did he look excited?”
“No, I got that vibe too. I think it’s the part about being strategic and winning over someone else that excites him. I’ll bet he and Pearl will stay up half the night and plan the road to victory.”
“Let’s hope they’ll succeed.”
“Yeah, but I doubt it. The older generation wouldn’t be forgiving when Khan tells them that he’s not the rightful heir. That sort of thing matters to them and most of them hated Lord Wolf. Plus, they already think Khan lets Pearl have too much influence.”
“But don’t they see all the good things that are happening?”
“Sure, but if you’re talking about the influx of women, then it’s the younger generation who is benefiting. Ultimately none of us want to be included in the Motherlands and lose our sovereignty. We’re the last free men.”
Raven raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I know that old motto.”
“It’s not just a motto, Raven, it’s what’s in our hearts.” My chest lifted as I sucked in air. “Khan might find that he has more critics than he thought. There’s always going to be cowards who would normally whisper in the shadows and whose only agenda is to cause trouble. Now those cowards will feel empowered to inflame the Northlands with hateful rhetoric causing riots and fights.”
My brave woman squared her shoulders. “Then it’s a good thing that we police officers are there to control things.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. We still need to make an officer out of you. You’re not even halfway there, and now that you’re marrying me, I doubt they’ll let me work as your boss.”
Raven narrowed her eyes. “Then we won’t tell them.”
