Page 84 of Bewitchingly Hers
“You do?” I spun around to look at him, raising an eyebrow.
He nodded, holding out his hand. “Outside.”
I looked around us at the party. It was getting later, and while I loved spending time with the coven, I wanted some time alone with my mate, too. Wendy and Rina were on the couch, whispering conspiratorially. Willow and Damien were swaying slowly in the corner, his hands cupping her stomach as they shared their own soft moment. Everyone seemed like they were enjoying themselves—even Cait, who was holding Raelynn in her arms, whispering to Luna’s baby girl.
“Yeah.” I smiled at him. “Let’s go.”
We wandered outside, and Barrett interlaced our fingers, wordlessly bringing me along with him. I didn’t know where we were heading, but I knew I’d follow him anywhere. Passing tons of trick-or-treating little witches in all sorts of different costumes, we turned towards town.
“Come on,” Barrett said, tugging me down the path illuminated with glowing jack-o-lanterns and floating candles that led to the gazebo in the middle of Main Street. The entire scene was like something out of a dream. It was always beautiful, but right now it felt even more so. Likemagic.
Halfway up the path, I tugged on his hand, bringing us to a halt. “What are you doing?” I whispered as he turned to face me. He didn’t answer, cupping my cheeks, and I couldfeelthe love in his chest. The desire. And the worry, too. The anxiety.
“You know there’s nothing to be anxious about, right?” I asked him, frowning. Rubbing over my mating mark, I looked up at him. “I’m yours. And you’re mine.”
Barrett held my face so tenderly, gazing down at me with an expression that I couldn’t quite describe. Love? Lust? Amazement? Maybe it was a mixture of all three. The need was clear, and my heart skipped a beat.
“Eryne,” he started, his thumb brushing over my cheek. “There are no words to describe how utterly, wholly, and completelybewitchedI am by you. Your soft heart. The way you care about others, putting them before yourself. How you brought me back to life, and show me every day why life is worth living. Why I want to live by your side. You’re my mate and the woman I love, but you’re more than that. You’re my future. My destiny. You’re the very thing I’ve been living my whole life for. Something I was working towards even without knowing it. Every step, every choice I made, led me to you.”
My eyes were glassy, and I blinked, trying not to cry. “Barrett…” The word was hardly a murmur.
“I know this is all still so new. And we’re just at the beginning of our story. But I have a question I really want to ask you, and it can’t wait.” He grinned, sliding down to one knee in front of me and pulling a small black box out of his pocket. “At least… I don’t want to.”
My eyes widened. Was this really happening now?
“Eryne Hazel Fowler, will you do me the honor of being my mate and my wife? Will you marry me?”
What else was there to say? “Yes,” I nodded, tears spilling from my eyes as he slid the gorgeous ring on my finger. Happy tears. The band was detailed like a vine, complete with small leaves, and the diamond in the center was surrounded by an emerald stone on each side.
I wanted to marry him. Wanted to be his wife. Wanted everything with this man that had changed my life in so many ways. More tears streaked down my face, and I couldn’t help it. “Yes,” I repeated. “I want to marry you.”
“Don’t cry, baby,” he said, standing up to kiss me softly.
“I’m just so happy,” I told him honestly as he wrapped me up into a hug.
He grinned. “That’s all I could ask for.”
And then he kissed me again, in the middle of that magical, illuminated gazebo on Halloween, and everything else in the world faded away.
It was just him and I, and this night was just the beginning.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
barrett
ONE MONTH LATER…
“Wake up, baby” I said, reaching over my center console and placing my hand on my mate’s thigh, squeezing it lightly. She gave a grunt of annoyance, blinking her eyes open a few seconds later.
“We’re almost there, sugar,” I told her, knowing the sign for Walnut Ridge was coming up soon. An excitement filled me like I hadn’t felt before—at least, not in a long time.
I couldn’t wait to show her everything. It was my first time going home in so long, and I couldn’t wait to show myfiancéethe town I’d grown up in. To have my family meet her, to get to know the woman I loved. She’d taken off work from the café for the next two weeks, ensuring everything was ordered, schedules were made, and everything was prepped so the operation would still run without her. If anything else happened that my matehadn’t anticipated, they could always call her and she would troubleshoot from here.
But I was glad to be taking her away. To get her all to myself for awhile. No coven, no coffee shop, no best friends. Just the woman I was going to marry and me.
I squeezed her thigh again, not taking my hand off of it, simply running my thumb over her skin. That was how we’d spent most of the drive, because my wolf hated when I stopped touching her, even for a second.
He was damn possessive, but so was I, so it all worked out.
