Page 83 of Yours, Now and Always
Heads: Amelia wins.
Tails: Try again.
I will never forget this moment. The moment my heart tried to explode out of my chest. The moment I realized Gage didn’t just make me feel safe, he built a system to ensure it. The moment I knew I’d always be able to reach him, even when words failed.
My tears start up again and I don’t even bother trying to stop them. I just let them fall as I put my arms around his neck and kiss him.
“I can’t even function right now,” I sob. “You built me a path and a glasshouse. You told me to brand you. And ruined my makeup. You gave me a coin—” I look at it again “—a coin that’s the most beautiful object I’ve ever seen. How is a coin this beautiful? I didn’t know coins could be so beautiful.” I trace the engraving with my finger. “This is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me and it weighs like nothing but also it weighseverything, you know?
“I’m bleeding and high and so emotionally compromised I think I’ve married an actual wizard.” I’m doing a weird laugh-cryas I add, “I love you, Gage. Like, stupidly. Like, I’m pretty sure I’d bury a body for you if you asked.” I blink. “I didn’t mean that. I mean, I did. But I’m high. So it doesn’t count.”
His arm tightens around me. “Ready to commit felonies for me? That’smyfucking wife.”
“I mean, don’t give me a body. But I’d do it. No questions. I’d hold the flashlight and everything.”
Gage chuckles. “Fuck, I love you.”
I’m in the middle of thinking about burying bodies for him when my phone pings with a text.
Tim
THE PRESENT! Do not forget the damn present. I didn’t wrap it for you for nothing.
Shit. Ihadforgotten.
I shift in Gage’s lap. “Okay, so I have something for you, too.”
I reach into my bra and pull out a tiny black velvet pouch. “It’s not a wizard greenhouse or a thousand candles, but it’s heartfelt. And also warm from my boobs, so.”
His lips twitch.
“I put it there for safekeeping. My bra is very trustworthy. Secure storage.” I place the gift into his hand. “You’re welcome.”
He opens the pouch, his fingers pausing when he pulls out the elegant matte black cufflinks. Then when he sees the engraving, he goes still.
Each cufflink has different coordinates engraved on it.
“What are these?” His voice is low. My husband knows he’s about to feel all his feelings.
I point to one of the cufflinks. “This is your condo.”
He looks at me and waits.
“That’s where you let me go,” I say quietly. “When I took off my collar, you didn’t argue with me. You didn’t gaslight me. Youdidn’t rage or punish or manipulate. You just listened and let me make my own choice.” I take a moment to get my words right. “I will never forget that, Gage. I know it broke you, but it was the most sacred kind of love I have ever experienced. It made everything we have now possible.”
His jaw flexes hard as his thumb runs over the numbers.
I touch his chest. “The other one is here. Blackbriar. Where you gave me forever.”
His eyes close for a second. Then he pulls me in like he needs to be skin-to-skin to stay conscious.
I go willingly. Obviously. Because this man built me a fairytale forest and told me to brand him. And now he’s holding cufflinks I kept in my bra like a lunatic. And I’ve never been more in love.
Gage stares down at the cufflinks for the longest moment. When he finally speaks, his voice is guttural. “I would’ve waited forever for you.”
My heart does that exploding thing again.
But he’s not done.
