Blaze (Virtues & Lies 3)

I know all you want is to be loved, even if it’s just a crumb. But the thing is, you are impossible not to love with everything.”

Shaking hands sweep over her flushed cheeks. Fleur is something so fucking precious, and she has no idea. It seems preposterous that a creature like her has been loved so little at times, and yet has so much love to give.

“You’re the strongest and bravest person I know, Trouble. Even if you’re scared of the dark and of being alone. And even if you don’t marry me, I’ll always be here. You’ll never be alone.”

“You really do want to marry me?” she whispers, giving Grace her finger to hold.

“I meant it when I told you that I wanted more babies and more of you.” Cupping her face, I tilt it towards me. “Actually, I want all of you, baby. All there is and all there will ever be. I want every bit.”

She swallows, again, burying her head in the crook of my neck. I’m not sure I’m doing this right because she’s crying so hard that her tears are soaking through my top.

My throat is swelling with worry as I twine my arms tightly around her, her sobs wracking through her and into me. I have no fucking clue what’s happening right now.

Arabella didn’t cry like this when Christopher proposed to her…

“I’m not like you though.”

“I don’t want you to be like me. I love you the way you are.”

“I love you too,” she says, finally looking up at me. “But you’ve got all this.”

“What?”

“Your grandmother is a princess, and your grandad… I’m not like them, and I’m not like you.” Wiping a hand over her eyes, she sniffs.

All I can do is hold her harder, hating that she somehow thinks so little of herself.

“It’s a good thing that you’re different because I’m not like them either. I don’t want to be like them. I don’t want you to be like anyone else. No one else has given me what you have.”

She looks down at Grace, a proud, happy look lighting her face. “You gave her to me too. I suppose she’s a mutual gift.”

“I wasn’t talking about her.”

“Oh…” Fleur turns to face me fully.

“You gave me your soul and your trust. You gave me something outside of all this. A reason to be better and a future I actually want.”

“Me and babies?”

“Yes and no. I want you—the babies are a product of how much I want you. It’s all you, Trouble.”

She smiles, hands cupping my face and forehead touching mine. “I want you too. All of you. Every single piece with every fibre of my being.”

Her thumb glides over my lips, while her other hand knots in my hair. Her pulse hammers beneath my hand when I stroke up her neck to her nape, pulling her flush to me as her lips meet mine.

The feel of her warm tongue slipping over mine is so fucking perfect. I could stay in this moment with her forever.

Except Grace has other ideas, and when I try to pull away to make sure she’s all right, Fleur holds me tighter to her.

“The baby is fine,” she whispers into my mouth. Her eyes blink into a smile that I feel to the marrow of my bones. “I haven’t given you an answer yet.”

“I haven’t asked you properly.”

“I suppose you haven’t.” Her chuckles vibrate through me, making me incapable of keeping a straight face as I ask her, “My trouble…Fleur, will you marry me?”

“Yes.” Kissing me again, she moans into my mouth, soft nips and licks between the firm presses of her lips that are punctuated by her lusty groans.

And for this moment, it doesn’t matter how fucked up the world is. It doesn’t matter that we’re in the middle of a war. Because I have Fleur, and with her I have everything and more.