Page 171 of Coveted

I sigh. “I was fine by then, yet you hardly let me up from the lounge in front of the fire.”

“I didn’t hear you complain.”

“Why would I? You kept bringing me snacks and toying with my hair while we played board games with your family.”

“Uncle Gareth will want a rematch after you thrashed him in Scrabble.”

“Bring it on.”

We climb a winding, half-hidden path to a wooded hill overlooking a misty valley and the lake.

“Wow,” I say, taking in the picturesque landscape. “Very cool.”

“Yeah, it is.”

Without turning my head, I can tell he’s looking at me.

Lucan’s attention has always felt tangible, like he has a gravitational pull of his own.

When we’re in public together, I feel like I’m in a protective bubble exclusive to the two of us. It has little to do with his wealth and power, and everything to do with who he is as a person.

Breathing clouds of steam, he pulls me to him and strokes my cheek. My face burns from the cold and the pleasure of his proximity.

“I love you, Sadie,” he says.

A flower unfurls in my chest. “I love you.”

“Hearing those words from your lips never gets old.”

“That’s lucky, because I think you’ll hear them once or twice more.”

“Damn right I will.”

Lucan reaches inside his coat.

My heart skips several beats when he pulls out a small black-velvet box.

He drops to one knee while I try to remember how to breathe.

“I could live a million lives and I would love you in every one.” He opens the box to reveal a sparkly, delicate diamond on a simple band. “I’ve been carrying this around for a year. It belonged to my maternal great-grandmother. A bona fide family heirloom, with no tracker installed, unless you want one.”

The ring is stunning, but I’m looking into his eyes, my vision blurring with tears.

“Will you marry me?” The merest tremor threads his deep voice, like he’s practiced this moment every day since he started carrying the ring.

I don’t need to think about my answer. The word leaves my mouth like the easiest thing I’ve ever said.

“Yes.”

As he stands, Lucan’s face relaxes into a grin. He kisses the tip of my nose and then my lips, which is when I feel him shaking slightly.

Or maybe that’s me, because my blood feels alive with something like joy.

“I know you want to wait until after you graduate to get married, but this will satisfy me for now.” He touches my left hand. “May I?”

“You may.”

He tugs off my glove. “I got the ring inscribed.”

As he shows me the engraved script inside the band, I read aloud.

“I see my future in your eyes.” I exhale a puff of steam. “This is like the confession I picked from the box at the Founder’s Feast. You wrote that?”

Lucan smirks, his cockiness returning in full force after his brief show of nerves. “Mmhmm.”

“How did you know I’d be the one to pick it?”

“I didn’t.” He slides the glittering ring onto my finger. “Some things are just destined.”

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