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I tilt my head up to his and accept a soft kiss. “Meant to be.” His lips taste so good that I wonder how I ever survived without them before.
“So…do we have to get married?”
I grin, hiding my face in his chest. “Probably.”
“Sooner rather than later, I assume.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Is that going to be a problem for the mine in Roston? People will wonder why Gerhard won the project.”
“I don’t care,” I admit. “Let people scream outrage. I don’t give a shit. I just want you, and this baby, and…”
Asher’s smile is blinding. He kisses my cheeks, catching a few stray tears that just don’t seem to want to stop leaking from my eyes. Then he presses his lips against mine. His pulse thunders against my chest—or is that my own heart? It doesn’t matter. It feels like a blanket of bliss covers us both, and I can see a future for myself that I never imagined.
Sighing, Asher lets out a groan. “I have to go to Farcliff.”
“Why?” My voice sounds a lot like a whine.
“My father called, and I…I think I need to talk to him in person. I need to tell him I’m not coming back.”
I nod, even though my chest squeezes. The last thing I want to do is let Asher out of my sight. Here, at the Summer Palace, it feels like the rest of the world doesn’t even exist. I can understand why Wolfe and Rowan fell in love with each other sheltered within these walls. It’s impossible not to feel the silence and privacy of this place.
But the real world does exist, as do my responsibilities—and Asher’s. I know he has to go to Farcliff, and as much as I hate it, I give him a tight smile and nod. “Of course.”
“I’ll hurry back as soon as I can.”
“You’d better.”
Asher smiles then, and it’s a full, broad, gorgeous smile. There’s no guardedness. No hesitation. Just…love.
It’s crazy, but I haven’t even told him those three little words. I haven’t even spoken them out loud. We’ve talked about kids and marriage, but the words still won’t come. They’re there, on the tip of my tongue, ready to be released into the world.
I love you.
I love him in a desperate kind of way. I love him for being beside me, for showing me what I’ve been missing from my life. I love him for giving me hope. I love him for giving me a child. I love him for breaking through every barrier I’ve worked to erect and dragging me out of the icy wilderness and into the shelter of his arms. I love him for making me laugh and kissing me like no one’s watching.
Mostly, though, I love him for being exactly who he is. Strong, protective, and so incredibly brave. He walked through fire and lived, carrying his scars on his body like a badge of honor. He’s been through the kind of pain I have, and he hasn’t shied away from it. He’s guarded, but he opens himself up to me.
I love every inch of him, inside and out. He makes me think of the future in a way I couldn’t have imagined without him—a future with hope. It’s not a dreary, bleak future full of duty. We could have love.
We could have an heir.
Standing in that living room at the Summer Palace, I realize Asher is everything to me. I clutch his body and hold him tight, hardly believing I’ve found a man like him.
As if he senses the emotions roiling inside me, he leans down and presses a soft kiss to my lips. His hand sweeps over my stomach, and Asher drops to his knees. He presses his lips to my belly, resting his cheek against it. I thread my fingers through his hair and let my eyes drift closed, feeling completely happy and at peace for the first time in my life.
Just as I let peace settle into my body and hold Asher tight to my stomach, a little gremlin in my head crawls to my ear and whispers, maybe this is too good to be true.
22
Asher
I don’t want to leave Nord, the Summer Palace, and definitely not Penelope’s side. A violent protective streak arcs up inside me, and I find myself worrying about everything. What she’s eating, carrying, doing. I can’t stop thinking about the life growing inside her.
Our baby. My child.
The morning I’m supposed to leave, I wrap my arms around Penelope and pull her close. She lays her head on my chest and lets her fingers trail over my skin, and I know—I just know—that I was a fool before. To think I didn’t want this? I thought I could do it on my own? I thought my father’s business was what brought me joy?
