Page 129 of Devil in Her Details

“Yes,” Dagger contradicted.

She glanced at his face. “Oh, really? Kidnapping?”

He nodded, and she somewhat understood his way of thinking. He couldn’t believe she’d come with him, chosen him, so he simply called the act kidnapping.

“We’re getting married,” Dagger announced.

Or perhaps she didn’t understand his reasoning at all.

“Congratulations,” Saint said to them.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Lilly asked the dense man.

He nodded. “I need to beg for your hand from your brother.”

Lilly grinned and swatted him. “Not even remotely close. Aren’t you forgetting something else?”

He squeezed her waist, dark eyes gaining back some life. “Ah, yes.” He rubbed his nose against her cheek. “Let me think. There was something.” His voice dropped. “You still owe me a next time. And the belt for my daggers.”

Rogue panther! “And you owe me an apology. And payment. And your firstborn child,” Lilly quipped.

“Christ,” Saint muttered.

Dagger chuckled. “You can have anything you want, little lynx.”

Lilly snorted. Truly dense at times.

“Did someone die?” Saint suddenly asked, and Lilly was surprised the man actually directed a question directly to her, his gaze dropping to her dress.

Progress! She shook her head. “I’ve simply grown fond of the color black.”

The arms around her brought her more snugly up against him. She should probably be embarrassed by her position on Dagger’s lap, but it seemed her shamelessness had grown by leaps and bounds. She was quite content in his arms and didn’t ever want to leave. They were of the same mind there.

In fact, they’d been of the same mind on many things. It wasn’t until now that they had allowed any obstacles in their path to simply melt away. Lilly had come to realize that she had made reasonable obstacles into impossible mountains in her head, and if she hadn’t come to certain conclusions, they could have robbed her of the most important things in her life.

Their own world.

This was what she had almost lost.

She’d once wanted a life governed by her own terms, free from any man’s claims. She understood now what she hadn’t back then. Claims aren’t that simple. They don’t exist as a single shape. Dagger claimed all parts of her life, and yet gave all those parts freedom, too. There was no cage in his arms.

Only home.

A nose pressed against her hair and inhaled, followed by Dagger’s throaty voice. “You said your brother knows. Knows what exactly?”

Oh, right. “That I love you. That I’m going to marry you. And that I’m moving to Brighton.”

Silence fell.

Had she rendered her panther speechless once again? She lifted her head to study his face. Yes. Yes she had.

“And he approved?” Saint asked curiously. “Of us?”

“He doesn’t approve,” she said slowly. “He doesn’t not approve either.”

Dagger finally responded. “Makes sense.”

Males. Some things she’d simply never understand about them.