Chapter 35
Was this really happening? Abby pinched herself to make sure it wasn’t a dream.
Her blood was rushing so loudly, she could barely hear. And that’s when Clayton rose up on one knee. She gasped, her stomach aflutter when she watched him fish the ring out of his pocket. As she listened to his declaration and words of love, all she could think about was how she felt with Clayton.
Safe. Needed. Beautiful.
Loved.
“You love me?” she asked.
He smiled, laughing softly. “Very much. Did you hear the rest?”
“I didn’t know you loved me. I mean, I know I love you, but you never said anything,” she replied.
His green eyes crinkled at the corners. “Neither did you.”
“I was scared.”
“Me, too. I thought you might run off.”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t.”
“And the rest of what I said?” he asked hopefully. “Will you marry me?”
Abby was mortified as she realized he’d been on his knee, holding the ring during their conversation. She shifted onto her knees and touched his face. At that moment, it was like she was cocooned in love, Clayton’s love.
“Yes,” she answered.
He yanked her against him, his mouth taking hers in a savage kiss full of desire, need, and hope. She clung to him as he shifted them until she was on her back. Despite her trying to keep kissing him, he pulled back.
“Ah, woman, what you do to me.”
“Then why did you stop?” she asked breathlessly.
“For this.” He leaned to the side and took her left hand before slipping the band onto her finger.
Abby held up her left hand and gazed at the ring with the lights above her.
“It belonged to my grandmother and her grandmother before her,” he said.
She stared in wonder at the ring. It was as if it had been made just for her. The delicate rose gold eternity band had graceful diamond-set scrolls that gave it a timeless, elegant look she loved.
“If you’d rather a new diamond, I can get that for you,” Clayton said.
Abby shook her head. “It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect.”
“Just as you are.”
She pulled him back down atop her. “You were meant for me. And I for you.”
“Yes. I know that no matter what the future holds for us, we’ll get through it together. And I’ll reassure you every day that I’m not going to leave you.”
That made her smile. He wasn’t angry about her fears. He acknowledged it and was willing to work with her. Few men would have done such a thing.
“The abandonment issues I once had don’t have such a strong hold over me anymore,” she told him. “I don’t even know when they stopped having control, only that the fear is like a tiny voice now instead of the roar it once was.”
Clayton ran his hand along her cheek as he looked down at her with love shining in his eyes. “I’m going to love you forever, Abby Harper. I’m going to love you so fiercely and so hard that you’ll never doubt us for one instant.”
“You stole my heart, but you gave me a love so pure and wonderful that you mended everything that was broken inside me. With you, I can do anything.”
He leaned down and kissed her. “Merry Christmas, darlin’.”
“Merry Christmas.”
Abby was near to bursting she was so full of joy. And this was just the beginning of a life of love and wonder before her. A life with the man who was her warrior and hero—Clayton East.