Page 47 of Lies That Blemish
Silence. He said nothing.
He could take my head right now, and I would deserve it. He could knee me in the face and walk away and bomb our country for ten nights straight, and I would do nothing.
But he didn’t.
He crouched down, grasping my face with the sides of his hands, and forced me to look up at him.
Why the hell was he smiling?
He registered the alarm on my face and laughed.
“You’re laughing?” Had he gone insane? Had I driven him to insanity?
He glanced at my lips and back into my eyes.
“I had two visions this morning of this moment. In one, you kneel before me pretending to apologize, and then slit my throat, saying you found no evidence of wrongdoing on your father.”
I gasped.
“In the other, you kneel and actually apologize. I wasn’t sure which I was going to get. I love you, Aisling, but you never would have believed me, or Anika, or anyone, if we told you that your father planted the terrorist attack on my father to gain ember and land. You had to find out yourself.”
He stood, pulling me up with him, and I was so shocked at how normal he was being that I couldn’t speak.
“I love you,” he said again, running his finger over my lips. “I forgive you.”
Tears spilled out from my eyes, running down my face. Who had I become to cry this much? What was wrong with me?
I shook my head. “I don’t deserve it.”
“Yes, you do,” he whispered against my mouth, leaning forward to crush my lips in a passionate kiss. I whimpered as the familiar taste of Kohen splashed across my tongue. Walking forward until his back hit the wall, I boxed him in, pressing my entire body against his. Our tongues stroked each other as I ate up the affection I’d felt starved for these last few months without him. I breathed him in, moaning against his mouth as heat built in my core.
All I could feel right now was pure gratitude that he accepted my apology.
When we both pulled away, we were breathless, grinning. Somehow, the war, the lies, the betrayal, it had faded away, and I was just in a love bubble with Kohen—the only thing that seemed real.
“Marry me,” he said suddenly, and it felt like the rug was pulled out from under me.
I laughed softly. “Kohen… I’m engaged to Alek.” I held up my left hand to show the ring.
Reaching out, he pulled the ring off my finger and tucked it into my pocket. Then he pulled something shiny from his and dropped to his knee.
I gasped.
Taking my hand, he held a gorgeous ring before me. It was a pink sapphire surrounded by small green emeralds in a yellow-gold band.
“This was my mother’s. I’ve dreamed of giving it to you since you first kissed me at graduation. I’ve seen us married, Aisling. Our love saves Amersea and Imbria from total annihilation at Luska’s hands.”
I shook my head, tears building back in my eyes. “My people would never allow it, Kohen. They will disown me, my sisters. They aren’t ready for this.”
“Are you?” he asked.
My heart ached at the question.
“If your people were not in the equation. Would you? Tonight? Marry me?”
Tonight? My mouth popped open. “The priest?” I asked, indicating the man he’d been speaking to earlier.
Kohen grinned. “He’s waiting to wed us, if you say yes. So I will ask you one more time. Aisling Everhart, will you be my wife?”
