Page 285 of Darling Venom
The man I fell in love with.
The force to be reckoned with.
The storm that caught me in its eye.
“Charlotte. Lottie. Charlie.” He shakes his head, sticking his hand in his hair and tousling it. “I’m not good with this bullshit. Listen. Here it is—when I met you, I was a mess. No. A mess is an understatement. I was a train wreck. A sinking ship. A danger to myself and those around me. You typhooned into my life and changed it. Flipped it upside down. And now? Now I can’t imagine my life without you.”
He pauses. “No. That’s not right. I can imagine my life without you. And I would be fucking miserable. Actually, I’m not sure it would be worth living at all. We already live together, though we’ve never made it official, and I think it’s time you make an honest man out of me.”
With that, he lowers himself to one knee.
I cup my mouth.
I might be screaming, but I can’t hear anything.
Tate brought me here to propose to me.
He took me to the place I experienced one of the most traumatic things in my life and turned it into the most beautiful. He wants to pick up my pieces and help me mend them together.
Like I did for him.
He plucks a blue velvet box from his coat pocket and pops it open.
It’s a gorgeous ring, the diamond stark-black. Shimmering around it are tiny, polished gems. The band itself is thin and elegant.
It is so me, I want to cry.
No, wait.
I do cry.
Hot tears run down my freezing face.
I shake my head.
“No? Is that a no?” His voice takes a sharp edge.
He is trying to keep it together.
Oh, crap.
He thinks I’m refusing him.
I laugh and lower myself to my knees, grabbing his face. “No, idiot. That’s a yes. That’s one hundred percent yes. I just can’t believe you were so thoughtful as to bring me here.”
Without answering me, he picks up my left hand and slips the ring onto my finger. It’s quick. Like he doesn’t want me to change my mind.
Tate kisses the diamond on my hand, his eyes holding mine. “Really? Because I can’t believe my dumb ass has waited for so long.”
Then we’re flung over each other.
I don’t know who started it, or who will end it.
The kiss is sloppy and full of emotions and laughter and saliva. My tears mix with our lips, and we devour them.
We’re both used to this simple fact of life—any pleasure worth having is always laced with a bit of pain.
Darling Venom.
