Page 133 of Treasured
I shifted to one knee. “Luna Brielle Montquartier, will you marry me?”
A heartbeat passed before an incredulous laugh burst out of her. “What? You ridiculous old vampire. Did you hit your head? We are married.”
“I know that, Princess.” I did not release her hands, but I let my shadows loose. They streamed out of me as I held her gaze. “We made a vow before others that we would stand together, but that was before I knew you.”
Her mouth fell open, and I kissed the back of her hand. “Tonight, I come before you not as a prince or as the male being forced to marry you.”
My heart was a galloping horse in my chest. Nervous. I was nervous. Once again, Luna was reducing me to mere mortal emotions after all these years. For once, though, I didn’t mind. Instead, I took those nerves and bundled them up inside. This was a moment to be nervous because I was baring my soul.
Taking a deep breath, I continued, “I am here simply as the one who has fallen deeply, madly, irrevocably in love with you.”
Her eyes searched mine. “Sebastian—”
“Don’t be mine for the sake of a treaty,” I implored her. “Be mine because I love you so much that I cannot stand the thought of being apart from you for even a single moment in time. Be mine because, without you, I am less than nothing. I am a wisp of a shadow, a fleeting existence, barely here at all. Marry me for me, darling. Be mine, forever.”
She inhaled sharply. I released her hand, reaching into my pocket. My fingers clasped the stone I had grabbed before we left, and I withdrew the necklace I’d made for her. It shone in the moonlight, the stone as smooth as it was when I picked it up on the shore of the Black Sea.
For a long moment, Luna did not speak. Her mouth opened and closed. I could hear her heart racing in her chest.
I swallowed, the necklace still dangling from my hands. “Say something, Luna.”
She moved off the log and dropped to her knees in front of me. Her wings formed, outlined in silver moonlight against the midnight sky. Together, we were cocooned in a space of our own making. At that moment, nothing else mattered. There was only us.
Luna carefully touched the necklace, as though it was made of glass. “Did you make this?”
I nodded.
“It seems you have some skills I don’t know about.”
My lips twitched. “A few.”
She reached out and took the stone. She turned it over, examining it from all angles before slipping it around her neck.
“Does that mean you agree?” I asked.
“Do I agree?” A smile that could light an entire city erupted on her face. “Of course, I do. I’ll marry you, Sebastian—although, to be fair, I don’t think our first marriage can be undone since it seemed rather legally binding—but I don’t care. I’ll do whatever it takes to prove that I will always stand by your side. Your darkness is my darkness. Your shadows are my shadows. Your life is my life. You’re mine.”
I blew out a long breath. “You’re my entire world, Luna.”
Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight. Drawing in a deep breath, she took my hands in hers, mirroring my position from earlier.
“Sebastian,” she breathed my name. “You’re the reason I draw breath, the fire in my heart, the shadows that dance in my soul. Every good thing in my life is because of you. I love you, you ridiculous, sweet vampire. Of course, I’m yours. I never belonged to anyone else.”
One long, long moment passed. An entire universe could have been formed in the time we stared at each other. Then, we moved at the same time. Our mouths met in the middle in a clashing, searing, devouring kiss. It was a storm, a quaking of the earth, a reckoning. This was no gentle peck on the cheek. It was a declaration, a commitment, a vow to spend eternity to be spent together.
I poured everything I had into this kiss. Luna was the center of my world, and I needed her to know how much she meant to me. Our lips and tongues and teeth tangled until even that wasn’t enough. Wrapping my arms around her, I stood, bringing her with me.
Luna tugged at the hem of my tunic, breaking our kiss long enough to demand, “Take this off.”
I would have balked at an order from anyone else, but when it came from her, it was just… right. I stepped back and did as she asked. My clothes landed on the snow. Hers followed moments later.
My eyes devoured the marvelous sight in front of me. Luna was naked, except for the necklace I’d just given her, and she stood confidently in the snow. The wind didn’t bother us, and the moonlight illuminated every stunning curve and crevice. She was a picture of beauty and fierceness and perfection.
And she was mine.
Then I noticed her eyes crawling over me, much in the same fashion I’d been studying her. A hunger that had nothing to do with blood grew within me, and a purr rumbled through my chest. A moment later, a matching purr came from her. Need coursed through me.
Luna closed the distance between us, placing her hand on my chest above my heart. “I love you, Sebastian Marcel Jacques François Montquartier, and I will be by your side from now until the rest of our lives.” Her hands ran down my chest, going lower, lower, lower until I could barely concentrate on her words as her hands explored every part of me. “Generations to come will speak of our story. They’ll tell tales of our devotion to each other and how it brought us through our countless trials. It can’t be over so soon. I won’t stand for it.”