How to Turn a Frog into a Prince - Bree Wolf Page 0,114

his wildly hammering heart. “Ask me, and I’ll say yes.” Her smile deepened, telling him that he did not need to be afraid, that she would never break his heart, that she would fight to keep it safe.

Always.

Nathanial inhaled a deep breath, and his features relaxed, a small smile tugging on his lips. “You always know what to say, why is that?”

Shrugging, Charlaine grinned at him. “It’s a gift.” Her brows rose, daring him not to stall, not to hedge. This was the moment. This was their moment, and he needed to seize it. Or perhaps she ought to? After all, had he not already told her he wanted her as his wife? He had taken a step toward her, and now it was her turn.

One last step, and they would stand together.

Forever.

One hand rose to cup his cheek. “Will you marry me?” Charlaine asked him then, cherishing the feeling of taking control of her life instead of waiting for it to turn out the way she hoped.

Nathanial’s eyes widened. “That was my line.”

“Was it?” Charlaine teased. “Says who? Simply because you’re the man you have some kind of claim on it?” She shook her head, smiling up at him. “I know what I want. I want you, and I will not let you slip away. So you better say yes.”

Laughter rumbled in his throat. Then his head swooped down and his mouth claimed hers in a searing kiss that left her breathless.

All but staggering on her feet, Charlaine was relieved that his arms still held her locked in his embrace. “I assume that was a yes?”

Again, Nathanial laughed. “Yes,” he said, grinning. “I’ll marry you.”

Joy danced through Charlaine’s heart, and she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Nathanial returned her embrace, pulling her against him and lifting her feet off the floor. Then he spun her in a circle as they laughed together.

It was a moment heartbreakingly beautiful, and it reminded Charlaine of the moment their journey had begun, that night at the masquerade when he had not known who she was. A lot had happened since then, but they had finally come full circle. Then, Charlaine had not known that she would lose her heart to him, but a part of her had even then whispered to her that he was a man she could not allow to escape from her life.

“If only we had remained true to our promise,” she told him when he finally set her down. “We could have been married weeks ago.”

A slight frown appeared on his forehead. “Truly?”

Charlaine kissed him. “Truly.”

Chapter Forty-Nine

Flower Girls

A part of Nathanial insisted that he was dreaming. That all that was happening only lived in his mind. That Charlaine had not truly just asked him to marry her. Was he hallucinating? Had Lord Ashhaven fought back and landed a punch Nathanial could not recall? Was he currently lying on the floor, bleeding from a major head injury?

In an odd way, that would have made more sense than the thought that Charlaine loved him. That she wanted to marry him. That she was in his arms right here, right now.

She loved him! Not merely as a friend, but…she loved him! The thought kept circling in his mind and each time it came around, Nathanial had trouble grasping it. She loved him!

He stilled. Had he told her that he, too, loved her beyond hope? He had not, had he?

His gaze moved over her lovely face as she lay in his arms, his heart overwhelmed by the thought that she was his, that he was hers, that she wanted him to be. His hand reached out, the tips of his fingers brushing over her skin, along her forehead and down her temple before circling around her ear and moving into her hair. “I love you,” he whispered and, this time, he did not feel the need to drop his gaze. His eyes lingered on hers, open and honest and trusting. She would not hurt him. “I have for a while, but I didn’t dare say it, even think it.”

Charlaine smiled up at him in that way of hers that always warmed his heart. “I, too, was hesitant at first, but Peter and Amancia taught me that it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.” Her thumb brushed gently over his cheek. “I always knew that to be true, but still I feared to lose you. I feared to speak the truth. I suppose