Lord of Chaos (The Dragon Demigods #7) - Charlene Hartnady Page 0,87
people so easily.”
I smile back, and Harley lets my hand go. “I like her too.” I take a step back.
“Night night, Harley-bug,” Shannon coos. She leans in and kisses her daughter.
I wave at Bruce, but he is already half asleep. So much for wanting to stay up.
We head back to the others, and dessert is served soon after. An hour later and we’re headed home. It was a lovely evening.
Rage is driving. “You’re awfully quiet,” he says, squeezing my leg.
“Oh…um…I’m just tired.”
“It’s more than that, Nia. What’s going on?” He squeezes my thigh again before putting his hand back on the wheel and making a turn.
I shrug.
“Out with it,” he presses me. “You know you can tell me anything.”
“I want kids!” I practically yell. “With you…I want kids with you. I know I said before that I never wanted them, but I do. I want all of it. You…me…us…a family. There it’s out.”
We sit in silence for a few beats. Shit! I blurted all that. It was a lot. I know Rage loves me. We’re living together. We had a pregnancy scare, but we haven’t actually discussed anything more since then. We’ve been enjoying each other’s company. Now I went and potentially messed it all up. Rage was quite adamant about not wanting kids before. He told me he would step up if I was pregnant, but that was because he had no choice. I know he would make an amazing father.
Rage chuckles.
“You cannot laugh after an admission like that,” I growl at him.
“I think you might have just asked me to marry you.” He grins at me.
I gape at him. “I did not!”
“I think you just might have, Nia. Sounded like a proposal to me.”
“Rage!” I yell. “Be serious. You’re about to start law school.”
“I haven’t been accepted yet,” he says.
“You will be. It’s a big deal. You’ll be really busy. That’s fine, though, because I’ll wait for you. You waited for me, so I can wait for you.”
Rage chuckles some more, and I want to smack him. He pulls over and shuts off the engine. Then he turns and takes my hands. “You don’t have to wait because I say yes, Nia. I would love to marry you.”
“Stop it!” I pull my hands away. “I’m old-fashioned. My Tad would never—”
Rage gets serious. His dark eyes take my breath from my lungs and my thoughts from my head. “I know you’re not proposing, even though you sort of did.” He winks at me. “I like how you speak your mind. I love you so much. My life has changed since I met you. I’ve changed too, and all for the better. You’re not asking me, but I sure am asking you. Will you marry me, Nia?” He pulls in a deep breath. “I know this isn’t exactly romantic. I’ll fix that by asking you again with all the fanfare, but— Oh, and I’ll need to officially ask your dad,” his eyes widen, “but I really would love it if you would say yes. Please say yes.”
“I don’t need fanfare.” I can barely catch my breath. “I just need you. Yes, I’ll marry you.” We kiss long and hard.
When we pull back, he smiles. “About a family. I want that too, Nia.”
I push out a breath, feeling both happy and apprehensive. “It might not be possible.”
“We can’t say for sure. No one can say for sure, Nia.”
“You’re right.” I feel a weight lift.
“I have a photographic memory.” He bobs his brows.
“Is that supposed to turn me on?” I laugh.
“Yes. I’ll be at law school, but I won’t be all that busy. I always found school to be a breeze.”
“Lucky you.” I shrug, not sure where he’s going with this.
“What I’m trying to say is that we can throw away the birth control. We can do it now, if you’re ready.” And there it is.
My mouth falls open. “Are you serious?”
He nods.
I swallow down a lump. “Are you very serious and very sure? Because my cycle seems to be back on track, so it could happen.” I’m starting to feel nervous and excited and scared.
“It could happen, and yes, I’m sure.” He grins.
“It might not happen, though.” A lump forms in my throat.
“We’ll have to have plenty of sex, just to give ourselves a fighting chance.”
I laugh.
Rage takes my hand and kisses the palm. “We’re not in a rush. We’ll take things one step at a time. If it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t, we’ll take the next step.”