I open the box in her hand and show her the ring. She gasps and puts a hand over her mouth, looking from me to the ring and then back to me again. It’s the Devotion Stone.

“When you saw this last night, I was so relieved you loved it. I found out about it from an antiques dealer and got in touch with the estate. They agreed to sell it to me after I told them about you. And that I planned to put it up at an auction at a price I knew no one could touch. This way, the foundation would benefit from the love I have for you, and this ring would find a new home on your hand. I want it to carry our love story for the next one hundred years.”

Tears are streaming down her cheeks, but I stay on my knees in front of her.

“Mallory Ann Sullivan, will you marry me?”

She nods once, then throws herself at me, and I barely catch the ring in time before she tackles me to the floor. Mallory peppers kisses all over my face, and I feel my own eyes water. Relief and love wash over me, and I roll us over, pinning her under me.

I take her hand and slip the ring on, kissing it and then kissing her palm. Looking into her gray-blue eyes, I see nothing but happiness, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to see there.

“I love you so much,” she says, reaching up with her other hand and rubbing my stubble. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Even though you’re crazy obsessed and a borderline stalker.”

“Don’t act like you don’t like it.” My smile feels as if it could crack my face in half. And the moment could not be any more perfect. Because I know she does. I see it in her eyes when sometimes I go a little too far, unable to help myself. It’s why we fit.

Mallory laughs, and I reach into my pocket, pulling out the test and holding it up for her. “And when were you planning on telling me about this?”

Mallory’s smile dips for a second, and then she gives me a small shrug. “Just a false alarm.”

I look at her in confusion, look at the test, and then look back to her.

“Baby, how is being pregnant a false alarm?”

Her eyes grow wide, and she snatches the test out of my hand, sitting up so fast, she nearly knocks me off her lap.

“What?” she shouts.

She looks down at the two blue lines, and the test clearly says two lines means pregnant.

“How is this possible? There was only one yesterday.”

She looks up into my eyes, and it’s my turn to shrug. Like I know anything about how those tests work. “It’s two lines. It says pregnant.”

“I must not have waited long enough. Oh my God. Oz, we’re going to have a baby.” She pauses, like she’s testing out the words. “We’re going to have a baby.”

She beams at me. She’s so happy, and then she’s crying again. I let out a small laugh, pulling her in my arms. She’s all over the place this morning.

“Sorry, you proposed to me, and I found out I’m pregnant all in the same moment. It’s kind of an emotional overload.”

“For me, too, baby.”

I pick her up and lay her back down on the bed. She pulls at my shirt, and I kick off my jogging pants. This moment calls for skin on skin. Holding her face with both hands, I kiss her, long and slow, trying to pour all of what I feel into it. All the years of waiting, all the years of longing have led to this. I’ve finally got my ring on her finger and my baby inside her. What more could a man need from the love of his life?

I enter her slowly, like the kiss, and take my time making love to her. Her legs wrap around me, and the cool band of the ring presses against my back, reminding me that she’s all mine. Her body welcomes me, opening up and offering me all that she has to give.

When I find my release, she’s right there with me as we whisper words of tenderness to one another. The moment is so beautiful and so sacred it feels as if there’s never been love like this before. We’ve created something so perfect that it can never be touched. Not by our pasts or by anything around us. Our intimacy has sealed our bond, and my soul is forever entwined with hers.

“I love you, Mallory. I will love you until my last breath.”

“I love you, too, my beautiful man behind the curtain.”

Epilogue

Miles

* * *

About nine months later...

I growl as she slides her mouth down my cock, and I fist my hands into the sheets so I don’t thrust up into her mouth or try to grab her. Even after months of having her in my bed—our bed—my control still isn’t great. My need for her hasn’t lessened over time.

“I’m going to come.”

She had me ready to explode before I even knew it was happening. Waking up with her mouth on me is a sweet torture. But I knew what she was up to. She’d been pouting about it for the past five days now and I hadn’t given in.

She takes her sweet mouth off my cock, making me groan at the loss. Fuck, she’s trying to kill me. I finally open my eyes, something I don’t do on purpose, because I know what I’m going to see. And I know that sight would send me over.

There she is. Her hair, messy from a night of sleep, falling all around her, her eyes hooded with arousal. She licks her full lips as she climbs up my body. The only thing she’s wearing is the ring I put on her. I should tell her to stop, but I only dig my fingers into the sheets as she straddles me and slowly begins to sink down on my cock. There’s nothing better in the world than being skin to skin with her.

I should have seen this coming. That baby book has finally blown up in my face. She hated the damn thing, but now here she is, using it against me as she slides down onto me, making me moan her name. I haven’t felt her sweetness wrapped around me in over two weeks.