The balcony door opened, and Bel’s sleepy voice sounded behind him. “What are you doing out here?”

Closing the box with a snap, he hid it behind his back as he spun to face her. “Nothing. What are you doing awake?”

“I missed you. It woke me up.” She squinted at him. “What was that snapping sound?”

“Nothing!” he insisted.

She stepped outside and drew the door shut behind her. She wore a rose-colored silken wrap that came to midcalf, leaving her lovely ankles and slender feet bare.

“Did you know, you are an excellent liar with everybody except me?” she asked, wagging a finger as she approached.

“What are you talking about?” he muttered, backing away as she advanced. “I don’t lie to you.”

She chortled. She sounded utterly delighted with life, and with him. “Of course you don’t, my love.”

The endearment caressed his emotions. It felt almost as if she had stroked her fingers down his chest.

“Never stop calling me that,” he whispered.

“Never stop loving me,” she whispered back.

At that, he stopped retreating and began to advance. “I’ll always love you, always.”

As he drew close, she glanced up at him slyly. “Do you love me enough to show me what you’re hiding behind your back?”

Oh, damn. This wasn’t what he’d had in mind. As he looked around the balcony, he sighed. The ring box was burning a hole in his hand. “Yes, I do.”

The sound of her soft laughter wrapped around him again, as warm as a hug. “Gray, I’m sorry for teasing you. If you need to keep what’s behind your back a secret, it’s okay. Truly.”

Now that she had caught him red-handed, as it were, he discovered he couldn’t wait a moment longer. Finally, he obeyed the impulse he had felt so very long ago.

He went down on one knee to the Lady of the Wood.

Her eyes went wide. “What are you doing?”

He brought the box around and opened it for her, so that the fire from the diamonds spilled out.

“I never saw myself as a romantic before,” he told her in a low voice. “Mostly I’m a simple guy who likes a cold beer and a good steak. You’ve taught me differently. I want the vows. I want the ceremony. I want dancing, champagne and celebration, and cake. I want a bachelor’s night, and for everybody we love to hug us and wish us a happy life, and I want a honeymoon. I had no idea I could want all those things, until you. Beluviel, you are my heart and my home, and the love of my very long life. I don’t want to just call you my mate. I want to call you my wife. Please marry me.”

Halfway through, she started crying.

Anxiety twisted his insides. Lord, he must have really screwed it up, but if so, he didn’t know how proposing in a swanky restaurant could have made it any better.

When he stopped speaking, she fell to her knees in front of him.

“You have given me everything,” she whispered. “You’ve saved my life, my soul. You freed my son, and you’ve given me another one. I’m so honored you’ve come into my life, Graydon. I thought I couldn’t adore you more than I already do, or be more happy, but I was wrong.” Wiping her eyes, she looked into the box. “What a beautiful ring.”

He muttered, “I was going to take it back and get you an emerald.”

She snatched the box out of his hands. “Oh no, you don’t. This is too gorgeous. I think an eternity ring is just perfect.”

Pleasure at her obvious delight warmed him to his bones. Bending his head over hers, he whispered, “Here, let me help.”

The ring was solidly caught in its nest. Between the two of them, they wiggled it free, and he slipped it onto her finger. The diamonds flashed, lighting up her hand. She splayed her hand, and they admired it together.

“I want cake too,” she said. Her dark, smiling gaze turned up to him, and the light in them outshone the diamonds. “And a pretty dress. And vows, and a party.”

“And a honeymoon,” he insisted. He really didn’t want to miss out on that.

“Oh yes, and a honeymoon.” She threw back her head and laughed. The sound danced like champagne bubbles in the night. “Who’d have thought it?”

Life had its own kind of rhythm. Shadows might be inevitable, and winter too.

But winter passes. It always does pass.

Bending his head, he kissed her. As he put his heart and soul into the caress, he inhaled her scent.

That first, rare breath of spring washed over him. He knew he would fly at this new life with everything he had.

He, for one, couldn’t wait to see what happened next.