Melanie visibly swallowed but didn’t turn. Her hand went out to touch the wall as though she needed to steady herself. “I… I wondered if I would see you. All this searching for ghosts. I wondered if after you died if you’d show up. Elliot, I…”
He moved faster than he’d planned, tugging her against him. “I’m not dead. I know it’s highly unlikely this would happen. But Mel, I’m here. I woke up.”
She shuddered, and when she lifted her head to stare at him, they were with the most wounded brown eyes he’d ever seen. His heart stuttered. Never again. She wouldn’t look like this ever again, not in this kind of pain, not if he had anything to say about it.
With a shaking hand, she touched the side of his face. “How? They told me no. They told me… it was going to be over.”
“I know they did.” He tugged her closer. “It should have been. But you told me I wasn’t allowed to leave, and I hung onto that. In the void. I just kept trying and then eventually it worked. I came back.”
She cried out, the smallest sound. “Why—Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“I had to come find you myself. I had to tell you.” He pulled back just to brush her hair off her forehead. “I had to. Mel, I… I missed you.”
Tears leaked from her eyes. “Oh, Elliot. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I failed you.” What was she talking about? He would have asked her if she hadn’t rapidly fired the next statement. “I tried so hard and then you were dead… or not dead. Trapped there. And I didn’t know. And that is awful. Horrendous. Oh, I…”
He kissed her square on the lips. She closed her eyes a second before he did. For just a moment, they stayed like that. She tasted just the way he remembered, like cherries. Elliot didn’t press his kiss harder, this was just a taste, just a new beginning, if she said yes. He wasn’t going to ruin it by going too fast. She was wounded, so much more so than he could have imagined, which he couldn’t because the equivalent would have been to lose her, and he was unable to fathom such pain.
“Melanie Syed,” he whispered in her ear. “I love you so much. And you failed at nothing. I’m only here because you saved me. You did that. And look, I got to come and be all gallant and find you, so thanks for setting me up to look so good.”
She laughed. He loved that sound. It moved right through him. He wasn’t inherently funny, and yet she did seem to find his weird sense of humor amusing. That was just one of the millions of things he loved about her.
“I love you, Mel. I love you completely.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, Elliot.” She tugged a hand free and touched her nose, then her hair. “I look… you’ve never seen me before and I look… I look like this.”
He blinked. “Like what?”
“I’m wearing an apron and my hair is covered in dust. My face is covered in soot.” He didn’t see any soot. “Elliot, this is the first time you’re seeing me and I—”
“Am the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. I mean it. I want to look at you every second of every day. I loved you before I could see you. I love you now. I love you. I know it’s been a year and things have changed.” He motioned toward the cave paintings. “I need to hear about all of them. Do you still… do you still want me after everything that happened? Or was it too much?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love every bit of your living, breathing self. I… This year has been hell. I tried to change, to make a better show at this crazy life. To not be a constant walking tragedy of pathetic. But I was just pretending. I went from too much to not enough, and I don’t know if I can get it all back right away.”
He kissed the edge of her nose. “I’ve got to find my feet, too. How about we do that together?”
She wiped her eyes. “I love you. Love you and you’re here.” She kissed him, and suddenly, he could have done anything in the universe because she did. “Yes, let’s find it together. Please. Oh but I have to stay here. I have to stay on this trek for another few months.”
That was fine. “Do you think that Mitchell would mind if I tagged along. I could write. Feed you. Not get in the way but be there and…”
She kissed his chin. “You’d never be in the way. Lots of the graduate students have families with them. Yes, stay with me. And…”
He lifted his eyebrows. “And what? Anything. Name it. There is literally nothing you can’t have.”
She wrapped his arms around his neck. “You have ten dates to ask me to marry you. Ten.” She held up that many fingers. “I know this is very presumptuous of me to say. You’re not into marriage. I know this. So you have ten dates for you to decide you want that and ask me. Ten. I’ve lived a year without you. I want to bond souls. I want… I think you could want it, too.”
“Of course, I want it. Do you want me to ask you right now?” How could she think otherwise? “I didn’t want it before because of things, but I have to tell you, if I’d met you before the curse took me, I’d have wanted it then, too.”
Melanie closed her eyes, sagging a little bit against him, her forehead on his shoulder. “Mel?”
“Sorry, I feel like I can’t stay upright. Ten dates. Ten times to take me out.”
Ten. He held her close. “Got it, and I’ve got you. I promise. Forever.”
* * *
Melanie
She loved to watch him sleep in the morning. It was a strange thing, but the moments before he opened his eyes and looked at her were the best in the world because the anticipation was so sweet. His eyes were going to be clear when he opened them, blue with specks of green. He’d smile at her, and he’d be there.
These days, Elliot slept soundly, peacefully, except for the nights when he wrote in his sleep. That hadn’t been a cursed thing. That was an Elliot thing.
As if thinking it created the activity, a piece of paper floated into the air next to her. A pencil appeared, and she smiled. Bomber was back to making masterpieces, even in his sleep. She leaned on the pillow, watching his peaceful face. Sometimes he had nightmares. Sometimes she did. And sometimes they both did.
But last night had been peaceful.
The paper floated down in front of her. That was weird. It usually just landed on his desk. She took it, staring at the words in the early morning light. What had he been working on just now?
Hey, baby. I know last night was just date 8 and you told me 10 dates, but I’ve never been very good at waiting. Will you marry me?
She gasped, and he laughed, rolling her over until he was on top of her, both of them nearly falling off the bed. “So will you? Marry me? Soon?”
Mel nodded, joy warring with her constant need to cry. She sucked in her breath. “When I was standing on the doorstep of Peter Evans’ house…”
His smile fell. “I hate that you did that. I’ve mentioned it about a hundred times, right?”
She touched his lips. “Let me finish.”
“This will be in relation to the question I asked you?”
She nodded. “It will. I told him that he was lonely, that he was doing this because he was so afraid of being alone. In that moment, I understood, not because I was afraid of being alone, but because I wanted to be with you. I would have lived forever missing you.”
“Yes, but not committing crimes. Starting over. Eventually finding yourself again. You’re so strong and not nearly too much of anything.”
Oh the things he said. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Elliot Boothe. I’ll marry you.”
He let out a breath. Had he really been worried? “Thank you, my love. Thank you.”
“No, thank you for holding off the void. Thank you for being so strong. Thank you for being my forever.”
He kissed her, and she let the heat of it move through her. She’d been cold for so long. But the ghosts were gone except for studying them and there was only a life full of laughter. A comedy, not a tragedy. And the magic that came from loving Elliot.
Afterword
* * *
es. If you enjoyed it I have over 80 books published that you might like to check out, spanning most genres in romance. Please visit my facebook group to chat with me and others here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rebeccasrandomness or my website www.rebeccaroyce.com for more information. Please turn the page for a complete list of my books and to learn more about me.
About the Author
As a teenager, I would hide in my room to read my favorite romance novels when I was supposed to be doing my homework.
I am the mother of three adorable boys and I am fortunate to be married to my best friend. I live in Austin Texas where I am determined to eat all the barbecue in town.
I am in love with science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal and try to use all of these elements in my writing. I've been told I'm a little bloodthirsty so I hope that when you read my work you'll enjoy the action packed ride that always ends in romance. I love to write series because I love to see characters develop over time and it always makes me happy to see my favorite characters make guest appearances in other books.
In my world anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect that it will.
I'd love to hear from you! Please visit my website at www.rebeccaroyce.com to sign up for my newsletter and learn about my books!
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Cheers!!
Rebecca
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Summer’s Wolf
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The Conditioned
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Persuasion Enraptured
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Hard Truths
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Deadly Truths
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