Chapter 39

Tatina POV

I look down at my sweet Draco kneeling before me. He has no idea how badly I want to say yes, but I am afraid. The only thing I know to do is be honest with him.

I place my hand on top of his.

“Draco, I want to be perfectly honest with you. I feel that we have always been honest with each other and there is no reason to stop that now,” I say to him.

“That is all I want. I want an answer for a change. No matter what you say I will respect that,” Draco says.

“There is no doubt in my mind that we love each other. Is that enough?” I ask him.

“Of course, it is enough. I will love you until the end of time,” Draco says.

“What is it that you want from me?” I ask him.

“I want you to be my wife. I want you to be my partner in life. I want us to be together forever,” Draco says.

“I am your partner and we will always be together. I just don’t want to feel owned by someone ever again,” I say.

Draco stands from his kneeling position in front of me. He takes his seat back at the table. I know I have upset him.

“Have I ever made you feel owned by me?” Draco asks.

“No, you have not,” I answer him.

“Then why in the hell would you say something so horrible to me? Why in the hell would think that low of me, Tatina?” Draco asks.

He is right. At no point in our relationship has he ever made me feel owned by him. Why am I so afraid to let him marry me?

“Tatina, this is breaking me down. I love you. I give you every freedom you could possibly want. I am only asking you to be my wife, my partner. I want us to have a bond forever,” Draco says.

“Okay,” I say.

“Okay, what do you mean okay?” Draco asks.

“I mean then yes, I will marry you,” I say.

“Really, you mean it?” Draco asks.

“I do mean it, but maybe we should get married quickly before I change my mind,” I say.

“We could drive to Las Vegas and get married tonight,” Draco says.

“You seriously want to drive to Las Vegas to get married right now?” I ask him.

“Why not?” Draco asks me.

“Well, there are some places closer if we are willing to let a vampire marry us,” I suggest to Draco.

“That is true. I will leave it up to you. We will do whatever you want to do. I am happy you finally said yes,” Draco says.

“Wait, I did not say yes. I said okay,” I say to him.

“Wait, I have something for you,” Draco says.

He leaves to the table and runs up the stairs. What on earth is this man doing? He is up the stairs and back down in a flash. He gets back down on his knee and presents me with a small ring box.

“Tatina Maria, Will you be my partner in life forever?” Draco asks me again while opening the small box for me to see what is inside.

“Yes,” I say.

He takes the princess-cut diamond out of the box and slips it onto my ring finger.

“If you are serious about doing this tonight, I am more than ready,” Draco says.

“Let’s do it,” I say.

“Okay, Las Vegas or New Orleans?” Draco asks.

“I never want to go back to New Orleans,” I say to him.

“I know there is a priest right outside of the city that could marry us tonight and it is a short drive. I promise not to take you into the city for any reason,” Draco says.

“Call the priest, if he can do it tonight I am willing to go, if not we can drive to Las Vegas. It would be a nice road trip and we could stop in a hotel along the way,” I say to him.

I really do not want to go anywhere near New Orleans. A long drive to Las Vegas would be wonderful, but I know Draco wants to do this right away. He is terrified if given too much time I will change my mind. To be honest I might. My love for him or his love my me is not the issue. I know it is my fear of ever being captive again.

I do not know what I had planned for tonight. I wanted it to be special. I wanted him to feel love and then maybe I was going to let him down easy. Instead, I agreed to be his life partner. In reality, I already am in a partner. He has taken care of me for so long, maybe I should give him this special moment. I will grow into the idea of being his wife.

Draco comes back with a long face. “Father Malone is unable to marry us tonight but there is another priest willing to do it,” Draco says.

“Well, that is fine. Their other priest will be okay,” I say to him.

“Yeah, about that, the other priest is in the city,” Draco says.

“Oh, I see,” I say.

“We don’t have to do it, but I have to let him know now,” Draco says.

“As long as you are with me I will be okay,” I say.

“I am going to call him now. I will offer to pay him to meet us outside of the city,” Draco says.

“That is fine. I don’t want to go back there ever,” I say to him.

“I know. I will see what kind of arrangements I can make,” Draco says.

“I can book us a hotel in Westwego. See if he can come there,” I say.

“You got it, love,” Draco says.

Draco rushes off to make the arrangements with the new priest. If I have to go into the city I will, but I do not want to go if it can be avoided.