Chapter Forty

Emma

I stared at him.

Love?

"I … uhh…" It was all my scattered brain could come up with.

Seconds ago, I'd been sure I would die on this ship, my throat slit by the traitorous captain.

Now, I was free, and Rhyse was back, professing his love for me.

"I know," he said in response, still grinning like a crazy little madman, the look splitting his face from ear to ear. "I should have realized it earlier, but look, I'm not the smartest when it comes to this stuff, okay? After all, it was the people who just tried to kill you who clued me into it."

" What? "

"After I watched you leave—"

"You didn't watch me leave," I corrected, crossing my arms.

"Yes, I did," he said, somewhat subdued.

"I watched you walk away. I waited for you to look back. To wave. To show any sign of missing me," I said, trying to stay angry and not let the pain well up too much.

I was partially successful.

Rhyse looked down at his feet for a moment before meeting my eyes. "If I looked back, I'm not sure I would have been able to let you go," he said quietly. "And I needed to."

"Why?" It came out like a complaint, and I hated it.

"Because I had to keep you safe, Emma. Can't you see? That's what mattered to me. I knew I was inviting danger down upon me. I couldn't always protect you, not while I had to go looking for whoever was attacking the human ships."

I glanced past him at the burning hulk sitting low on the waterline.

"There's nobody alive," Rhyse said quietly. "I saw the bodies in the water at one point."

"Oh." I clapped a hand to my mouth. "That's horrible."

"It is. And it could have been you." He shook his head. "I don't know what I would've done if they'd killed you."

"Died," I said, pulling the neck of my shirt to the side to show him my scale. "Remember? You told me what happens to me, happens to you."

"That's true. Just another reason I had to send you away." His lips quirked on the one side of his mouth. "But I swear to you, I did watch you go. I was in Darius' shop, watching from the window. Where nobody could see me. Not even you. But I did watch . Until you were long gone, not even on the horizon. I watched."

The power of his words removed any doubt I may have had.

"Okay, so you watched me go from a secret hiding place. But how did that lead to this?" I gestured at him in front of me now, indicating his presence.

He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "I ran into Dillon on the beach. I was lost in my own world, missing you. If I hadn't been, I probably would've been suspicious about what they were up to, given the heavy bags they were hauling. But I didn't. And Dillon called me out on it. Said I was moping over a girl and that I needed to be careful or I would fall in love."

"Moping?" I asked, fighting a smile. "You were moping over me?"

" Anyway ," he said, his eyes twinkling with laughter, "that was all I needed to realize he was wrong. I wasn't going to fall in love with you. I already had ."

He stepped toward me, cupping my chin and cheek with one hand, his thumb running softly over my skin. "You don't have to tell me anything. I know this is a lot. But I'm asking you, Emma, please … take me with you."

"What?" The shocks just kept coming. "You want to come with me?"

"Yes," he said with utter solemnity, meeting my stare and not blinking. "Whatever it takes to keep you, I will do it. If that means going to live among humans, to your home, then so be it. I'll go, if you'll let me."

"Oh, Rhyse," I murmured, nuzzling into his hand. "That's very sweet of you."

He frowned. "There is a dragon-sized ‘but' attached to that sentence. I can feel it up here." A finger tapped the side of his head, meaning our link.

"Yes, there is," I said, swaying a little closer to him. "But I'm not sure it's the one you're thinking it is."

"I'm listening."

I bit my lip before I could stop it, overwhelmed by his intensity. It was hot, the way he was so focused on me and nothing else mattered to him.

"You aren't the only one who's done some thinking," I told him.

The sudden break in emotions through our link came like an axe falling as he shut himself down, preparing for the worst.

"Relax," I said, placing a hand on his chest. "What I meant was that you sent me away, told me to go home to be safe, right?"

He nodded stiffly.

"But, Rhyse, I realized, I don't have a home. The place I grew up in is under dragon control. There's no life to be lived there, assuming the house even stands. I don't have family to go back to. My friends were few and far between, and they're scattered I don't even know where now."

"What are you saying?" he asked.

"I'm saying that the only thing that resembles home … is with you."

His jaw dropped. "You don't want to leave?"

"I don't want to leave."

"You want to stay?"

"With you," I confirmed, unable to stop smiling. Each confirmation of my desire to remain with him elicited stronger and stronger waves of giddiness from Rhyse, and damned if it wasn't contagious. Even I didn't seem to realize how badly I'd wanted to stay.

"Amazing!" he lunged for me, sweeping me off my feet, spinning me around in a circle as my one foot popped all on its own while I giggled happily.

"There's one more thing," I said, arms around his neck, staring down at him as he casually held me aloft.

"What's that?" Rhyse asked more than a little warily.

"I think I'm in love," I whispered, bending down to kiss him. "And before you ask, yes, I mean with you."

Behind us, one of the two deckhands groaned audibly. "Get a room, you two."