12. Have you ever been in love?

12

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN LOVE?

T wo nights later, Damek takes me out on a date. It's our first night of vacation that we're not spending with his family. While I have started to get along with Damek's mom, I am thankful for the alone time. We haven't had alone time since I realized that I love him.

Should I tell him?

And how does one just tell somebody ‘I love you?' It's something I've always said to my mom and now to my new family. But I've never said it to a boy before. To love somebody, you have to go out on more than one date with them, which isn't something I have experience with before Damek.

Which makes me wonder… has Damek ever been in love? I know he's dated girls before, but was he ever serious about any of them?

Damek and I slide into opposite sides of the booth. I pick up the menu to look, but Damek is watching me.

I look at him over the top of my menu. "What?"

"You have this serious look of concentration on your face and I'm wondering what it's about," he says.

I sigh and put down the menu. "Nothing serious. I was just thinking."

"About what?" he inquires.

"Have you ever been in love?" I ask.

Damek is quiet for a moment. He folds his hands together on the table and looks questioningly at me. "You know I've never dated anybody seriously before. When I was young, I spent all my time learning about vampire politics and laws—all the things I need to know to one day be the leader of my clan." He shrugs. "And when I was old enough to date, I knew my options were limited. And I never liked any of the other women. I knew it was my duty to marry a royal, even if my father never pushed me. So I tried. But I never could get past one or two dates with any of them. So, I didn't exactly have time to fall in love."

I let out a breath of relief.

That's good to know.

But it also means that he's just as inexperienced as I am.

I want to question him further, but Damek picks up his own menu and begins to look over the options, so I do the same.

The waitress, who is a kind dark fae, takes our orders. Once she leaves, I notice that Damek fidgets in his seat, bouncing slightly.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Did you drink one or ten espresso shots before coming tonight?"

He cocks his head to the side. "What?"

I nod to his fingers, which are currently drumming a beat on the tabletop. He's usually pretty calm, so his behavior surprises me.

He moves his hand from the table and grins. "Sorry."

But he doesn't explain his behavior. I shrug it off. It's not important.

Unless…

Maybe he wants to tell me that he loves me. Maybe that's why he's nervous—because he doesn't know how to. But is it possible that we're both thinking the same thing tonight? Maybe he's worried about something unrelated to me. Maybe he's not in love with me at all.

"Have you ever been in love?" Damek asks, breaking the silence.

I shake my head. I almost say, ‘Not before you,' but I catch myself before saying it. "No, never. You already know my dating experience."

After eating, Damek pays the check while I head to the bathroom. As I finish up in the bathroom, I wonder who I can ask for help. I usually go to my mom for advice on all things, but I don't think she's any more experienced in telling a guy ‘I love you' than I am.

Maybe I could ask Eden.

Or Tiffany.

I cringe at the thought of asking my future mother-in-law for dating advice.

As I am coming out of the bathroom, I spot our waitress standing at a computer in the back of the restaurant.

"Excuse me," she says, as I'm about to walk past.

I turn to the dark fae. "Yes?"

She clears her throat. "I know it's none of my business, but you should tell him."

"What?" I ask.

She rocks up on the tips of her toes and talks excitedly. "I'm a dark fae, so I can sense emotions. I don't mean to sense them, it's just who I am. And I could tell that you are in love with that cute vampire guy. You should tell him. I promise he feels the same."

He feels the same.

My head swims with the knowledge.

It's kind of weird to think that this dark fae has been reading my emotions all night, but she knows. And I don't think she's lying about Damek's feelings.

I glance up at the girl who watches me with bright eyes. "Thank you."

Her grin widens. "Of course. And I really am sorry about reading your emotions. People always hate that I can do that."

"It's okay," I assure her. "You can't help who you are and I'm thankful for what you've told me. It makes everything easier. I don't really have anybody that I can talk to about things like this."

Her shoulders relax. "Well, good luck."

I wave at her and then head back to the table where Damek is waiting. He raises an eyebrow, glancing toward the back where I was talking with our waitress. There are too many people in the restaurant, so I know he wasn't able to hear our conversation.

"What was that about?" he asks.

I grin. "Nothing. She was just being friendly."

He raises an eyebrow. "Why do I feel like you're hiding something?"

"I'll tell you later," I promise him. And I will . Once I get up the nerve to take her advice and tell him that I love him.

He nods, not pushing me to talk, though I can tell he wants to know.

As we head outside, Damek holds my hand. The close contact makes my heart race and I wonder if he will always make me feel like this. But he doesn't comment on my increased heart rate. Instead, he leads me along a path. I'm surprised when he tugs me in the opposite direction of the car, but I allow him to lead me.

It's a beautiful night. There aren't many lights on the island, so the sky is dark and the stars are bright. Because I am a hybrid vampire, I can see perfectly in the dark, so once the lights disappear behind us, I have no problems keeping up with Damek. He leads me along a narrow footpath. I can't see where we're heading because of the thick foliage and trees that seem to get thicker as we head up a hill.

Damek is quiet and I wonder what's on his mind. He's been very quiet tonight and he's acted strange. Part of me wants to tell him how I feel right now, but I don't dare break the silence between us. Damek is very focused and it's clear he's thinking hard about something. Maybe I'll find out once we get wherever he's leading me.

Soon, the trees and foliage clear and Damek leads me to the side of a cliff. From here, I can see for miles and miles on the ocean. The sight is gorgeous and nearly takes my breath away, from the way the moon reflects off the water to the dark depths further out.

"Wow," I whisper under my breath. "This is gorgeous."

But Damek doesn't respond, so I glance over at him. He got his hand in his pocket and he's looking down at the ground, not paying attention to the views at all.

"Hey, are you all right?" I take a step closer to Damek.

He takes a deep breath and nods. Finally, he looks up, meeting my eyes. The determination on his face makes me turn and give him my full attention.

"You are beautiful," Damek says softly.

My breath gets caught in my throat. "Thank you."

"The incubi don't know what they missed out on," he says. "But their loss is my gain because I can't imagine anybody more perfect for me than you."

My heart swells.

The waitress was right. Damek does love me. I can see it in his eyes. The way he looks at me is the way supernaturals look at their soulmates. I've always been envious of that love, but I'm not anymore. Because I have Damek, who is way better than a soulmate. He's better because he chose me and I chose him. What is more special than that?

"Damek…" my voice trails off as I try to get the words out.

Just say it.

Say ‘I love you.'

But it's harder than I thought it would be.

Damek continues speaking, "I would have married you after our first date. I knew I was attracted to you that first night, but I didn't realize at the time just how special you would become to me. I never imagined that it was possible to feel like this."

Tears press against my eyes at his confession.

He reaches into his pocket. "I didn't want to go too fast. I know that succubi have different dating traditions than vampires. And I don't want to pressure you. But I can't wait to tell you this." He pauses, his eyes scanning my face. "Maddie, I love you."

My heart thumps even faster. So fast that I can hear my blood rushing through my ears.

"And I am willing to wait for you to fall in love with me," he says. "But I realized after our conversation about you not feeling chosen, I've never told you how I really feel." He pulls something from his pocket, but I am looking into his eyes so I don't see what. "I will choose you every day for the rest of my life." He slowly lowers himself onto one knee. "You deserve the world, and I will do everything in my power to give it to you. Will you marry me?"

That is when I see that he's holding a box in his hand.

I stare at him, completely stunned silent.

I never expect this, not in a million years. We're technically already engaged. But I didn't get the big proposal, which is customary for succubi. And Damek is making up for that now.

My heart feels so full that it could burst.

But as I look at Damek and he looks at me, I realize I haven't said anything.

"I love you too," I tell him.

"You do?" he asks.

The genuine surprise on his face makes me giggle. It's like I'm a teenager again, having a crush on the popular boy at school.

But this is so much better because Damek loves me too. And he's asking me to marry him.

"Yes, I love you. And yes, I will marry you," I say boldly, hoping to show Damek just how confident I am in him. In us.

Damek stands from his kneeling position and he pulls me into his arms. He squeezes me tightly against his chest lifts me from the ground and spins me in a circle. After he sits me back on the ground, he gently cups my face.

"Did you seriously just say yes?" he asks, his jaw slightly agape.

I nod. "Absolutely yes. Because it isn't just you choosing me. I choose you too."

He kisses me hard and fast and then pulls back to look at me again. "I honestly expected you to tell me it was too soon."

"We were already engaged," I remind him.

"I know. But I didn't think you loved me," he admits. Then he holds up the box in his hand. "I picked this out the day after our first date. You weren't mine then, but I so badly wanted you to be."

The ring is beautiful, but what's important to me is what the ring represents.

Damek didn't have to do this. I would've married him and been happy with him. But this proves just how happy our life will be.

He did this for me.

Damek takes the ring from the box, so I hold my left hand toward him. He slides it onto my finger and smiles as he looks at it. "I asked your mom what size you wore and I got it resized last week. I knew I wanted to ask you while we were here."

I glance at the ring, then I look at Damek. Part of me still can't believe that this is real.

When I came to live with my dad, I never expected this . I never knew it was possible to be this happy.

My hand trembles in Damek's grasp.

"Are you okay?" he asks. "Are you nervous?"

"Not nervous." I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. "I'm excited. I didn't see this coming. I never thought you'd propose to me."

He tugs me closer. "You deserve the world, Maddie. This is the minimum of what you deserve. I plan on giving you the happiest of lives. This is only the beginning."

I grin. "The beginning—I like that."

He lowers his lips to mine and gently kisses me, making me his in all the ways that matter.

He pulls back, just slightly, and says again, "You deserve to be happy, Maddie." And then he kisses me again, deeper this time.

He thinks I deserve to be happy.

My heart soars at his declaration.

Tonight is the beginning of the rest of our lives and Damek is right—we are going to have the happiest of lives.

"I love you," I tell him again after he pulls back.

Damek grins so wide that it reveals his dimples. "You have my whole heart."