I never did give her a direct answer. I didn’t have one to give. Not then. Nothing that could verbalize the shit I wanted to say. Not long after she cried out my name, I carried her to the shower and we made love again. I held her all night, stroking her hair, grazing her skin with my fingertips, barely sleeping as I stared up at the ceiling and listened to her sleep.

There was no way I could rest. Not fully. The beating of my heart felt loud enough to wake the entire neighborhood.

As soon as dawn broke, the orange rays of light streaming through the crack in the curtains, I’d rolled her off my chest, leaned down to kiss her cheek and whispered in her ear.

“I won’t be long. There’s something I have to do with Harry this morning.”

I didn’t even think she was all that aware when she whispered I love you before burying herself in the center of the bed and pushing her face into my pillow.

It killed me to leave her, but there really was something I had to do. I found Harry sitting in the bar like he hadn’t even been to bed. His eyes were swollen as he sat on the edge of one of the sofas, resting an elbow on his knee while his other hand worried his forehead. He didn’t see me straight away. Not until I was standing right in front of him.

“You got my message.” I smiled.

He looked up, lifting his head like it weighed a tonne. “This better be important.”

“Was I interrupting something?” I smirked, wondering if he’d got his dick sucked after all.

“Nothing other than a rare bit of sleep. Nothing I won’t get again tonight… hopefully. If all goes well at Tate’s fake party.”

I scowled, even though I was still smiling, watching him as he groaned and creaked when he rose to stand in front of me.

“Where are we going?” he asked, breaking out into a wide yawn.

I nodded in the direction of the door, and Harry started to make his way out to the yard with me following him. Once outside, I watched every move he made as he took each step slowly. I didn’t care what the fucker said. Tomorrow morning, I was getting Doc to The Hut, and I was intervening. Harry would spend a month in hospital if it was needed. I wasn’t ready to see him look so frail yet. Not when he’d always been so strong for me.

When he started to walk over to the bikes all lined up in a row, I whistled through my teeth and caught his attention. He turned slowly, looking at me with confusion written all over his face.

“This way…” I didn’t wait for his response before I made my way over to the pawnshop, fiddling with the keys in my hand and pushing the right one into the door, turning it and walking inside.

I made a point not to look at Harry’s expression until we were where we needed to be. I had a feeling he already knew what was happening. With me leading the way, the two of us walked past all the goods in the shop, making our way to the small office area at the back. It was so tiny, it didn’t even have a desk in there. We’d made it look as bare as possible, lining it with steel shelves along one wall that held some tatty looking binders, as well as some other rusty old junk that was designed to make this space look more like a storage unit of shit than the place that held one of the most important places on all of our land.

The vault.

Dragging a dusty old stack of green filing cabinets out of the way, I pushed it to the side to reveal the small vault where we kept the really important Hound treasures and information.

“Oh shit,” Harry mumbled under his breath.

I found myself smirking as I entered the code and slid my thumb over the pad, waiting until it recognized my print before releasing with a small puff of mechanical air. I opened it up slowly—unable to deny the way my heart was pounding in my chest.

“It’s happening.” I heard the smile in Harry’s voice, and when I reached inside the vault, I picked up the small red box with the HB foil stamped on the lid. I rested it in the palm of my hand, bouncing it up and down carefully, feeling the weight of it.

“Happiness isn’t as heavy as I once thought it would be,” I said, finally looking up to see his face.

The old fuck was crying. Not exactly snot-sobbing, but there were tears in his eyes, and he didn’t try to hide the fact as he frantically wiped away the ones that had already fallen with a rough swipe of his thumb.

“Fucking hell, son,” he pushed out, dragging the back of his hand over his mouth and beard. “Does she know?”

“She doesn’t know about this,” I said, glancing back down to it. “But she kinda beat me to it.”

“What?”

“Ayda asked me to marry her last night.”

“And she was serious?”

“Deadly.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. That kid never ceases to amaze me.”

“Or me,” I agreed through a huff of laughter. I ran the box through my thumb and finger, not wanting to open it myself. “Want to take a look at it again?” I asked him.

Harry shook his head and smiled flatly. “I remember it well. Sunshine yellow…”

“Just like her hair.”

“Bright and bold.”

“Just like her.”

“Expensive.” He smirked.

“Sounds like Ayda.” I sucked in a breath, blowing it out in one long stream. “I needed you to know, Harry. I needed you to be here to see this look on my face.”

“Oh, I see it.” He charged over to me with more enthusiasm than I’d seen in weeks, possibly even months, before he threw his arms around my shoulders and embraced me with all the love he possessed. I held onto him tightly, desperately swallowing down the harsh lump in my throat as I slapped him on the back over and over again. When he eventually pulled away, he had to wipe away his tears again, and then he stepped to the side and waved an arm in the direction of the door we’d just walked through. “With my blessing and encouragement, go get her, Tucker.”

I did just that, leaving Harry to lock up as I shoved the box inside the pocket of my cut and pulled down on the edges of it, rolling my shoulders in the heavy material and sauntering across that yard with all the determination I felt.

If anyone could see the smile on my face as I pushed through the door into that Hut, they’d have frozen in shock. It wasn’t meant to happen this way, but it was always sure as shit meant to happen. Ayda, in true Ayda style, had torn through my original plans like the tornado she was, and it was now time for me to pick up the pieces and make it special for her. She’d already made it special for me. Hearing those words fall from her lips in the throes of passion had been my final undoing.

I paused outside the door of my room, which had now become ours, closed my eyes and took a moment to drag in a breath. The hairs on the back stood to attention, and the small smile on my face was desperate to grow wider, bigger, and stronger.

“Here goes nothing,” I whispered to myself.

I pushed the door open, making sure to be quiet so I didn’t startle her by returning so soon. Closing it as carefully as I could, making sure to muffle the sound of the door clicking, I eventually turned around to see her exactly where I’d left her.

She was fucking perfect.

I dropped to my knees beside the bed, resting my hands on the mattress just in front of her arms before I let a finger trail over her knuckles.

“Wake up, darlin’,” I whispered.

She mumbled quietly, her hand turning to catch my fingers as her legs kicked out in a stretch below her. I saw the wince of pain and the push of her bottom lip in a playful pout. “I’m too sore for round four.”

My snort of laughter was quiet as I shook my head and watched her stretching out like a kitten. “I have something better in mind.”

Ayda cracked one eye and turned her head, her curiosity getting the better of her. Her grin went wide as soon as she saw me dressed. “Donuts?”

“Better,” I whispered, my brows rising high.

“The only thing better than donuts is you naked and wrapped around me.” She looked between us, her hand stretching out and her fingers resting on my bottom lip. “Which is clearly not the case.”

I reached up to grab her wrist, holding her finger in place before I moved it around my mouth, tracing the outline of my ridiculous smile.

“Wanna bet?”

With my other hand, I dug into the pocket of my cut, thumbing the lid of the box before I laid it on the white sheets of the bed, making sure it sat directly in the middle of us both.

Ayda’s eyes widened almost impossibly as she scrambled to a sitting position and looked between my face and the box several times before her eyes landed on mine and stayed there. The sheet was pooled at her waist, and one of her hands was pressed to her chest as though holding her heart in place.

“Drew?”

My grin exploded as I stared straight into her eyes, unblinking. “My answer is yes. I’ll marry you, darlin’.”

A surprised squeal of absolute joy fell from Ayda’s lips, only seconds before she threw her naked body at me. The words I love you fell from her lips over and over again as they traversed the available skin on my neck, and tangled with the dampness of her tears.

I held onto her tightly, laughing and squeezing her as happiness poured out of both of us. Mine was more relaxed. I’d had my shock the night before. Hers was fresh, and so, so, so fucking adorable. Her naked skin was pressed against the coolness of the leather cut wrapped around me, but it seemed like she couldn’t get close enough. I pushed up with all the effort I had within me, bouncing her in my grip as I pulled my chin back and forced her to look at me.

“I’ll marry you. I’ll fucking marry you today if you want me to, Hanagan. I’m not scared of a lifetime by your side. There’re no doubts in my mind. Not one. You’re it for me. I want this forever with you.”

Her tears fell freely as she just stared at me, her mouth open and lips curled into a smile of complete happiness. Freeing one arm, she pressed her palm against my cheek and swallowed a sob. “How do you always know the right things to say?”

“It’s just how I feel.”

“And you had a ring?”

“I’m always prepared. Of course I had a ring. Picked it out not long after the whole shit with The Emps. I knew before then I wasn’t letting you go, but that night made me realize I had no reason to wait to make things happen. Only, you being you…” I paused, raising a disapproving brow, but my stupid grin didn’t back up that judgment. “You made me bring the date forward a bit. Not that I’m complaining. As far as proposals go, asking me to spend my life with you while riding my dick was always going to be a winner.”

Ayda let out a guffaw of laughter, her hand moving to her mouth as she studied me. The absolute joy that lit up her eyes wasn’t going anywhere soon. “You’re officially mine, Drew Tucker. I love you more than I think you’ll ever know.”

“A speechless Ayda,” I whispered, leaning up to place a kiss on her mouth before I spoke against it. “My favorite kind.”

“Hey!”

“C’mon, old lady. Let your fiancé show you your engagement ring.” I spun her around, dropping her to her feet by the bed so she was facing the box that held her ring. I wrapped my arms around her naked waist and pulled her back against me, resting my chin on her shoulder. “I hope you like it.”

Ayda reached for the box with trembling hands, the tips of her fingers tracing the initials on top before shakily opening it to reveal the square cut yellow diamond. Her gasp of surprise was followed by a shake of her shoulders and a building sob that she trapped inside with her other hand. It took her a moment to stop crying enough to stroke the ring on the cushion and just stare at it.

“Drew, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

I squeezed her tighter and pressed my lips to her neck. “Not even close.”

I could almost feel her eye roll as she dropped her head back on my shoulder. “Can I put it on?”

“Let me,” I said, releasing her and spinning her around to face me. Her cheeks were flushed brighter than I’d ever seen them, and her baby blue eyes were sparkling under the daylight that had filtered into the room. I kept my eyes on her the whole time as I took the box from her grip, spun it around in my hand and got down on one knee in front of her. “This is how it was supposed to go.” I smirked. “Originally. I was going to get on one knee, ask you to marry me and watch the shock on your face make your eyes light up and that smile of yours break free. I figured you’d squeal a bit. Bounce around, throw yourself at me and cry. A lot.” I paused, watching her reactions.

Shuffling on her feet, Ayda stared down at me, her smile growing with every word. “It was the power of your penis that did it. But I think I delivered on the squeals, the smiles, and the crying.” She pointed at her face where tears were still sliding down and falling from her chin. With that, she slid down to her knees where she was facing me. “And just to seal the deal, you’ve made me the happiest woman alive.”

I reached out for her hand, running my thumb over the top of her wedding finger as I held it out in front of me. “Let’s really seal the deal, shall we? Keep that there.” I let her go and reached inside the box for the ring, tossing it on the bed and grabbing hold of her hand again. I stared into her eyes as I slid the ring on her finger, pushing it over her knuckle carefully. The very moment it sat in place, something clicked inside of me. Something had a grip of my heart again and was squeezing the life out of it again.

Happiness. That fucker. It sure as shit did make me feel alive.

Ayda stared at her finger as more of those happy tears gathered and rolled down her cheeks. Lifting her left hand, she placed it on my cheek again and kissed me. It was a kiss that said she was happy, too. A kiss that had her falling against me as close as she could possibly get.

I kissed her back with everything I had before I picked her up, never breaking our kiss until I draped her over the bed and leaned down over her.

“About that round four?”

“Shut up and get moving, Tucker.” She grinned up at me.

“Power of the penis, coming right up.” I kissed her roughly, melting away into this one perfect moment where the two of us were only focused on each other and nothing else.

I wished it would last forever.