Lynus’s heart thundered as her whispered words shattered him and rebuilt him in the same breath. He had braced himself for her to push him away for good, but when she said she loved him, that she
still loved him, a raw, grateful sob caught in his throat. He forced himself to stay where he was, letting her say everything she needed without crossing the fragile distance she kept between them.
When she asked for honesty, for no more games or secrets, his heart twisted, knowing he had stumbled in his efforts to protect her. He wanted to reassure her of the weight she held in his life, of the place she’d carved out in his heart that nothing could ever erase.
“Then believe me,” he rasped, voice thick with emotion, his shoulders sagging. “That’s not what this is. This—” he gestured between them, “this is all I’ve wanted since Bess’s inn. But I fell so fucking hard, so fast, that I was terrified you’d doubt me, that you’d think it was too soon and I’d scare you away.”
He saw the way her face softened, her own tear-streaked cheeks glistening in the rain, and it tore at him to stay rooted in place. But he did, willing himself to give her the space she’d asked for, even as every instinct begged him to hold her, to shield her from the rain, to kiss away her tears and prove to her that his words were true.
Her hesitation, her pain—he knew they stemmed from wounds he had unwittingly deepened, and he wanted nothing more than to prove he was here to stay.
“I swear to you,
Isla,” he murmured, taking a slow step forward, “I've had nothing but honesty for you since the moment you learned my name, and you have never been, nor could you ever be, a secret. I want the whole world to know how much you mean to me.”
He took a breath, summoning all the courage he had, and dropped down on one knee in the rain that seemed to be lashing even harder now, pulling a small ring from his pocket. He’d hoped to do this with far more grace and planning, but he realised there was no other moment but this one.
“I just needed time to get things right, to do this the way you deserved.. But right now I just need you to know I’m in this. All of it. I love you, and I plan to love you for the rest of my life, if you’ll have me.” He held the ring up to her, his heart in his eyes. “Marry me, Isla?” he asked, as he held up the ring with the starling for her.