Suddenly she felt exhaustingly fragile. Being in love was so hard. She would have given anything to make it stop hurting so much.
Nikos was looming in front of her before she could draw another breath, running a finger over the bags under her eyes. There was such desolation in his eyes, such open need that she trembled from head to toe. “There’s this tightness in my chest, thee mou, like someone is relentlessly carving away at it. It hurts like nothing I have ever felt before.”
Lexi felt dizzy from the emotion in his words. “You don’t have a heart.” She wanted to sound cutting, instead she sounded immensely sad.
His mouth closed; he smiled without warmth. “Apparently I do. You kick-started it when you blazed into my life.”
“I didn’t blaze anywhere. You manipulated me.” Tears filled her throat. “You forced the truth on me and then you—” She hit him in the chest. “I have never been so angry with anyone in my entire life, Nikos. I hate you for you doing this to me.”
His arms came around her, his grip infinitely fragile. She felt his mouth on her temple, felt his sharp hiss of indrawn breath. “Not as much as I hate myself, thee mou. Theos, there isn’t a single name I haven’t called myself these last few days. I had a whole speech prepared, liberally infused with begging. And I don’t remember a word of it.
“Every time I come near you, you unravel me a little more. You show me how much I can feel, how much I can hurt. It’s a little scary, Lexi.”
Tears came fast at her and spilled onto her cheeks. She had no defense left to fight him. Not anymore, not when he said things like that, not when the heat of his body was an incredible fortress of warmth around her.
His mouth compressed into a line of pain, he gathered her closer. And she cried. She thought it wasn’t possible for her heart to break again. Apparently it still could. The pain was as sharp as ever.
“Don’t cry, agape mou. I can’t bear it.” He tucked her chin up gently, a flash of indecision in his gaze. “I’m desperately in love with you, Lexi. You were wrong about one thing. This thing...it’s not just taken root inside me, it’s consuming me whole. My life is terrifyingly empty without you. The power you hold over me, over my happiness—I’m not scared of it anymore. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you, yineka mou.”
Lexi’s heart beat so fast she wondered if she was having a heart attack. His hands around her waist, Nikos held her tight, a shudder racking his powerful frame. “You mean it?”
Nikos nodded, his heart shining in his eyes. “I do. I can’t stop giving thanks for the moment that brought Tyler into Venetia’s life and you into mine.
“You are the most wonderful woman I have ever met, and I want to live my life with you. I want to have a family with you. I want to make love to you every night and every morning. I want to hear your incredible stories about space portals and time warps. I want to be the first one who sees every sketch you ever draw. I want to take care of you, and I want you to take care of me. The number of things I feel for you, they are dizzying and invigorating.
“Please tell me you don’t want to have an extremely elaborate wedding like Venetia because that would just about kill me.”
“What?” Her heart pounding harder, it seemed all she was capable of was asking inane questions.
His thumbs moving over her cheeks, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I want to marry you, yineka mou, as soon as possible. We will honeymoon on the yacht, I think. I promised Savas we would return in a month so that I can officially take over and be the new CEO.”