Chapter Eight
The wind was chilly as the sun was lowering behind the horizon. The deeper they went into the woods, and they higher they ascended the mountain, the more the temperature dropped and the trees became thicker all around them. But Nico hadn’t brought his truck, and instead had his female on the back of his Harley with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, and her head resting on his back. There was nothing better than this feeling of freedom with the woman that he loved. But his nerves were already getting the best of him and twisting his gut uncomfortably.
Another twenty minutes driving up the mountain and Nico finally pulled to a stop in front of a clearing. There was small brook that moved through the center of the patch of flowers and grass, and the trees opened so that the sun could actually pierce the top. He cut the engine and climbed off and helped Alexis off the bike, too. For a second he kept his hands on her waist and stared down at her. Did she knew what he was about to do, that he had this ring sitting in the inner pocket of his cut and was nervous as fuck? Shit, he hadn’t felt this unsure about anything in his life, but he supposed even the toughest motherfuckers felt skittish when they were about to pop the big question. He grabbed a bag from one of his saddlebags and led her to the center of the clearing. Then he laid out a blanket and gestured for her to sit down.
“Are you sweating, Nico?” she asked, and he could hear the confusion in her voice. It wasn’t really that hot outside, especially being so high in the mountains.
Fuck, his hands were even shaking. “Dammit.” He sat down beside her and looked at the brook.
“Nico, what’s wrong?” She touched his shoulder, and he could scent the way she was worried about him.
“Everything is okay, baby.” He turned and faced her, and before he lost his nerve he reached inside of his cut and pulled out the small black box. She looked down at it, and her eyes widened. “I meant to say all this sweet and endearing shit, make you know how important you are to me and that I love you more than anything else.” He ran his free hand over his hair and exhaled roughly. “But I feel out of my element here, and have never felt so nervous in my fucking life.” He hadn’t been good with all the sweet, sappy shit, but whenever he was with Alexis it just came from him. Now it seemed he was at a loss for those saccharine words that would tell the woman he loved more than anything else that he wanted her as his wife.
“Oh my God, Nico,” she said almost breathlessly. Her eyes were wide as saucers, and she stared at the ring box with this shocked expression on her face.
He popped the lid, and it was like fate was trying to show her with the glistening, gleaming diamond that he was a good match. At least that was the fucked up fairytale vision he had in mind.
“Oh my God,” she said again. “It’s so beautiful.”
He took the ring out, snagged her left hand, and slid the band of platinum with the big ass diamond in the center on her ring finger. He then covered her hand with both of his. “Look at me, baby.”
She lifted her gaze so she was looking at him, and he heard her swallow. “Nico—”
“Shh, baby, let me get this out before I lose my nerve.” Now he swallowed and tried to calm the restlessness of his inner bear. The beast was pacing back and forth, anxious for him to grow a set of balls and do this already. He had beaten the shit out of grown men that had crossed the club, had been on runs that put him in the thick of violence and illegal activity, but asking his woman to marry him made him feel like a vulnerable juvenile. “I love you, have loved you for longer than I can even remember. Maybe it goes back to the first time I gave you my favorite toy truck…”
She started chuckling, and the glossy look in her eyes intensified. She was going to cry, and he didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“I want you by my side as my wife and my old lady, Alexis. You’ve always been mine, but I want it legal.” He stared in her eyes, ones that were the same dark, inky color as her father’s, but that held a light that the Sergeant at Arms’s didn’t. And with her creamy complexion and dark hair that brushed her shoulders, it made for a striking contrast. “Will you marry me, Alexis?”
She didn’t answer right away, and Nico felt his heart start to pound fast and hard. Would she seriously turn him down? That had crossed his mind, of course, but then again he had been a nervous fucking wreck since he first bought the ring and decided he was actually going to do it. The tears were the next thing that came, and he moved an inch back, giving her some space, as those fat beads of wetness slid down her cheeks. She continued to stare at the ring, and with every passing moment he worried that she was ultimately going to say no.