“Maybe some people do that. It’s certainly not a requirement.” She cupped his face. “Why are you looking for my parents’ approval?”
“Because I know you’re hesitant, and you don’t believe I want to marry you because I love you. You think I’m just trying to keep you safe. But I’ve wanted to marry you since practically the first moment we met. I was planning on proposing long before Zoe entered our world. And now that you’re back in my life, I don’t intend to let you go. I know I might have to do some convincing, and we’ve got time. I’m not in a hurry. I just need you to know I’m serious about marrying you. I always have been.”
She swallowed hard. “Did you just say you love me?”
“Rose, of course I love you. I never stopped.”
“You haven’t said it since you came back.”
“I didn’t think you’d believe me. I didn’t think you were ready.”
“I wouldn’t have. And I wasn’t.”
He shifted positions so he was beside her, but pulled her close so they faced each other. “Now?”
“I love you, too. I never stopped.”
His dark eyes sparkled and a very slight smile lifted his lips. “Does that mean you’ll marry me?”
“Yes, Vlad. Yes.”
His half smile broke into a full grin and he kissed her, tangling his hands in her hair and his leg over hers to tuck her tight against his body. She melted into him, taking all his heat and love, amazed and content to finally be with the man…the tiger of her dreams.
Epilogue
Vlad settled into the simple metal folding seat across from his brother Anton’s holding cell. The tiger-proof bars and thick plastic let them see each other and talk, but kept Anton securely confined. Vlad had checked. Both twins were being released in a few hours. They’d answered everyone’s questions, been very cooperative and on their best behavior. The remaining hours in holding were strictly for paperwork.
But it gave Vlad a chance to face Anton without Andrey there to listen.
“Your daughter okay?” Anton asked. He sat on the small room’s single cot, his back against the wall opposite Vlad.
“You coming after her? If you try, I won’t hesitate to kill you. You heard what Rose did to Yuri? She’s no typical human.”
“I’ve no interest in killing your daughter or your mate, Vlad.” He frowned. “But Andrey…”
“Tell him what I’ve told you. The fact that you’re my brothers won’t stop me.”
“You still claiming us as family?”
“No.”
He shrugged. “Yuri and Andrey have disowned you, too.”
“You haven’t?”
Anton stared at him for a silent moment before saying, “Our father really did kill Mother, didn’t he?”
“He did. Why do you suddenly believe me?”
“Things Yuri said. He’s as vicious as father was.”
“If he gets out of confinement, you let him know I’ll finish the job Rose started.”
“I will. But I doubt he’ll get out.”
Vlad tended to agree. The elders didn’t take well to having their inner sanctum violated—even if one of their own had helped Yuri break in. “Why are you here, Anton? Why did you turn yourself in?”
“Because of Zoe.”
Vlad frowned at his brother. That made no sense. Anton’s scent gave him very little to go on either, though there wasn’t even a hint of deception in it.
Anton leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his face suddenly full of something like excitement. “It’s really possible? We can have children with the right human. And they’d be shifters. You did it. There have to be more women out there… It’s really possible.”
“I thought you believed it was disgusting and abhorrent. You don’t even like human women.”
“Not true.” He leaned back and some of the excitement left his face. “Not entirely true. I want children. Thanks to father, no tigress will have me.”
“You might find one who hates hybrids, too.”
“That’s not what I mean. He killed humans. He died in disgrace and left us all…tainted. We’re no better than the Chernikov brothers now.”
“Nikolai just got a tiger mate. Mikhail is going to marry our sister. That taint isn’t as bad as you think.”
“It’s enough. We’ve little hope of a tigress.”
Vlad relaxed into his seat. “The odds were always against us, Anton. A matter of numbers.”
Anton waved that away, then ran a hand through his hair. “Doesn’t matter. There are other options now. You going to marry Rose?”