Her eyes widened, and she closed the gap between us. “Oh! No, that didn’t … I said that all wrong, I’m just …” A little sob escaped her, and she wrapped her arms around my neck, clinging desperately to me. My head was spinning. I couldn’t work out what she was trying to tell me.

I was terrified she was trying to let me down easily.

“I don’t want that piece of my soul back,” she murmured, her lips finding a spot on my neck that made me shiver. “For the last year, I’ve felt so much … safer, knowing you had that little piece of me … that little connection to me, even when you’re in some other realm. I … I want you to keep it.”

“Keep … your soul?” I blathered. She leaned back, fingers finding my jaw, stroking gently.

“Well … it sort of belongs to you, anyway. Along with my heart.” Her thumb swiped at my cheekbone. Was I crying?

I sniffed, my fingers winding into her hair. “But … not enough to marry me?”

She choked out a funny sound, part laugh, part sob. “You silly devil. I never said no to that. Just … not with this ring. This one … it’s for you to keep.” She took it from my shocked grip and stuffed it into my pocket.

My brow furrowed. “I’m not sure I’m following …”

She giggled properly then, pressing herself closer to me, resting her cheek against my bare chest. “Yes, SJ. I’ll marry you. You keep that little piece of my soul, and I’ll give you all of me.”

“Really?” I rumbled, my chest warming, filling with more emotion than it could contain. “Forever?”

A little V formed between Jemma’s eyebrows, and she caught that plump bottom lip between her teeth. “Uh … well, now that you mention it, that’s …” Her fingers traced along the waistband of my breeches. “Forever means something different to you, doesn’t it? I mean, you know humans don’t live forever, right?”

I shook my head, fighting a smirk. “I am aware of this fact, Mouse. My entire career sort of hinges on it.” Should I confess the other use for her soul now? Or let her speak her piece?

“So, you know that forever isn’t really something I can offer you.” With a sigh, she stepped back from me. “I won’t lie and say I haven’t thought about this … more than once … but I always assumed it was a future Jemma problem.”

I frowned. “What problem, Mouse? What’s worrying you?”