I shake my head, but he holds me still.

“Yes, Myla. It’s fucking true, and don’t tell me otherwise, do you hear me? You are an amazing woman, and I am so damn lucky that you’re mine.”

Tears drip down my cheeks as I stare up at him. He’s lucky?

He thinks he’s the lucky one? He has that so backward. I’m standing in front of a man unmatched. He’s unlike any man I’ve ever met . . . or will ever meet.

“Do you understand?” he asks me, and when I don’t answer because I wasn’t paying attention, he repeats himself. “You’re mine, and no one is going to make you fucking feel any less perfect than what you are.”

He’s perfect.

He’s everything I could ever have hoped for in a man, and as I’m staring up into his powerful eyes, a wave of emotion washes over me. A feeling so strong, so intense, that I realize this is the real thing. With Ryot.

We’ve been together for a year. It’s been hard with his schedule, but we’ve made it work. And even though we’ve spent that year together, we’ve never truly expressed our emotions, not until tonight. Not until we were at my parents’ house. Not until I saw what love was not. Love is not abusing a child. Making them feel weak. Love is not staying silent when that child needs a champion. Love is being ready to stand up for and protect the one who owns your heart. And just as Ryot defended me tonight, I know I will do everything in my power to do the same for him if he needs that.

Wiping at my eyes, I clear my tear-stained cheeks and then rest my hands on his chest. “Ryot?”

“Yeah, babe?” he asks.

“I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?” He lowers to look me in the eyes.

This is it. I wet my lips, our gazes lock, and then I let the words pour out of me before I can stop them. “I love you, Ryot.” My throat tightens, and I repeat, “I love you so much.”

His eyes soften, and he gently cups my cheek as he tilts my mouth toward his. He doesn’t answer. Instead, he molds his lips to mine.

Soft.

Possessive.

But sweet at the same time.

He backs me up to the bed and gently lays me down so he can hover above me and continue our kiss. It’s like a drug, his mouth on mine, it gets me so crazy, so high like nothing could harm me when he’s this close. And I won’t stop chasing this high, because it’s the best feeling.

After a few more kisses, he pulls away and connects our foreheads. His nose rubs against mine, and he quietly says, “I love you, too. You’re my girl, Myla. My everything. I’ve loved you for so long but never wanted to tell you in fear you weren’t ready.” He smooths his nose over my cheek. “But I know you’re ready now. Your heart is open.”