A Word of Praise — Chapter FIFTY-SEVEN

Kiara opened her eyes and tried to remember where she was. The heavy blanket and soft pillow didn’t match the ones she had at home, and the big man holding her close was definitely not something she woke up to often.

“Morning,” Chris said in a voice too awaken to match her lazy mood.

“Morning. Have you been up long?” She turned to face him, stifling a yawn.

“Not too long.” Definitely a while, then. Had he been staring at her the whole time? She began to move away from his embrace to get up, but his arms just brought her closer. “Stay,” he almost begged. Kiara smiled, and nested in his arms for a while longer.

“What now?” She asked. They both knew her question was not just about their plans for the day.

“Will you stop running away from me?” Chris asked with his face buried in the crook of her neck. He was leaving a trail of soft kisses on her bare shoulder, and it felt nice.

“I will if you keep doing this.”

But then he stopped and looked into her eyes with a dead-serious expression.

“Is this how you feel about us?”

“I’m not here just because of your mouthwatering dick, if that’s what you are thinking.”

“Good, because I’m all in, Kiara. I mean it.” He paused for a moment, assessing her reaction. “Now, mouthwatering, you said?” He playfully arched a brow.

Kiara clicked her tongue and pushed away from him for a bit.

“You don’t deserve a blowjob after making me work so hard last night.”

The sound of his laughter filled the room and Kiara didn’t fail to notice how her heart reacted to it. She felt like holding him close, happy to have him by her side. Realizing she had no reason not to, she put her hands around his neck to hug him, and it took him less than a second to respond. After a long while, he pulled away to talk.

“I have something for you.” He began to rummage through his bag while fighting to stay in bed. She laughed at his effort and propped up to sit on the bed with crossed legs. He got back to her side, leaning against the headboard, and showed what he got from his bag.

“What the fuck is that, Chris?” She was looking at a very self-explanatory black velvet ring box. Instead of understanding her shock, he chuckled.

“I’m not asking you to marry me,” he stated. “Yet.”

“Then why do you have a ring box?”

Kiara was in a weird place between scared and confused, until he opened the damn thing and she saw the beautiful diamond ring that she once wore. Even though she recognized it, she still couldn’t understand what the hell he could possibly want with that, if not to propose.

“I think this belongs to you. It fit you perfectly once before,” he stated, as if that explained everything.

“You mean when I stole it?” She reminded him, attempting to bring the man back to reality so he’d start making sense.

“You did,” he smiled, and Kiara began to think the man was absolutely crazy and she should run for the hills. But his smile was just the cutest thing and almost made her forget he had a fucking ring in front of her.

“Chris, can you please form complete sentences that actually explain something?”

“I’d like you to have it back. It’s not a proposal, but it does have a meaning if you accept it. For once, I’m sure of what I want, Kiara. I need you in my life, and I know I can make you happy too.”

“I want that too, Chris. But that still doesn’t explain the ring. Don’t get me wrong, I love it and I’d take it as a prize all over again if I knew you wouldn’t put me in jail for it. But why are you giving it to me now?”

“It was my mother’s.” The bastard had this uncanny ability to never answer her straight.

“It is Patricia’s?” Somehow, she doubted the woman would own such a delicate piece of jewelry.

“No… my biological mother”

Shit, ok. They talked about his adoption a few times on their weekly walks, but he never mentioned his birth parents.

“I thought you didn’t know anything about them.”

“I just know they died. The ring was the only thing they left behind, and Patricia gave it to me when I was fifteen. It was missing a few stones, but I had it restored and… that’s not the point. What I mean is, I used to see it as a token of the life I could have had. I know I was luckier than most, but there were times I’d trade all the wealth and comfort for a little bit of freedom.”

“Chris…” Kiara moved in bed so she could sit on his lap, with her back to his chest, and he pulled her closer as soon as she did. He placed his chin on her shoulder and put the box in her hands before carrying on.

“This was never an engagement ring for me, it was a symbol of what I wanted the most in life. Things are different now. I don’t need to cling to that imaginary life I created. I like reality just fine, and you were the one who helped me get here. Do you understand what I’m saying? You are everything, Kiara. I don’t care if we get married or not, you are what I want the most in life.”

“Fucking hell, this is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard!” She turned around to kiss him as best she could in that position, but she didn’t care if she had to bend over and contort to push her face against his.

After a long kiss and a careful work of repositioning, Kiara found herself straddling Chris while he leaned on the headboard. Her hands were on his face and she kept kissing him multiple times, enjoying how he smiled just for her. She was never one to express feelings with words, but she felt it all. How he loved her and how she loved him just as much.

“Will you wear it?” Chris asked between kisses.

“Yes, I will wear it.”