by Jill M Beene
“You forgot something of yours when you left,” he said.
“What’s that?” She couldn’t get enough of looking at him. Her eyes flicked back and forth over his intelligent green eyes, his dark hair, strong jaw and the full lips that were quirked in amusement. Her stupid grin seemed permanently etched upon her face.
“Me.” Artem grinned down at her.
“Oh, really?” Samiris arched an eyebrow and smiled.
His gaze overwhelmed her in its intensity. “In case it isn’t obvious, I love you, Samiris.”
“When did you fall in love with me, anyways?” she teased.
“I knew I was in serious trouble when I saw you in that red dress, leading Matilda through the garden, eating eclairs. I’ll never forget that sight.”
Samiris laughed.
Artem smiled at her, love shining clearly through his eyes. “Now I don’t know what ‘asking properly’ consists of, since I’ve never done this before and you aren’t exactly proper, but here goes...” Artem unfolded from the barstool and got on one knee. He opened a small leather-bound box. “Samiris Orellana, will you be my one and only until I die?”
Samiris laughed through her tears of happiness. “Yes. Of course. But does this mean I’ll have to wear dresses?”
Artem slid the gigantic sapphire and diamond ring onto her finger. “Only if you want. It’s our world now, love. We’ll make it what we want it to be.”
EPILOGUE
Down a bustling lane in the province of Cattule, past a scrolled iron gate, lay the Emperor’s summer estate. Beyond the gate was a house, beyond the house was a well-tended kitchen garden, and beyond that, the sea.
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Acknowledgements-
Thanks so much to my beautiful beta readers! Kari Hodgen, Jamie Weatherfield, Jennifer James, Babs Veneman, and Melissa Richard…you guys are the absolute best and I could not do it without your excellent efforts. You catch errors in grammar and character development, and make my writing so much better.
Thanks to my talented cover designer, Kari Hodgen, for the gorgeous cover art. Thanks also to Jessica Beene for being a great model during the cover shoot.
Thanks to my husband, Adam, for being so patient and supportive of my writing process.
And thanks to you, the reader, for your support! I hope you enjoyed the book.
Author Bio-
Hi! I’m Jill M. Beene. I’m the author of the Elayna Miller series, and the Young Adult Fantasy novel, A Sharpened Axe. I’m addicted to coffee, can’t get enough of snuggling my mastiff Rupert, and madly in love with my handsome husband, Adam. Shoot me an email at [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram @jillmbeene and on Facebook.