“I love you, Ace. Do you know that?”
Ace nodded, a tentative smile forming on her face.
“I mean, I really love you,” Zander clarified. “Like, run away and become a pirate kind of love. Like lay down my life kind of love.”
Zander’s voice broke, and he took a moment to breathe deeply before continuing.
“Before you knocked me unconscious with the handle of that cutlass”—he pointed accusingly at the cutlass in question, still hanging from her hip, and she grimaced—“you said you loved me, too. And before you say anything, hear me out. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were the only one for me. Something deep inside my soul reached through bone, muscle, and sinew, pushing through every layer of who I thought I was and bursting from my body just for a chance to touch you. That feeling hasn’t gone away.
“The air I breathe feels stale when you’re not sharing it. The last few days have been torture, knowing you’re in trouble, knowing you could be hurt, or dead. Ace, I want to spend every moment with you for the rest of my life. I want to fall asleep with you each night and wake up with you each morning. I want to know everything, all of it, even the deep, shameful parts of you. Little by little or all at once like a flood, I’ll take whatever you can give me, and I’ll give you whatever you want in return.”
Zander steeled himself for the next part, trying not to let the tears running down Ace’s pretty face discourage him.
“But I would rather die than be another man who keeps you when you don’t want to be kept. I want to know—I need to know. I need to know if you feel the same about me. I need to know if you see us as something that could last forever, or if I’ve just been convenient to have around.”
Ace gasped softly, her face taking on a pained expression.
“Convenient?” she whispered, taking a step toward him. “Zander. You have been anything but convenient.”
Zander’s brows shot up, but Ace raised her hands in a silent plea for patience before she continued.
“Before I docked in Barbados the day I met you, I had committed myself to never, ever falling in love. It was a way to keep myself safe. I had Theo and Yarrow—my family—and the crew, and that was enough for me. But then you showed up, and god damnit if you didn’t mess everything all up by chasing me down when I ran away.” She laughed, a sputtering sound through her tears. “And you know, if you hadn’t chased me, it would have only been a matter of time before I came back and found you again. You were stuck in my mind like a splinter.”
Ace took another step toward him, so they were nearly touching. She took his hand and intertwined their fingers, holding their hands between them near their hearts, and looked boldly into his eyes.
“I bless the fated tides that brought me to your shore. If I could, I would kiss the very stars for guiding me to you, my love, my Zander. I’m sorry I haven’t said it before. In every life I will find you. No matter how far I may travel, no matter the winds that push me this way or that, know this: I have always been on my way to you. And now that I’ve found you… and you’ve found me”—she smiled ironically—“I am never letting you go again.”
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