“I know that.”

“Do you?” He studied her closely, peering deeply into her eyes. “We can get through anything together if we just talk and are honest. You could ask me anything, tell me anything, and I’m going to keep loving you. I want to have faith that you will do that with me.”

“You’re such a good man, Smiley.”

“I’m yours, Vanni. Say you’re mine. Let’s just do this. I know it might frighten you to take a mate this fast but trust me to be here for you. Take a leap. I’ll catch you. Always.”

She believed him. “Okay.”

“You’ll be happy. I’ll make sure of it.”

“I need to get a job.”

“We don’t live in a money-based system. You can find something to do if you get bored but you can stay home if you wish. I just want you happy, Vanni.”

The idea of being a housewife was appealing. “And we can try to have babies. I’d really like that.”

“I’d love to have children with you.”

“So it’s all decided. We are going to elope. We’ll do something simple and fun.”

“With your friend Beth and my friends. We need to find a minister.”

“Exactly. Stress free and it’s going to be about us.”

“It’s always going to be about us.” He released her and lifted off, separating their bodies.

“Where are you going?”

“To remove these boots and pants.” He got to his feet but then collapsed onto the floor.

Vanni sat up and laughed, watching him tear off his boots. He just tossed them toward the closet and shoved his pants all the way off once his feet were bare. He rose to his knees and braced his hands on the end of the bed.

“I have some calls to make. Don’t move. Stay in that bed.”

“You’re going to arrange it right now?”

“Yes.” Smiley rushed out of the room. “I’m not going to give you time to second-guess us again. We are going to seal our bond in your world and mine.”

Vanni chuckled, the sight of his muscular bare ass the last thing she saw before he disappeared down the hall. Human guys usually dragged their feet about making serious commitments but Smiley didn’t have that problem. He’d said sex wasn’t the only thing they had and she believed him. He was still sporting a hard-on but was making calls instead of staying in bed with her.

Chapter Twenty

Smiley returned to the bedroom ten minutes later and grinned at the sight of Vanni sitting on the bed waiting for him. “It’s arranged. We can do it as soon as tomorrow evening.”

Her eyes widened and he froze in his tracks, hoping she wouldn’t change her mind. Humans were so different and unpredictable. “Is that okay?”

“That is fast. I have to contact Beth. I really want her there.”

“Contact her first thing in the morning. We can have her picked up and flown to Reservation. There’s something we need to do first once we reach Reservation though.” He took a seat on the side of the bed and reached out, taking her hand. “I planned to tell you this when I got home but seeing how happy you looked when I came in the door distracted me. I don’t want to dampen your mood but there’s something we must discuss. It’s serious.”

“More so than getting married?”

“No, but it is important.”

She inched closer and gripped his hand tightly. “Okay. Just tell me.”

“Gregory Woods attempted to flee the country with his son and security team.”

She said nothing. He wished she’d express her feelings but the silence lengthened. She stared at him, appearing a little stunned. He tried to think of her concerns.

“He didn’t get away. You’re safe, Vanni. He won’t be able to hurt you or your family. He won’t have access to a phone and that means he can’t order anyone who works for him to do anything in retaliation. We had a task force member pose as his pilot for the private plane he hired. They boarded and were flown directly to where the NSO took them into custody. They are being held at Reservation. We’re going to go there tomorrow at noon. I would like to have words with a few of them. You may view them through a wall of glass, if you wish. I’d prefer you didn’t have any direct contact with them.” He might kill anyone who threatened Vanni again. “But it’s your choice. I know sometimes it helps to be able to confront your fears or in this case, the males who caused you such distress.”

“You said his son. Carl tried to leave with him?”

“Does that upset you?” It angered Smiley that she asked about her ex-fiancé. “He put you in a lot of danger, Vanni.”

“It’s not that. I’m just surprised he was willing to leave his practice and his house behind. I can’t see him giving up his lifestyle for his dad. He kept telling me they weren’t close. I guess that was a lie.”

“He had financial problems. He was about to lose everything he owned.”

“I didn’t know.” She frowned. “I guess that makes sense now why he was so pushy about going to the hotel with his father. He said it was to earn money for the wedding but maybe it was to get him out of debt.”

“Either way, he’s been arrested by the NSO. Does that upset you?”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “He just walked out and left me with Bruce and his father. He had to know what they were planning. He wasn’t even surprised about the drugging. He was angrier that I’d gone into the bar instead of returning to my room the way he’d told me to do. He’s not a nice person.”