love you too

Jos struggled against the heavy sleep weighing her down. Her mind was still foggy, making reality hard to decern from the dream world she'd just left. Her confused eyes searched his worried expression as he flipped her back and forth searching her body. Her hands reached out to balance herself against his concerned assault on her.

Arei breathed out a long sigh of relief as he pulled her against his bare, broad chest. "… You safe…"

His tight hold made it nearly impossible to move… hard to breathe even. Jos tapped her palm against the thickly corded muscles of his lower rib cage. "Arei…" She muttered, her face all but smooshed against his chest. She tapped him again. "Arei… I- can't- br-eath…" The words came out strained as she continued wiggling her free limbs against his hold.

Arei's eyes popped open as he quickly released his hold on her. His hands didn't stay off her for long, however. He stroked her upper arms and caressed her face as she stared up at him. "Sorry, Kitten." He whispered. He searched her face, his thick fingers tracing the path his eyes were taking. "You're alright, though? Nothing physically… or…"

Jos shook her head as she ran her hands over his thick arms. "I'm fine…" Her words came out as a barely audible murmur. Her fingers traced the familiar tattoos covering his arms, before moving to the ones on his chest and tracing them as well. "It's you… it's really you…" Her eyes shot back up to his. Turbulent hazel eyes stared back at her, concern and worry heavy in them.

He wiped away the tears as they overflowed from her eyes. "Of course I am. I'll always be here." When his words only seemed to upset her more, anxiety began to build in his chest. "What is it kitten? Are you sure you're alright?"

Jos nodded again as she pushed his hands away from her face and flung her arms around his thick neck. "I'm more than alright… You're really here." She pressed her face against his neck. The masculine scent of his cologne mixed with the subtle earthy scent that was his and his alone further verified what she already knew. She pressed her lips against the elevated pulse of his throat as her arms involuntarily tightened around his neck. "It's you…"

Arei furrowed his brows as he held her away from him, his hands cradling her face. "Of course it is, who else would it be?" He searched her eyes, but what he found there put a stop to any further line of questioning. He swallowed hard against the sudden surprise. "Jos…"

Jos pushed past his loose grip on her face and pressed her lips to his. She giggled against his lips when he seemed frozen in place by shock. She teased his plump bottom lip as has he continued to stare back at her in gape-mouthed surprise. "Are you just going to sit here… or are you going to kiss me back?" She asked as she lightly nipped his lip.

Arei gently clasped her shoulders and held her away once again. He studied her as he spoke. "Jos… Forgive me… and don't think I'm not grateful for your sudden change of attitude… but what's going on?"

It was her turn to furrow her brows. "What do you mean?"

Worry returned to his hazel eyes. "You've asked if I was really me several times… You seem…" He blew out a sigh. Not wanting to upset her further, he changed the course of his questioning. "Do you realize where you are? How did you get here? The last time anyone saw you tonight you were on the cliffs at the wolf palace… There were traces of-" He suddenly stopped himself from saying more. His eyes moved from her to around the room. "We should probably get out of here before either of us says anything else."

Jos hesitated as she looked around the room as well. {Come to think of it…} She quickly shook her head. "No… impossible… I must have fallen asleep on the cliff and sleepwalked here…"

Arei's brows drew closer together. "Jos, that's not possible. You know the distance. Besides, the paths are way too treacherous you would never have been able to make it all this way without injury, regardless as to how well you know the area." He set her back onto the mattress and began to stand. "We should get back to father's-"

Jos grabbed his hand and tugged him toward her. "Arei, wait… There's something I have to say first… something I have to say now before I lose the nerve… while the feelings are still fresh, and I can deliver them properly."

His eyes searched the room again. "I don't know, Jos… It may not be safe here. We should head back first then-"

"NO!" She blew out a frustrated sigh. "I know what you're worried about… but trust me, it's fine. We are safe here."

His doubtful gaze held hers. "But Hypnos-"

A warm smile spread across her lips as she interrupted him. "Is on our side." She reached out and cupped his jaw letting her fingers slide into his short beard. "He is the reason I must say what I have to say now." Her brows knotted as she worked through her own thoughts, her eyes staring at his chest. "He showed me so many things tonight…" She shook her head. "And even if they were not real, it doesn't matter anymore…" Her eyes moved back up to his. "I've been stupid and childish… I've wallowed in my own self-hate and self-pity for so long that I've not seen what it was doing to those around me… to you…" A smile spread across her lips. "I finally understand what Russ was trying to say earlier, as well…" Her affectionate gaze held his as she brought herself up on her knees on the mattress, coming eye to eye with the giant man. "Arei, I love you." She shook her head again, this time her words came out as a unironic giggle. "And I'm tired of fighting it." Her other hand moved to cup his face. "I want to marry you. I want to be with you for always… regardless of how short or long our lives may be… regardless of what may…" She released his face with one hand, and it dropped to her flat stomach, her smile fading. "Or may not come to be during that time…" Her eyes reflected the sincerity of her words as they searched his. "I've put you through enough… made you wait long enough… Arei… I'm ready, right here, right now… I want to be yours for eternity."

Arei choked back his own excitement. "Are… are you sure?" He ran a hand through his hair as he glanced around the room again. "You've had a long night… perhaps now isn't the best time to…"

"No, I'm sure. I've never been more sure than I am right now!"

Arei couldn't hold himself back any longer. He pulled her into his arms, his lips crashing down on hers as he did. He slid his fingers into her long silken hair as he deepened their already passion crazed kisses. By the time he pulled himself away from her, they were both equally breathless. His eyes bore into hers. "Jos… You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say those words…" His eyes pleaded with hers. "Say it again… just this once…" A wistful smile spread across his swollen lips, and his eyes grew moist. "Say you want to be with me… say… you love me…"

Jos smiled warmly back at him. "I love you, Arei. I always have… and I want to be with you, forever and always." She threw herself at him once again, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "I never want to be apart from you again." She whispered into his ear.

Arei held her against him for the longest time as he processed her words and gathered his composure, joyous tears threatening to spill at any moment. "I've only ever wanted to hear you say those words… You don't understand… couldn't understand how much it means to me…" He gently tugged her away, his eyes burning into hers. "I love you so much. I've never stopped loving you, thinking about you… thinking about what our lives could have been like had it not been for that one horrible night… what it would have been like if I'd just gone after you… found you sooner…"

Jos cupped his large face. "It doesn't matter… none of it matters. We are together now… and I want us to stay that way." She looked away in slight embarrassment. "It's never been a matter of whether I love you… You have to know that… right?" She risked a glance back up at him. His soft, misty gaze was all it took to melt what little restraint still remained within her heart. She caressed his short beard. "All of the times I've pulled away… ran away… it was never because of you… not really… it's always been because of my own fears… my own self-hate and doubts…" Her eyes searched his. "You've done nothing but give the entire time I've known you…" She shook her head. "And I've been so blind… so stupid… Arei… I mean it, I don't want to wait any longer. I'm ready to be yours and yours alone…"

He held her tighter, burying his face against her collar. "You've got it wrong… It's not you who will ever be mine… but me who has always been yours…" He peered up at her. "I've been yours since the first time our eyes met… I couldn't understand it then… or for some time after… but something in me has always recognized a deep connection with you… to my core… my very soul…" A smile curved his lips as he chuckled lightly. "Perhaps this is what they mean by soulmates… I've found that… In you… from the beginning…" He slid his wide palm around her neck and tangled his fingers into the hair at the base of her head bringing his lips to her as he did. "I love you, forever and always, as well…" This time he didn't stop the kiss from deepening, instead, he carefully guided her down onto the mattress. He was just about to shift onto the bed as well, when he hit his knee on the baseboard of her bed. He jerked in pain catching the top rail of the canopy with his forehead.

Jos's eyes widened in surprised worry as she reached out for him. "Are you ok?!"

Arei chuckled as he rubbed his sore forehead. "Yeah… I'm suddenly remembering why staying here was such a headache… literally." He shook his head as he moved out from under the canopy of the bed. "As cute and quaint as this place is… it's a bit small…"

Jos giggled as she stretched out on the bed comfortably. "Isn't my home's fought you're a giant…" She shrugged as she rested her hands behind her head. "Besides, at least the ceilings are high. You have to give it that."

He shook his head with a chuckle. "Maybe, but I'd much rather be in somewhere we both fit." He rubbed his chin. "You know, there isn't much there right now but…" He sent her a mischievous smile as he quickly scooped her into his arms. "What do you say I give you a tour of our new, still waiting improvements, home?"

Jos wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'd love to see it."

He carried her from her cavernous home down the sandy path leading to the home he'd spent the better part of the past several months working on. "It's not quite finished yet, inside or out… But I'd hoped you could put our own personal touches on it this time." He carried her up the bare bones of the new front porch and pushed open the front door. "And if you'd like to change anything that is here so far just say something."

She took in the beautiful design in the glass of the new front door as they walked through before the new interior caught her eyes. "It's beautiful, why would I want to change anything?"

He shrugged with her still in his arms. "It's pretty bare right now. I left everything white for now so you could add whatever color to it you want." He nodded to the unfinished cabinets of the kitchen. "I figured those would work best too…"

Jos furrowed her brows. "Where have you been staying all this time? There's no way this place is livable…"

He blew out a sigh. "You're not wrong in thinking it rough, but I have the basics so…" He sent her a warm smile. "We could stay here tonight if you'd like. The power is on, water… I've got a set of linens on the mattress upstairs and some toiletries. We can head back to the wolf palace early in the morning or to dad's in the morning so that you can get ready for the wedding… if you still want to attend."

A warm smile spread across her lips. "You know what… I do want to go… I've felt so much guilt since returning to this island, I've not had a chance to actually spend time with anyone or enjoy myself."

Arei couldn't help the smile that curved his lips. "I'm not sure what has changed in such a short time, but I shall think what or who ever brought it on."

Her smile widened. "Maybe you could do something to convince me to tell you all about it…" She sent him a playful wink as she teased the column of his neck with the tip of her fingers.

His lips curved into a crooked smile. "Convince you, you say? I might have an idea…" He took the stairs two at a time, kicking open a set of double doors at the top of the stairs. He playfully tossed her onto the mattress and boxsprings set up in the center of the room before following her down.

She giggled loudly as he began showering her neck with ticklish kisses. "You're not even going to give me the grand tour of your new room?!"

He grunted against her neck not stopping his teasing assault on it. "It's just like the last one but only different…" He made short work of undressing her, tossing her clothes to the floor as he did. "Besides, can you think of a better way of breaking in a new home?"