Operation Honey Trap vs The Emperor of the Apocalypse-Chapter 225: On Bended Knee

[Suggested song for this Chapter - Animal, by Neon Trees]

Tears sprang to Delphi’s eyes.

"You’re going to make me cry. I never cry!" she pressed a knuckle to her eyes in a futile attempt to stop the tears from falling.

"Don’t leave me hanging here, woman," said Alton urgently from his kneeling position. "What’s your answer?"

"Yes! Of course it’s yes! I love you so much... Too much..."

She held out her left hand, and Alton took the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger.

It was a perfect fit! His ploy of measuring her finger while she slept in his arms and buying the ring in Woolnorth, had paid off!

The ring was a square cut pink diamond surrounded by delicate little diamonds, like a blossom, Delphi thought happily, wiggling her finger to make it sparkle in the sunlight.

"It matches the colours of the tulips. It’s perfect, Alton. The setting, the ring and your proposal are all perfect."

"Don’t spend too much time looking at that rock when you have me to look at," Alton growled as he gripped her around the waist and lifted her up into the air.

"Are you going to be jealous of an engagement ring now?" she laughed with joy, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"I’ll be jealous of anything that takes you away from me, so yes, if you plan to gaze at it adoringly instead of looking at me like that and kissing me."

The smile she gave him was dazzling and her face so beautiful, that he felt his heart give a painful clench. He was almost afraid to have a moment of such perfect happiness.

He laid her down gently on the picnic rug, as if she was a priceless masterpiece, which to him, she was.

Then he claimed her lips fiercely, needing to know that she was real, she was here with him, and she was his...

---------------

After breakfast was over, Niko stalked up behind Indy as she threaded her way through the farm buildings heading to the practice field.

He slammed into her from behind, pressing her up against the boards of the old dairy.

"You look so good it’s criminal," he growled in her ear.

She screamed in surprise. "You frightened the life out of me Niko! Can you make some more noise when you walk up behind me. How can a man as big as you walk so quietly?" she complained.

"Well you do know how big I am, but it doesn’t really make any noise... unless you pull hard enough, in which case I might get noisy," he whispered suggestively against her neck.

"Niko! What the hell?" she turned around to face him, putting her hands on his chest and pushing.

"Go ahead and feel me up baby, there’s no need to ask first."

"You’re impossible!" she huffed, though she had to admit his chest did feel amazingly good.

She wished she could explore it a little more slowly, but she reluctantly let her hands drop.

He pressed his body up against hers.

"Here, I’ll make it easier for you to cop a feel, no need to stretch those dainty arms."

He watched her pretty bow lips with a predatory glint in his eye. He would give a lot to capture that top lip between his teeth, he thought.

"Niko, stop," she pleaded. "I’m too confused. What is this thing that’s going on between us? Let’s make it clear exactly where we stand with one another please, and then no more overstepping the boundaries."

He tilted his head to one side. This woman was confusing him. Did she mean she wanted there to be a ’thing’ going on between them, or was she setting a boundary and asking him to back off?

"Well you know where I want things to stand between us, babydoll, so it’s really up to you whether you plan to keep on pushing me away or not. But I’ve told you before, I’m not giving up on you."

"What if I’m tired of pushing you away?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

His eyes widened and he gave a delighted grin.

"Does that mean what I think it does, girl?"

"It depends what you’re offering me, Niko."

"I’m offering you everything, baby. The whole world. I’d pluck the stars from the sky for you, if you’d just agree to be mine," he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close.

"What would I be to you, Niko? I want an official status. I don’t want there to be any chance for others to misunderstand our relationship."

"My girlfriend?" he tried for starters, not sure what she would agree to.

She nodded thoughtfully. "That could work, but you know I won’t agree to sleep with you," she warned him. "I’ll only sleep with the man I marry."

"Could that be me too?"

He didn’t like that phrase, ’the man I marry,’ as though it could be some other man...

"Are you asking me to marry you?" she searched his eyes.

"Yes, if you’ll have me," he said seriously.

"Well let’s hear it, and then I’ll decide," she teased him.

Niko immediately dropped to one knee in the dusty corridor.

He fumbled nervously with the chain around his neck, undoing what she had thought was a dog tag, but she now saw there was something hidden behind it.

"India Jane Rose, will you do me the honour of agreeing to be my bride?"

He held aloft a beautiful ring, a rare Ceylon sapphire on a gold band, with a diamond either side.

"This was my mother’s," he said softly. "She gave it to me and told me to give it to my future wife when I got engaged."

Indy’s eyes welled up with tears as she nodded.

"It’s beautiful Niko, and I will be your bride, yes."

"Woohoo!" the man yelped, leaping to his feet and grabbing Indy by the waist.

He threw her in the air in a three sixty degree spin, catching her before she touched the ground and pressing her to the wall of the dairy.

And finally, he got to capture those lips properly, as he’d dreamed of doing every night since she’d left him.