Jem stared at him in shock. "You're blackmailing me? With sex?"
He sent her a smile. "I hardly consider it to be blackmail. I simply stated that I refuse to give you my virtue without a ring on my finger."
She blinked incredulously, her jaw hanging open. "Your virtue? You mean, you're a..."
"A virgin, yes." He shrugged as if it was of little importance.
"I was hopeful that I would one day meet my mate, and didn't see a point in indulging with poor substitutes until then. So in a way i guess you could say I was saving myself for you. Yet you won't even marry me."
Jem blinked again, but couldn't deny the joy that bubbled up inside her at that news. She would have loved him the same regardless, but was happy to know he had never been with anyone else either.
His lips came down and met hers again, and she could no longer focus. It was him that pulled away, and she pulled the covers up over herself.
He jumped up and then walked around to the nightstand and pulled out a little black box. Jem looked from the box to his face as he got down on one knee.
He whispered,"I was planning something more romantic, but I can't seem to think straight around you."
He opened the box and pulled out a diamond solitaire.
"Marry me?"
Jem looked from the shining diamond in his hands to his green eyes that made the diamond look dull in comparison. She bit her lip, tears coming to her eyes. If she could trust him with her body, then surely she could trust him with her heart.
She whispered, "Yes."
He blinked, and then a second later he was slipping the ring onto her finger and he was pulling her onto his lap. He kissed her nose, her cheeks, her forehead, her lips. Then he kissed the ring that was on her finger and his eyes met hers as he whispered, "Mine."
