Page 119 of Savage Don

“Let’s change that,” Ray says, his voice so deep that it settles in my bones. “I don’t want to be a stranger to you anymore. Ask me a question, kitten. Anything. I will answer it honestly.”

At first, I’m hesitant to go along. Is this another game. But I want to trust him so badly. I want there to be one person in this world I can trust.

There are a thousand things I could ask, but one slips out before all of the others.

“What do you want from me?”

“Everything.” There’s that unwavering confidence again, spoken in a voice so deep in rattles my heart.

“Why?”

“Because I saw you,” he says, the rich tone of his voice wrapping around me like a reassuring blanket. “I saw your beauty, I saw your brain, I saw your strength and your weaknesses, and I saw your determination and your cunning. You were made to be my queen, Francesca. I was made to be your king.”

His words rush through me like a warm wind. But even they’re not so strong that they can blow away my own insecurities.

“I’d make the perfect cattle to carry your heir,” I challenge him, remembering how scared I was when I learned what he’d done, and what he had planned for me.

“I was wrong to make you think that was the only reason I chose you,” Ray says. Leaning in close, he holds my chin even tighter, so that I can’t avoid his powerful gaze or the sight of his perfect lips. “You could be infertile and I would still choose you.”

“So, why did you throw away my pills?”

“Because you’re not infertile, kitten. And if we’re going to survive in this dark and violent world, we’re going to need to do everything in our power to conquer it.”

“How is getting me pregnant going to help us conquer the darkness?”

If Ray were a prince, he’d say that bringing a child into this gloomy world might brighten up our lives. Give us purpose. Something to fight for.

But Ray is no prince, and this is no fairy tale.

A heavy pause fills what little air remains between us as Ray studies me. For a moment, I think that he might be ready to tell me everything. Those rich brown eyes are ready to spill secrets.

Instead of saying another word, though, he gives me a kiss.

His lips are impossible to pull away from; they’re so tender, so passionate, so perfect. His kiss washes away all of the knots forming in my mind.

Fucking hell. This kiss is different than the others. This isn’t a hard and savage show of passion. This is soft and gentle. It’s caring.

He’s trying to show me that I can count on him. He’s begging for me to let him in.

It makes me want to melt into the carpet and exist beneath his feet for the rest of time. When he pulls away, I only want to pull him back in.

But I know that his kiss wasn’t just a way of getting me to understand his true feelings.

He doesn’t want to tell me everything. Not yet.

But I need to know.

“Ray, please… tell me.”

No matter how strong I try to sound, I can’t help give away just how much I want to give in to him.

Ray’s deep, dark brown eyes study me closely, and I can see the conflict raging inside of him.

“Can I trust you, Francesca?” he asks. His words slow and clear.

“Yes.”

“Do you promise?”