The muscles under her touch contract. “I’m—”
Belle turns my face to hers and presses her lips to mine. “Viktor, honey, please listen to me when I tell you it doesn’t bother me. What will bother me is if you hurt your leg because you’re being so stubborn.”
She slips around me, and her beautiful naked body is on display a moment before she sinks down to her knees. She expertly removes my prosthetic and sets it aside where I can reach it. Without a word, I watch her walk out of my room, enjoying each sexy sway of her hips.
When Belle returns with my crutches, I watch her set them within arm’s reach before climbing into bed. “Lay down, honey.”
Unable to resist her quiet command, I lay back and she puts her head on my chest. I run my hand up and down her back and relax into the motion. I kiss the top of her head and breathe her in. A floral scent mixed with something else that I identify as only Belle.
“Viktor?” Her voice is hesitant, and it scatters my thoughts.
My hand freezes over the soft skin of her hip. “Yeah, baby?”
A light finger runs along the tender flesh of my new tattoo. “Will you tell me?”
I stiffen, unsure of how much I should tell her. I’m quiet for so long, debating how much to tell her when she sighs. It’s a sad, defeated sigh, and it wrenches me because I know it’s my fault. I hate that I’ve caused it.
“The rose…” I start and nod toward my dresser.
“Mmhmm?”
“I kept that one from my mom’s funeral. Roses were her favorite. She used to say there was beauty and magic behind a single red rose. I laid her to rest with eleven and kept that one for myself. I guess I needed some of that beauty and magic she swore by.”
“That’s beautiful, honey.” Belle raises to her elbow and looks from me to my tattoo. “And this one?”
“This rose will never wilt. Its beauty and magic will last as long as I do.” I grab her hand and kiss the knuckles, needing to touch her.
“And what about the rest? The drop of blood and the fallen petal?” she asks, and I suck in a breath.
As crazy as it sounds, when I gaze into her eyes I see my future in this woman. I don’t know her well, but from the moment she walked into my life, this attraction crackling around us superseded the sexual attraction, making us crazy with want and need for each other.
I hesitate but continue. “The drop of blood represents the pain the rose suffered to bring me its magic. The petal represents what it sacrificed to bring beauty into my life.” I cup her neck, needing to feel her lifeline under my palm. “Even when I didn’t deserve to have you in my life, my beautiful Belle, that drop of blood sealed my fate to you.”
Those kissable lips part, and I hear her small gasp. Her eyes search mine, and I see the moment she realizes she’s that beauty in my life. At her reaction, I decide to take a chance, to put it all on the table.
Raising onto my elbow, I bring us face to face. My fingers skim the side of her face, and I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Losing my leg sucked. It’s left me broken and in a very dark place.” When Belle opens her mouth to speak, I rub my lips on hers. “Please let me finish.” Inhaling deeply, I hope the sweet smell of Belle strengthens me to finish what I’ve started.
“Losing my mom, well that hurts on a level everyone might have to experience one day.”
Belle cups my cheek and kisses me softly.
“Fairy tales don’t exist. But if they did, I’d be cast as the man who stole the princess and kept her as my own. God knows I don’t deserve you. You deserve the prince with the castle and the jewels.”
“Many will think I’m crazy and out of my mind, but when you were gone last week, thinking I lost you too…none of the other stuff compared to the darkness that overwhelmed me because you were gone. I know it’s crazy. I know it’s way too soon. I know this may scare you because it sure as hell scares me. Somehow, somewhere along the way, these last three weeks altered me.Youaltered me. I found beauty in my darkest hour. I love you, Isabel Marchant. I may not be good enough for you, but I promise you I’ll protect you until my dying breath.”
