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“More than anything, Bella.”

A tiny smile appears. “I love you too.”

My entire body goes still. “What did you say?”

“I love you. I’ve loved you since we made love for the first time. I was just too scared to admit it.” She holds my gaze. “You have my heart, Dario Moretti. I want to be with you and have our child together.”

Fuck. I close my eyes for a second because hearing those words from her does something to me that no amount of power ever has. When I open them, I pull a small black box from my pocket. She stares at it.

“What is that?”

“Something I’ve been carrying around since I found that pregnancy test.”

I open it, and she gasps. Inside is my mother’s engagement ring. I look up at her and her eyes fill again. “This belonged to my mother. I never thought I’d find a woman I wanted to give it to.” I take her hand. “I found her.” She looks at the ring, then at me. “Katya, marry me.”

Her lips tremble. “Yes, I will marry you.”

I slide the ring onto her finger. “Yes?”

She laughs through her tears. “Yes, you stubborn, controlling man.”

I laugh too. Then I pull her into my arms. The kiss starts slowly, almost carefully, but the second her hands slide around my neck, control becomes the last thing on my mind. I’ve spent days imagining what it would feel like to have her back in my arms.

None of those fantasies come close. She kisses me like she missed me too, and that knowledge makes something inside me snap. “Fuck, Bella,” I breathe against her lips. “I thought I was going to lose my mind without you.”

I push her onto the bed and follow her down, my body covering hers, my mouth never leaving hers. The robe falls open, and she’s naked beneath me, warm and soft and finally, finally mine again.

“Spread your legs,” I growl against her lips as I quickly undo my jeans and pull out my hard cock.

She obeys immediately, her thighs parting for me, and I settle between them, my cock pressing against her entrance. She’s soaked. Ready for me even after everything, and that trust makes me want to be gentle even as the beast inside me demands I claim her, punish her, remind her who she belongs to.

I thrust into her in one hard stroke.

She cries out, her back arching off the mattress, her fingers clawing at my shoulders. I groan, burying myself to the hilt, feeling her tight heat wrap around me like a fist. Fuck. I forgot how perfect she feels. How completely she destroys my control.

“Look at me,” I demand, gripping her chin. “Look at me while I fuck you, Katya. I want to see your face when I remind you what you walked away from.”

Her eyes meet mine, dark and desperate, and I start to move. Hard. Deep. Relentless. The bed creaks beneath us, the headboard slamming against the wall, and I don’t care who hears. Let them hear. Let them know she’s mine.

I thought I’d let go of my hurt and anger. Despite her explanation and my forgiveness, it still wells up inside of me, and I feel the need to punish her. “You left me,” I growl, punctuating each word with a brutal thrust. “You ran while carrying my baby. Do you have any idea what that did to me?”

“I’m sorry,” she gasps, her hips meeting mine stroke for stroke. “I’m so sorry, Dario.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, tesoro.” I grip her wrists and pin them above her head, holding her there as I drive into her harder. “You need to learn. You need to understand that this…” I thrust deep, making her cry out. “…is yours. I’m yours. And you don’t get to leave. Not ever again.”

“I won’t,” she promises, tears streaming down her temples. “I swear I won’t.”

I release her wrists and slide my hand between us, finding her clit with my thumb. I rub it in tight, merciless circles, watching her face as the pleasure builds. She’s close already, her body tensing beneath mine, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

“Please,” she whimpers. “Please, Dario, let me…”

“No.” I stop moving. I stop touching her clit. I hold myself perfectly still inside her, feeling her flutter around me, feeling her desperation. “You don’t get to cum yet. You’ve been a bad girl, Katya. Bad girls don’t get what they want.”

“Dario,” she sobs, her hips bucking upward, seeking friction. “Please. I need it.”

“I know what you need.” I lean down and bite her earlobe, hard enough to make her gasp. “And I’m going to give it to you. When I’m ready. When you’ve earned it.”

I start moving again, slow and deliberate, angling my thrusts to hit that spot inside her that makes her moan. I bring her to the edge again and again, feeling her tense, feeling her climb, and every time she gets close, I stop.