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So she wasn’t kidding. The statement hit John like a shot to the chest, and his heart pounded with triumph.
Fucking unbelievable.
“You…”
“Yes,” she said as he trailed off, “I mean it. I want you, John Alexander, to be my husband.”
John watched Jane’s face carefully, and now in her eyes, he started to see the telltale signs of fear. She became terribly nervous, and he couldn’t imagine how hard she must have trained herself to make such a demand in an even tone.
“I know your reputation,” Jane went on, “you’re a playboy, a flirt, and you’ve said over and over again that you’d never let someone tie you down. But I’m desperate and I need to get married and it has to be you—”
“I accept.”
And just like that, John turned the tables right back on her, leaving a shocked expression on her face. How do you like that, sweetheart? His tiger growled in agreement.
Jane opened and closed her mouth, lost for words.
“What’s the matter? Were you expecting me to put up more of a fight? Didn’t think you’d make it this far, did you? I said ‘I accept.’ I’ll be your husband.”
She looked even more bewildered than she had before.
This was just too much. John put on a show to throw her off-guard, but there was no question about what the beast within him, the beast that was part of him, knew and demanded.
This woman was going to be his.
John didn’t want to think about what his siblings would say. The youngest of all the brothers, he had always thought of himself as having the wildest heart. He’d been fiery and untamed from the moment he set out on his own. How many times had he teased his oldest brother Quinn for tying himself down? Something in the back of his mind wondered what Quinn would say to him now, but in the moment, nothing mattered except keeping this woman in his life.
As his piercing eyes held her entranced, he moved his hand across the table and took one of hers, bringing it to his lips and kissing her fingers gently. “So, darling, when would you like to make this official?”
* * *
Jane felt her face going red as he reached over and kissed her hand, his thumb rubbing against her palm as he held onto it after. She hardly even heard the words that came out of his mouth.
John Alexander had to be the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on. He was tall, with dark skin and the most brilliant green eyes she’d ever seen. He sat there in his chinos and white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his muscular forearms, and his long, dark hair tied back with just a single lock falling free in front. He looked like he could own the world if he wanted to, with his easy confidence and charming smile.
And he’d just agreed to marry her.
She still couldn’t believe what she’d heard. Much less that she’d even made it this far.
While it was true that John was the most attractive man she’d ever seen, it wasn’t out of pure lust that she’d done all of this, that she’d arranged for those compromising photos to be taken, and then tracked this LA producer all the way to Vegas to blackmail.
The Alexander family name meant something. And for Jane, that something meant protection. With someone like John as her spouse, Jane would be safe.
But even with him, there was a different kind of danger to deal with. Jane knew exactly why those piercing green eyes of his had the power to render her so immobile, so helpless before him, even as she practiced steeling her will against him with all her might.
She knew that under the handsome veneer of a wealthy and enterprising producer, John Alexander hid a feral side. No, it was more than feral. John was one of the cryptids. Supernatural beast in human skin. And this beast was a dangerous one, a true predator in the wild. There was a true tiger within him, something that at once overwhelmed him and was totally under his control by sheer force of will. And she’d just made a demand of that beast.
Not many people were aware of them, but they did exist. Her brother George had a talent for detecting those people. In fact, George was the one who told her that John was more than just an ordinary man. It was a bit of a surprise when that knowledge became an invaluable form of leverage. If John declined to marry her, she planned to blackmail him with his furry little secret…
Never in her life had she imagined involving herself with the cryptids and so far, she counted herself lucky she had made it this far.
Finally, she found her words again.
“I’d like to get married immediately,” she said, her voice unsteady. “This is Las Vegas; I have the marriage license application in my bag. The Clark County office opens until midnight. We’ll take a cab from here and go together. But I must warn you, those pictures can go public with a push of a button, if you’re thinking of trying anything to get out of this.”
“Okay. After that?”
“You can go back to your vacation, and I’ll go back to my family. I’ll call you later.”
