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“It’s never been a game,” he whispered. “But this is check. If you think it is checkmate, I will go on with my life and you can go on with yours.”
How did she answer this challenge? Spending her life with Roman had never seemed such a real possibility, and yet there was this frightful chasm she had to leap.
“If we marry tomorrow, then I go with you. I’m not going to be separated from my husband. Not for a week, not for a month, not for a year.”
Roman took a deep breath and turned away. “That is impossible. You know what I do is dangerous, and I won’t jeopardize your life.”
“But what is my life without you?” Tears formed but she blinked them back. She shook with want and denial and fear. The back of her throat burned.
“And what is my future, knowing the woman I love has hardened her heart toward me?”
“I haven’t. You know I haven’t.” A tear fell but she didn’t swipe it away. She did not care that she was red-faced and wide-eyed.
“Then say yes. Put an end to our misery and loneliness.”
“Then you must also say yes. Take me with you. Don’t leave me alone. Not now. Not ever.”
He stepped toward her and looped one arm about her waist, pulling her close. She had resisted him for so long, but today, all she could feel was the need to be next to him, touching and holding him. She rested her head against his hard chest to feel the easy movement of his breath.
Roman kissed the top of her head. “I suppose if I don’t agree, you will sneak aboard my ship as a stowaway.”
“If I could escape Martina’s clutches, perhaps.”
“So, this is it? You will marry me tomorrow?”
“Yes, I will be your wife. And you will take me with you.”
“To the ends of the earth.”
