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Her beautiful mouth dropped open.
“If I want to keep all my body parts,” I added.
That gorgeous mouth snapped shut.
I reached out and stroked her arms. She didn’t flinch away from me. She didn’t move into my arms for an embrace like she usually did, either.
“If you don’t want to I will walk away right now. I will find someone else to help protect you. Or we can run.”
“They’ll find us if we run.”
I smiled at her sadly.
“I know. But I won’t force you to go through with this.”
“What? I am the one who cannot allow them to force you to wed me.”
“Oh honey,” I said, stepping closer and tipping her face up so our eyes locked. “They would not be forcing me. They would be giving me the greatest gift I could ever imagine.”
She blinked. We both held our breath. Time itself seemed to hold still. And then she melted.
Right into my arms.
I kissed her with everything I had. I didn’t even realize I was doing it. When I finally lifted my head, we were both breathless. I held her eyes and lowered myself to my knees.
“Anastasia Aslanov, will you marry me?”
I pulled out a ring. She hadn’t known about that. I had rings for the ceremony, of course. But the engagement ring was special.
I’d picked it out online and had Trace pick the up for me. I’d even measured her cute little finger with a piece of string. She’d thought I was being playful. I was not.
“Vice… my God,” she breathed. The stone was large. It was a purple sapphire ringed in diamonds. It had cost a fortune. But it should have cost a whole lot more.
We’d called in a few favors for that one, let me tell you. But in the end, everyone had been on board, even giddy about getting me hitched. The Margarelli’s were happy to help us get the friends and family discount at their favorite jeweler.
And in their case, the ‘family rate’ was literal. We were family now. Which meant I owed them a favor, but nothing it would hurt to give.
Thankfully, both our club and their family had taken a step back from our former ‘pursuits’ that were, um, outside the traditional bounds of the law.
“Is that a yes?”
She nodded quickly, her hands clasped and held up in front her face. As if her hands could hold back the tears.
Spoiler alert, they didn’t.
“Please say it, sweetheart. I need to hear you say it.”
She peaked at me over the top of her hands. I was relieved to see that she looked happy, more or less. My bride-to-be was smiling, laughing, and crying all at the same time.
“Yes, Vice. It’s a yes.”
Without a thought I was standing, kissing her, sliding the ring onto her finger, lifting her off her feet, and kissing her again. Before I knew it I had shifted her up into my arms and was carrying her through the suite.
Right to the bedroom.
Her eyes widened when I lowered her to the bed.
“Let me please you,” I whispered huskily. “Don’t touch me,” I warned her when she reached for me. “Just you tonight.”
She nodded shakily.
“Oh… kay…”
She licked her lips nervously as I kicked off my shoes and threw my jacket on a chair. She may have sounded uncertain, but she looked curious.
Very, very curious.
Like a sweet, exceptionally pretty little kitty.
A kitty I intended on stroking until she purred.
Hell, I wanted her to scream so loud that she fell asleep and didn’t wake up until it was time to walk down the damned aisle.
Yes, I would use my hands and mouth as a sedative. I only prayed it worked. And that I didn’t lose my goddamned mind in the process.
“Gorgeous,” I breathed as I reached down and started to undress her. She shivered as my fingers lightly traced her collar bone before opening her shirt. I skimmed the flat plane of her belly and unfastened her jeans. “I’m not worthy,” I joked as I tugged them free. She just looked at me with a serious look on her face.
I realized in that moment how young she was. How precious. She hadn’t ever seen Wayne’s World. She didn’t get the joke.
“You are,” she said softly. She was so sweet she made my heart ache. I growled and pulled her against me, taking her mouth passionately. Pretending for just a moment that it was already tomorrow. That I could make love to her tonight.
But I couldn’t. I had to maintain complete control. In fact, it would be better to keep my body as far away from the utter temptation laying so innocently on the bed.
I should be sleeping in another suite tonight. Another hotel. Hell, I should be in another state.
Not that I would risk leaving her alone. Maybe with my guys standing guard. But even that felt risky.
