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Her eyes were big and hazy when she turned them up to me. She cupped the side of my neck and her face went sober.
“I love you so much, Duran,” she whispered. “You make me so…free.”
My throat felt tight as I kissed her forehead. All I ever wanted for her was for all the broken, painful bits inside to heal. I wanted her to leave behind all her shame and fear and always be this beautiful, carefree woman. If I could do that, that would be enough.
“You make me feel like I’ve finally come home,” I said.
We kissed until it turned into laughter and then we ran through the streets to find the car. I managed to keep myself off her in the back seat, but it took all my willpower. She was the most beautiful I’d ever seen her tonight.
Eyes glistening and hair mussed from dancing.
Long legs bare.
A mark on her neck from my mouth.
The hotel was simple and classy, but the honeymoon suite didn’t let her down. I’d sent her bags on ahead of us and had the manager set up our things for a few hundred dollars tip. It was worth every penny to see the look on her face when I pushed the door ajar.
Everything was pure white—the bed, the floor, the walls—but the six dozen roses were a deep crimson that matched her dress. That was a happy accident. Through the bathroom door I could see the tub full of bubbles and champagne chilling in a bucket of ice.
She turned in a slow circle, taking in the room with her lips parted. Then she did a little jump in her heels and clasped her hands together.
“It’s so pretty,” she whispered. “But you didn’t have to do all this.”
I shut the door and locked it. Tonight, I’d given instructions that we weren’t to be disturbed under any circumstances.
“You deserve everything,” I said. “Come here.”
She obeyed and I led her over to the bedside table. Sure enough, they’d placed the little velvet box right where I’d asked in the top drawer. Her eyes widened and her pupils blew as I turned it around and snapped the lid open.
I sank to my knees and she clapped her hands over her mouth.
“Will you marry me?” I said. “Although, technically, you’re my wife already. So…will you always be mine, Iris Esposito?”
She nodded, her lashes wet. Wordless, she held out her hand and I slipped the large, square diamond with a thin, gold band around her finger. I rose before she could move and took two more rings from the drawer and slid her wedding band up against the engagement ring.
“Let me guess,” she managed. “Three times as much as the necklace?”
“Please,” I said. “Try twenty times.”
Her jaw dropped, her eyes wide as she soaked in the glittering diamond.
“Will you do the honors?” I asked, holding out mine.
Her hands shook, but she managed to get the plain gold band up over my knuckle. I’d gone out to the family jewelers, because I knew they would be discreet, and bought a full wedding set in the afternoon. By some twist of fate, the perfect ring had just been put out for display that morning.
She was simple with her clothes and jewelry, but I could tell that when it came to her engagement ring, she wanted something substantial. And I was right.
She was entranced by the three carat diamond. It gleamed as she rotated her hand slowly, biting her lip. There was a pleased glint in her eye.
I snagged her waist and pulled her in. “My rings look good on you, princess,” I said. “But they’d look even better if you were naked.”
She slid her hands up my chest and her red nails dug into me until I winced. Her teeth pinned her lower lip and her eyes bored into me through heavy lashes.
“May I please have a glass of champagne?” she said.
I poured two and joined her at the foot of the bed. She took one and swept her hair to the side to present the zipper of her dress to me. I tossed back my glass and set it aside, more interested in seeing her in her lingerie than anything else.
She kept still for me as I slid her zipper down and pulled the straps of her dress over her shoulders. She wriggled her hips and it dropped to the floor.
