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Tears flood my eyes at the sincerity in his. The warmth of his body slowly seeps into mine as I lean closer into his side.
“Oh God, don’t make cry.” A sob cracks my voice as I fan myself with the envelope in my hand. “I’ll look a mess when we go back in.”
“We’re not going back in there tonight.”
“We’re not?”
“No, I’m going to take you home, Eve, and I’m going to love you.” The deep gravel of his voice causes goosebumps to prickle all over me. As though his promise is a physical caress, I shiver as it seeps deep into me.
It’s been a long time since we were intimate. As much as I’ve wanted to, he’s been so careful and protective of me that sometimes I feel like his glass doll.
Henry’s eyes flit down to the envelope in my hand while he releases the rose from his lapel. I take the silent moment to read the card with trembling hands and more emotion filling my chest than I can contain.
And of all the reasons I love you, there’s only one that truly matters…
I flip the card over with butterflies fluttering wildly in my stomach. My tears are no longer controllable as I thumb over the red wolf seal.
I have given myself to you. Every part of me belongs to you.
As the clouds belong to the sky.
As the moon belongs to the sun.
As thunder belongs to lightning.
I am yours.
When my eyes flick up to find him, Henry is crouched in front of me, the rose that was on his lapel twirling between his finger and his thumb.
“And you’re mine,” he murmurs, handing me the rose.
A thin black bow is tied around it, and when I look closer, my heart stops. This is it—he’s broken me completely. All my life, I’ve never belonged to anyone. More than that, I’ve never wanted to be someone’s as much as I want to be his everything. All that I am wants to be all that he needs.
My finger strokes over the ruby ring tied to the stem of the rose as his hands rest on my thighs and he sinks to his knees.
“I will never unlove you or not need you. You will always be my heart and my soul. My universe and my existence. And nothing would make me happier than if you are my duchess.”
Holy crap.
I’m lost for words as I try to compute anything half as eloquent to say back. But really, I don’t think it exists.
“I love you.” It’s all I manage to hiccup past my overwhelmed tears. “I love you so much.”
“Never more than I love you. Than I will always love you, cherish you, and worship you.” Henry smiles as he tugs the bow on the stem loose and the ring falls into his waiting palm. The red, oval ruby glitters in between two diamonds when he holds it up and grasps my left hand lightly in his other. “What do you say, darling?”
“Yes,” I sob through my happy laughter. “Always yes.”
The ring slips onto my finger before I can wrap my arms around his shoulders. As he tugs me down to straddle his thighs, his mouth crushes to mine in a burning kiss. Everything fades. The world disappears.
It’s just me and my duke. My savage duke. My perfect villain.
The end
