Page 74 of Regal Queen

Twenty

I spentthe rest of the night in absolute possession of her, learning every inch of her body.

For the first time in my life, I owned another person, body and fucking soul.

She became mine, even if she didn't know it.

And now, I lay in the bed, my eyes closed and face buried in her hair as Rose slept in my arms. I’d never been as happy as I was right now. I wanted to seize this emotion from our space and time and bottle it up, carrying it with me every moment.

My cell beeped, breaking me from the thought, and I was immediately alert. Without waking Rose, I reached over to grab it off the nightstand.

It was a message from Coulter.

I took in a deep breath and turned towards Rose. She was so beautiful, it made my chest ache. The lines of her face were smooth, so free of pain, stress, and worry.

Something had happened since I’d last watched her sleep. She'd always been restless, murmuring in her sleep. Haunted by nightmares.

But now, she was calm, sleeping peacefully, as if she'd faced the demons of her past and was no longer afraid of them.

I was tempted not to wake her.

Today would change everything.

To my disgust, Nero had taken the bait. Rose was right. And soomehow, she'd known more than we did that Dimitri wouldn't be able to resist coming to us.

And now, I was tempted to silently slip away. To leave Rose here, safe.

To take care of Dimitri and return, knowing that the man who'd hunted down her whole family was gone, to give this as a gift to the woman I loved.

These thoughts flit through my mind like the devil on my shoulder, tempting me, even though I knew she'd be angry.

She would get over it, wouldn't she?

And even if she didn't, she would be alive.

Yet. I couldn't do it.

I'd given her my word that she would look in Dimitri's eyes and watch him die.

Sighing, I sat up and ran a knuckle down her cheek to her jaw. Then I leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss on her skin, murmuring, "Rose."

Her eyes immediately opened, and she turned to lay on her back and stare up at me. For a single second, she was completely open to me. Her expression was soft, her lips parted, gorgeous jade green eyes on me.

My chest was suddenly tight.

Dare I believe that love was shining through those eyes?

The next second it was gone, her eyes deflecting away from my gaze, even though she smiled. Reaching forward, she brushed my hair from my face. "Is everything okay?"

I nodded, raising her hand to my lips to kiss the tips. Every inch of her body, I'd promised myself. I would worship all of her. Not just last night. “Yes. But it's time to go."

She nodded, then sat up, straddling my hips. Cupping my cheeks, she stared into my eyes. “Tell me something, Bourbon. Anything you want, before we go to face our fate. Something I can hold on to."

I held her firmy on my lap, my thumbs digging into her hips as I met her gaze, my words fierce. "I love you, Rose. I will love you every day for the rest of my life. And one day, I don't care how long it takes, I'm going to convince you to marry me. To become a King, on paper," I slid my hand down until it was pressing over her pounding heart, "and branded onto your heart. Because your name is already carved into mine. I love you, Rose, and I swear that, from this day forward, I will never try to control you ever again. When this is all over, you can walk away from me, if that's what you want." There was a sudden lump in my throat but I swallowed it down to force the next words out. “But I hope that you will stay with me. Become my wife. Love me for the rest of my life.”

She said nothing for a long moment, her wide eyes on me, her chest hitching. There was a soft red flush to her cheeks and along her collar.

I’d just proposed to her.

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