"Beautiful," he breathes, and the raw honesty in his voice makes me blush.

His hands and lips seem to be everywhere at once, leaving no inch of skin unexplored. When his mouth closes over my breast, I arch into him with a gasp. My fingers tangle in his hair, holding him to me as waves of pleasure wash over me.

Luka lavishes attention on my body, drawing sounds from me I didn't know I was capable of making. By the time his hand slips between my thighs, I'm trembling with need.

"Please," I whimper, beyond caring about pride or pretense.

Luka looks up at me, his eyes dark with desire. "Tell me what you want, Natalia," he says, his voice a low growl that sends shivers down my spine.

"You," I gasp as his fingers tease my most sensitive spots. "I want you, Luka."

A satisfied smile spreads across his face. In one fluid motion, he stands, lifting me with him. I wrap my legs around his waist instinctively, marveling at the strength in his arms as he carries me to the bed.

He lays me down gently, taking a moment to shed the rest of his clothes before joining me. The sight of him, all lean muscle and barely contained power, aroused for me and no one else, takes my breath away. This man, dangerous and unpredictable as he may be, wants me. And God help me, but I want him too.

Luka covers my body with his, the weight of him pressing me into the mattress in the most delicious way. He captures my lips in another searing kiss as he positions his cock at my entrance.

"Last chance to back out," he murmurs against my mouth.

“Shut the fuck up,” I grumble, rolling my hips and taking him inside me.

We both groan at the sensation, the feeling of fullness almost overwhelming. For a moment, neither of us moves, savoring the connection.

Then Luka starts to move, setting a rhythm that has me seeing stars. Every thrust sends sparks of pleasure shooting through me. I meet him movement for movement, pressing my heels against his muscular back, our bodies falling into a dance as old as time.

As the tension builds, I can feel myself getting close to the edge. Luka must sense it too, because he increases his pace, driving into me with an intensity that steals my breath away.

"Come for me, Natalia," he growls, his voice rough with exertion. "Let go. I've got you."

His words, combined with a particularly well-angled thrust, send me over the edge. I cry out, my body squirming as waves of pleasure crash over me, clenching around his cock.

Colors dance beneath my eyelids as I squeeze them shut, bursting across my vision in a pulsating symphony of pleasure. Reality falls away and is replaced by a heaven so sweet that I want to die to stay there forever.

Luka follows soon after me, his release triggering aftershocks that leave me trembling. He empties everything inside of me. I can feel him throbbing as he climaxes, his body stiff and his muscles flexed like he’s putting his soul into it.

Luka's weight on top of me is comforting rather than stifling, and I find myself not wanting him to move after he finishes. He softens inside me slowly, the damp warmth between my thighs strangely comforting.

Eventually, though, he rolls to the side, pulling me with him so that I'm draped across his chest. His hand traces lazy patterns on my back as we both come down from our high.

"Well," I say once I've caught my breath, "I'd say that was a pretty convincing argument for this marriage."

Luka chuckles, the sound rumbling through his chest. "Glad I could be persuasive," he says, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

We lapse into silence, but it's not uncomfortable. For the first time since this whole ordeal began, I feel... safe. Content, even. It's a dangerous feeling, I know. Luka is still who he is, and oursituation hasn't changed. But in this moment, wrapped in his arms, I can't bring myself to care.

"What are you thinking?" Luka asks softly, his fingers combing through my hair.

I prop myself up on an elbow, looking down at him. In the soft light of the room, with his hair mussed and his guard down, he looks younger. More vulnerable. It makes my heart ache in a way I'm not prepared for.

"I'm thinking that this complicates things," I admit. “You’re a dangerous man who leads a dangerous life.”

"I meant what I said in my vows, Natalia," he says, his voice low and intense. "I will protect you. I will provide for you. And if you'll let me, I'll spend every day trying to be worthy of being your husband.”

The sincerity in his voice surprises me. This isn't how it was supposed to go. I was supposed to hate him, to resist this arranged marriage with every fiber of my being. And the truth is that I do, but there’s more too, something deeper.

"Promise me something," I say softly.

"Anything," Luka replies without hesitation.