Page 49 of Claim

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

With my eyes closed, I gently press a kiss through my mask onto the top of her head.

“I want to make it up to you,” I whisper.

With a slow tilt of her head, she looks up at me, her gaze curious and questioning.

“Make what up?” She frowns, and I can almost hear her mind spinning.

“I want to make up for the way I took your virginity.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. She’s more than that to me. She needs to see it, to feel it.

“I wanted it, Miki. I enjoyed myself. Stop worrying.”

I grasp her face, my hands warm against the cool of her cheeks.

“No, iskorka. You deserve better. Hell of a lot better than being fucked in the woods like some animal.”

A slow smirk, a hint of something wicked, curves her lips.

“Oh, well, I was about to ask you if you’d chase me again?”

I chuckle and shake my head.

“Another day I’ll chase you anywhere you want. But today, I want a do over. Please let me show you how you should be treated. I just need your trust for one night and I’ll make this right.”

“I really don’t need?— “

I cut her off before she can continue.

“You were made for me, pretty girl. Let me prove I’m worthy of you.”

I tilt her chin up with my thumb and stare into those bright blue eyes that melt away a little more ice around my heart.

“You? Worthy of me? Don’t be ridiculous. It’s the other way round.”

That adorable frown makes me smile.

“One day, you’ll see the real man you’re dealing with.”

And I fear that day will be the day I lose her. When she sees what’s under that mask, the scars, the evil in my life, she will run a fucking mile and I won’t be able to stop her.

I can’t trap her with a monster.

But for now, while she’s mine, I want to show her what she means to me.

Without realizing, this little spark has brought some life back into me.

The cold breeze picks up and she shivers, so I pull her closer, stroking her hair away from her face, feeling the damp strands.

“You’re my wife. I claimed you as mine. I want to explore every inch of you. I want to take you to new heights. Figure out what makes you shake, what makes you scream. I want my wife to be a constant mix of sexually frustrated and freshly fucked. You’re a firecracker that needs taming.”

I have a good idea what she needs.

My little brat.

She is mine to explore.

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