Page 107 of Greed: The Savage
“I want to give you everything, Addien,” he said thickly. “My heart. My soul. My body. Everything I am is yours. It belongs to you. Marry me, please. I beg you to be the one to remain at my side. I implore you to love me even half as much as I love you.”
A sob burst from Addien’s lips. Flying across the room, she leapt into Malric’s waiting arms, where he folded her in his secure embrace. “I l-love you,” she wept against his shoulder as he rocked her in his arms.
“Ah, God, Addien,” he rasped. Malric held Addien so tight; she clung to him even more tightly. “You know me in ways I never knew myself, love. You’ve made me better and able tosee everything with such damned clarity. What is real. What matters. It is you. You are my reason for being.” He placed a hard kiss against her temple. “I love you so bloody much, Addien.”
She wept into his shoulder. “I love you.”
Their mouths came together in a kiss that tasted of forever.
Breaking apart, Malric touched his brow once more to Addien’s. His breathing came fast. “It does occur to me, love, though you’ve made me the happiest of men by professing your love. It’d make me exponentially happier if you for once just said ‘yes’ to my—”
“Yes!” Laughing and crying together, Addien hugged him. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”
He smiled a secret, heated smile just for her.
“Splendid. Now, are you two finished in here?”
They looked over at Argyll; amusement sparkled in his eyes.
“We are,” Malric growled the other nobleman’s way. When Malric addressed Addien, it was tenderness most pure. “Let us go, love.”
At her husband-to-be’s impatience, she favored him with a reproachful look. “He offered me employment and wasn’t as beastly as I’d believed he would be.”
The duke preened. “Why, thank you, Miss Killoran.”
“He intended to seduce you, Addien,” Malric snapped. “My patience with the bastard only goes so far.” His gaze darkened. “Now, we really must leave, Addien.”
Mac Diggory was back.
As Malric took her by the hand and escorted her to the doorway, Addien considered the impending showdown coming to London.
The beast had roused terror in her heart since she’d been a girl. He’d hurt her. He’d shamed her. He’d robbed her of sleep, peace, and a life without fear.
But this time, with his return from the grave, Addien, for the first time in her life, was no longer alone.
She had Malric.
She didn’t know fear.
Love had a way of leaving one stronger.
Malric paused at the entryway.
Addien gave him a quizzical look.
“I have no grievances with you, Argyll,” Malric said coolly.
“Well, that isdeeplyreassuring,” the duke drawled.
“If anyone,” Malric continued, “my own brother included, did anything to jeopardize the woman I love…” Her own tripled in size. “I’d cut him down myself, and I’d do so viciously and happily.”
Surprise sparked in Argyll’s eyes. The discomposed gentleman cleared his throat. “I did not expect that.”
Malric held the other man’s eyes. “There is a lot you are not expecting. If I were in your employ, I’d put more attention to events on the streets and not games involving the women of other men.”
An undercurrent passed between them.
Addien sensed the moment the Duke of Argyll understood the unspoken message being conveyed. Would he gather it was Diggory?
