Page 11 of Absolution
My heart stops at his flat refusal.
“What?” I ask on a puff of air, my chest constricting so tight that I can’t breathe.
His dark brows draw together in forbidding slashes. “You won’t marry me to protect me. You’ll marry me because you’remine.”
“Oh.” My mind whirs. “Is that… Are you proposing?”
His lips pinch with distaste. “Of course not. You deserve a much better proposal than that. When I do propose, there will be no question of my intentions. And you will have only one answer for me.”
“But I just said I want to marry you.” His edgy mood is throwing me for a loop. I think I might’ve offended him with the way I worded things. “It’s ayes.”
His eyes turn stormy. “You want to for pragmatic reasons. That’s not how our marriage will work.”
He’s talking about our marriage as if it’s a foregone conclusion, but he still seems angry.
I study each sharp line of his tautly drawn features.
“It’s not only for pragmatic reasons,” I say quietly when I realize what he needs from me. “I wouldn’t say I want to marry you if I didn’t love you.” I place my hand on his cheek, and his jaw ticks beneath my palm. “I love you, Dane.”
His expression is almost feral with desire, but his eyes are cautious as they search mine. “After everything I’ve done to you?”
I think back to the dark day when I realized he was my stalker. He kidnapped me away to England. He held me in his family home against my will.
But he’s changed somehow. He’s still the man I fell for in Charleston, but I understand him more deeply now. Back in the studio he built for me in his manor, he dropped to his knees and apologized. He swore that he couldn’t live without me.
Then I learned what happened to his sister. I saw how his family treated him, how they tormented and warped him.
I’ve known that I’m still in love with Dane ever since we arrived in York, but I haven’t said it aloud yet.
“Even though I’m a murderer?” he rumbles in challenge. “You can love a killer?”
I trace the line of his cheekbone with my thumb, as though I can smooth away his tension.
“I made sure you got out of prison, didn’t I? I couldn’t bear the thought of spending the rest of my life without you. I love you, and I will marry you, Dane.”
His fingers tangle in my hair, capturing me in a firm grip. “You’re all I need in this life, Abigail.”
My heart soars. It’s notI love you, but I don’t require that to pledge myself to him forever. Dane’s affection for me is stronger than any words could express, and I feel the depth of his need for me in the way he tugs at my hair to pull me in for an almost savage kiss.
He consumes me, his tongue plundering my mouth without waiting for invitation. He knows that I belong to him. I sigh into him, demonstrating my utter devotion. I know now that there’s nothing he could do that would make me stop loving him. Some part of me must be sick and twisted, but the fact that he’s a murderer hasn’t dulled my craving for him.
I meet his kiss with hungry lashes of my tongue against his, and I dare to graze his lips with my teeth in a primal demonstration of my own claim over him. His low growl rumbles into my mouth and rolls lower through my body. My core heats for him, and my pulse begins to race.
I wouldn’t protest if he laid me down and fucked me right here in the ruins. When he’s touching me like this, we’re the only two people in the world. The tourists filtering into the gardens as the morning progresses don’t register in my mind. I’m wanton for him, wet and needy.
A few hours ago, I thought I might have to spend the rest of my life without him.
But we overcame that challenge together. He leaned on me and accepted my help.
He’s so much stronger than I will ever be, but my dark god respects and reveres me. In his restraining arms, I’m more powerful than I’ve ever been.
When I’m panting against his mouth, he finally breaks our kiss with a cruel smirk.
“Don’t worry, little dove. I will fuck you senseless soon enough. Indulge me for a few more hours, and then I’ll make you come so hard that you’ll pass out from pleasure.”
I huff, not bothering to hide my pout. “Hours? Why can’t we go back to the penthouse now?”
He chuckles and drops a doting kiss on my forehead. “We have some shopping to do first.”
