Page 35 of The Savage

To my surprise, his hand slaps against my own and as he takes down the aphrodisiac, his eyes burn into mine the entire time.

“Ty samaya krasivaya zhenshchina v mire.”

“What does that mean?” I stare into his eyes dreamily and he whispers, “You are the most beautiful woman in the world.”

I blush and his finger tilts my face to his, and he says firmly, “It’s true. You are also the most powerful woman I’ve ever met because I would do anything for you, and I’ve never felt like that before.”

“Anything?” I smile, but inside my heart is beating frantically, and he nods, his lustful gaze stripping me bare in seconds.

“Anything.”

I smile and, pulling back, say sadly, “I wish that was true. I wish things were different and I wish we had a future, Ivan, but I understand that’s out of our control.”

“We’re here now.”

I glance up and am surprised to see a softness in his expression I wasn’t expecting, and I smile shyly and repeat his words. “We’re here now.”

“So, malyshka, tell me about your life. What was it like in your school for ladies?”

Laughing, I raise my glass and take another sip and proceed to tell him every gory detail about life in an English finishing school.

* * *

As evenings go,this one has been the most pleasurable and the food almost blew my mind. I’ve never tasted food quite like it and the wine is making my inner glow burn like a raging inferno. Then again, it could be my companion who is responsible for that because he is the hottest man I’ve ever met. Not that I’ve met many and as the last crumb is eaten and the bottle emptied, my heart sinks when I sense the magical evening is about to end.

Ivan pushes away his plate and stands, heading to my side and offering me his hand.

“Come.”

With a sigh, I take it and he pulls me up so I am facing him and as his hand wraps around my waist, he draws me in close.

Just his hard body against mine makes a shiver of desire fizz through my body and he rests his head against mine and whispers, “I’ve worked a way out of our situation.”

“You have.” Hope flares in my heart as his words reignite a flame I guessed was about to extinguish.

I’m shocked when he drops to his knee, still holding my hand, and says with a slight catch to his voice.

“Will you marry me, Charlotte Richmond?”

I’m not sure I heard him right and hesitate for a second and his eyes burn into mine as he regards me with a slightly nervous expression.

“Marry you, but how?”

“I asked you a question, princess.”

The command in his voice makes me blink and stare at him in shock and a warm sensation slides through my body, replacing the chill with the most delicious warm glow. Marry him? That never occurred to me at all, but now it has, I am more than happy he asked. Marry my Russian savage. The man who kidnapped me and took me on the adventure of a lifetime. The man who has acted the perfect gentleman and opened my eyes to love. Marry the dark stranger who causes my blood to sizzle and my mind to scramble and now he is offering me a way out of madness because marriage to him may be just my get out of jail free card.

“I’m still waiting.” His firm voice reaches me, and I say with tears in my eyes, “I can’t ask you to sacrifice yourself for me.”

“I’m the one asking, not you.”

Watching him on his knees before me tears at my heart and dropping to my knees, I stare him straight in the eye and whisper, “I would like nothing more than to marry you, Ivan. You’re everything I never knew I wanted, but now you’re here, I never want anyone else. You have crept into my heart and breathed life into it, and now you want to give me my life back at a personal cost to you. How can I say yes, knowing you are only being kind and doing something to get me out of a sticky situation? I care too much to allow you to sacrifice yourself for me, but I love you for asking.”

He stares long and hard into my eyes and says with a husky edge to his voice, “I’m not doing this to save you, Charlotte. I’m doing this to save myself.”

To my surprise, he presses his lips to mine gently and whispers against them. “I can’t let you walk away from me because it would destroy me. Somehow through this madness, I have found someone special and I’m not foolish enough to let them walk away without a fight. Let me save you, Charlotte, and you can save me right back because together we will make the strongest team.”

The tears drench my perfectly made-up face as I kiss him back and whisper, “Then yes, I will marry you, Ivan the savage, because I kind of like the idea of saving you right back.”

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