Chapter 251

The entire wall of the sleeping area is nothing but floor-to-ceiling glass.

But that’s not what tears another, louder gasp from me.

The room, the whole suite, is filled to the brim with exotic flowers.

Demyen locks the door behind us and guides me further inside; I’m too frozen on the spot to actually move on my own. He smiles at me. And then that smile wavers into something a little more uncertain as I continue to openly gape at what’s basically a… a…

It’s a sexy greenhouse.

There’s no other way to name it. Or describe it.

Demyen got us a sexy greenhouse for the night.

“Dem…” It’s the only word I can breathe.

“Do you like it?”

“I…” I clap a hand over my mouth to muffle the loud squeal of glee. “I love it! Oh my gawd, it’s beautiful! It looks just like⁠—”

I stop. It looks just like the greenhouse down on the main floor between the casino and hotel.

The same greenhouse where I and dozens of other slaves were taken to be processed, auctioned, and sold.

Demyen sounds more than a little uncomfortable. I busy myself with staring at the plants and the incredible view of the Meridian’s etched glass rooftop so I don’t have to see his face just yet. I didn’t mean to damper the mood.

“I, ah…” He clears his throat. “I didn’t want to trigger any bad memories. Especially from my own stupidity. But I know you love these plants, so I⁠—”

“It’s perfect.” I choke back the tears of… of… of everything. Joy. Gratitude. Love.

And yes, maybe a little pain. Faint whispers of a bygone past that still manage to remind me of darker times.

“Really, Dem, it’s perfect.”

I turn around to reassure him—but he’s not standing there anymore.

He’s… oh my God.

Oh.

My.

God.

Demyen Zakrevsky is down on one knee, a small blue velvet box in his hand.

“Dem?” My hand is trembling as I raise it to my lips.

He reaches for my other one and presses a soft kiss to my fingers. “I love you, Clara. So fucking much. More than…” He laughs. “More than I ever thought possible for someone like me. And yeah, it’s crazy to think that at one point, we sat inside this same room and stared at each other and had no way of knowing where that one moment would take us. But honestly? I’m so fucking glad for it all.”

I scrunch my brow. He can’t mean it. “Really?”

“Crazy, right? But that’s what you do to me, baby. You drive me crazy and I never want you to stop.” He slowly opens the box. The largest, most intricate diamond ring I’ve ever seen rests on a bed of white satin. “I love you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want to adopt Willow and… fuck, Clara. I want us to be a family. A real family.” He gazes up into my eyes and swallows hard. “If you’ll have me.”

I’m so glad he’s stronger than I am. Physically, anyway—because that’s the only reason why we don’t topple onto the floor together when I all but collapse into his arms.

I love this man.

I want this man.

I show him through the thousand kisses my lips dance across his, his face, his jaw, his eyes. “Yes,” I breathe. Already, I can feel myself tear up. “Yes! I do. I do, baby. I want to be yours. I want to be your wife.”

Somewhere amidst the hungry kisses and greedy groping, he manages to slip the ring onto my finger before tossing the box aside. And then I’m lifted in his arms just to be tumbled back onto the bed—which, to my delight, is covered with the softest rose petals.

Demyen only pulls away so he can shrug off his suit jacket and toss it aside. I take that moment to kick off my heels and try to sit up. But he flashes me a very delicious, wicked grin and grabs my ankles, lifts them to his face, and presses a kiss to the inside of each.

And then we both hear a loud tear in the skirt of my evening dress when he pushes my legs apart.

“Oops!” I laugh, reaching for his tie to tug him closer.

“I could slow down,” he offers. “Take things slow. Gentle. Romantic.” He kisses me between each word as I work his tie loose and slip it from him.

“You could,” I purr in agreement. I tug his shirt from his pants and work each button open with my fingertips. “But… I don’t want you to.”

Demyen arches a brow. “Oh, no?” His knee slides up between my legs to press against my dampening mound. His grin grows filthy when he feels me rub and grind myself against him. “And what does my naughty, sexy fiancée want?”

I rake my fingers over his bare chest and savor the way he growls his own pleasure for me. “I want you to fuck me. Claim me. Make me forget how to say my own name.”

He reaches down to grab fistfuls of my dress and rips the fabric open more.

“And…”

“There’s more?” His voice is low. Breathy. Sultry. Fucking music to my ears that sends such a delicious shiver along my spine.

I blush. “I want you to fuck me against that window. So everyone can see who I belong to.”

So everyone can see who protects me.

Demyen growls again and grabs my thighs, yanking me closer to him. He makes quick work of opening his pants and boxer briefs and fuck. yes. I feel him hard and warm and bare and rubbing up and down my needy pussy.

“We have all night long,” he purrs in my ear. “All. Night. Long. And when I’m done with you, baby, you won’t even be able to remember your name, let alone say it.”

Fuck.

I want it. I want it all.

I want him.

“Yes… Demyen, yes… please…” I’m a whimpering, pleading mess of nerves and need.

“But right now?” He nips at the curve of my breast I know has been driving him wild all evening. I picked this low-cut dress for a reason. “Right now, you’re mine. All mine. Only mine.”

I writhe and wriggle with pleasurable frustration. “Dem, please…”

His hand lands on the side of my ass louder than it actually feels. He grins and captures my yelp in a kiss. “Such an impatient minx.”

I pout. “Such a mean, teasing man.”

I eat my words almost as quickly as I say them. Because no sooner are they out of my man than he’s inside me. Filling me. Stealing the breath from my lungs in one long, solid thrust.