“Yeah,” he chuckles. “I was pretty good. A natural, I guess. Hell if I know, but I do know that stocks and numbers just made sense to me, instantly. I got so good that Waleed started letting me trade for him. He let his guard down I was so good, and he let himself forget that I was his prisoner, and he was my captor.”
“You didn’t, though,” I say gently.
“Hell no,” Luke growls. “I used my time on his computer to dig and found out that he wasn’t just playing games in the desert. Waleed was trying to link up with serious terrorist groups to commit horrible acts on innocents. The man would sit there smiling and chatting to me about New York and business school and how much he missed fucking Starbucks. Meanwhile, he was dreaming up ways to murder women and children,” Luke snarls.
“So, I acted. I used his trading computer to open an encrypted email account, and I started firing off emails to anyone in the US military I could find an address for. Then, I started deleting his accounts and transferring everything to a new bank account.”
My jaw drops, and I stare at Luke. “Wait, you stole all of his money?”
“Damn right,” he grins. “The emails worked, because that very night, the drones came in to start dropping thunder. I managed to crawl into a bunker while they leveled his damn fortress, and that’s where the Marines found me when they dug me out.”
I stare at Luke in disbelief, slowly shaking my head. “Luke, that’s fucking incredible! So when did you get back?!”
He pauses, his jaw clenching tight. “Two months ago.”
My smile drops like a rock. “Two months ago?” I stare at him, and I can feel my brow knitting. “You’ve been back from the dead for two damn months?!”
I’m not trying to get angry, but it rises up anyways. I glare at him, furious for so many reasons. Like that he let me think he was dead for even one second longer than necessary, or that he was back, and still allowed me to fall into almost marrying Nick.
“Did you know?” I growl, glaring at him.
“Did I know what, love?”
“Don’t call me that!” I snap. “Did you know about what was going on with the Passantés?”
Luke growls deeply and scowls. “Yes,” he snarls, looking away. “Not until recently, but I knew.”
“And you let it happen?”
“No!” He snaps suddenly, making me gasp. “No, Sienna, I didn’t. Which is why I walked into that church today and stole you away from them, from all of them.” He growls and pulls me into him, and I moan. I move against his body, my legs spreading as I sink onto his lap on the couch. I gasp when I feel his hardness throbbing in his pants against my pussy. Luke is hard—really, really fucking hard—and my pulse quickens.
“I stole you away, because you’re mine.” His eyes are locked on mine, piercing me to my very soul. “And I waited before that, because I needed to set things up to give you the life I always wanted to give you.”
I frown and shake my head. And I pull back. “Luke, what are you even talking about? What do you mean, give me the life you always wanted to give me? What does that even—”
“It means I want to marry you. I want you as my wife,” he growls thickly, stunning me into blinking silence. “It means I want to have you all for myself, as my everything. It means I want to spend my life with you, and have a family with you, love.”
I blink, and I can’t tell if it feels like my heart is racing so fast that it’s impossible to feel it, or if it’s actually skipped a beat or two. I tremble, and I look up into Luke’s smoky dark eyes.
“You… you what?” I whisper.
He growls, easing me off of his lap and onto the couch. Before I can even process what’s happening, Luke sinks to the floor on one knee. He reaches into his jacket, and my breath catches when he pulls out the little black velvet box. He opens it, and the ring glistens and sparkles in the dim lighting, utterly taking my breath away.
“Marry me, Sienna,” he murmurs gently. “I’ve loved you since the day I met you. I’ve waited my whole life to have you in my arms. And now, I never, ever want to let you get free of them again.” He looks up into my eyes, and he reaches into the box and pulls out the huge, gorgeous ring to hold up to me.
“Marry me, Sienna,” he says thickly. “Marry me, and be all mine, forever.”
I blink, and before I know it, I’m sobbing as I fall into his arms.
“Yes!” I gasp into his lips when he kisses me. “Yes!”
Luke takes my hand and yanks the gaudy but probably ridiculously expensive ring from Nick off my finger. It was a sham anyways, but there’s a triumphant glint in his eyes when he plucks it from me and tosses it like it were trash across the room. He slips his own ring onto me, and it fits perfectly. It feels perfect, too.
I gasp as he scoops me up into his arms and stands. He kisses me hard and deep, and he turns and starts to walk boldly down a hallway. When he kicks open the door to his huge master bedroom, my body tingles, and heat sizzles across my skin. I pull back and look into his eyes, and I know I’ve wanted this ever since the moment I laid eyes on him.
“And just what do you think you’re doing, Mister Crow?” I purr quietly.
“I think I’m going to make you all mine, Ms. Holloway,” he growls back. “I think I’m going to tear this fucking dress off of you, lay you across that bed, and then I’m going to make you come all fucking night for me.”
He kicks the door shut with a bang, and my legs squeeze tight together as he marches over to the bed with his lips on mine.
5
Luke
Every muscle in my body clenches and tightens when I kiss Sienna. It’s like the very molecules in my body yearn for her. It’s like our bodies crave to be as close as possible. Her legs wrap around my waist tightly, her arms around my neck. We stride across the bedroom floor, and Sienna shrieks in delight when I toss her down on the bed.
I look at my angel lying there surrounded in white lace and satin. I could take her like this, and claim her in that wedding dress, which would be hot as hell. But when I take her for the first time, I want it just us. I want her wearing nothing but my ring on her finger.
I stand at the foot of the bed, and Sienna watches me with wide eyes as I undo my shirt. I shrug it off and toss it aside, and then my slacks follow. She stares at my boxers when I pull my pants away, her eyes wide in disbelief at the fat bulge under the black cotton. I move onto the bed, and I kiss her deeply.
My hands trace over her waist to her back, and I pluck away the rest of the ribbons of her dress. I pull it down, and she trembles against me as it slips over her bare body underneath. I make myself wait, and I keep kissing her as I pull her wedding dress all the way down to her hips, and then push it down her legs. She kicks it away, and my pulse quickens when I pull her against me. I can feel her pebbled nipples pressing into my chest. I feel the way she pulls me tighter to her when I kiss her slowly.
After long minutes, I pull away to let my eyes feast on the prize I’ve waited years for. I’m spellbound instantly. My heart skips a beat, and I just stare in wonder at the fucking angel in my bed. Sienna blushes shyly. She starts to pull the duvet up to cover herself, but I gently pull it from her hands and shake my head.