“You’re not kidding.” Her surprise quickly transformed to seriousness, and her fingertips hovered at her mouth.
“Of course I’m not.” Voice growing hoarser by the second, I kept my gaze steadily on hers as her eyes filled with tears. “I love you, Lucia.”
She nodded, one tear trailing down her cheek.
Pulling her hand to my mouth, I kissed the inside of her wrist then held her palm against my chest. “I want to give you everything within my power, and I’ll protect you to my dying breath and beyond.”
“Yes,” she said in a warbly voice.
My throat tightened. “I didn’t ask yet.”
The two of us together weren’t supposed to be.
Enemies of the forbidden kind.
I’d almost killed her.
She had wanted Kirill’s head.
I’d taken.
She’d given.
And I’d saved her from her own pain and threats beyond—a bond that could not be broken in this life or the next no matter what came.
“Then ask me, Arkady,” Lucia whispered.
“Will you marry me?”
She kneeled with me, crowding into the lee of my thighs. “Yes. Of course I will.”
I swallowed the stone lodged in my throat and placed the sparkling ring on her finger.
Now everyone would know she was claimed.
I was as well.
Hoisting her so her legs ringed my waist, I tunneled a hand beneath her hair to clasp the nape of her neck. I kissed from the center of her collarbone—where my touch would always anchor her—up her neck and to her lips.
Twisting and twining, we gave ourselves over to one another, and I tasted the slight tang of her shed tears on my tongue and in my mouth.
She pursed her lips around my bottom one, nuzzling me. Then she dropped her head to my shoulder.
Lucia sniffled happily. “I can’t believe you messed around with me like that when you were asking me to be your wife.” She lightly punched me. “Evil.”
Tugging her head back so I could taste her mouth again, I gave her one more naughty promise. “I’ll show you evil tomorrow. I bought new clamps for you, dragotsennaya printsessa.”
Keep reading for the first chapter of Hunter, book one in my complete Bad Boys of Retribution series.
So, how was The Russian Savage? My hope is that each book exceeds expectations, so if you enjoyed Arkady’s story, please consider leaving a review and/or recommending it to your book-loving friends. Reviews and word-of-mouth are pure gold for self-published authors!
And don’t worry, there’ll be more from these dark and delicious Krasnov brothers soon. I’d also like to apologize for the delay in releasing this book. I wrote it during the first month of self-isolation for COVID-19—completing the rough draft was a miracle in itself. I had a super difficult time concentrating, y’all. My family and I have also been preparing for our Great Big Move from South Carolina to Louisiana during summer 2020! Whew.
I wish you all well, and I hope everyone has stayed safe, sane, and healthy.