Page 50 of Jewel of the Assassin

And I hate to admit it.

He did have my eyes rolling to the back of my head.

“You think I’m done with you, Valentina?” His voice is low and dark, and it sends my heart ricocheting in my chest. “We still have two hours before dawn. And as much as you loved, hated,and came apart with my cock buried in your ass…now, I’m going to take you slow. Gentle. But deeper than you’ve ever felt. And you’ll crave every fucking second of it.”

18

“You are the solution, Valentina.”

ROMAN

Iknow how to treat my woman.

And this is not just what she wants. It’s what sheneedsfollowing my dark dungeon.

I fall a little harder watching the incandescent glow on her face as she leans back into the water, arms drifting lazily as she floats. Nothing but her bare, beautiful body gilded in the soft shimmer of the pool lights—like some ethereal goddess made just for me.

Love how her gorgeous tits with the rosy tips rise just above the surface of the water, still as swollen and red. As rosy as the Devil’s Fire crown on her chest. I’ll need to reapply the salve soon, but I won’t take this moment from her.

“God, this is…!” she gushes, rising to face me, her hair streaming down her cheeks and chest in resplendent waves.

When her eyes meet mine, the soft glow flares into burning fire. The moment shatters. She’s clinging to her pride, stoking it into hatred.

And I don’t blame her. I won’t fault her. I tormented her. Fucked her like a devil. Fucked her within an inch of her life.

She was a virgin. I stole something priceless. Something that can never be returned.

It’s not guilt that twists in my chest. Guilt is foreign to me. But a flicker of remorse lodges there, sharp and sudden.

If she’d had a choice…Would she have given it to me freely? Offered that honor?

The question burns for a breath, then fades. My edges sharpen. My blood settles cold.

I am Roman fucking Makarova. The infamous assassin. I don’t ask for permission. I don’t bend. I don’t bow. I take what I want.

Through fire and blood.

But I see it in her eyes, in the way her breath catches, in the tremble she tries to hide. She knows no other man could make her come like I did.

So, I lift one finger and crook it, summoning her to me.

Fuck if I don’t love how she bites her lower lip, hesitating as if she’s debating on whether to defy me. The sweetest sight is her breath releasing before she moves through the pool until she’s close enough for me to pluck her from the water into my arms. Her breasts press against me, hard nipples chafing against my chest hair.

Ahh, her eyes light up. That is the name for her. Valya may be my nickname for her. But everything else pales to ‘My Jewel.” Gemstone in the correct term, but dragotsennost, jewel, is far too long.

The only treasure I’d bleed the world for.. The dawn of my life. The sunrise of my soul.

“How do you feel?” I ask, tenderly cupping her chin.

She blushes. “I can’t imagine I’ve ever been skinny dipping. I would have remembered. Because this is…divine.”

“My pool is yours to enjoy whenever you desire.” I lean closer and breathe the words along her face, “And anytime you wish towade in naught but your equally divine skin, Valentina…I will be with you.”

She winces. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” I feel a smirk coming.

She stiffens. “You don’t have to romance me or pretend you’re some gentleman.”