Page 27 of Love to Defy You (The Dark Love #2)

Except I already know my answer. I wasn’t expecting him to propose so soon, but that day he promised to make me his wife, I told him I would be waiting to say yes . My answer won’t change whether he proposes today or ten years from now.

Our souls are entwined as one, moving in lockstep through life.

“Yes, Alek.” My voice breaks. “I’ll marry you.”

The pure joy that lights up his face is so devastatingly genuine, I can’t go another moment without feeling his mouth on mine. I grab the back of his neck and pull him toward me, and when our lips collide, the world spins on its axis.

I’m Alek’s fiancée. His future wife.

He rolls me over flat on my back and breaks our kiss to sit up. As he straddles me, he brings my left hand to his lips and peppers languid kisses along my wrist, then my palm, until he wraps his mouth around my ring finger. The entire time, his hooded gaze is on me.

Alek releases my finger and positions the ring near my nail. “Last chance, malishka .”

“If you don’t put that ring on me right now, I’ll do it myself.” I grind my hips up to meet his. “But hurry. I need to feel you inside me.”

A low, hungry growl rumbles in his chest. He slips the ring on my finger, dragging it along my skin until it hits the final knuckle.

It’s a perfect fit. I spread my fingers wide in front of my face, taking in the brilliant sparkle of the gemstones in the dim candlelight.

Alek loosens his tie. “Take off your clothes. I don’t want anything between us when I make you my fiancée.”

Ripping off my dress is much easier than it was to put on. I peel it off over my head while Alek tears off his clothes as fast as he can, as though he cannot wait another second without being inside of me.

He kneels between my legs, his heavy erection at full mast. I drag my eyes down the length of his sculpted abs and back up his toned chest before meeting his gaze.

He lifts one of my legs in the air and hugs it against his shoulder, where he presses a soft kiss against my calf.

“I won’t be satisfied until you scream my name so loud that it echoes off the mountaintops.

” His glacial eyes remain on me, unblinking.

“I want the whole world to know who exactly you belong to.”

I nod and roll my hips forward, aching to feel him.

“Who do you belong to, malishka ?“ he asks. “Say it.”

My voice is breathless as I whisper, “To you.”

He drives forward with a rough thrust, shoving himself inside. I’m a little tight after our dry spell, and I let out a sharp gasp as he plunges so deep my vision sears white. With my leg folded against his chest, he penetrates me at just the right angle to make me feel every inch of him.

He groans when he bottoms out and stills, seated fully inside my sheath. “Whose wife are you?”

I suck in a shaky breath. “Yours.”

“For eternity.” And then he begins to move.

Alek slides out and back in, and it’s so intense at this angle that I wonder if I might split in two, blurring the line between pleasure and pain.

Just the way I like it.

He doesn’t go slow. His movements are aggressive and fast, spearing me so hard my head rolls back against the pillows. Above me, in the glass ceiling, is a faint reflection of Alek rutting into me, my breasts bouncing as he fucks me hard.

With every rough thrust, he grunts, giving it every ounce of energy he has. Sweat clings to his sandy hair, and a few strands fall over his forehead as he slams into me over and over.

Slow, sensual lovemaking isn’t our style. The way Alek fucks me is like a wild beast, possessive and carnal. My cries crescendo the closer he brings me to the pinnacle of pleasure, accenting his guttural noises of desire.

“Alek,” I whimper. “I’m so close.”

“Then let me hear you,” he says, punctuating his words with another sharp thrust. “Come for me, malishka , and don’t hold back.”

The next penetration hits my sweet spot at just the right angle, and a searing orgasm rips through me the way a wildfire tears through a forest, scorching everything in its wake.

I throw my arms around Alek’s neck to keep me here with him, and I grind on his cock to ride the wave of our mutual pleasure.

I can barely hear him roar over the volume of me screaming his name, and as he pumps me full of his cum, warmth radiates from my core. His tremorous thrusts grow irregular in rhythm when he comes, and I writhe beneath him as his fire consumes me and leaves nothing behind.

Alek slides out of me and collapses at my side, his glistening chest rising and falling with gasping breaths. My leg falls back on the bed, and I lie here, completely spent, as his seed leaks out of me onto the sheets. It’s a sensation I luxuriate in, feeling claimed by him.

He gave me everything. I’m a vessel brimming with the love and devotion he pours into me.

“That was”—I heave for air—“so fucking hot.”

A wicked grin forms on his lips. “As soon as you catch your breath, get dressed. It’s time to announce our engagement.”

“Already?” I roll my head sideways, pressing my cheek against the blankets as I look at him. “Can’t we stay here for the rest of the night?”

As he sits up, the hard lines of his body flex. God himself sculpted Aleksandr Kurochkin from the finest marble and breathed life into his creation to walk amongst us mortals.

“We’ll come back here after.” He picks up our clothes scattered around the igloo and tosses my dress to me.

The sequined fabric is rough against my fingertips, but I can’t find it in me to move. “Why are you in such a hurry to get back to the party?”

After he tugs his pants on, he pauses with a frown. “What’s wrong, malishka ?”

He told me I would find out what he had in store for Enzo before midnight tonight. Absently, I tug at my ring to adjust it, but when dozens of tiny, sharp teeth cut against my skin, I yelp. Small drops of blood bead around the base of the metal band.

“Was this your plan?” I hold up my hand, facing the ring toward him. “Proposing to me just so you can rub it in Enzo’s face? To somehow prove that you’ve won?”

Alek circles the bed, and towering over me, he wraps his hand around my neck. With his thumb, he forces my chin up to look at his face, which is twisted with hurt. “Do you really think that’s the reason I proposed to you? That I asked for forever with you to prove a point?”

Hot tears well in my eyes, and when I search my heart for the answer, I sigh. “No.”

“Good. Have a little more faith in my love for you, Willow.” His use of my name, not malishka , guts me.

“Yes, I want to stake my claim and let the whole world know that you belong to me.” He tightens his grip around my neck and leans closer, gritting his teeth.

“But only because I’m so fucking consumed by my obsession with you.

I want you in every way I can possibly have you, and I want to make you my wife because I need eternity with you. If you weren’t mine, I would die.”

My lip quivers.

“Tell me you understand.” He doesn’t remove his hand from my throat.

I struggle to gulp in his grasp. “Yes. I understand.”

He leans down and claims my mouth, and in his kiss, the depth of his possessive love bleeds into me.

Alek and I appear at the top of the staircase, surveying the party in full swing. He leads me downstairs by the hand and weaves through the crowd of people swaying in time with the pulsing beat.

We approach the DJ booth, and Alek leans in to speak in the DJ’s ear, who nods after a moment.

The music fades into silence, and the partygoers glance up with their faces scrunched in confusion.

Irritated mumbles pass through the crowd as the DJ hands Alek the microphone.

Alek steps onto the low platform and pulls me up to join him.

He brings the microphone to his mouth and clicks it on. “I apologize for the interruption, but I have a brief announcement to make.” He pulls me closer against his side. “This woman here has just agreed to marry me.”

Whoops and hollers erupt from the crowd. Unable to stop the stupid grin on my face, I hold up my hand to show off the ring on my finger, and this makes the guests go wild.

“Come on, kiss her!” someone shouts.

After Alek sets the microphone next to the turntable, he pulls me flush against his chest. He plants a hungry kiss on my lips before dipping me backward, and I wrap my arms around his neck to hold on, meeting his mouth with equal passion. More cheers burst from the crowd.

When Alek pulls me upright, my head is spinning, and I’m riding the high of the exhilaration of the moment. Our eyes lock, and for a few seconds, it’s just the two of us in our own little world.

It takes an incredible amount of willpower to tear my gaze from his and turn to the crowd to wave.

But my bubble of bliss deflates when I glance at the back corner of the room. Enzo is the only person who isn’t celebrating our engagement, and as he leans against the wall, arms crossed, he assesses me with a dark expression that sends a cold chill through my heated body.