Page 132 of Marrying the Billionaire Single Dad

"I have loved you, Damian Savage, from even before I knew who you were, and when I laid my eyes on you, there was no one else."

His face pales.

"There can be no one else."

His features harden.

"But you. Only you, Damian."

Silence descends.

I glance up as he holds my gaze. A vein throbs at his temple. The skin around his eyes tightens. He searches my face with such single-minded concentration, I am sure he’s memorizing my features.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." Edward’s voice sounds like it comes from somewhere far away. "You may kiss the bride."

He places his free palm over mine, then tugs. I lean in, raise my chin as he lowers his face to mine. Closer, closer. Not breaking the connection between our eyes, he presses his lips to mine.

Soft, sweet, he holds his mouth in place as he shares my breath, and holds my gaze. He’s so close, I can discern the golden dot in the iris of his left eye. The crease of fine lines that radiate out from the edges of his eyes, the single grey hair at his right temple. And it’s the most intimate moment of my life. And the most erotic. More than all the times that he’s fucked me… For this time… Something feels different, almost as if he means his vows, as if he’s trying to tell me something with his body language.

He wraps his other arm around my waist, pulls me to him. My lips part and he slides his tongue over mine. A shiver runs down my spine and desire flares low in my belly. A moan swells up my throat. An answering groan rumbles from his chest. This… This, I know. This dance is familiar. Whatever our differences, our bodies have always been in sync. I expect him to deepen the kiss, to ravage my mouth and take…and take… And he pulls back.

Huh? I flutter open my eyelids to find him staring down at me with something like wonder and bemusement and heat. I rise up on tip-toe, try to reach his mouth again.

He chuckles, then lowers his lips to mine and kisses me—softly, deeply, nerve-wrackingly, heartbreakingly, genuinely… Oh, I don’t have the words to describe how it feels when he coaxes me to open my mouth and swoops his tongue inside to drink from me, suck from me, mold my body to his as he ravages my mouth, and I want him. Oh, how I want him, right there, in front of everyone. I moan, and he brushes his lips over mine again.

"Julia," he whispers against my cheek, "my beautiful bride, I—"

A shot rings through the space.

Damian

I hear the shot a second before she gasps. Her gaze widens.

"Julia?" I frown down at her.

"Damian." She shudders. "Damian, I love you."

"I know," I snap.

Her knees buckle and I twist our joined hands behind her and haul her even closer. She’s so damn slim, I can barely feel her weight. "Julia, what’s wrong?" I growl. Around me, the scene explodes and I am aware of the rest of the Seven moving to plant their bodies between us and the source of the shot. "Julia?" My heart begins to race and my pulse thuds at my temples. "Julia?" A wetness bleeds into my hand. I raise it, and I know what it is even before I spot the scarlet on my fingers.

"Oh, my fucking god! Julia, you’re hurt."

Her eyelids flutter. "Why are you always so angry?" she whispers. "Is it me? Do you hate me Damian?"

"No." I shake my head; my throat closes. I try to yank my hand free of the binding that ties me to her and the goddam ribbon refuses to give. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"Don’t swear." She half smiles.

I tug again and manage to pull free. I wrap my arms around her, cradle her against my chest, and she glances up at me. "I love the view from here," she says.

"And I love you," I cry out. "Julia, baby, I love you. You hear me?"

"I know." Her voice is serene. She raises a hand to my face and cups my cheek. "My beautiful man." She closes her eyes and my heart explodes in my chest.

"No!" I howl. "Fucking fuck, Julia, don’t you dare die on me! You hear me?" I shake her bodily, and she coughs. She opens her eyes and I draw in a breath. The oxygen rushes to my lungs and for a second the world tilts. I righten to find she’s staring up at me.

"Damian?"