Page 107 of The Billionaire's Bride

I freeze, tip up my chin, and hold his gaze.

"Did you mean what you said?" he finally asks.

"A...bout?"

"About making up your mind?"

I nod.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

I jerk my chin.

"Are you convinced that you belong to me?"

Yes. Yes. Yes.I tip up my chin, meet his gaze. Allow him to read the expression on my face. "

His throat moves as he swallows. Then his jaw firms. "If we do this, if I fuck you now, there is no going back."

I don't take my gaze off of his face.

"If I take you now, I am never letting you get away."

My scalp tingles, my fingers tremble, and a pressure builds at the back of my eyes.

"If we are together, Ava, I'll ask everything of you. I'll strip you bare, I'll infiltrate your deepest desires, your most secret dreams, the most intimate of your places. Nothing about you will be off limits. Not your thoughts or your words, not your body or your mind... Certainly not, your soul. I'll imprint myself in every cell of your body... Your every breath will belong to me."

My toes curl, my belly trembles, and moisture pools between my legs.

"The flutter of your eyelashes as you fall asleep, your dreams, the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning... All of it will be mine. I'll be in everything you see, in every taste you draw into your body. Every sensation that filters to you will originate from me... Do you...understand what I mean?"

I draw in a harsh breath. The band around my chest tightens. My skin feels too tight for my body. This man, these words... They are etched in every particle of my being.

"Do. You. Understand?" he snaps.

I jerk my chin. My legs threaten to give way from under me, and I push my heels into the ground to hold steady.

"Say it, then," he growls. "Say you are mine."

"Yours." I swallow. "I am yours."

"That you get that there's no going back.

"No going back."

"That you belong to me."

"You." I nod.

"That—"

"I love you," I burst out. "You, Baron, only you."

His breath catches. His gaze bores into me. The emotions rolling off of him vibrate between us, thicken and swirl. Heat spools off of his body, slams into my chest. I gasp, trying to draw in a breath, and my lungs burn. The strength of his intention lassoes around my shoulders, ties me to him. Then he moves. He dips his knees, swoops down and grabs me between my legs. He straightens, hauls me up with him, by my pussy, and my entire body jerks.

"Last chance, Ava," he cautions. "Leave while you can."

"I... I can't." I lick my lips and his gaze darts to my mouth.