Chapter Thirty-One

Ilya

"I lya," Brooke moaned as she rode my cock with her palms flat on my chest, so her tits bounced in my face. She rolled her hips and shivered. "Yes!"

"Look at me," I ordered, smiling when she opened her eyes and met my gaze. I loved the way her lids fluttered shut uncontrollably when I slid one finger up her belly, the little moans she let escape when I rubbed my thumbs across her nipples. "You feel so fucking good, Brooke." My own eyes threatened to close but I forced them open, unwilling to miss one minute of her beautiful face twisted in erotic torture.

She leaned forward as her pussy clamped hard around me, pulsing wildly as her orgasm swept over her. "So good," she purred in my ear before she nipped my earlobe with a sexy laugh.

That laugh was my absolute favorite. It was the one that I couldn't get enough of, not inside the bedroom or out. I gripped her hip with one hand while the other speared through her hair and I kissed her like she was my whole world, because that was exactly what she was to me. My everything. We kissed for an eternity before my own orgasm exploded out of my body and right into hers.

She pulled back, breathless, wild-eyed, and smiling. "Ilya, that was incredible."

"You are incredible." I held her close until I was completely and totally spent. "I love you."

Brooke collapsed on top of me, giving me all of her weight as she heaved out several heavy breaths before laughter escaped. "Ilya," she whispered. "I love you too."

I froze. "Are you sure, Brooke? It's only been a few days and I want you to be sure." I needed her to be sure.

"I'm sure, Ilya. I was sure a few days ago, but I couldn't bring myself to say the words. I love you."

Heat plowed through my body like a raging fire as I pulled her closer, covering her soft, lush body with my own. "You love me." I grinned and dotted kisses along her neck and her collarbone, down between her breasts. "You love me."

"Is it that surprising?"

"Hell yeah, it is. I mean, I knew you cared about me because you are a horrible liar, and you wear your emotions on your sleeve. But I wasn't sure if it was love or if you could ever love me." I kissed back up her body until we were face to face again.

Brooke cupped one side of my face, her thumb stroking along my jawline. "I do, Ilya. I love you. Once I was able to let go of my anger, there was just one feeling that remained. Love."

That shocked me. I never expected to hear those words barely a week out from her witnessing me kill my uncle in her living room. "I love you too, Brooke. This means we will get married, does it not?"

She grinned. "You don't waste time, do you?"

"Thanks to Oleg and my own actions, we have lost so much time already. I don't want to waste more time, not when we love each other. When we have our amazing daughter to love. And maybe, one day, more children to care for." I wiggled my brows and Brooke pulled me close and laughed.

"Yes, Ilya. I will marry you."

My body relaxed against hers and I pressed a hard kiss to her soft lips.

"But not soon." She gripped my face and kissed me again. "Not because I don't want to marry you, but because we have to think about Karina. She's loves you already, but this is new, and it is a big change in her life."

"Both of your lives." She'd admitted to me she'd barely dated over the years and hadn't slept with anyone but me.

"Yes, but this is about her and what is best for her. She still has nightmares. I just want to go slow."

That was the last thing I wanted, but I respected her as well as her reasons. "Okay. Does that mean you won't wear my ring?"

She grinned and arched a brow. "What ring?"

I licked my lips and leaned in close to kiss her again while I reached into the nightstand and pulled out the blue box that had been burning a hole in my trouser pocket for days. "This ring," I answered when I pulled away from her lips and kissed her neck and her shoulder, down her arm until I reached her hand. "This ring is my promise to you. You have my heart. Hell, you are my heart, and I will spend every day for the rest of my life protecting you and our family. That includes your chatty best friend and surly brother."

She laughed. "And Uncle Dmitri and Grandpa Alexei?"

I nodded. Karina had fallen for Dmitri's father the moment she met him and deemed him an honorary grandfather. And the old man, for his part, was happy to tell her stories of growing up in Russia with his best friend, my father. "Yes, yes, all of them."

"Then yes, I will happily wear your ring, Ilya."

I slipped the ring onto her finger and kissed her hand. "You are mine, Brooke. Forever and always, we will be united."

"Until I draw my last breath." Her voice was shaky with emotion.

"Even after that, Brooke, you will always be mine. I will forever be yours."

"Who knew you were such a romantic." Her eyes were filled with a love that stole my breath.

"Now you know," I whispered back.

Brooke wiggled her brows. "Nothing is hotter than a sexy man who isn't afraid to show his heart," she purred, and pushed at my chest. "A big, sexy, tough guy who knows exactly how to make my heart skip a beat." She kissed my chin and down my neck to my chest. "Who's willing to wait for the sake of our little girl," she whispered, and kissed my belly and then lower. "I love it just as much as I love you, Ilya." And then she showed me how much she loved me with her mouth. She tortured me as she took me to the back of her throat, licked my balls, and then she hummed until I exploded in her mouth.

She owned every fucking piece of me, and I loved it.

I loved her.