Ignoring the most important part of that question, he exclaimed with triumph as he brought her into his arms. “You’re saying yes!”
“I’m saying slow down. I haven’t given you my answer yet.”
Pulling his head back with pretended affront, Diego asked, “Are you blackmailing me?”
“Whatever it takes,” she confirmed, straight-faced.
“Can I persuade you to give me a definitive answer to the question of whether or not you will be my bride?”
She shivered with arousal. “I’m sure you can.”
He lifted her. “Celina Petrovka,” Diego murmured against her mouth as she wrapped her legs around his body. “Will you marry me?”
“Now that’s plain unfair,” she groaned as he began to tease her with just the tip of his erection.
“And your answer is?” he demanded, keeping up the torment as she whimpered in his arms
“Yes,” she exclaimed on a rush of breath as he took her deep.
“What was that? I didn’t quite hear you.”
“I said yes!” she yelled for all the world to hear. “I will marry you,” she confirmed in desperation when he paused. “But I have to tell you that if you continue to tease me like this, we may never get out of the shower.”
“Not until you wear my ring,” he agreed, angling his stubble-shaded chin to give her a wicked grin. “Oh, and this ring too.”
“Another ring?” she said as he lowered her to the ground.
“But not for your finger,” he said as opened his fist to reveal the diamond hoop.
“That’s a wicked gift.”
“And the first of many, I suspect,” Diego suggested.
She stared in wonder as he slipped the fabulous jeweled band onto her marriage finger. She’d never owned such fabulous jewels before. She’d never owned anything before. She’d never experienced such wicked sex before. She’d never been loved before. “I don’t know what to say,” she admitted.
“How about, I love you?” he suggested with a wry smile.
And then he devoured her with kisses and gave her all the pleasure she could wish for, and when he finally released her, he got down on one knee. Taking both her hands in his, he asked, “What have I done to deserve this?”
“Been a very bad boy?” she suggested.
As Diego grinned, she saw the love she’d been searching for all her life reflected in his eyes. “I love you with all my heart,” she said, “and I promise I will learn to be a lady.”
“Don’t you dare change into anything,” he insisted. “Ladies don’t do this, or this—”
“Diego!”
“Don’t change a single thing,” he whispered against her mouth an instant before he took her again, “because I love you just the way you are.”
Epilogue
“How did this happen?” Celina asked Amber. She was staring at her transformation from ordinary girl to extraordinarily loved-up woman. She was about to marry the man of her dreams and was checking her reflection in the full-length mirror in her guest suite at Amber and Alexei’s fabulous beachside home. Alexei had offered to walk her down the aisle when Amber had refused the chance, saying she would never ever give Celina away, though she would be more than happy to act as a bridesmaid.
“You fell in love,” Amber told her with a shrug. “You didn’t just get in touch with your emotions,” she added with an approving grin. “You slammed them to the canvas and pinned them down for a count of ten.”
“Hugged them tight,” Celina whispered distractedly as Amber swooped down to arrange the delicate Swiss lace train that flowed from the chic Parisian gown Diego’s colleagues on the Blood and Thunder team had insisted they would buy as a wedding gift for her, to thank Celina for what they said was her invaluable contribution to the team. Even the sternest of them, Cesar, had added that she more than deserved it.
“You look absolutely beautiful,” Amber murmured as she straightened up.