Claim

32

Hours after the last guest had left Ludis, hours after Lyon and Kira had stumbled into the Honeymoon Suite at the Four Seasons, tipsy on happiness, he held her in his arms, the sound of the city muffled beyond the hotel’s walls.

“We should sleep,” he said into her hair. Tomorrow they would be married at the house in Lake Forest. It would be a long and happy day before they were back in the suite to celebrate their wedding night, one precious night before he faced the consequences, whatever they may be, of Ivan’s execution.

“I’m too happy to sleep,” Kira said.

He felt the same way, and a thread of unease wound its way through his body. After years of being alone, of resigning himself to a lifetime alone, he’d stumbled into the love of his life with a woman he’d never dreamed would return his affection. That she did, that she loved him, that she wanted to build a family and a life with him, still felt too good to be true.

He couldn’t help feeling like it might be snatched away at any moment.

“You’re quiet,” she said, drawing circles on his bare chest with her fingertip. “Which means you’re either observing, plotting, or worrying, and since there’s not much to observe at the moment, it must be one of the other two.”

He chuckled. “You know me too well.”

“So?” she asked. “Which is it?”

He reached down and squeezed her bare ass under the cover. “Well, I’m always plotting.”

She laughed, then grew silent. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I’m just thinking about how much has changed in the past year.” He didn’t want to dampen her spirits with his worry. “And it’s all because of you.”

“I could say the same. I wasn’t looking forward to marrying the Lion.”

“I can’t imagine why not,” he said drily.

“You’ve certainly surprised me,” she said, her fingers slipping below the covers to trail over his cock. “In more ways than one.”

He groaned as his erection stirred to life under her touch, then reached down to still her hand. If he allowed it, they would do nothing but fuck. It was all too easy to get lost in the paradise of her body.

But there were things he wanted to say. One thing, in particular.

“I love you, Kira.”

She sat up and looked down at him. “I love you too.”

He drew in a breath and shook his head. “No, I mean I really love you. Truly. Madly. Deeply.”

He wouldn’t have thought it possible a year ago. She’d been untouchable, and deep down he’d been convinced her imperious attitude was justified, that she was too good for him.

She cupped his face in her hands, and her hair fell around them like a silken curtain. “Lyon…”

She kissed him slowly, taking her time, like she was mapping new territory when they must have kissed a thousand times in the last three months.

Something gave way in his heart, like an iceberg falling into the sea. Maybe it was the last of his unworthiness. Or maybe he was just being idealistic.

All he knew was that he felt liberated from the darkness that had held him captive all his life, and Kira was the savior who held the key.

“I wish I could take you on a proper honeymoon,” he said.

“I don’t care,” she said stroking his cheek. “I just want to be with you.”

“Where would you go?” he asked her. “If you could choose anywhere in the world for a honeymoon?”

“Hmmm…” She looked at the ceiling. “Maybe the Maldives, someplace where there’s nothing but sand and blue water and you. Naked, of course.”

He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “That’s what we’ll do then, when this is all over.”

“What about the baby?” she asked with a smile.

“We’ll do it before the baby comes,” he said.

Worry furrowed her forehead. “What if the bratva isn’t settled by then?”

He thought about their child, growing strong inside Kira’s belly. Their baby wouldn’t be born into a world where Lyon was fighting for his life.

He wouldn’t allow it.

“It will be,” he said. “I promise.”

Ne davshi slova…

The words, said in his father’s voice, drifted to him on the breeze of memory.

Don’t make promises you can’t keep.

He tried to banish them from his mind as Kira tucked herself back into his side, but they wouldn’t leave him, and he fell asleep trying to decide if it was paranoia or an omen of things to come.