“You have every right to be angry?—”
“Trust me, I am aware.” He was angry…for so many reasons. His emotions were a vortex that threatened his self-control. “This is why you refused to commit to me? Because you’re the daughter of a criminal?”
“My mother isn’t an ordinary criminal.” Her voice quivered. “She is vicious and cruel—a monster.”
The storm in him raged as he recalled what she’d told the bawd. His Xenia—beaten, starved,chainedby her own mother because she refused to participate in a life of felony. He’d always known that she was a survivor…he just hadn’t realized the extent of what she’d survived.
“If she finds me, she’ll destroy everything I care about. Everyone I love.” Xenia’s gaze turned distant and blank. “She murdered my papa when he tried to take me away. When I escaped again, she found me and killed my friend Mr. Trelawney. All he’d done was give me a job. I couldn’t let that happen to you.”
“Because you love me.” He said it for her.
Her gaze snapped to his, and he saw the life coming back.
“Yes.” Her face held painful longing. “Having an affair with you was wrong, and I knew it. I knew from the start that you deserved better. Yet I was selfish and fell in love with you anyway. I told myself I would leave at the first sign of trouble?—”
“But you didn’t. Why?”
He had to know.
“Because…” Her voice hitched, a tear spilling over. “Because you are worth fighting for.”
“So are you, Xenia.” He took her in his arms, feeling the sobs that racked her body. “I would lay down my life for you.”
“That’s what I am afraid of. If my mother finds me, she will try to take me back. And if you stand in her way?—”
“I will handle your mother.” He thumbed away a tear. “Trust me?”
“I do, Ethan.” She bit her lip, her eyes searching his. “But can you trustme, after everything? I swear I was only trying to protect you.”
He raised a brow. “From Sirena?”
“I was wrong to keep that from you,” she said humbly. “I didn’t realize it was you until your second visit, and by then I was so attracted to you that I was afraid to tell you how I earned my living. I was afraid that you would reject me. But I swear that I quit after that second time. Do you…do you still want me, knowing the work I’ve done?”
“I won’t say I like it,” he said with blunt honesty. “But I understand you had to do what you did to survive. All I want is your promise that I’m the only one you share your fantasies with from now on.”
“I promise,” she said fervently. “You’re the only one with whom my fantasies were real. You’re the only man I’ve ever loved.”
“Then promise you’ll be mine. Marry me, Xenia.”
“I will, Ethan.” Her voice cracked. “If you still want me.”
“I want you,” he said fiercely. “I love you.”
A sob left her. “I love you. More than anything.”
Triumph surged over him, and he closed his mouth over hers, sealing his claim.
Giddy with love, Xenia basked in Ethan’s kiss.
Somehow, disaster had turned to victory, the heavy shackles of the past dropping from her. Even though the man of her dreams knew who she was and what she’d done, he still thought her worthy of his love. He accepted her and forgave the mistakes she’d made and those that had been forced upon her. There was no longer a need to pretend because her wildest dreams had come true.
Joy and gratitude flooded her. She was free at last. Free to love.
She kissed her beloved with all the passion singing in her veins. What began as a tender reunion soon turned into a wilder, darker need to claim. They ate at each other’s mouths, their tongues swirling and tangling. She pressed up against him, reveling in his hard strength. Her nipples pulsed against his chest, and her pussy fluttered with yearning.
She wanted to be his in all ways. To belong to him irrevocably.
She slid her hand between them and cupped the thick ridge of his erection. “I want you, darling,” she whispered. “Make love to me.”
