Sophia mustered all her courage and cupped his jaw with her hand and whispered on his lips, “I love you, Alistair Connor, meu amor.”

A sudden light flooded his body and soul, pulverizing to dust the remaining shields he had built over the years, leaving him dazzled at the brightness of his feelings. He blinked, too startled to believe his ears.

I love you. Those three words were Alistair’s undoing. She loves me. She. Loves. Me.

He drew her gently into his arms and his lips closed over hers in a loving kiss. Alistair was all feeling.

Breaking the kiss, he breathlessly asked on her lips, with his eyes closed, “Say it again.”

“Eu te amo, Alistair Connor. I love you,” she murmured. “And... Yes... Heaven help me, us... I will marry you.”

Amen. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to shout it to the world. He opened his eyes and looked at her. My Beauty. Mine.

“Give me your hand, please,” he asked, as happy as he had ever been in his whole life. He gently held her hand and he could feel her pulse beating as unevenly as his. He took off the Cartier ring and slipped on his mother’s on her slim finger.

She held her hand up and watched the diamonds flash in the afternoon light. “It’s perfect,” she breathed, “as you are. I hope I’ll always be worthy of your mother’s memory.”

“You are and you will.” He stood and held out his hand, inviting her to join him.

He framed her face in his big hands and slowly dropped his head to kiss her. He let himself be surrounded by her familiar taste and her scent.

“Alistair Connor,” Sophia moaned, her arms encompassing his waist. How could I ever think of saying no? How could I ever think of living away from you? “Make love to me.”

In a heartbeat, their kiss changed from gentle to ravenous, her fingers tangled in his hair and his free hand found her breast.

Sophia had missed his lips, his hands. His touch sent a shock through her spine.

She wanted him to undress her, to rip her clothes off, to fling her on the bed and have his wicked way with her. Her hands untied her caftan.

But he would not let her have her way. He stopped her.

He wanted this to be good. Perfect. He would spend his whole life showing her how much he loved her.

One of his hand cupped her nape and slanted her head so he could have better access to her mouth, while the other caressed her breast.

Ever so gently, his hands lowered her caftan and swimsuit to her waist, baring her shoulders to his mouth.

The sheer material of her caftan floated down on to the floor, skimming her legs, sending jolts of awareness over her skin. The erotic sensation made her moan.

His green eyes flashed with lust and love, telling her exactly what he was feeling as he helped her out of the swimsuit.

The warmth of his chest scorched her, heightening the melting sensation that always came over her when he was in charge. The blood in her veins heated up to burning lava.

Sophia’s hands encompassed his neck, bringing him even closer, her breasts tickling his muscular chest. Softness and hardness. She slipped her tongue along his bottom lip and bit it, returning his soft kiss, drawing his hard body onto hers, inviting, inciting. She needed to quench her thirst; she needed to fill the void his absence had left.

He broke the kiss, to have a better look at her, running his fingers tenderly over her face, reconnecting, admiring.

For a moment that seemed to last forever, there was only the sound of their breathing and the thud of his heart, roaring in his ears. He had never felt this freedom, this unfettered happiness which he recognized for what it really was.

This is what so few find at the end of the rainbow. Bliss. Utter bliss. Undiluted, unconditional love. “I love you.”

The masculine smell of him overwhelmed her and his body called to her. His lips hovered over her face in a gentle caress, casting a spell over them. The pleasure his lips demanded from her coursed through Sophia’s veins. It snatched her up. It spiked her senses. It brought her home.

“Please,” she moaned and arched beneath his hand, her nipple had tightened to a firm bud. Incandescent fire spread through her veins.

“There is no hurry.”

“You always say that,” Sophia complained as his fingers stroked, gently kneading until his thumb and forefinger rolled her nipple.

He laughed, delighted and traced her jaw with his tongue, nibbling at her earlobe and whispered, “Slow is better.”

His mouth moved down her throat and to her collarbone, where he paused to take a small bite, in a sensuous and sinful caress that drew a loud moan from her.

She tugged on his hair, “Fast is good too.”

“Greedy, wanton woman,” he murmured on her lips. Hesitantly, he touched her back and she moaned softly on his lips, encouraging him and took his mouth in a deeper and lustful kiss.

He returned the kiss, but there was still restraint in him, as if he was unwilling to turn all of himself over to her.

Even as she hated it, she understood why he held back. Desire made her press harder onto his body, slanting her mouth against his, her nails grazing down his back till one hand cupped his butt and the other pressed down on his hard erection, trying to break the last bit of his control.

“Tell me you want me,” he asked. He needed to hear the words.

“I want you,” Sophia breathed as her hands slid inside his shorts. “I love you, Alistair Connor. I’m yours to take.”

The words were soft but unmistakable. Unbound pleasure erupted within him at her admission.

“And I’m yours,” he answered, just as softly.

He didn’t dare carry her in his arms afraid of hurting her back. Putting his hands on her waist and kissing her again, blindly he guided her to the bed.

She wanted him so badly, she was crazy with lust. She felt how hard he was for her when she pressed onto him.

Fuck. This is going to be awkward. He paused on the edge of the bed, took off his shorts and, with his hands on her hips, turned her away from him. Removing her hair from her back, he kissed the welts one by one.

He was touched by the lengths Sophia had gone to see if their relationship could work. What she did was a sign of her love for him. A sign he wanted to wipe away immediately, if he could. “I’m so sorry, Sophia.”

She turned. She didn’t want him to see the marks on her back.

“It’s doesn’t hurt that much,” she whispered on his lips as she pushed him onto the edge of the bed and straddled him.

He started kissing her anew, more decadently this time, running his tongue along her lips before moving to her throat, licking and biting lightly, letting her feel his arousal trapped between their stomachs.

“Yes!” Sophia gasped at the passionate way he touched her. This is my Alistair Connor. This is the man I love.

“You have such strong hands,” she whispered as he placed them on her hips.

“And you are so soft,” he whispered against her neck. “So fragile.”

“And you’re hard as a rock,” she replied, running her hands over his broad shoulders and down his muscular biceps.

He was an intriguing combination of silk and steel; she would never get enough. Sophia touched his face, holding it as she kissed him.

He grunted with deep masculine satisfaction as he made his way to a breast. He could feel she was as hungry for him as he was for her, but he was determined that this time would be all about her. He lapped and nibbled on her nipple and then took it all in his mouth, sucking it with hard tugs that reverberated between her thights.

“Alistair Connor.” His name left her lips in a husky moan when she lowered herself on his erection. Being with him felt so right, so perfect, she couldn’t imagine being any place else. She thrust her hands into his hair, entwining the silky long strands around her fingers. “I missed you.”

This is where I belong. He groaned possessively with delight as her tight walls sheathed him. He opened his eyes and looked down at her yellow diamond ones, “You are my private paradise.”

“And you are my pagan god,” she replied, bringing his head down to kiss him long and hard.

Alistair was resolved to conquer all of her, to make her so giddy with desire and passion she would never think about leaving him again.

“Yes,” she whispered and arched on his mouth as he licked his way to the other breast and she slowly moved up and down.

Alistair groaned in response as his hands gripped her hips, making her go faster. “Mine, Sophia. You are mine!”

“Ah. Yes,” Sophia cried.

He opened his eyes to look at her. He hardened even more at the sight of her raven hair spilling around her lightly tanned skin, her head thrown back in pleasure. Fuck, yes!

“Come with me. I’m close,” she demanded, lifting her hips higher and sinking down, riding him fast. “I’m-”

Suddenly, it was there.

Her internal muscles clamped around him, her hands gripped his hair hard, as a thrill rippled through her, making her come hard, screaming his name on his lips.

It was a call he could not resist.

They climaxed in unison as her moment triggered his and he plunged deep, holding her down for several moments as his orgasm overwhelmed all rational thought.

He collapsed back on the bed, taking her with him.

Sophia was too tired to move, to even open her eyes. Her bones felt as if they’d melted and every nerve was numb and relaxed.

He caressed her hair, grinning as relief roared through him and love swaggered in its wake. She is mine.