him.
Gaston actually did laugh this time. Moving even closer, wanting to pick up the chair that stood between them and toss it to the side. He understood that she needed the barrier, so he stopped right in front of it. “You didn’t.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared back at him. “I think you’re a bit too confident for my peace of mind.”
He leaned forward, his hands sliding into his pockets to keep his hands from reaching out and pulling her into his arms. “You like my confidence.”
She huffed at that, but silently admitted that he was right. There was definitely something about his arrogance, that part of him that had absolute control and authority for everything around him, that she liked. She stiffened and tilted her head slightly. “You don’t control me.”
His eyes lit at that challenge and he leaned down even further. “I could,” he said very softly, very seductively. “Want me to prove it?” he suggested, his eyes slipping downward, looking at her lips…then lower. His grin widened when he noticed her breasts, the indentation of her nipples through the soft, pink sweater she was wearing. When his eyes moved back to look down at hers, she knew he’d seen the evidence of her arousal. “I think I just did.”
Elana wanted to contradict him, but her body was responding too quickly to his words, and the thoughts she could easily see in his eyes when he looked at her. “I might have…” she started to say but he simply shook his head, his eyes daring her to lie to him again. She stopped in mid-sentence, knowing that she couldn’t lie to him very well. “I just don’t want you to take me for granted,” she explained softly, her body language changing, becoming more welcoming even if she didn’t realize it. “I want to know that…” she stammered at how to explain her needs.
“That I love you?” he finished for her.
Her eyes snapped back up to his. “Yes,” she whispered.
“And that I’ll never leave you?”
She started shivering, terrified of asking him for that assurance.
“Yes,” she finally said, barely audible.
She wasn’t sure how he accomplished it, but the chair was no longer between them. His hands simply reached out for her and she willingly stepped into his arms, more than willing to feel as well as hear his assurance. “I love you, Elana. And I promise to spend the next fifty years trying to make up to you my stupidity for believing a picture I should have known wasn’t giving me the whole story,” he said, his hands holding her so tightly she could barely breathe.
Elana didn’t care about breathing though. All she wanted was to feel him, to revel in his strength and know that he was hers and hers alone. “Why did you do that to us?” she demanded, her cheek against his chest as he held her close.
“I was an idiot,” was all he said, pulling her up against him. “But don’t let me do this to us again,” he commanded, lifting her up so that he could kiss her. “Marry me, Elana!” he growled before his mouth covered hers.
Since she couldn’t answer him, she just kissed him back, reveling in his power and the extraordinary way he could make her feel.
When he lifted his head and gave her a moment to breathe, he lowered her feet to the floor and pulled a ring out of his pocket. He didn’t ask this time but instead, slid the ring onto her finger, then looked down at her, daring her to take it off.
Elana looked at the beautiful ring and a tear slipped from her lashes. “It’s beautiful,” she said, her voice shaky with emotion.
Gaston watched with fascination as she rubbed a long, elegant finger over the diamond. “When will you marry me?” he asked.
She laughed and shook her head. “The last time we were together, we talked about a big, church wedding.”
He took a deep breath and rubbed his hands over her arms. “Is that what you want?” All he wanted was to get her into a church so he could marry her and know that she was his. He didn’t care who was there or any of the extraneous things that went along with an elaborate wedding but if she wanted one with all the bells and whistles, she’d have it.
Placing her hand in the middle of his chest, she looked at the lovely ring and smiled through her tears of happiness. “I want