Page 8 of Bound in Matrimony
She swallows, her pulse visibly quickening at the base of her throat. "And what if I said I need more time?"
I stroke her cheek, feeling the warmth of her skin beneath my fingers. "Then I would ask what you need time for. To decide if you want me? We both know that's not a question. To prepare emotionally? You've been mine since the first night I took you in my bed. Time won't change what already exists between us, Seraphina."
"You're very sure of yourself," she murmurs, but she's leaning into my touch.
"I'm sure of us." I draw her closer, my hand splaying possessively over her rounded belly. "Three days. Saturday at sunset. Say yes."
She sighs, a soft exhalation that carries the last of her resistance away. "You'd just make it happen even if I said no, wouldn't you?"
"I'd convince you." I brush my lips against her temple. "I can be very persuasive when something matters to me. And nothing has ever mattered more than making you my wife."
She turns her face up to mine, her eyes clear and direct. "Yes."
The single word sends a surge of triumph through me more potent than any business acquisition, any market conquest. I capture her mouth with mine, sealing her agreement with a kiss that promises everything—protection, possession, pleasure.
When I finally release her, she's breathless, her cheeks flushed. "I need to call my mother," she whispers. "She'll have a heart attack when she hears."
"She already knows." I stand, pulling Seraphina to her feet. "I called your parents before I called Elise. Your father has given his blessing."
She stares at me in astonishment. "You asked my father for permission?"
"Not permission." I correct her with a slight smile. "Notification. I was informing him of my intentions, not seeking his approval."
She laughs again, shaking her head. "You're impossible."
"No," I pull her against me, one hand tangling in her hair to tip her face up to mine. "I'm determined. And in three days, Seraphina Vale, you'll be Seraphina Vance. My wife. Mine in every way that exists."
She shivers slightly in my arms, and I know it's not from fear or reluctance. It's from the same certainty that burns in my blood—the knowledge that our union is inevitable, has been from the moment our eyes first met across her gallery.
"Three days," she whispers, and it sounds like a promise.
Chapter Four
Seraphina
My fingers trembleas I take Knox's face between my palms. The stubble on his jaw scrapes against my skin, sending familiar shivers down my spine. His dark eyes bore into mine with that intensity that still makes my knees weak, even after everything we've been through. I've spent my entire adult life analyzing brushstrokes and color palettes, but nothing I've ever studied compares to the masterpiece of his face when he looks at me like I'm the only woman in existence.
"Say it again," he whispers, his voice rough with emotion. We're standing in his penthouse—our penthouse now, I suppose—with the lights of Manhattan twinkling beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows like earthbound stars.
"I want to marry you, Knox." The words come easier this time than when he first proposed three days ago and I stood frozen, terrified by the magnitude of what he was offering. "I want to be your wife."
He doesn't smile, not exactly. Knox Vance doesn't do something as simple as smile when he's feeling this much.Instead, his expression transforms, softens around the edges while simultaneously becoming more intense at the center—like a photograph where only the subject is in focus and everything else blurs away.
"I need more than want, Seraphina." His hands slide around my waist, pulling me against the hard wall of his chest. "I need to know you're certain. That you're not going to wake up tomorrow and decide this was a mistake."
The old me—the woman I was before Knox crashed into my carefully curated life—would have hedged, would have asked for time to think it through, to make endless pro and con lists and consult with trusted friends. That woman was always afraid of making the wrong choice.
But that woman never knew what it felt like to be loved by Knox Vance.
"I'm certain." I twist the emerald ring he placed on my finger, still getting used to its considerable weight. "I've never been more certain of anything."
His eyes narrow slightly. "You hesitated when I asked you."
"I did," I admit, because lying to Knox is pointless. He reads me like I'm a first edition with extra-large print. "I was scared."
"And now?"
"Still scared," I whisper, watching his jaw tighten. Before he can pull away, I press closer. "But not of marrying you. I'm scared of how much I need you. How completely you've taken over every corner of my life. My heart. How I can't imagine breathing properly if you weren't in my world."
