Taking a deep breath, he held up the ring he’d been hiding in the soap dish while he washed her. It was an antique three carat yellow diamond surrounded by two rows of rose cut white diamonds and flanked on either side by perfectly matched white diamond baguettes. On the day he’d returned to the United States to bring her home he’d bought the ring and had been waiting ever since, letting Rya get used to him and hopefully grow to love Russia enough to say yes. He didn’t want her to feel trapped here, ever, but he couldn’t wait any longer.
“Rya, will you marry me?”
Her hands shook as she cupped her fingers over her lips. “What?”
Nerves tried to make him move off his knees, but he steeled himself. “I wish to marry you, Rya. To make you my wife. To let the world know that my heart belongs to you and you belong to me.”
“Dimitri…”
The hesitation in her voice was like a fist to his heart. “You do not want me?”
“No, no I want you. I just…it’s been a long day. I can barely stand let alone think.”
“What is there to think of? You love me, you marry me.”
She slowly shook her head. “I do love you, but we need to talk about what my future with you would be like, especially now that you’re the leader of the Novikov Bratva.”
“I will give the responsibility to Alex if you want me to.” The little muffled pained noise she made worried him and he stood, holding her close. “Shhh, is no time limit. Think about it.”
Shaking her head, she clung to him. “I want to say yes, but I’m scared.”
“I’m sorry I failed in protecting you, zaika moya.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about. What if you die and I’m left alone? How am I supposed to live without you? You’re my heart, Dimitri.”
“Lyubimaya, please marry me. I would die without you as well.”
She leaned back in his arms and studied his face. Such sorrow filled her gaze that he feared she was going to leave him, but when she smiled all the jagged holes in his heart filled with her light. “Yes, Dimitri Novikov, I will marry you. But, I want a big wedding with my friends and family here.”
He would have given her a wedding on the moon at this point if that is what she wanted. Before she could change her mind he slipped the yellow diamond onto her ring finger and let out a harsh sigh. “Mine.”
She began to giggle, then outright laugh. “Mine? How about I love you.”
“Is what mine means. You are mine, I never wanted anything more. You are the love of my life, Rya, and I am unbelievably blessed to have you.”
Standing up on her tiptoes, he obligingly tilted his head down so he could kiss her. “Rya Marie Novikov, my wife.”
Kissing him lightly, she bounced back on her toes, making her breasts move in a most distracting manner. “I have to go call my Mom. And Tawny, and my cousins, and…”
He picked her up and positioned her so that her pussy ground against his abdominals. “Later.”
She tilted her head back beneath the shower, the water making her gorgeous body gleam. As he shifted her so he could slip gently into her sex, she shivered lightly and whispered, “Later. Love me, Dimitri.”
“Always, zaika moya.”