Page 25 of Queen’s Gambit

“Every last one,” he whispered against my skin, and I arched up into his touch. “Has anyone flirted with you?” His voice was rough with a thread of anger.

“Many,” I said, which was a lie, but I wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine.

He growled, and I melted on the spot. He could’ve done anything he wanted to me, and I wouldn’t have resisted, but that wasn’t Eddie.

“I’ll kill them. You’re mine, Ana. You’ve been mine for seven years, and I plan on making it forever.”

“Forever? Do you have a plan to get my father to agree? I’m so scared that he’ll refuse you. That he’ll force me to marry someone I can’t stand. I won’t do it, Eddie.” My eyes filled with tears.

Sitting up, Eddie brought me with him. He picked all the strands of straw from my hair before gently wiping the tears from my cheeks.

“We will find a way to be together, Ana.” Reaching into his suit jacket, he pulled out a box, and I gasped. “Is that…is that what I think it is?”

“Officially, I can’t make an offer for at least another year, but Ana…I want you to marry me. I’ll do whatever is necessary to make this moment just the beginning. My love for you has grown every day since we met years ago. Anima mia, when I picture my life, it’s not complete without you.”

I loved it when he called me that. He refused to tell me what it meant, but I looked it up once and knew that he was calling me his soul.

He cracked the lid, and there, nestled in the satin, was a beautiful gold ring with a stunning opal in the center—my birthstone. I held out my right hand so Eddie could slide it onto my finger. It was a perfect fit.

“Eddie, it’s gorgeous. I love it. I’ll never take it off.”

“This ring is my promise to you. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure I’m worthy of you.”

“Eddie, you are worthy.”

He shook his head.

“No, not yet. You’ll be eighteen in two years. I have until then to gather enough power and influence to ensure your father agrees to our marriage. If you’re not sick of me by then, of course.”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I attacked his mouth. He held me tight and for these few stolen, sacred moments the world was perfect.

“Thank God you’re here for a week. Everyday, I want to do something special with you. We need to make our time count,” I said breathlessly.

“Any time I spend with you is precious. I’m just not sure how to keep my feelings about you hidden while I’m here for so long.”

“Here? Are you staying in the house?”

“We are. We all are. Your father arranged it that way. He didn’t want our meetings to garner attention in the city. These aren’t legal dealings.”

“Well then, I’ll teach you how to sneak into my room,” I said, smiling, and moaned as he nipped my bottom lip.

“Those are instructions that I will pay very, very close attention to. But Ana…I don’t want you to think we need to have sex. In fact, I want to wait.”

“You do?”

Eddie nodded. “I want it all with you. The massive ceremony of your dreams, our parents supporting us, and a wedding night that we’ve waited to share. You have always been it for me.”

I shook my head, relieved. There was no doubt in my mind that Eddie was the love of my life, but sex…I wasn’t there yet.

“Does that mean we can’t try other things,” I asked, and Eddie smiled.

Wrapping his arm around my waist, he pulled me onto his lap, and I giggled.

“Oh, I intend on doing many things. Starting with kissing these irresistible lips.”

This time, when we kissed, every ounce of emotion I felt for this man poured out of me.

My love for Eddie burned bright like the North Star, guiding me on a dark night. But the fear that my father wouldn’t accept him loomed like a shadow in the back of my mind. We couldn’t let that happen. We were soul mates. I could feel it and I was never letting him go.