Page 44 of Vexatious Queen

“You are not scared. You are not weak.”

“You are mine,” she added.

“I am yours,” I said, and the truth of it settled over us.

Daring to move, I reached over to my nightstand and pulled out her engagement ring. I opened the box and held it out to her.

“Put it on.”

Ren took the ring and slipped it onto her finger. I dropped the empty case back into the drawer and closed it.

“Now, I’m yours.”

“Say it again,” she said.

“I’m yours,” I told her. “No one touches you unless you allow it. No one scares you without facing me. If anyone hurts you, they die. My love is not soft, Princess, it comes with blood under my fingernails. I will tear a man’s heart out for you.”

Kissing her knuckles, I let her see the weight of my words in my eyes.

Ren dropped her feet back to the floor and wiggled her hips, pushing her shorts down her legs, leaving herself completely naked.

“Fuck me…” My voice was rough and strained.

“I plan on it, but you need to get undressed first,” she said with a grin.

Sitting up, I swung my legs over the side of the bed. Grabbing her hips, I guided her to stand between my legs and stared up at her. Fuck if I knew how we got here, but I was never going back.

Ren ran her hands through my hair before cupping my face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said, voice low. “Just deciding where I want my name on your body.”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled.

My grip tightened.

“I’m not joking.”

“You want your name tattooed on me?”

“Yeah.” I dragged my thumb over the dip of her waist, slow enough to make her breath hitch. “You can make it fancy. Add the others if you want. But my name goes first, bigger, and on top.”

Her fingers traced my jaw.

“It’s really that important to you?”

I leaned into her hand and kissed her palm.

“You have no idea. I want anyone stupid enough to look at you to know exactly whose name they’re about to choke on if they try—” I paused, sliding my hands around her body and up her spine. “To touch you.”

Ren shivered.

“They’ll see it and know exactly who is going to slit their fucking throat.”

“I’m not sure if that’s hot or insane,” Ren said, but she didn’t bolt for the door.

Just one more reason why she was perfect for me. I stood, gripping her ass and pulling her body into mine.