Page 97 of Pride: Kneel Before None

“Ace, what is that?” I asked, my voice coming out breathy with desire.

He smirked. “You need to ask?”

I let out a small laugh. “Not talking about your dick.”

“Neither am I,” he murmured.

Digging a hand into his pants pocket, he removed the rigid object that had been uncomfortable against me. Lifting his hand, a bronze box appeared in his palm with a bow, forged from the same metal, tied on top.

Swinging from one of the loops, a small tag read "17".

Box seventeen.

My eyes bounced between his face and the box, looking for any sign of what was coming.

Ace released my throat, removing the lid to reveal the contents inside.

A massive diamond sat at the center of the ring, its flawless facets catching the Superbian sunlight and throwing brilliant shards of light across the barren wasteland around us. It was surrounded by a lavish halo of deep purple sapphires, each one cut to perfection and set so closely together they formed a crown of violet fire around the diamond.

You would have thought that would have been enough. But I wasn’t just any girl, and Ace knew it.

Smaller purple sapphires continued down the band, nestled between rows of glittering diamonds that wrapped completely around it. Whatever impossibly expensive metal he'd chosen was nearly lost beneath the sheer number of stones.

It screamed extravagance.

It practically wore an obscene price tag.

It was the pinnacle of luxury.

And it was exactly what I deserved.

He let me soak in every impeccable detail, never wavering in his stance.

Eventually, he lifted the ring from the box, discarding the metal cube to the side as though he knew he’d never need it again.

Taking my left hand, he held the ring at the tip of my fourth finger. Ace met my eyes, the hunger in his gaze eclipsed by something deeper—the embodiment of the vow he’d made to me in the grotto.

“I’m not asking, and I’m not kneeling, Little Spade.”

I swallowed thickly past the emotions catching in my throat, my heart racing as my Knight held our future in his hands.

Ace held the ring steady as I moved my hand, sliding my finger through the band until it settled at the base.

“You’re all mine now,” I whispered, meeting his eyes.

A slow, knowing smile curved his mouth.

Because spades didn’t ask for what they wanted.

They took it.

He brought a hand to the side of my neck, resting there as he leaned forward. Murmuring against my mouth, the heat of his breath passed over my slightly parted lips.

“Good.” A faint brush of a kiss accompanied the word, then another before he hardened his tone into something more demanding.

“Now, get in the helicopter, Little Spade. We have an empire to rebuild.”

EPILOGUE