Her fingers trembled as she brushed them over the rings, then along the platinum chain. “This was for my birthday?” she whispered.

“Things were so crazy that weekend, and I was in such a rush to get to you, I forgot it on the plane. I didn’t even realize it until we were finally alone.” I touched her bare neck. “When Elias put his necklace on you, I wanted to kill him.”

She lifted her lashes, and I was gutted by the tears in her eyes. “I wish…”

“What, my heart?” I rasped. “What do you wish for? I swear I’ll make it reality.”

“I wish you hadn’t forgotten this on the plane. I wish the agony of the past month hadn’t happened.” Her chin trembled, and her words were rushed together as she whispered, “I wish you would kiss me and never stop.”

There was nothing I could do about the first two. They were in the past, and no matter how much I wanted to fix that mistake, I couldn’t. But there wasn’t a force in the world that could stop me from fulfilling her last wish.

Cupping the back of her head in one hand, I forced myself to keep the kiss gentle, knowing if I devoured her mouth the way I craved, things would get out of hand far too fast. The first soft brush of my lips over hers caused her to whimper, and she tilted her head, silently imploring me to deepen the kiss.

Without lifting my head, I snapped the box closed and shoved it back into my pocket before grabbing her hip and jerking her against me hard. Nova made an approving noise in the back of her throat, arching her body into mine, her hands tangling in my shirt, lifting it until her slightly chilled hands touched my abs. At her soft touch, my already-hard cock turned to steel, threatening to tear through the seam of my pants leg.

Pressing her back into the stone half wall, I lifted one of her legs up over mine, angling her so my cock could press perfectly into her center. Thank fuck her dress had a slit all the way up her thigh, ending just below her panties. That slit would have gotten a few men killed earlier in the night if she hadn’t been wearing the long black coat to cover it.

The sound of people counting down below didn’t reach my ears as I made love to her mouth. I didn’t see the flashing lights of the fireworks above us or hear the cheers and singing that followed. I could only see the one who owned my heart, could only hear our labored breathing and soft groans of pleasure. We were all alone in the world. Us and this moment that I would remember with complete clarity until the day I died.

28

Nova

Holding the two Russian rings between my thumb and index finger, I threaded them back and forth along the chain around my neck. Playing with the charms gave me something to do with my hands as I sat beside Ryan on the jet flying me home. What I really wanted to do was get lost in another kiss like we had the night before. My lips, along with the rest of my body, still tingled from the memory of it.