Bought for Her Innocence

by Tara Pammi

  “And if I do ask you to marry me again, not to protect you, but because I love you?”

  “You’re not playing another game with me, are you?”

  “No, pethi mou. I’ve been counting the days, waiting to show you how much I need you... I thought I would show you that you’ve changed me already. Irrevocably.”

  “Wait, that’s what you’ve been doing? Selling your bike and yacht?”

  “For years, I filled myself with expensive toys that gave nothing but fleeting pleasure, with women who made me feel nothing but an echo. But with you... You have made me see that I never forgave myself. That I never thought myself worthy of anything meaningful, even though Giannis tried his hardest to tell me that it wasn’t my fault that she had died.”

  Her chest aching for the boy he had been, Jasmine embraced him with everything she had. “It wasn’t your fault, Dmitri. Just as it wasn’t my duty to sacrifice my life over Andrew’s and my mother’s mistakes. I want to live this life for me and I want to live it with you.”

  “I will wait as long as it takes. I will spend my entire life showing you that I love you.” He kissed her so softly then tenderly, as if he was determined to fill all the lonely places inside her with his love. “I love you, matia mou. I love you so much that the world itself feels colorless without you.

  “Marry me, Jas. Marry me because I want you to be mine eternally. Marry me because I need you. I need you to make me laugh, to make me feel, because I need you to love me every day for the rest of our lives.”

  Her heart overflowing, Jas buried her face in his chest. Fear still pulsed through her, but it was a soft echo rather than the raging growl it had been when she had come in. They would make this work; they loved each other too much for it to fail. “I love you, too, Dmitri. I want to wake up with you. I want you to help me figure out what the hell I’m going to do with my life. I want to grow old with you. I want to be a part of the family you have with Leah and Stavros. I want to spend forever with you.”

  “Then, you will,” he said before crushing her mouth. “I promise, Jas. I will never treat you as if you were something to be protected. I will never shower you with gifts and riches instead of my heart.”

  “Your kisses, those are all I want,” she moaned, air already an alien concept.

  “Those you will have, in abundance, and in every imaginable place. Remember how you promised you would give me anything I wanted?”

  Her reckless offer pulsed in the air around them, turning his eyes into a stormy sky.

  “Would you dance for me one night? Just once, Jas,” he said softly, but it didn’t hide the guttural quality of his voice.

  She braced herself, but instead of that usual wash of shame that had always flooded her, something else filled her.

  Anticipation, joy, even a sense of power. Wrapping her arms around his nape, she pressed herself into his chest wantonly, reveling in the thunderstorm she could unleash in his eyes. “For the man I love? I would do anything, Dmitri.”

  With a smile that set her nerves on fire, Dmitri picked her up and walked over to the sitting area. And while Athens burned bright around them, he made love to her so tenderly, so softly that Jas fell in love all over again.

  EPILOGUE

  JASMINE WOKE UP with a huge smile on her face and then realized it was Christmas morning. Her first Christmas with Dmitri and a happy one after a long time, she thought, lazily soaking up the warmth of the Egyptian cotton sheets.

  Her smile turned into a frown as she remembered her upcoming three-week trip to New York in January.

  If truth be told, she had been more excited about seeing New York than her photo shoot. And now, even the attractions of the city that never slept paled in the face of not seeing Dmitri for so long.

  Would Dmitri come to New York if she asked him?

  Imagining all the ways she could try to convince him, she quickly showered in the en suite and dressed in a red-and-white sleeveless knee-length collared dress. She quickly braided her wet hair, applied some lip gloss and went in search of Dmitri.

  The atrium gleamed in the morning sunlight, the sound of voices drawing her to the cozily contemporary kitchen.

  There was no fire in the fireplace, but a four-foot Christmas tree, complete with ornaments and lights, stood near it.

  Tears filled her eyes as Jas looked at it. She had spent so many Christmases trying to convince first her mother and then Andrew that they had more than most people in the world had—each other. But nothing had ever made a difference. Lost to their own weaknesses, she had never made a difference to them.

  And after Andrew had been gone, she had been so lonely that even thinking of Christmas had been painful.

  Strong arms encircled her from behind.

  “Merry Christmas, yineka mou,” he whispered, before turning her around and kissing her with a tender warmth that chased away some of the pain.

  Wrapping her arms around his neck, Jas sank into his kiss. She nibbled at his lower lip, dueled with her tongue, poured every bit of herself into it.

  And he returned everything, his hands roaming around her back, whispering promises of forever.

  Holding her at arm’s length, he stared at her for a long time and caught one of the tears that had escaped. “I’m so sorry about him, Jas. I wish I had saved him for you.”

  Jasmine shook her head, knowing that it was a habit that she had to cure Dmitri of slowly. That protective instinct was in his genes. “I wish he had saved himself, Dmitri. But no, I don’t want to ruin Christmas morning with—”

  “Merry Christmas, Jasmine,” Leah said from behind her, a beaming smile on her lips.

  Tears coming to her eyes again, this time happy ones, Jasmine returned Leah’s fierce hug. And then Stavros’s.

  They all chattered at once and then Dmitri tugged her toward him. “Is it okay that I invited them over? I knew how happy they would be for us.”

  Jasmine kissed him again. She couldn’t seem to stop. “Absolutely. Dmitri, I have a trip to—”

  “New York, I know. If you agree, I will fly out the week after your shoot and we can see the city together. You will adore New York.”

  “I love you, Dmitri.”

  “I love you, Jas. Come, I have something for you.”

  While a smiling Stavros and a grinning Leah watched, he opened a small velvet box, went down on one knee and said, “Jasmine, will you marry me?”

  Crying again, Jasmine nodded, absolutely incapable of speaking. Dmitri slipped the ring on her finger, a single princess-cut diamond on a plain white-gold band, his heart in his eyes.

  Then he took her in his arms again and kissed her. “We’ll take as long as we want, ne? I’m starting an inner-city program for young adults who come from broken homes and with a background of abuse and neglect. Stavros and I have already found an old building to renovate here in Athens and then we will start hiring staff.

  “If, at some point in time,” he stated matter-of-factly, “you have had enough of modeling and want to work on something like that, you would be more than welcome. I’m trying to cut down on my interests so that I can give it some time instead of just throwing money at it. Give a chance to someone like Giannis did for us.”

  Stunned into speechlessness, Jas could only stare at him.

  “Jas, there is absolutely no pressure. If modeling is where your heart is, then that’s what you should do. You have my support in any career you want to pursue and I will follow you around the world.”

  Her heart bursting to full, Jas finally spoke. “I would love to work on such a project. Dmitri, do you still have that license?”

  Shock flaring in his gaze, he nodded slowly. “Jas—”

  “I want to do it today, Dmitri. With Stavros and Leah as witnesses. I want to go to New York as your wife. I don’t want t
o wait. Not when I love you so much.”

  When he still looked doubtful, she took his hands in hers and kissed the rough palms. “I have never wanted a big wedding or a white dress, Dmitri. I only wanted my knight. And you’re it.”

  Dmitri lifted her off the floor in a bear hug that crushed her lungs. And then yelled the news at a stunned Leah and Stavros.

  Their smiles and the way they instantly decided on their tasks made Jasmine as if like she had family again.

  Breaking into supereffective mode, Leah called her assistant to have wedding gowns that she had ready delivered while Stavros made a few more arrangements.

  That afternoon, they feasted on turkey, which had been ordered for her, honey-glazed ham for Leah and roast pork for Dmitri and Stavros with a variety of side delicacies. They ate delicious cinnamon-and-clove cookies drenched in honey and drank ouzo and coffee. And toasted to their new family.

  When four o’clock came and a priest appeared, Jasmine felt as though she was floating on the clouds. The ivory gown Leah had chosen for her had a beaded bodice and wide skirt, and Jasmine thought it was the most beautiful she had ever looked.

  Looking dashing in a black suit, Stavros walked her the little distance from her bedroom to the atrium which was filled with a golden glow.

  And then there was Dmitri in a black tuxedo.

  Drowning in the love that filled his gray gaze, Jasmine thought her heart would burst out of her chest. Reaching him, she smiled at him as the priest began the simple ceremony.

  * * *

  Jasmine was his wife. The thought repeated in his head in circles as Dmitri stood near the pool and stared at the Athens skyline. He turned the platinum band on his finger round and round, wondering if one could shatter out of joy.

  Stavros joined him on silent feet and handed him a wine flute. Raising it, he said, “To Giannis.”

  Dmitri raised his flute and said, “To Giannis.”

  They remained silent, thanking the man who had made today’s happiness possible in their lives.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from A CHRISTMAS VOW OF SEDUCTION by Maisey Yates.

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  A Christmas Vow of Seduction

  by Maisey Yates

  PROLOGUE

  THE GIFTS HAD been on parade for the past hour. Shows of wealth from Tirimia being trotted out before King Kairos as though he were a boy and this was Christmas morning. Baskets overflowing with the finest fruits grown in the orchards from Petras’s neighboring country. Art and jewelry from the most celebrated painters and silversmiths. But certainly the ambassadors from Tirimia had saved the most spectacular gift for last.

  Kairos looked down from his position on the throne at the men who were standing before him, clearly awaiting his awe, and listened as they began to introduce their final treasure, the one they were calling the jewel of their collection.

  “This will please you, my king,” the man, known as Darius, was saying. “The ultimate in Tirimian beauty and grace, for your palace. For the continued health of relations between Tirimia and Petras. The representation of how far we’ve come since the revolution. It was bloody, and we cannot erase that history. We can only show we are committed to moving forward.”

  Darius was speaking of the overthrow of Tirimia’s monarchy some fifteen years earlier. Kairos had not been on the throne then, but his father had made sure he’d been well educated in what was happening. At the time, the rebels in Tirimia had even posed a threat to the borders of Petras. Earning back trust between the two nations had been slow. Which was why they had requested an audience with Kairos today. He was the newly installed king, and they were clearly keen to make the most of the clean slate they felt he might offer.

  Too bad for them he wasn’t easily impressed with baubles. However, they had quite a few natural resources he was interested in, and war was never in the best interest of the nation. Which was why he had granted them the audience. And watched with decreasing patience as they brought forth their offerings.

  “As a token of goodwill between our nations,” Darius said, a film of oil coating each word, “we present to you Princess Zara.”

  The doors to the throne room swung open and there, standing in the center of the doorway, flanked by two large men, was a woman. Her hands were clasped in front of her body, bright gold cuffs gleaming from her wrists.

  For a moment Kairos wondered if she was bound. Then she began to walk, her hands falling to her sides, and that momentary fear was alleviated. Her hair was long and dark, caught back in a braid that swung with her every step. Her face was decorated with gold paint, dots above her eyebrows, and a few down below her eyes. She possessed a dark, exotic beauty that stoked no fire in him. She was so unlike his cool, blonde wife, Tabitha. The only woman he wanted. The woman who had chosen to skip this very important procession.

  He wished, very much, that Tabitha were here to see this. To see him gifted with a woman. He wondered if her blue eyes would burn with jealousy. If they were capable of burning with anything at all.

  Very likely, she would simply sit there, passive and unmoved. She might even suggest he take the girl as his own. So little was her esteem for him these days.

  He ignored the kick of regret in his stomach.

  “There must be some mistake,” Kairos said. “I cannot imagine you intend to give me a human being.”

  Darius spread his hands wide. “We have no need of a princess in Tirimia. Not now.”

  “So you seek to give her to me?”

  “To do with as you please. Preferably, you would take her as a wife. Her dishonor is not our wish. Though, however you intend to use her...it would be an honor in its way.”

  Another wife. He could think of nothing worse. “I regret to inform you that I already have a wife,” Kairos said, regretting nothing of the kind.

  “If you do not believe in taking more than one woman in matrimony in this country, we would find it acceptable if you took her as a concubine.”

  “I have no positions available for a concubine either,” he said, hardening his tone.

  “We demand security,” Darius said. “If we are to open up our borders to Petras, then we demand blood ties. This is the tried-and-true method of obtaining this level of security.”

  “And here I thought you were a nation moving into the modern era,” Kairos said, looking down at the woman whose eyes burned with anger, who radiated energy, but kept silent, her dark head bowed low. “It seems to me that this stands in contradiction to that.”

  “Our system of government is young, while our country is old. The marriage between tradition and modern reality is, at best, a clumsy one. We must keep our people happy while moving into the future. Surely you can appreciate some of the issues inherent in that.”

  Kairos felt a smile curve his lips, an idea forming.

  Andres. This would be the perfect occupation for him. A perfect bit of revenge that would satisfy the small, mean part of Kairos that had never fully let go of his brother’s betrayal. It would also accomplish great things for the country. Vengeance that furthered his cause as ruler was a rare and glorious thing.

  “As I said,” Ka
iros spoke, surveying the room, “I already have a wife. My brother, however, is most certainly in need of one. She will be just perfect for him.”

  Copyright © 2015 by Maisey Yates

  ISBN-13: 9781460386569

  Bought for Her Innocence

  Copyright © 2015 by Tara Pammi

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