Page 135 of Punish Me, Daddy

As I looked at her, the rest of the room blurred.

There were no chandeliers.

No flowers.

No guests.

All I saw was her.

Deep in my chest, in my heart, deeper than any oath or threat or promise I’d ever made, Iknewthat everything before her was nothing.

Because she was my everything.

I hardly noticed when the priest cleared his throat and began to speak.

“We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Sloane Kingsley and Nikolai Morozov.”

The crowd hushed all around us and the silence that followed was heavy and expectant.

He turned to me. “Nikolai, do you have vows you would like to share?”

I nodded, heart pounding with a strange, quiet violence—softer than rage, deeper than hunger. I turned to face her, drawing both of her hands into my own.

Her eyes lifted to meet mine.

“Sloane,” I said, my voice quiet and certain, “from that very first moment you walked into my world, my heart beat for you and only for you. I didn’t think love like this existed, but now that I have it, I’ll never let go.”

I paused, brushing my thumb across her knuckles.

“I vow to protect you with everything I am. To never let you stand alone in a fight. To listen when you speak and hold you when you can’t. To be the man you trust at your side, at your back, in your bed, and in your heart.”

I could see her breath catch, the way her throat bobbed once.

I kept going.

“I vow that there is nothing and no one in this world that will touch you without going through me first. That your pain will be mine. That your joys and triumph will be ours. And that, no matter what comes, we will face it together.”

Her eyes shimmered with emotion.

The priest turned to her. “Sloane?”

She drew in a slow breath and stepped closer. Her hands didn’t shake, and her voice, when she spoke, was clear and strong and entirely perfect.

“Nikolai,” she said, “you are the most dangerous man I have ever met and the safest place I’ve ever known.”

There was a small murmur behind us. She didn’t flinch even the tiniest bit.

“I vow to never shrink in your shadow, but to walk beside you in every light and every darkness. I vow to fight with you, for you, and if needed, against you, because I will always be honest with you.”

She paused, just a breath.

“And I vow to honor you, to trust you, to stand with you. And to obey you, because I know what it means to stand with a man who has earned it.”

My chest clenched.

“I love you and it is my honor to become your wife.”

The priest gave us a quick nod.

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