Page 10 of Submitting to Them

Eyes shining, she lifts my hand to her lips and kisses the message.“Beautiful,” she whispers.

“Not as beautiful as you.”Standing up, I bring her with me.“I got you some things to wear tonight—they’re at my place.Let’s go.”

Three

Sebastian

Ella’s eyes are bright with excitement as we travel in the elevator up to the penthouse.“What did you get me?”she asks.

I bend down to kiss her mouth and whisper, “It’s a surprise.”

“Bash,” she says.

I grin.I think it’s the first time she’s called me Bash, and not only that, she’s excited about a gift.Sometimes she puts up a fight over accepting our generosity, like she doesn’t think she deserves good things.Maybe we’re starting to wear her down.

When we reach the penthouse, she skips into the main living area and looks around.

“Your gifts are in the bedroom, princess.”

She doesn’t wait for me, just hurries into the room, her curls flouncing behind her.I follow on her heels.

A dress hangs on the corner of the wardrobe.It’s pale green, covered in sequins.The straps are thin strings, and there’s no back.

“That’s for me?”she asks, surveying the dress.

When I saw it in a shop window downtown, I knew it would look great on Ella.Whether she would like the style and color, though, I’m still not certain about.

“Do you like it?”I ask from the doorway.“If you don’t, the shop is still open and you can exchange it for anything you might like better.”

“Like it?I love it.Thank you.”She spins around and throws herself into my arms, hugging me tightly.

“Why don’t you get ready?”I nod at the shoes, clutch handbag, and lingerie sitting on top of the dresser.

“Ooh, there’s more.”

“Of course.Only the best for my princess.”

She picks up a package and runs her fingertip over the ridges of the thigh-highs.

“Master has given Ella stockings,” she says, blinking up at me.“Ella is free!”

“Oh, shut up, brat,” I say, but I can’t help my laughter.“You keep that up and you won’t sit for a week.”

She’s trying really hard not to laugh, pressing her lips together, her shoulders shaking.

I trace a line from her forehead, to her nose, to her lips.“And you, Ella, will never be free.You’re mine forever.Got that?”

She nods, all seriousness.

She misses King.I do, too.

Hopefully tonight will reunite us all.It’s necessary after the bomb scare and being so distant from each other all week.

While Ella gets ready for Vice, King texts that he’ll have to meet us there.I hold back a curse.If he falls into his old workaholic tendencies, it’ll be hell pulling him back out again.I should know—I had to do it when he and Rayanne split up.

Ella comes out of the bedroom, sparkling in her dress.

I clear my throat, suddenly speechless, then manage to say, “Turn around for me, princess.”