Page 74 of The Billionaire Submissive
She swallowed hard and finally found her voice. “Let me guess, you took the liberty of moving a few of my things here too?”
He smiled faintly. “No. I just bought you all new stuff.”
Launching herself into his arms, she buried her face against his chest. “Excuse us, Chris.” He managed to get the door open and carried her outside, settling into an Adirondack chair. He cuddled her on his lap and reached over to pour them both a glass of wine. “I know it was presumptuous of me to bring Hank over without your permission, but he’s loving the back yard.”
As if he knew they were talking about him, Hank jumped up and put his paws on the side of the chair so she could pat him. “I can’t believe you left your downtown penthouse condo to live in an older family neighborhood just so I could have my dog.”
“I want the family, the dog and, most especially, you. Will you do me the very great honor of marrying me, Lilly Harrison?”
Scratching Hank behind the ears, she avoided Donovan’s gaze. “You know I love you, but…”
“There aren’t any buts for me,” he interrupted firmly. “You know I always get what I want, and that’s you, Lilly. I want you with me every moment of every single day. I want to wake up with delight each morning to see what furnishings I’ll have to replace. I want to watch you melt over every single bite of food. I don’t care if you don’t want any children or if you decide we need ten massive shedding dogs that destroy everything I own. As long as you’re with me, I’ll live anywhere, do anything, and I’ll be the happiest man in the world.”
She turned in his arms and ran her finger over his collar. “What if our secret gets out? What if people start asking questions?”
“I don’t care.”
“You say that now, but I know your pride, Donovan. I couldn’t bear to disappoint or embarrass you.”
His eyes narrowed and he lowered his voice to the privileged arrogant asshole tone that never failed to turn her on. “You’d never be a disappointment to me and I don’t give a rat’s ass if people find out you’re my Mistress.”
“So you say.”
“Someone did find out about us.”
Surprised, she searched his gaze. “Really? Who?”
“Miss Wruthers confronted me this afternoon. She’d ordered my PI to tail you behind my back, and as soon as you showed up at the hotel, she came running to tell me you were seeing your old clients again.”
Lilly winced. “She thought I was a prostitute too, didn’t she?”
“And she hired a photographer who somehow managed to get a very lewd shot of Morgan Industries’ CEO butt naked on a boat with suspicious red marks on his ass.”
Her mouth fell open. “Did you have to pay her off?”
He gave her a smug smile and leaned back in his chair. “Hardly. I scared her off with the truth. I even showed her my collar. She couldn’t flee into the elevator fast enough.”
“Why would that scare her off?”
“Because she didn’t want money, sweetheart. She wanted to be Mrs. Morgan. But the position has already been claimed by you, if you’re up for the job.”
Lilly propped herself up on his chest. “Are you sure she won’t come back to cause problems for you? I mean, if—and that’s a huge if—I accept this deal, she might decide to cause you trouble out of spite.”
“I don’t care.” He wrapped his fingers in her hair, slowly winding the strands around his hand to pull her close enough for a kiss. “I love you, Lilly. If that means you want to put a cock ring on me and promenade me down I-35, I’ll do it. And I don’t care who wants to take a picture of it.”
She nibbled on his lips. “You know I can’t do freeways.”
“No, but you can do me anytime, any way you want.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Though maybe I shouldn’t go streaking around on Lake Minnetonka anymore.”
“You mean I’m going to get this sexy beast of a submissive who swears to let me do anything I want and it’s not going to cost me a dime?”
“Just a few lashes of the crop I so thoughtfully fetched from your townhome. Plus I’ll throw in a personal chef, a fleet of fishing boats, a dozen houses all around the globe, and whatever else your heart desires.”
She scooted down in his lap enough to lay her head over his heart. “You’re not very good at these negotiations, Mr. Morgan. You’re supposed to make me work for what I want.”
“That’ll be later,” he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “When the dessert arrives.”