Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33235 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33235 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
“Angel?”
She looks down, her brow furrowed.
“My family…I mean, my birth father didn’t leave us with much, and when Bill goes away, my mom will have nothing. Her brow furrows deeper, and her mouth goes small.
“I’ll have nothing, I mean—”
“Of course you will,” I growl fiercely, stopping her words and cupping her face in my hands. I let my eyes pierce right into hers, never once blinking.
“You have me, and you’ll always be mine,” I growl fiercely. “Forever, angel. You’ll have whatever you could possibly need or want. If you want to sit back and do nothing all day, it’s done. If you want to work, and strive to build what’s yours, consider it your dream to go after.”
I watch a single tear of joy start to roll down her cheek, before I kiss it away.
“You’ll have the world, angel. And your mother too, of course. Whatever she needs, it’s done.”
I cup her face, my eyes burning into hers.
“Anything, baby girl,” I hiss fiercely. “Ask for the damn sun, and I’ll put it in a box all for you.”
But before I can say another word, Lyra throws her arms around my neck, crushes her soft, pouty lips to mine, and kisses me, hard. I growl into it, swallowing her moans and holding her small body tight to mine, like I never want to let her go. And when I do pull away, I already know what I’m going to say.
Shit, I knew I’d say this the second I saw her.
“I think you should marry me.”
Lyra’s eyes go wide as saucers, and her bottom lip falls open in such a cute, sexy way that I want to suck it between my own lips and push her back down on the sofa. Her breath catches, and I watch as she slowly swallows, her eyes searching mine.
“Was that a proposal?” she says quietly — so quietly that it’s almost a breath of air that wisps from her lips.
“No,” I growl. “This is.”
She gasps, her hands flying to her face as I pull her up off the couch to her feet, kiss her cheek, and then drop to one knee in front of her. The whole of fucking New York glitters in the late afternoon sun, and as the light dances over her face, I somehow fall just a little bit more in love with her, as if that was even possible.
I’m ready for this. I’ve been ready to find this girl my whole goddamn life. I’ve been ready to claim her, and make her my own, and protect her fiercely from anything in this world. I’ve been ready to love her, and bring children into this world, and raise a family with her.
And now that I’ve found her, trust me when I say that it’s all happening.
She cries when I bring the ring out. Like I said, I’ve been looking for her my whole life. I’ve prepared for it, keeping this in a safe in my office until a time when I knew I’d need it. Funny thing is, it’s perfect for her. It’s just her style, with just enough jaw-dropping size and glitz to it to stun her, but not so much that it takes away from the jewel she already is.
I pop open the box, looking up into her big blue eyes, with her gingery red hair framing her perfect, angelic face.
“Marry me.”
It’s not a question on purpose.
“Yes!” she cries as she falls into my arms, wrapping her arms so tight around my neck as she peppers my face with kisses.
“Be my queen, angel,” I growl into her neck, kissing her skin and holding her tight. “Be my queen, have our children, and be mine forever.”
She’s still saying yes as I sweep her up into my arms and head for the private elevator to my penthouse, and to my bed.
First she tempted me.
Then I claimed her.
And now she’s mine, and I’m hers.
I play for keeps, I take what’s mine, and I keep what I take.
And I’m keeping my angel, forever.
Epilogue
Damien
Six Years Later
Today is a good day, for a couple of reasons. For one, Bill’s officially going to jail, for a long time. The final sentencing for his insider trading and securities fraud charges was this afternoon, and despite some of his cronies’ attempts at bribing the jury — no, seriously — it looks like he’s going away for quite a long time.
Trust me, if you feel a little bad for the guy, don’t. Besides being a crook, turns out Bill was also hustling retired veterans into a Ponzi scheme and trying to swindle them out of their pensions. And if you’d possibly still need another reason to smile at Bill going away for thirty years, once he was arrested, Lyra’s mom came forward with some serious domestic abuse charges on him.
So, yeah…fuck Bill.