A soft sigh escapes my lips at the thought.
Just thinking about it, I can’t imagine my life getting any better.
The sound of heavy footsteps in the doorway causes me to look up, and my heart skips a beat at the dangerously sexy man who’s standing there.
“Reading something?” his deep masculine voice asks.
Wearing dark grey dress pants and a white Henley open at the chest, his hair slicked to the side, Joseph looks like an absolute vision as he leans against the doorway with a grin on his face.
“Sir,” I practically purr as he pulls away from the door and walks into the room.
I slip out of my chair and onto my knees, getting down on all floors and crawling forward like a vixen.
Joseph chuckles playfully at the sight. He’s told me to do this when I want to play with him, and I take full advantage.
“Up,” he orders me.
I rise to my feet and look him in the eye. Up close, I’m enveloped by that masculine scent that I love so much, and I inhale deeply, sucking in as much of him as I can.
Grinning, he wraps my arms around his waist and pulls me in close, delivering a soft kiss to my lips.
“I was,” I reply to his earlier question when he pulls back, leaving me breathless.
He chuckles again. “I know. I could hear you yelling from across the house.”
My cheeks turn red with embarrassment. I hadn’t realized I’d been yelling like a maniac. But I guess that’s what happens when you get smacked in the face with a cliffhanger.
“Sorry,” I mutter.
Joseph quirks an amused eyebrow. “What happened in it that got you so worked up?”
“You don’t want to know,” I growl.
Joseph pouts. “That’s not fair.”
Neither was that ending. I still want to beat that author’s ass like they’re a Submissive from Club X. I don’t bother saying it though.
“Life isn’t fair,” I say, giving him another kiss on the lips.
Joseph grins at me.
We stare at each other for a moment, and my heart feels full. I can’t believe how lucky that I am to have this man.
“What?” I ask, breaking out of my thoughts to see Joseph gazing at me with a mischievous smile.
“I’ve got something for you.”
My heart stalling in my chest, I watch as he produces a large, black velvet box. For a moment, I think it might be an engagement ring, but the box is far too big.
A faint smile spreads across my face and I shake my head at my eagerness. It’s too soon to be expecting something like that. But I do want it. I want everyone to know that he’s mine, and I’m his.
It will happen, I tell myself. Eventually.
I clear my throat, reaching out for it, and our fingers brush against one another and I feel that same spark I felt so long ago. Maybe not that long ago, but it feels like it with everything we’ve been through.
“Open it,” he prods softly, pushing the box into my hands.
I keep the smile on my face although my throat closes, and I do as he says. My heart jumps when I see what’s inside, my knees going weak.
“Joseph,” I gasp, my eyes filling with tears, the air being pulled from my lungs. Oh my God, oh my God, I repeat in my mind over and over.
It’s a collar, a beautiful one, black and silver, encrusted with sparkling diamonds. But it isn’t the first thing that caught my eye.
There’s a ring in there, too. I choke on my words for a moment, in shock but mostly just overwhelmed with so much happiness.
“What’s this?” I somehow manage, my voice a breathless whisper, though I know exactly what it is. Staring at the ring, a platinum band with a large, sparkling diamond atop of it, it’s suddenly very hard to breathe.
I imagined it moments before, but this doesn’t seem real.
Joseph sinks to his knee in front of me, his heart in his eyes. My heart skips a beat and my skin pricks as reality sets in. The room spins around me as I stare down at him, and I feel like passing out.
“Lilly Marie Wade, my flower,” he says, his voice aching with emotion, “Will you marry me?”
I stare at him in disbelief, my throat so tight with emotion I’m barely able to fill my lungs. I can’t find the words to answer. I’m stunned.
The silence stretches on for several long moments as I try to get over my shock. My chest heaves as I struggle to draw in breaths, my legs feeling like jello. Through it all, Joseph waits patiently, staying on one knee.
Say yes, you idiot!
“Yes!” I’m finally able to croak when I find my voice, leaning down to wrap my arms around his neck and bury his face with tearful kisses, my heart pounding like a battering ram. “Yes, yes, yes! I’ll marry you, Joseph!”
“Good.” Joseph pulls me down into his arms, delivering a deep solid kiss to my lips. “Because I love you, Lilly. And I’m never letting you go.”
I smile up at him through my tears, my heart aching from the unbelievable joy that fills my body and the happiness I see reflected in his eyes.
Delivering another kiss to his lips, I breathe out through aching lungs, “I love you too, Joseph.”
Continue reading for a sneak peek of the first in the series, Bought, Lucian’s story, available now, as well as the fourth book, Given, Zander’s story!
Want more of Joseph and Lilly? Although their standalone has come to an end, their happily ever after will be updated in background scenes of the next novels in the Highest Bidder series. The dark and sensual world of Club X will continue.
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Bought: Highest Bidder
Book 1 of the Highest Bidder Series
Available now on Amazon!
Prologue
Lucian
I slowly pace the room, letting the sound of my shoes clacking against the floor startle her. My eyes are on Dahlia, watching her every movement. Her breathing picks up as she realizes I’ve come back for her. With her blindfold on and her wrists and ankles tied to the bed while she lies on her belly, she’s at my complete mercy, and she knows it.
The sight of her bound and waiting for me is so tempting. I force my groan back.
Her pale, milky skin is on full display as she waits for me. I’ve left her like this deliberately, in this specific position. She knows now not to move, not to struggle. She knows to wait for me obediently, and what’s more, she enjoys it.
The wooden paddle gently grazes along her skin, leaving goosebumps down her thigh in its wake. They trail up the curve of her ass, and her shoulders rise as she sucks in a breath. Her body tenses and her lips part, spilling a soft moan. She knows what's coming.
She’s earned this.
She lied to me.
And she’s going to be punished.
She doesn’t know this is for her own good. She should, but she hasn’t realized it yet.
I’m only doing this for her. She needs this.
She needs to heal, and I know just how to help her. The paddle whips through the air and smacks her lush ass, leaving a bright red mark as she gasps, her hands gripping the binds at her wrists. I watch as her pussy clenches around nothing, making my dick that much harder.
Soon.
I barely maintain my control and gently knead her ass, soothing the pulsing pain I know she’s feeling. “Tell me why you lied to me, treasure,” I whisper at the shell of her ear, my lips barely touching her sensitive skin.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpers with lust. I don’t want her apology. I want her to realize what she’s done. I want to know why she hid it from me all this time. She’ll learn she can’t lie to me. There’s no reason she should.
Smack! I bring the paddle down on the other cheek and her body jolts as a strangled cry leaves her lips, her pussy glistening with arousal.
“That’s not what I asked, treasure.” My tone is taunting. She needs to realize wha
t I already know. She needs to admit it. To me, but mostly to herself.
I pull away from her, just for a moment, leaving her to writhe on the bed from the sting of the paddle.
I didn’t anticipate our relationship reaching this point.
In the beginning, I thought this would be fun. Just a form of stress relief for me.
But things changed.
I bought her at auction, and now she can’t leave. She’s mine for an entire month. But the days have flown by, and the contract is almost over.
I need more time.
I’m going to make this right. I’m going to heal my treasure.
If it’s the last thing I do, I'll give her what she needs. What we both need.
She parts those beautiful lips, and hope blooms in my chest.
Say it, tell me what you desperately need to say.
But her mouth closes, and she shifts slightly on the sheets before stilling and waiting patiently for more.
I pull my arm back and steady myself. Soon, she’ll realize it. My broken treasure. Soon she’ll be healed, but that won’t be enough for me anymore. I want more.
Smack!
Available now on Amazon!
Sneak Peek of Given
Highest Bidder (Book 4)
Zander
I hit delete on the message from that prick on my cell phone.
Danny Brooks, that dumb fuck, owes me a lot of money, more money than he should.
He knew how much debt he had, and he still gambled it all away. He thinks I don’t know… I know everything.
This happens from time to time. Everyone owes me, and that’s how I like it. It’s only a matter of time before something gets between me and the money they owe me.
But I don’t care; I always come out on top, and that’s what matters. Money isn’t power, it’s leverage. Being owed is power. True power. And that’s what I want. It's what I have.
But this dumb fuck owes me more than what’s excusable. More than he’s worth. I can’t allow him to get away with it. He may be an executive high up in his company, and think he’s untouchable, but the alcoholic, gambling degenerate is going to give me my money one way or the other. And then I’m done with him. I have enough clout to bury him if I want. I tap my fingers on the hard maple desktop, debating. The rap, rap, rap echoes rhythmically and calms me slightly.
I could destroy him slowly. Cripple him financially, and embarrass him in every way possible. But no one would know why, and he’s too pathetic. No, I’ll just take my money and be through with him. He’ll hang himself on his own.
What pisses me off most is what he offered to give me instead of the cash.
I stare the computer screen, the dim glow lighting the darkened room. Isaac gave me her information. Talia Raine.
She’s beautiful. Her gorgeous eyes are haunted by something, darkened by what lies behind them.
He offered me a month with her in exchange for hundreds of thousands of debt that he owes me. The only claim he has to her is the collar around her neck. He assured me she’d do everything I wanted. He’s trained her, he told me.
My dick hardens at the thought of her on her knees, giving herself to me, pleasing me. I’ve been tempted before at Club X, though I’ve never taken part. At least not in the open like that. These men are foolish to show their cards. Lucian paid the price years ago, although now it’s paid off for him. The burden of his past only goes to show that NDAs are ultimately nothing but paperwork; no loyalty comes from them as they are merely sheets of paper, so easily shredded, so quickly forgotten.
Talia’s haunted eyes shine through the screen, staring back at me. I’ve seen her before. I’ve watched the way he drags her through the halls and leads her to the dungeon. She’s submissive in her nature, but I don’t trust her, or his offer. I don’t let anyone close for a reason.
It only takes one slipup to have it all come crashing to the ground and leaving the empire I’ve built in ruins. I’ve worked hard to be on top, but not be seen. Corruption and power go hand in hand. And women make men fall.
She’s going to be going up for auction if I don’t take her. He’ll sell her to pay his debts.
I shouldn’t take her; I shouldn’t even be considering his offer. She would only be used as an extension, not a cancellation of his debts. I won’t accept money that’s meant to go to her, he has no claim to her. That money doesn’t belong to him.
She’s supposed to be mine though. And whatever money he’s able to get from her from the auction will go to me because of his control of her. The way he manipulates her.
That means she’ll be in the hands of someone else. I rise from my desk, shutting the laptop and standing alone in the dark office, the only light coming from the city nightlife beyond the large window to my back.
It doesn’t take long to adjust, for me to see easily. My eyes are used to the darkness.
I shrug the jacket onto my shoulders, buttoning it as I stride to the door.
She’s been given to me, but tomorrow she goes up for auction. I should stay away, I should take the money and let him fall of his own accord, carrying on with my life and ignore the pathetic waste of life.
But those eyes call to me. My contempt for him and what he represents make a side of me I try to keep suppressed rise to the surface.
And that is a very dangerous thing.
Also by Lauren Landish and Willow Winters
If you enjoyed Owned, make sure to check out Bought: Highest Bidder!
Also by Lauren & Willow:
Mr. CEO, Tempted & Inked!
Lauren Landish
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Willow Winters
View her entire catalog on Amazon.
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