My heartbeat echoes inside my ears as I walk over and sit at the kitchen table. Seb’s eyes watch me as I saunter across his line of sight and they fix on me as I sit.
“Good evening, Isabel.”
“Good evening, Sebastian.” His sexy smile is in full effect and I can’t keep my face straight.
“Do you have something you want to say? You look like you want to play, sweetheart.” He turns off whatever was cooking and stalks over to where I’ve sat.
“Maybe, Sir.” My voice drips with satisfaction. I know I’m being a tease, but right now, I don’t care.
“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Isabel.” He’s behind me in a second, his hand gripping my hair, tilting my head back to look at him. The adrenaline spike sends a warm rush of desire to my clit and I can feel the clench of my pussy already.
“I think dinner can wait tonight.” He plunders my lips with hot, aggressive kisses and I melt under his dominance. His hand keeps a tight hold of my hair, ensuring I can’t escape, while his other freely runs down the front of my dress, discovering my lack of underwear.
“Isabel,” he growls. “You need to tell me what’s going on right now, or I’ll take great pleasure in spanking you on the table until you do.” The warning in his voice sends erotic shivers through my body. I’d like nothing more than to bend over and feel the palm of Seb’s hand against my skin.
“I’d like that, Sir.”
“Fuck, yes, you would, wouldn’t you? Do you have your anklet on?”
“Yes, Sir. See?” I lift my leg and rest it against the edge of the table. Seb looks at it and I feel the grip on my hair loosen as he takes in what I’m showing him.
“Izzy, is that… a tattoo?” The emotion is clear in his voice, and my heart stills for my next words. I drop my foot and turn in my chair to face him.
“Yes, I wanted to give this to you. As a gift. It’s a little raw, though.”
“A gift? Is it my birthday?” I can see his hunger warring with his confusion at my explanation.
“An engagement gift for you.”
“Engagement…” He repeats the word in a gravelly breath, catching on to my meaning.
“Yes, I want to marry you, Seb. I want to submit to you and be your wife. If you’ll still have me?” His beautiful aquamarine eyes dilate and his sexy smile is back. He bends to kiss my forehead.
“Of course I’ll have you. You’re it for me, Izzy. I love you and you’ve made me the happiest man by agreeing to marry me. Thank you, sweetheart.”
He bends to cradle me in his arms and lifts me.
“Hey, where are we going?”
“I want to make love to my wife in our bed. I’m suddenly only hungry for one thing. But don’t worry, I’ll spank your gorgeous arse over the table later.”
“Here they are.” Jess walks in, carrying a bouquet.
“Jess, you’ve got the wrong flowers. That isn’t my bouquet.” I freeze in the middle of her lounge, already dressed in my gown and just needing the flowers before we make our way to the ceremony.
“I know, but these are what you’re having. They are from Seb.”
“Seb? Why is he choosing my flowers? They aren’t anything like…”
“Stop! Calm down. Read this as well. It’s from him, and perhaps it will help to calm your nerves.” She passes me a thick envelope, the same as the previous notes he’s sent me. I perch on the edge of the sofa and gently peel it open.
Dearest Isabel,
It was once tradition for the husband to pick flowers for his wife and leave them on her doorstep. This is the closest I could come to that tradition, and I wanted to give you one final message.
So that we are clear, this is the meaning behind these flowers.
The red rose signifies our love. I love you with everything I am and that will never fade.
The lily is for majesty. You hold all of the splendour I could wish for. Our story is just that—it’s ours and I am going to cherish it.
Blue hyacinths are for constancy. I am your constant. You’ve come so far in believing that, and I need you to hold on to that forever. I’m not saying that everything will be smooth sailing, but we will remain constant.
The baby’s breath is for everlasting love.
I’ll look forward to seeing you walk towards me, ready to become my wife, holding the message I want to share with you.
I love you Isabel York.
Always yours,
Sebastian.
Excerpt
Surrender to More
My phone blinged an incoming text.
I’m back! I’ve had the best time. We need to meet up soon. Izzy
I smiled. Izzy’s honeymoon was two weeks too long as far as I was concerned. I’d missed her.
Yeah! Glad you’re back. I’d love to meet up. Just let me know when. Jess
I’m relieved my best friend is back in contact. The last two weeks have weighed heavily on my mind without Izzy to talk with.
Since Izzy’s wedding, I’ve not been able to settle. I’ve stuck to my usual set of rules that have kept me in one piece—my heart intact—for the last eight years. No emotional commitments. But, standing beside Izzy as she married Seb, for the first time, I doubted myself, and it scared me.
Seeing the love radiate from Izzy as she spoke her vows, pledged her love and watched as Seb mirrored it all back to her, was something to behold. There could be no doubt as to their love, and suddenly I felt small in the face of it.
Have I done the right thing all these years? I picture myself as a lonely old woman. The fear that image engenders almost matches the pain of walking in on Pete in bed with my friend. Almost.
Did you want to meet for a coffee? Or I can pop over. Izzy
Come over. I’ll put the kettle on. Jess
I’ve never wanted to see Izzy more than I do right now. The last year has been hard on her, and I’ve had to help pull her through. Now, I need Izzy to help pull me out of my funk. I need her to help me talk out my fears because they were beginning to preoccupy my mind. Was I too shut off to change? Did I want to change? Would the potential for hurt outweigh the chance for something meaningful?
“Hello!” Izzy calls from the hall. Excitement rings in her voice in that single word.
“In the kitchen.”
She bursts through and lights up the room. The smile on her face is infectious. I put the cups of tea on the table and pull her into a huge hug as she drops her bags. Izzy has calmed my anxiety by simply being here and for that, I love her a little bit more than I did yesterday.
“So, how was it?”
“Oh, Jess. It was wonderful. It was everything I wanted. New York was amazing and so were his parents. We ate out so much.”
“I’d love to go to New York.”
“Well, now we could go and have a girls’ weekend. Oooh, we could go shopping.”
“Really, you know I hate shopping.”
“Which is why I got you these.” She pulls a shoebox from the bag and sets it on the table. I stare at the box and then back to her. “Well, go on then,” she encourages.
I peek under the lid and see a red velour cover. I raise my eyes to Izzy, who simply nods like an excited puppy, encouraging me to explore further. I open the box properly, pull the material bag open, and pull out two black shoes.
“Do you like them?” Izzy immediately takes one from my hand, holding it as if it were a delicate piece of porcelain.
“They’re lovely. Thank you. But I already have black shoes.”
“But these are Louboutin’s. You don’t have these. These are the pinnacle of shoes. You’ll love them.” Izzy puts the shoe back on the table as if she was presenting me with Cinderella’s glass slipper.
“You know you’re the shoe girl. I’m not sure I’ll ever get to wear them. You should keep them.”
“I have my own, besides, I bought these for you. Please take them. Even if you just look at them.”
She’s lost her marbles. I can’t c
ontain the burst of laughter that explodes from my mouth. Izzy soon joins the giggles, and we take a while to get our hysterics under control.
“I love you Izzy, but only you could think about buying shoes just to look at them.”
“I know. These are very practical. I made sure not to get the…”
“Enough about the shoes. I like them, and I’ll attempt to wear them. Happy?”
“Ecstatic. Now, what’s been happening here with you?” Her question dampens my earlier elation, and I’m right back to reality.
“I ended things with Greg.”
“Really? How come? I was hopeful, you know. You’ve been seeing him for a while.”
“Yes, but he kept pressing me about moving in together. No matter how many times I told him, he couldn’t accept that I wanted nothing permanent from our relationship and kept pushing me. He wasn’t the confident guy I first liked. He wanted me to fit in with his plan, and I wasn’t okay with that so…”
“You ended things.” I can’t miss the slight sigh at the end of Izzy’s reply.
“Your wedding sort of hit me and not how I expected it to.”
“I’d be surprised if you weren’t affected. Were you okay? I was pretty pre-occupied once we got there.”
“And so you should, it was your wedding. I was fine, really. Just it got me thinking. You know, about my rules and the future.”
“And…”
“And, I don’t know. I feel scared. I know I’m not going to find love…”
“You don’t know that…”
“Izzy, I do. I’m done with love. And I’ve been okay with that. I just hadn’t realised being done with love also meant I might be alone for the rest of my life. That is… a great big slap in my face.
About Rachel
Rachel De Lune writes emotionally driven contemporary and erotic romance.
She began scribbling her stories of dominance and submission in the pages of a notebook several years ago, and still can’t resist putting pen to real paper. What ifs are turned into heartfelt stories of love where there will always be a HEA.
Rachel lives in the South West of England and daydreams about shoes with red soles, lingerie and chocolate. If she’s not writing HEAs, she’s probably reading them. She is a wife and has a beautiful daughter.
For every woman who's ever desired more.
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Also by Rachel De Lune
The Evermore Series
More
Forever More
A Little Something More
Surrender to More
More Than Desire
Finally More
Standalone
Reminiscent Hearts
The Break
With Charlotte E. Hart
Innocent Eyes
Forever More Page 27