About thirty minutes later, the music trailed off, and Claire asked for everyone’s attention. She gave rave reviews about Elissa’s talent and suggested she was someone to watch. “You know how you all wish you’d have bought Bonds stock when it was under a thousand dollars a share? You know how you promised yourself you wouldn’t ever miss an opportunity like that again? Well, tonight is your chance. By tomorrow, with all the press coverage and reviews, Elissa will be a household name, and if you want to add a Conroy to your collection before you need to take a second mortgage to pay for it, this is your one and only chance.”
As if for reassurance, Elissa reached for her pendant and touched it, but instead of pausing, she continued to raise her hand, and she gave a friendly wave.
A lightbulb flashed as a photographer captured the moment forever.
“Do you mind saying a few words, Ms. Conroy?”
Elissa smiled. “Thank you for being here, and I hope to have the chance to talk to every one of you personally.” Her words sounded natural even though she’d practiced at least a dozen times. “I appreciate the way you’ve reacted to the pieces of my heart and soul that you see on the canvas. Every painting has meaning, and I’m grateful to share it with you.”
Of course, the first picture she’d ever finished, His, was on the mantel in their dungeon, in the room he’d built for her. Of course he hadn’t known it at the time, but he’d created the space with the idea of having a cherished submissive, and he wanted a private place for them to explore all the nuances of that type of relationship. He’d had no idea how multifaceted their dynamic would be or that it would change, evolve, become even more meaningful.
The first night he took her into the room, they had a conversation about the rings he’d attached to the floor. She’d mentioned being chained to them while they were in front of a fire, with him sipping whiskey while a gentle snow drifted down. She’d trusted him enough to do that.
He’d shared a fantasy of his own—her being on all fours, secured by a collar around her beautiful neck, having no escape as he slid a plug inside her ass, then took her pussy from behind.
He’d watched her press her hand to her heart as he talked, and he’d sworn to show no mercy. And he hadn’t.
And his beautiful Elissa—his beautiful submissive—had begged for more. Last week, she’d even brought a collar to him while he was working on his accounting program. She’d knelt at his side, looking up at him, and asked him to fasten it in place.
He could never have asked for anyone more perfect for him.
“I’d also like to acknowledge my future husband, Jacob. Without him, I would have never met the deadline for this showing.”
Jacob bowed to her.
“And to a good friend…” She glanced in Hawkeye’s direction but didn’t call out his name. “Thank you for setting all of this in motion.”
He and Torin both looked toward the corner. Jacob hadn’t been aware his friend had even entered. Like everyone else, he was wearing a tux, and no doubt he’d walk away tonight with a few more clients. There was no better place than New Orleans to meet people who needed to protect their secrets.
“To Julien Bonds, connoisseur of everything significant—”
People looked around for the Genius, but he wasn’t in the room.
“Thank you for the wonderful equipment that I use when I’m creating.” More photos were snapped.
“And most of all, I’d like to thank Claire Richardson and the entire staff at Gallery Royale for your belief in me and for hosting this exquisite event.”
The guests applauded, the music struck up again, and the waitstaff moved into motion with canapés and other appetizers.
Elissa returned to his side and slid her palm against his. He was leaning over to kiss her when Claire swooped in. “I’m stealing her away. I have a social media influencer who wants to meet her.”
He had no idea what that was. “I assume that’s a good thing?”
Claire ignored him and beckoned to a young woman with bright pink hair.
At a loose end, he sought out Hawkeye.
“I’m glad to see Elissa happy.”
“She’s happy you came.”
“Hell, after what Bonds said—kinky shit—” Hawkeye smiled. “I wouldn’t have missed it. Looks like she’s quite a success.”
“Two of her portraits have already sold.”
“I’m sure it will be more by the end of the night. Claire has a great eye for up-and-coming talent. And her opinion matters. When she tells people to buy, they listen.”
Right then, the lights flashed.
“Pardon the interruption…” A bigger-than-life-size holographic image of Julien Bonds appeared in the middle of the room.
A gasp rocked the air as patrons automatically stepped back to make room for the tech rock star. The music abruptly ceased, and silence echoed off the walls.
“He likes to make an entrance.”
Jacob looked at Hawkeye. “He does indeed.”
Though his image was comprised of a million shimmering parts, Bonds was both a presence and an enigma. He wore a white collared shirt, a thin bright-yellow tie, a gray jacket, blue jeans, and horrifyingly garish hot-pink shoes with glowing green laces. When he moved, the Bonds logo on his athletic shoes lit up.
“Where are you, Elissa?”
“Uhm…” Even as Claire nudged her forward, Elissa looked around for Jacob.
More than half the gathered attendees whipped out their cell phones for pictures and videos. Since Bonds was a notoriously private person, banning cameras when he attended events, this was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.
Elissa found Jacob’s gaze and shrugged. He grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. With his gesture, Bonds had ensured she’d be catapulted to the upper levels of the art world.
She neared the hologram and stopped.
“Ah. There you are.” He waved his hand through the air. “It’s the hour, and you are the woman of it.”
“I… Am I?” She shook her head and laughed. “What I meant to say is thank you for being here.”
“From the moment I saw your kinky shit—”
“Snooped through my hard drive is what I think you mean.”
Go, Elissa. Jacob grinned.
“Well.” Bonds cleared his throat. “Hmm. Well, then. The data had been delivered into my possession at the time, and it was a simple procedure of transferring it to your machine that is totally safe from any prying eyes.”
Hawkeye cleared his throat as he’d been the one to authorize said transfer.
“At any rate, I needed to have something for my personal collection. Which is your most expensive offering?”
“Forever.” Claire supplied the answer, pointing toward the gilt-framed portrait occupying prime space on an oversize easel. It was as if she’d been prepared for the moment.
And maybe she had been.
“It’s a hundred and twenty thousand dollars.”
Bonds staggered back a step.
Eyes wide with shock, Elissa spun to face Claire, who was grinning beatifically.
“I’m sure we must have a bad connection.” At Bonds’s absurd comment, people laughed. The transmission was flawless. “Did you say…” The leader of the first company in history to be valued at a trillion dollars took a breath, as if unable to comprehend that figure, wringing drama from the moment. “One hundred thousand dollars?”
“No.” All eyes were on Claire who was clearly playing her hand well. “I believe I said a hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
Jacob wouldn’t have missed this moment for anything.
“Does that include shipping and handling?”
Claire arched an eyebrow. “Are you haggling, Mr. Bonds?”
“Well, a dollar is a dollar.”
“Not only does it not include shipping or taxes—it doesn’t include my handling fee.”
Elissa looked back and forth between the two, and Jacob wasn’t sure he’d ever seen a paid prod
uction that was this compelling.
Bonds grinned. “A bargain at thrice the price. I’ll arrange for shipping—and handling—myself. Elissa, a pleasure meeting you. I look forward to adding more of your creations to my curation.” With that misspeak—intentional or not, no one ever knew—Bonds vanished with sparkling fanfare.
Stunned, silent reverie hung in the air before everyone began speaking at once.
One of the assistants draped a purple SOLD sash around the painting.
Jacob said his goodbyes to Hawkeye and sought out Elissa. She appeared shell-shocked, and he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You’ve arrived.”
“Over a hundred thousand dollars?”
“I’m glad I got in when I did.” Though she hadn’t wanted to take money from him, he insisted that a deal was a deal. And now, in a matter of months, his investment had soared in value. Not that he’d ever part with it. To him, it was priceless.
The band resumed playing, this time at a louder volume that continued to feed the electric buzz that Bonds had sparked.
Champagne flowed freely, Claire spoke to the woman who’d requested Elissa’s autograph, and the gallery’s assistants moved about the space with their Bonds tablets, quickly writing orders and taking payments.
“This whole experience has been crazy.”
He lifted her hand and kissed it. “And well deserved.”
“Since I met you, all my wildest dreams have come true.”
“All of them?”
“Well…” Seductively she bit her lower lip before placing her hands on his shoulders and rising onto her tiptoes to create intimacy. “Maybe not all of them.”
Hunger and desire flooded him. “Shall we get to work on them?”
“How soon do you think we can escape?”
He glanced around the room. “You’ve got a legion of fans hoping for a moment of your time.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “An hour?”
“Meet me in the courtyard. There’s a gate we can use. I’ll have the car waiting back there.”
“One hour?” She checked her watch, then brushed a kiss across his lips. “Don’t be late. We have babies to make…” She paused and straightened his lapels. “Sir.”
“We have…?” For the first time ever, she’d made him tongue-tied.
She smiled. “If you’re ready, so am I.”
“Are you sure? I know we talked about waiting until your opening, but I didn’t know you meant it immediately after.”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
Love and lust collided, forcing a rush of primal need through him. He needed to possess her, be in her. Holding that passion momentarily in check, he held her, cherished her, and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.
“So we’re agreed, you’ll be on time?”
He was considering summoning the car right this moment. “My Liss. You can bet everything I own on it.”
“Good. I can’t wait to have your children.”
Grinning stupidly, he watched her sashay back into the crowd. He couldn’t wait, either. Months ago, he’d been alone, a broken shell of a person, and now… Now? Her love had breathed air into his life.
He’d do anything, everything to make her happy.
Even though she was talking to a young couple, she looked over her shoulder to find him. She blew him a kiss and mouthed “Soon.”
For him, it wasn’t soon enough.
He waited fifty minutes, which was all he could tolerate, then called the driver. Then when she was alone, he strode across the room, swept her up and over his shoulder.
She squealed as the air rushed out of her lungs. “Jacob!”
“Tell me to stop acting like a Neanderthal, and I will.”
“No way.” She grabbed his tuxedo jacket. “When I talked to you about making babies, I suspected you’d do something like this.”
The stunned crowd parted for them as he strode through the courtyard.
In the car, he told the driver to put up the privacy screen; then he captured her mouth in a hungry, demanding kiss. It was enough—barely enough—to sustain him for the few minutes it would take for them to reach the hotel and ride the elevator to their suite.
“Is this how it’s going to be, Sir?”
“Oh yes. From this day forward.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah.” He tugged her head back so she could see the pure honesty in his eyes. “I promise.”
She leaned forward, and he took her mouth again, sealing his vow forever.
◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Thank you for reading Hold On To Me. I hope you loved Jacob and the love he found for Elissa. (And don’t forget Waffle—who was inspired by my daughter’s cat, Tinkerbell!) Hawkeye and his agents have a very special place in my heart. For the men of Hawkeye, the line of duty between bodyguard and client isn’t meant to be crossed.
If you like two sexy, dominant alpha males, a steamy touch of BDSM, some great suspense, and a heart-wrenching second chance at love, Come to Me is the story for you. There's a cool million dollar bounty on the head of Hawkeye commander Wolf Stone. Nate and Kayla will do anything to protect him, but will the cost to their hearts destroy them....?
DISCOVER COME TO ME
Spend time with your next unforgettable Hawkeye agent in Trust In Me, a forbidden relationship romance. Inamorata is his boss. His client is the boss’s little sister, and her life is in danger. Trace Romero will do anything to protect her. But who will keep the sweet and lovely Aimee safe from his searing need for her?
★★★★★ “…Sexual tension, passion, heat, danger.....love and the inevitable HEA!” Niki’s Book Addiction
DISCOVER TRUST IN ME
Turn the page for an exciting excerpt from COME TO ME
Come to Me
Chapter One Excerpt
Shit.
Nate Davidson opened his eyes and tried to shake away the stars that had exploded in his head and stolen his vision. It took several tries before the image of strong, tall, dark, and dangerous Wolf Stone blinked into focus. And when it did, Nate was certain he’d never seen anything better.
It’d been a long time. Too damn long.
“You’re lucky I didn’t tear your fool head off.”
Nate flexed his jaw to make sure it still worked. “Feels to me like you did.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Stone’s voice was deep and ragged, cut glass on velvet.
“You’re not glad to see me? I thought you’d start looking for a fattened calf.” Nate knew what real danger was. It had nothing to do with his battered body or the nasty storm snarling its way over the Rocky Mountains. Danger was Wolf Stone. And Nate was in the bigger, stronger man’s sights.
Nate struggled to get his elbows behind him. Damn mountains were made of rock, not the best pillow under any circumstances. Downright painful when you’d had your clock cleaned by a tank of a man. “Mind if I sit up?”
“Stay where you are.”
Lying on the ground, looking well over six feet up into Stone’s cold blue eyes left Nate at a disadvantage—or, rather, at a greater disadvantage than he usually was around Stone. “Hospitable as always, aren’t you, boss?”
“All trespassers get the same treatment.”
No matter how hard either of them tried to pretend otherwise, they both knew Nate was no ordinary trespasser.
And Stone was no ordinary property owner.
He’d commanded several missions that Nate had been assigned to. Every person selected had to meet rigorous physical standards. By any measure, Nate was a good-size man, an inch over six feet, two hundred seven pounds of lean muscle.
Still, Stone had him by two inches and at least twenty pounds. Even now, recouping from injuries, Stone had effortlessly brought Nate down. Well, that was an understatement. Stone had tossed Nate like an old magazine.
“Still waiting for an answer to my question, Davidson.”
Sometimes, only the truth would do. �
��When you refused protection, Hawkeye sent me.”
“You’re here,” Stone demanded incredulously, “to protect me?” He raised a dark eyebrow in a way that made grown men cower. Nate had seen it happen, and he refused to admit to himself that it made him cower as well.
“Who’d have imagined?” Ludicrous.
Stone sheathed his knife. The weapon was overkill. He only needed his hands in order to tear a strip out of someone’s hide.
“Tell Hawkeye I said thanks, but no thanks. You can find your own way off the ranch.” Stone turned.
If he hadn’t been looking for it, Nate might not have noticed Stone’s slight limp. Stubborn man. The threat against his life was real and imminent. He was the only eyewitness to the hit that had taken out Elliott and Lisa Mulgrew. Word on the street was that some lucky bastard would get a cool million dollars if Stone didn’t make it to court to testify against Michael Huffman, the murderer.
While Stone was holed up in his fortress, he was safe enough. But once he left Cold Creek Ranch, he’d need the backup.
“So,” Nate called out when Stone got about ten paces away, “you’re not interested in knowing how I breached the perimeter?”
“You got exactly nowhere before your ass was mine.” He continued on without looking back.
“Storm’s brewing, man!”
“You’ll get wet.”
Well, hell. Nate collapsed back onto the unforgiving ground. That’d gone well.
Stone disappeared over a ridge, vanishing into thick Ponderosa pines.
In a nearby tree, a hairy woodpecker—nasty little bastard—beat out a staccato that matched the throbbing headache in Nate’s temples.
Under any circumstances, he deferred to Stone. The man exuded a palpable loyalty-inspiring authority. Even now, when Stone didn’t want assistance, didn’t want to be protected, Nate had no intention of leaving. Stone was as determined as the mountains were rugged. Then again, so was Nate.
Hold On To Me (Hawkeye Book 4) Page 18