“You are a very silly woman, do you know that?”
She tried to smile, but it was watery, and her lips quivered.
“I can’t believe you did all this…for me.” The awe was clear in his voice, on his face.
“Dusty helped.”
“Oh, that rat bastard. I’m going to have him flogged for this,” he said. “No, wait. He’d enjoy that, damn it.”
She laughed, and this time it was genuine. “So you don’t hate me?”
He shook his head. “Sweetheart, I could never hate you.” He kissed her, and her heart burst. She kissed him back eagerly, crawling onto his lap and wrapping her arms around him. “Easy. Easy now,” he said against her lips. “We are still in public, you know.”
She blinked and gazed around. “Oh, right. Oops.” She inhaled his scent and forced herself to loosen her grip and put a few inches of space between them.
“One more thing,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“Where the hell did that money come from? You just happened to have fifty grand lying around? Under your mattress, maybe? I always thought it was a bit lumpy.”
She smiled. “It’s, um, part of my advance for the book. And its sequels.”
“I can’t let you do this. It’s too much money. What are you going to live off of? Wait, did you say part of your advance?”
“Yeah.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“They offered me half a million for three books.”
“Jesus. I am in the wrong line of business. But I can’t do it, sweetheart. I can’t.”
“Because you’re a pigheaded alpha male?” she intoned.
“Yeah, probably. But seriously, you can’t just give me fifty thousand dollars like it’s nothing.”
“Fine. How about this. Treat it as a loan, one without interest, and one you have to pay back eventually.”
“No. That’s still too much. What do you get out of the deal?”
You, I hope. But she didn’t say this aloud. Instead, she said, “What about if you make me a partner in the business? With you and Dusty?”
“I think we could live with that.”
“So it’s settled, then?”
“Not quite yet,” he said, reaching for the velvet box. “Will you let me collar you, Elizabeth? Be my submissive, my lover, my sweetheart?”
“For how long?” she asked. She had to be sure. She was pretty positive of her feelings of him, but what if he didn’t return her affection?
“For however long you’ll have me.”
“And what if I say I want you for forever?” she challenged.
He grinned. “Then forever it is.”
She nodded, and he helped her rest on her knees. Then he stood behind her and slipped the strands of leather around her throat. She lifted her hair so he could fasten the cords. It was a snug but comfortable fit, soft against her skin, and the mask charm tickled the front of her throat.
“Did you make this?” she asked, glancing up at him over her shoulder.
“I did.”
He offered her his hand. She took it and let him tug her to her feet. “It looks even better than I’d hoped,” he whispered, pulling her to him for a searing yet sweet kiss. When they finally broke apart, they stayed close, his face a few inches above hers, his hands wrapped lovingly around her. “Hey, one more thing?”
“Yes, Sir?” she asked, heat simmering in her eyes.
“Why don’t you have the same last name?”
“Clark’s my mother’s maiden name. I legally changed mine when I moved out, trying to separate myself further from his influence, I guess. Besides…I couldn’t write under the name Liz Johnson. She’s a porn star. And Liz Clark sounded so normal. I used my first and middle names instead. Elizabeth Leigh.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I suppose you’d want to avoid people confusing you with a porn star. Well, Miss Elizabeth Leigh Johnson Clark, I am going to spend the rest of my life trying to make you submit to my will. How do you feel about that?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Sir. I think I’m up for the challenge.”
“I do believe you are, my little brat,” he whispered against her lips before kissing her again.
Loose Id Titles by Rachell Nichole
Spicy With a Side of Cranberry Sauce
To Sir
* * * *
The MARIETTA HOTEL Series
An Affair Across Times Square
An Engagement in Paris
Rachell Nichole
Rachell Nichole is a contemporary erotic romance author who loves writing sexy romances about memorable characters who have to fight to hold on to love.
Rachell holds two undergraduate degrees, one in Professional Writing and the other in French. She also received a Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University. She is the author of The Marietta Hotels Series, Spicy with a Side of Cranberry Sauce, Break (Through) the Ice, and Queen of Hearts.
Rachell lives in New York with a mountain of books, a loving family, and an invisible cat who loves to snuggle.
Find out more about the author at http://www.rachellnichole.com, and follow her blog at http://www.divasofdesire.blogspot.com/.
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