by Lilly James
“Take a look.”
I hesitantly turned and stumbled back in shock, knocking into Parks’s chest. “Oh my God,” I squealed like a child, slapping my hand over my mouth. “Oh my God.” I turned to Parks, who was wearing a humongous grin across his beautifully lit-up face. “We’re in Sydney?” I was bewildered as I pointed across the water. “That’s the opera house?”
“It sure is, baby.”
I continued to stare at the wondrous sight of the gloriously lit building. “Wade! I can’t believe you’ve brought me here.”
He wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled my back into his chest. “You said Sydney was one of the places you wanted to visit. Correct?”
“Yes,” I said curiously, wondering how he knew, because I’d only ever told Steph and Nia.
“So here we are.” He kissed me on my cheek as the yacht slowly sailed past the opera house. Although I wanted to keep staring at a building I’ve always wanted to see, the urge to turn and stare at something just as impressive, maybe even more, overruled that desire.
“You are amazing. Do you know that?” I placed a soft kiss to his nose and received a gorgeous and satisfying smile.
“I want to give you everything you desire,” he said, pushing my hair behind my ear and then caressing my cheek.
“I desire you,” I breathed, leaning into his hand.
He tilted his head. “I want to give you the world. I want to give you all of my time and love, and I want to give you those words you crave. You are my reason. My love and my life. Evelyn.” Parks took my hand as we started sailing under the dazzling illuminated Sydney Harbour Bridge. His green eyes were bright and full to the brim with adoration as he gazed at me. His gaze had my knees weak, wobbling and failing to keep me balanced.
“Being away from you has been agony, but it also gave me hope. Hope that I can save myself so I can save us.” He sighed, bowed his head, and then looked up at me again, his eyes swimming with devotion. “Princess, I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side.” Parks took my hands in his and got down on one knee. The gesture had my heart racing in anticipation. It was like my mind knew something I didn’t, and I had to try and catch up to the feelings that suddenly overwhelmed me. “But I want you by my side as my wife. Princess, marry me.” He pulled out a suede black box from his pocket and opened it up, giving me view of a beautiful blue-diamond ring.
My breath caught as he spoke words I thought I would never hear a man say. But he had said them. He asked me to marry him. Holy fuck. Marry him! The gasp that left my mouth hurt my chest. Tears began to mist my view, falling onto my cheeks.
“You…” My words got choked around my gentle sobs. “You want me to be your wife?”
“Princess,” he whispered, “I am nothing without you. I need your presence to be able to breathe. I need your existence to be able to exist. I need your beating heart next to mine. So yes, I want you to be my wife because I need you as my everything.”
I inhaled a sharp breath, and tears welled in my eyes. My heart thumped and clenched all at once. I closed my eyes, drowning in the depth of his love for me, then opened them again.
“Then I’ll be your everything.”
Parks’s eyes lit up as he squeezed my hand. “So that’s a yes?”
Was he kidding? “Of course it’s a bloody yes.” I laughed, tears of joy swimming down my cheeks.
As soon as I said yes, Parks got to his feet and took me into his arms to kiss me long and hard. My tears became hard sobs just before the distant fireworks startled me and caught my breath. “Oh my God.” I cried happy tears as I turned to watch the spectacular display Parks had obviously set up for me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder.
“This is all for you, Princess. I will prove to you that I am the right man for you. I told you I had to be away from you to build our future, but when I thought you were gone the other day, I knew I was wasting precious time that could have been spent with you. I don’t know if this is going to work, but I will die fucking trying,” he whispered.
I turned away from the fireworks and wrapped my arms around him and under his jacket. “You are the man for me.”
He nodded, beaming as he took my hand to place the ring on my finger. “It’s a blue diamond, just like the necklace I gave you.”
“It’s beautiful,” I gasped. The ring was absolutely breathtaking—a large blue diamond in a heart shape with a band covered in white diamonds. As I admired it, I began to squeal. “Oh my God, I’m going to be Mrs. Parks.” I jumped into his arms and wrapped my legs around his waist.
“You were always Mrs. Parks, baby.” He grinned before kissing my mouth.
We took pictures with the opera house, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the city skyline behind us and made memories. Memories I would cherish for an eternity. Memories of the intense and incredible day he proposed to me in Sydney. I would hold it in my heart forever.
The fact a woman like me, a disaster not so long ago, could bring a man like Parks to his knees overwhelmed my mind. He was merciless. Powerful. A man that was greatly admired and deeply respected all across the business world. No man, woman, or beast ever told a man like Parks what to do or got to know him on a deep and personal level. Yet I had. I knew this man deeply and intimately. He told me things that would never slip from his lips in front of anyone else. He trusted me to be his cheerleader and to ride this roller-coaster journey of emotions with him. He was the first man that had ever loved me. He was the first man that I had ever loved. If anyone dared to come and tell me what we had wasn’t pretty darn special, then they were out of their damn minds. This was love. This was hope.
Parks’s yacht sailed along Sydney Harbour, and the warmest, safest arms wrapped around my body while I stared at the fireworks above.
“I wish this moment would last forever,” I whispered, hoping Parks wouldn’t hear it.
“We have so many moments more,” he breathed into my ear, having heard what I said.
When the fireworks died down a while later, the boat docked, and Parks climbed off first, turned around, and caught me by the waist to lift me off. We said nothing, basking in our thoughts as we walked to the Bentley Cleaver was waiting in.
“Cleaver,” Parks called to him uncharacteristically when he climbed out of the car. “She said yes.”
My chest ballooned as Cleaver almost caught his bottom lip between his teeth, his eyes glistening with happiness. It was almost like he was receiving good news from his own son.
“That’s m’boy.” Cleaver held out his arms and brought Parks into a tight embrace. I stepped back a little to allow the men to have their moment. It was something so out of the ordinary that I wanted to cherish it. I got teary as I could feel how proud and how so profoundly happy Cleaver was for Parks. A boy he once took care of had grown into a fine, remarkable young man, who had suddenly found happiness.
“Congratulations, Evey.” Cleaver let Parks go and walked to me, then brought me into a hug.
“Thank you.” I smiled, feeling strangely at peace and not flinching at all as he held me.
Cleaver composed himself again before opening the door for us, and Parks, as always, held out his hand for me to climb in first. Parks secured my belt as Cleaver pulled out, then he slipped his hand between my thighs, leaning in and whispering in my ear, “I’ve booked us into the Shangri-La Hotel. I have something special planned for you tomorrow, but for tonight, I want to spend hours between your legs, licking, sucking, tasting. Biting, fucking, and taking. Then I’m going to make sweet love to my future wife.” I shivered as the erotic words tumbled into my eardrums and made a mass of moisture pool between my legs. And when he said “future wife,” Jesus, I had to take a second to remind myself he was actually talking about me.
We arrived at the hotel, and Parks informed me that we were staying in the presidential suite. He led me through a beautiful, sparkling lobby where everything was white—white shiny floors, extremely high
white ceilings, and white marble pillars.
A glass lift took us up to the suite, and when it came to our stop, Parks allowed me to walk in first. Just like always when he took me somewhere, my mind was blown. The whole suite was breathtaking. Beautiful, glamorous, and just remarkable. The living room was bathed in light and dark golds and speckles of white and creams. It was full of gorgeous, decadent armchairs, and beautiful touches like Baccarat crystal glassware, and a bookcase with a wide range of antique books.
I was awestruck as Parks led me into the bedroom, and I spotted the master bed covered in beautiful, white, inviting bedsheets that was calling our name. The bedroom had its own intimate terrace, and we were surrounded by the most wondrous views of the opera house glowing white against the dark blue sea and the Harbour Bridge standing out just as much.
“Now.” Parks wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled my gaze from the view as he pressed his lips into my neck, making me tilt my head so he could gain better access. “I said something about being between my fiancée’s legs all night.”
“Fiancée,” I mouthed, toying with how it sounded.
“Hmm,” Parks hummed against my neck, licking, then biting down gently. I watched him at work from our reflections in the window and caressed his cheek while he licked and bit across my neck.
“Tell me what you plan to do to me.” My words came out low, breathy, suggestive.
His groan trembled though my body, causing my eyes to close, my teeth to catch my bottom lip. “I intend to unravel you out of this pretty little dress.” He kissed my ear, licking into it slowly in gentle circles. “Use my mouth to taste your sweetness, have you come around my tongue. I’m in control of your body, Princess, and I will make love to it how I please.”
In one swift movement, he caught me by the hips, spun me around, and picked me up. My legs automatically wrapped around his body as he carried me to the bed. I caught his lips quickly, lashing my tongue into his mouth and tasting a hint of watermelon. I devoured his mouth, craving the taste of both it and him, before he set me down on my feet, breathing out ragged after the attack I just gave with my lips.
“Hungry?” He grinned, then slid his lips across my neck.
“Greedy,” I admitted as he pulled my dress over my body. I was standing in a red lace bra and knickers, and the sexual longing I could see in his gaze as it swept me up had my knees weakening as he traced every inch of me with it.
He sighed in adoration and half closed his eyes. “So fucking beautiful. Look what you do for me.” Parks unzipped his trousers and pulled them down along with his boxers, letting his magnificence spring free. His erection had me staring, had my clit accelerating and moisture gathering in my knickers. Lust-driven, I lunged forwards, needing his cock in my palms, but Parks pushed me away and back onto the bed. Within seconds, he was over me, pushing me down into the mattress. He moved his lips quickly across my jaw, then up to my mouth, where he sucked at my tongue, making me moan as I ran my hands down his strong arms as they held his body over mine. He left my mouth, nipped my bottom lip, and then licked into the dip of my collarbone before moving to my bra straps. He grabbed hold of one strap with his teeth and dragged it down my shoulder, then did the same with the other side. I lifted myself up just a touch, allowing him to unclasp it at the back, then pulled it from my arms. He swept his big hands over my naked chest, making my nipples harden. He repeated the gesture, biting into my skin and sucking, bruising.
My fingers gripped at the bedsheets, and my moans were low. I needed more. My backside lifted, trying to create friction to my clit that was throbbing delightfully.
Parks leaned back to look at me. His eyes were wide with arousal as he soaked up my nakedness.
I pushed myself up and pulled him back to me by his hair. “Keep touching me,” I begged, my voice heavy with greed.
“I love your impatience,” he murmured between our sliding lips. My groin ached to have his undivided attention, an ache that was always present when Parks was. “Let’s see how wet you are for me.” He caressed my breasts, felt down my hips, and landed in the middle of my thighs. The way he slid his fingers down the insides of my cleft so effortlessly proved exactly how wet I was for him. The gentle inhale, and the way his eyes closed, told me he was happy with how damp I was. Damn right.
“Hmm, so wet and deliciously ready for me, baby.” He immediately found my clitoris with the tip of his finger and started rubbing with gentle pressure in small circles, just like he knew I loved. He then pushed a finger into my sex, so I caught his bottom lip between my teeth and moaned.
“More?” he questioned with a rub of his nose along mine. All I was capable of doing was nodding, and he smirked as he pulled out his finger, then slipped two back in. My back arched from the bed as I gasped.
“More?” he asked and bent his fingers just slightly inside of me. Raking my fingers through his hair, I nodded.
“Ah, yes.” I pulled at his roots and lifted my arse to let his fingers penetrate deeper.
“Yes, Princess, that’s it. When you come for me, I’m going to taste your delectable juices.”
And I did come for him. My body tightened, then loosened within seconds. Parks kept his fingers inside me, but he dipped his head, and his mouth shot between my thighs. He plunged his tongue into my core to lick and suck my climax that had trickled down his hand.
I was panting, my chest heaving and my body needing. I sat up, pulled Parks into me by his shirt collar, and quickly got to work on his buttons, undoing each one quickly and clumsily. When I’d opened his shirt, I ripped it off his shoulders, hastily glided my hands all over the sharp and masterfully defined shape of his torso, and moaned softly as I traced the ripples of his abs. Then I moved over the bulge of his biceps and up and over his shoulders, where I dug my nails in and pulled him into me. Using all my power, I tried to flip him over so I was on top, but that didn’t work. Somehow, he ended up flipping me over onto my stomach instead. I felt his torso at my back, his cock pushing against the curve of my arse.
“Hmm.” I felt his smirk against my ear as he leant down. “I’m in charge, Princess. Don’t try to change that.”
I blew my hair away from my eyes as my hands were trapped beneath my chest. “But I want to—”
He smacked my arse, making me moan. “No, let me have my way with you.”
“What if I want to have my way with my future husband?” I breathed, trying to lift my head from the pillow.
He paused before speaking again. “Fuck, say it again.”
I pressed my cheek against the pillow, grinning ridiculously. “My future husband.”
“Hmm.” The way Parks hummed told me my words turned him on. He moved my hair to the side with gentle fingertips, then kissed over my shoulders, his teeth nipping as he went. He moved his hands and lips across my back until they were parallel with my arse. Parks then grabbed my ankles and forced my legs to bend so my toes were almost touching my bum cheeks. God, the position was uncomfortable at the beginning. I didn’t even realize I could bend that way. But as soon as Parks bowed his head and started licking between my buttocks, I forgot the discomfort and focused solely on the pleasure.
“Oh Wade, that’s so good.”
He licked at me sensually, then blew out warm breath over the moisture he left. He sucked and kissed my cleft, having me pressing my face into the pillow and moaning languidly.
“I need to have every single inch of you, Evelyn. I want to kiss. Suck. Lick. Bite every part of you. ”
He bit my bum cheek and spanked it hard before grabbing hold of the backs of my legs and pulling me down the bed. In a few effortless movements, he positioned me on my knees just at the end of the bed. My legs were outside his as he stood behind me and thrust into me without warning.
“Fuck,” I cried as his cock drove in and out, giving me that rapturous pleasure. The delight that ran throughout my veins when Parks controlled and worshiped me the way he did sent my mind into a calamity, my body into a fren
zy. My emotions ran wild, colliding and scattering into a thousand pieces, keeping me from gathering my bearings.
“Jesus, baby, I love the way your ass moves when I’m fucking your sweetness.” He pounded his magnificence into me, grunting sexually as I moaned loudly.
“I love the way you feel inside of me. Don’t stop,” I begged weakly.
“I’ll never stop.” Parks’s promise held drive and determination, and it showed as his lunges picked up to a fast and powerful pace. The tops of his thighs collided with the backs of mine, and his heavy balls deliciously slapped the curve of my arse. If my hands weren’t busy with holding my body weight up, I would’ve easily reached behind and taken them into my palms. However, I needed all the support I could get.
“Tell me you love it hard,” Parks barked out, groaning between each word. I didn’t have the air in my lungs to agree, but the way I cried his name, the way my fingernails pulled at the bedsheets told him I agreed, indefinitely.
“Christ. I love the way you respond to my cock, baby.” He moaned as I came and circled his hips deep. When he was satisfied I’d emptied all I had, he pulled out, turned me around by my hips, and swept up my mouth with his tongue.
“I love you,” I breathed between our kisses.
“Hmm, I fucking love to you too. Now be a good little future wife and lie on your back.”
My brow raised as I looked up at him. “A good little future wife?”
“That’s what I said, woman.”
“Oh?” I was being playful and crossed my arms. “Well, what if I don’t want to lie on my back and become subservient to my future husband like some Stepford wife, huh?” Who was I kidding? I’d lie on my back and surrender myself to this god any damn day.
His eyes shadowed, dark, desirable, and dangerous. “Don’t lie to yourself, Evelyn.” He held my jaw as he smirked. “You will gladly acquiesce to my every desire.”
“What’s that mean?” I breathed, backing away from him a little. My every intention was to run from him, then get caught.