I was close to scolding him once again for his carelessness. However, I bit my tongue as we reached the top. He stopped in the middle of the floor, and I bit my lip nervously as he let go of my hand.
“Beckham, what’s going on?”
He leaned down and placed a quick kiss against my lips before resting his head against mine.
“Don’t take the blindfold off until I tell you to,” he ordered, his voice laced with authority and his usual seductive tone. His hand caressed my face softly before he pulled away and walked in another direction.
For a moment it was quiet. Then sounds of industrial building lights being turned on sounded throughout the building.
Beckham’s footsteps returned. He stood behind me, and my breath hitched as his hand traced down the length of my back.
“Keep your eyes closed,” he muttered by my ear. His hands found the knot of the blindfold, and he removed it with ease before pulling it from my eyes.
“Open them.”
Slowly, my eyes opened, adjusting to the light as I waited for them to focus. Once they did, my racing heart effectively stopped as my breathing slowed. The beautiful historic architecture seemed too familiar.
It was the same building that I had to, unfortunately, give up my dreams of owning even though I still found myself dreaming of it often.
Looking throughout the museum, I noticed a few of the paintings had been taken off the walls, and some of the showrooms were empty. However, the atmosphere was still there, the welcoming aura I loved when I first walked into this building. And as my confusion grew, I turned to look at Beckham, who was silently waiting for me to speak.
“Beckham… what are we doing here?” I asked cautiously, my eyes immediately seeing the utter love and devotion in his eyes as he looked at me, waiting for my reaction.
Part of me knew what this could’ve been, but I couldn’t jump to conclusions. I didn’t want to get my hopes up… but it was growing increasingly harder as my eyes welled with joyful tears.
He stepped closer, giving me a slight shrug. “Thought it’d be nice for you to see your new property before the remodeling starts…”
“What?” I whispered almost breathlessly, looking into his eyes for any hint that this was some sick joke. He remained sincere.
“Painters will be in next week to give the place a nice fresh coat, the electrician is already in the books to tune up whatever needs fixing, and the floor technician is coming to check on the integrity of the carpets and to sand and wax the floors.”
As I looked up at him, tears streaming down my face, I felt absolutely at a loss. I still couldn’t believe any of this was true. I couldn’t believe he’d done all of this for me. I was absolutely devastated when I found out Helen sold the place—but the man I was absolutely and utterly in love with was the buyer! And now he was giving me the keys to live out my dream—my dream to give artists voices, to share their creativity and artistry, to be a part of something worthwhile.
I threw my arms around his neck as I cried into his shoulder.
“Flower?” he muttered, caressing my back.
“You’re so fucking crazy,” I whispered, pulling him closer.
He chuckled, placing soft kisses on my neck and shoulder. “Only for you, Rosenna.”
“You’ve already done so much for me. You… you pulled me out of debt, you pulled me out of my miserable marriage, you cherished me when I was at my lowest and adored me at my highest… I can’t. I can’t accept this. It was supposed to be a forgotten dream.”
He pulled away, and I shook my head as his hands held my face, his eyes darkening as he looked down at me.
“And you’re my only fucking dream, Rosenna. There is absolutely nothing I wouldn’t give you. You wanted this gallery; it’s yours. You wanted to share my artistry with the world, all of my paintings, sculptures, blood, sweat, hard work… all of it is yours. Fuck, Flower… if you wanted the world, I would use every resource, every asset, every dollar that runs through my fucking bloodline to give it to you. You already know I would give you absolutely everything you could ever dream or ask of.”
“When am I going to wake up?” I whispered, my lip trembling. “When am I going to wake up to the life I had before, where I could only dream of being in love with a man like you? It feels too good to be true.”
His hand threaded into my hair; I gasped as he forced my head back, towering over me as his lips hovered over mine. “You will never wake up…” His voice husked, and I hid a moan as he leaned down to my neck, taking in my scent as if he needed it to breathe.
Feeling his tongue on my skin, my legs buckled, but his other hand immediately caught me, pulling me flush against him. Biting my lip, my hands rested against his chest as he lowered my head to make eye contact with him.
“I will never let you fucking wake up. Not if being with you is my fucking dream, my fucking fantasy. I will never let you wake up without knowing I’ll be there to cherish you. Without knowing I’ll be there to worship every single thing that makes you the woman you are…”
His mouth was feverish, hungry to devour any and every part of me. And God, I would let him do everything he wanted to me. I would let him cherish my mind, body, and soul… I would absolutely give this man every part of me.
He was all I would ever want and need. He ruined me for any other man willing to attempt to awaken me from this dream—the dream I never wanted to wake up from.
