We’d opened our hearts to each other, revealed all our dark secrets and, after a long path of hate, came out in love. Of course I trusted him. “Umm, no.”
He spanked me. “Bad girl.”
I bit my blood red lip—a shade of lipstick I’d learned was Dom’s favorite—grinning, as my heels echoed on the floor. “Would Daddy punish me tonight?”
His fingers dug in my ass. “Yes.”
“Good,” I moaned.
“But after I give you your surprise.”
A door squeaked open, and the cold air stung my face. By the smell of the new peonies I’d planted and the crunching sounds of my heels, I’d say we were heading for the back garden that led to the beach.
The sea breeze confirmed the path as he told me to watch my step. “Are we there yet?”
He held my hand in his and set one arm around my waist. “Yes. Just four steps up.”
I felt my way up to what must have been the pergola I wasn’t a fan of and wanted to replace with a fountain. He ushered me to the left and told me to sit. Then he took the blindfold off.
I opened my eyes to a different scene from what I’d expected. It was the pergola, but there were purple, chiffon curtains draping over it like a canopy. Baby light strands swirled over the cast stone pillars elegantly. In front of me, there was a prepared feast for two on the table and a bottle of wine. Rose petals scattered everywhere on the marble and all the way down the beach bridge. “Wow. When did you do all that? You never leave my side.”
His smile lit his perfect face as he inserted his hands in his pockets, leaning his back against a pillar. He looked stunning in a black suit and white shirt, his olive skin beautiful under this light. “When you took your nap.”
“It’s beautiful, Dom. Maybe I won’t get rid of it after all.”
“I’m glad you like it.” He inclined his head with a smirk. “Can we say the same about the blue room?”
I laughed. “Well, that for sure is gonna…stay.”
“Stay?” His eyes popped with excitement.
“It kinda grew on me.”
He sighed in relief. “Fantastico.”
“Actually, I thought about using it tonight. I have a surprise of my own for you.”
“Davvero?”
“Si, si.”
He approached me and ran a thumb over my cheekbone. “Daddy can’t wait, baby girl.” Just like that he lit my body on fire.
Dom took his other hand out of his pocket and fell down to one knee. I giggled—for the first time since I got here. When I was shipped in cuffs to this place I now called mine, I thought I’d never laugh again. “What are you doing?”
“When you said you wanted a real wedding, I realized I never got a chance to propose right.”
Oh. My heart fluttered. He wanted to give me everything. “But a guy like you never asks for permission or takes no for an answer.”
“That still goes. A guy like me can still go down on one knee and propose to the woman he loves, though, and hope this time she’ll say yes on her own.” He opened a little jewelry box, and there was another ring more dazzling than the one already on my finger. A potpourri of gems nestled between lines of diamonds. “Nicole Sofia Lanza,” he started, and I laughed at the already given last name, as if his possessive self couldn’t for one second unmark me his, “will you marry me?”
“Ummm, you surprised me. I really need time to think.”
He squinted at me, scolding, but he still had his smile. “Allora, we both know I have my ways to persuade you.”
“I don’t need them anymore.” I saw him. I felt him. I loved him. I wanted him. Everything else didn’t matter. He’d kept his promise and made me happy when I gave myself to him. “The answer is yes, Daddy Dom.”
He grinned wide and mashed his lips against mine. “Ti amo, tesoro mio.”
