Read A Passionate Discovery (Self-Discovery Series) Online
Authors: T Brooke
A Passionate Discovery (Self-Discovery Series) (36 page)
As he
knelt there, waiting, he felt his heart become like lead and sink into his
stomach. She was going to reject him, he knew it. How could he blame her
though? After what he had done how could he honestly expect her to accept his
proposal? She was perfect, and beautiful, and he had been a bastard to her, he
didn’t deserve her love.
After what
seemed like an eternity, though she was sure it was only a minute or so, Carla
nodded, still not capable of verbalizing a response. They had a million and one
things to discuss, but the thought of becoming Mrs. Jason Portland pushed all
of those things aside. It was more than she’d ever thought possible.
The look
of shock in Jason’s eyes when she nodded made Carla smile, and her smile grew
wider as, with shaking hands, he slid the huge diamond on her finger. She’d
thought him nervous when she first entered the gazebo, but it was clear he was
even more nervous just then as he looked at her, his expression indicating his
desperate need for her approval.
“If you
don’t like the ring we can get another tomorrow, you can choose anything you
want.” He looked up at her anxiously, hoping he wasn’t making a mess of things,
though he was sure he was. He’d never thought he would find a woman that could
make him feel the way Carla did, but now he had he didn’t want to go back to
the way he’d been before. He’d been cold, he knew that now, and cold wasn’t
good.
If it took
him the rest of his life to make up to Carla for how he’d treated her during
their nights together, he would use the whole of that time. She was the most
important thing to him, more important than any business deal or property, or
indeed anything else.
“I love
the ring, Sir, and I love you.” Carla finally found her voice. Dropping to her
knees she threw her arms around him. Though she loved the vulnerability he was
showing her just then, it was a side of him she’d hoped he possessed, she had
fallen in love with the strong, decisive persona he had shown her in the
beginning.
“Princess,
you never have to call me Sir again.” He held her against him, prepared to do
whatever it took to become the man she wanted him to be, the man she needed him
to be. If he had to he would change everything about himself, to become worthy
of her love.
Pulling
back from his embrace Carla looked into Jason’s eyes, her hands moving up to
either side of his face. “I fell in love with the man who showed me that
passion could be found when I truly submitted my heart, body and soul, Sir.”
She told him, speaking earnestly. “Please don’t ask me to give up everything
you have shown me about myself, not when I waited so long to discover it.”
He
couldn’t believe that she was still willing to submit to him after the way he
had treated her. It blew his mind. He was prepared to give up everything that
had meant the most to him, his desire for control, and submit to her, if that
what was it took, but here she was, submitting to him.
Her
willingness to give him not only her love, but her will, was more than he could
have ever hoped for, and it left him speechless, for the first time in his
life. He lowered his lips to hers, kissing her with all the passion he’d held
in check, showing her without words what her submission meant to him.
“You’ve
given me more than I deserve, princess,” he said when he finally broke their
kiss. “I promise, I will never hurt you again, ever.”
If she had
any doubts about his sincerity the look in his deep blue eyes melted them away,
leaving her certain of her decision, he was what she wanted. Taking his hand
she allowed him to pull her to her feet. “Sir, this is our tenth night
together.” Pink spots appeared in the center of her cheeks as she spoke, her
eyes straying over his perfectly clothed form. “What will you teach me?” she
asked, a slight smile playing about the corners of her mouth.
Jason
chuckled at the spirit of his future wife, pleased by the thought of all the
things they would share, and her willingness to surrender to his teachings. “I
will teach you everything there is to know about your body, and the pleasure it
can enjoy. In the process I will push you beyond your limits,” he told her,
lifting her into his arms.
He laid
her gently on the cushioned bed she hadn’t even noticed and then he pulled the
curtains closed so they were isolated from the rest of the world. Turning back
to her his breath caught in his throat at the sight of the look of innocent
curiosity on her face. He knelt beside the bed and reached out to caress her
cheek softly with the back of his hand. “And you need never fear because I will
be here to catch you, so you’ll never fall.”
Looking up
at the Adonis above her Carla thought back on the nights they had shared. In
ten nights she had discovered passion, love, fear, heartache and so many
emotional and physical changes that it took her breath away. As he joined her
on the bed she surrendered herself, body, mind and heart, to the man who had
shown her how to be more than she had ever believed herself capable of being.