All Good Things Exposed (21 page)

I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes as I began to speak. "I think marriage with you would be a bittersweet heaven. I love you, so in that it would be perfect. I believe with my whole heart you would protect me and provide for me, not just tangibly, but emotionally. Not only do I see you caving to my desires, but I also see my need to succeed on my own clashing with your need to both do things for me and make decisions that concern me without first considering my feelings and desires. You need control, Jace," I opened my eyes to see his were moist but no tears had fallen. He truly was a ruined man. "I will fight you to the end when you try to control me and my life. In the bedroom I can submit, but outside I simply can't. But I would be willing to fight with you for control for the rest of my life." I smiled and he pulled me into his arms. He weaved them around my waist tightly, holding me stiffly to him.

"I love you, Olivia." He said against my hair. Tears filled my eyes as happiness flooded through my entire body at his declaration. His entire body shook with what I knew was fear and I wanted to chase it away. My strong, capable, dominant man was shattered and broken open by love. Within, his demons rested and I vowed to fight them till the end. He deserved it. He deserved me and I deserved him. I knew with certainty, our love could withstand anything the world threw at us.

Jace pulled away, but he didn't release me. His hands remained on my hips, holding tightly onto me. I rested my hands on his shoulders, fighting the urge to kiss him as he stared down at me with a look of wonderment on his face. "Tell me you love me, Olivia."

I smiled gently. "I love you, Jace. I love you so much."

He smiled. "Enough to marry me?"

My breath caught. "Jace,"

"Marry me, Olivia." It wasn't a proposal. It was a command. My heart thundered in my chest as I stared into his eyes. They were so blue, so clear and so - hopeful. I realized then that I wanted to marry him. I did. And, I would. His hands tightened on my hips and he pulled me closer to him so our fronts were molded together. "Marry me. Say you will."

"I will." I said on a breath of wonder. My eyes widened as I realized what I just said and I laughed. "Yes," I breathed as reality settled in. "Are you sure?"

He didn't answer. His lips crashed against mine as his hands moved to the back of my thighs. He lifted me and I spread my legs around his hips, clutching tightly to him. I knew he was taking me to the bedroom when he started walking and my stomach tightened with need for him. God, I loved this man. I adored him with every fiber of my being and I had just agreed despite my irrational fear of marriage to spend the rest of my life with him, bound to Jace through wedlock by a legal certificate. What was I thinking? Oh, it didn't matter. I was in love and this felt right.

Jace climbed the stairs with me in his arms. Somehow, we made it to the top alive despite the fact we hadn't raised our heads from kissing to look where we were going. He moved fluidly, through the hallway toward the bedroom. He set me down at the foot of the bed and instantly pulled at the fabric of my dress. He slid it from my body and dropped it to the floor before quickly stripping me of my bra and panties. His hands started at the thigh-highs I wore, pulling them down. When I was naked, he led me to the bed and laid me down. I was still wearing the butt plug and a sharp burst of desire bloomed in my stomach as I made contact with the bed. Wetness pooled between my legs and I moaned for him as I stared up at the man I was so willing to give my life over to without question or concern. It should have sent a warning shattering through me - but it didn't.

Jace tugged at the buttons of his shirt and I reveled at the idea of him completely naked with me. Too many times he had me with his clothing on. Tonight I needed to feel him. I needed to feel the man I'd agreed to marry inside me and around me. I needed this connection with him more than I needed the air around me to breathe. Slowly, but surely every article of clothing met mine on the floor and he was hovering above me naked.

His eyes met mine. His voice was strangled. "I need to be inside you."

"Take me." I whispered.

He moved a hand between my legs. "Fuck, you're so ready for me."

"I'm always ready for you."

"I'm going to take you with the plug in, all right?"

He was asking. I smiled. "Yes."

With that, he moved himself between my legs, rubbing his strong length up and down my wet core. As he settled against my throbbing opening, his lips met mine and he kissed me gently, pressing into me. A small gasp escaped my lips at the feeling of him entering me.

"Fuck you're tight with that in." He groaned, pushing again slowly.

"You feel bigger." I gasped as he pushed himself the rest of the way inside me. I felt as though I was filled to the brim. It was pleasure in its finest expression. When he started rocking within me, I wrapped my legs around his waist and met each thrust with equal yearning. His lips never left mine as he made love to me. He swallowed every gasp, moan and plea. He devoured me completely.

I'd never felt so loved as I did in this moment. It was precious. One I knew I would forever hold dear to my heart. In this moment, I felt as though I met the other half of my soul. We collided with a bang and molded together from the heat. Our two jagged, wounded hearts fit perfectly together to make what was always incomplete complete. I would forever be a part of him and he would forever be a part of me. I knew this for a fact. I'd touched a place in him no one had ever touched before and he was the very first everything for me. I bared my body, heart and soul to him and in return he flashed me his. Although I've only seen glimpses and touched inches, I believed for the first time since meeting Jace - that I had forever with him to see the rest and feel every part of him.

Chapter 17

I woke to the morning sun streaming through the window of my bedroom like liquid gold, spilling over the dark floor and onto the bed. I wondered how I'd forgotten to tint the windows before going to sleep, but the thought was soon forgotten as the woman in my arms shifted. The sun kissed her skin and she sighed before relaxing, her breathing even and easy.

The events of the night before came rushing back to me like a freight train and my blood chilled a notch or two. I'd asked her to marry me. What the fuck had I been thinking? I hadn't even asked her father for permission. Fuck. The man was going to think I was an insolent prick. And, I was. All I'd been able to think about was making her mine. All mine. And taking her hand in marriage was the only way I could think to seal the deal. Ah shit, I didn't even have a ring for her. I really was an insolent prick. What kind of man asked the woman he was madly in love with to marry him without a damned ring? What kind of a man was I?

I shook my head at the thought before freezing. I didn't want to wake her up. I had to get my thoughts in order first. Jeez…

First things first - I had to get her a ring. The world needed to know she belonged to me and I couldn't think of a better way than a classy rock on that beautiful hand. Well, I suppose I could tattoo my name across her forehead. It was an option she would loathe me for but it would get the point across. Again, I shook my head. Shit my mind was a mess this morning.

Second - I had to contact her father and ask for his blessing. And well, if he didn't give it to me then fuck him. I'm marrying her by the end of November and that's that.

Third - I had to tell my own mother. That was going to be hard because I cared about what she thought and I knew she would think it was too soon. But she knew me. I was always in a rush. I was born with the last name for a reason. I lived up to it well. I knew she would support me, but not first without giving me the speech I dreaded.

I really couldn't believe I asked her to marry her within the same five minutes of realizing I loved her with every fiber of my being. In all fairness, it was also within the same five minutes I realized I couldn't live my life without her. I needed her in a way I had never needed any other. She was like the air I needed to breathe, the water I needed to drink, and the blood that pumped my heart. She was an essential I simply could not do without. A drug I could not rehabilitate from.

She shifted and I swore my heart stopped. Her head lifted from my chest and she squinted up at me. "Jace,"

"Morning, Angel."

"Umm." She rubbed her eyes and glared at the window. "Morning."

"How did you sleep?"

"Good. You?" She sounded tired still. I wanted to tell her to go back to bed, but I didn't think she would listen to me and I saw no need to ruin a perfectly beautiful morning with her stubbornness.

"I'm good. I've woken up to you in my arms." I said softly and her eyes widened then her cheeks turned pink. What was she thinking?

"I suppose," her eyes flickered to my chest and she worried her bottom lip, making my stomach feel as though a rock truck dumped its load.

"What is it?"

"Well," the pink in her cheeks deepened. "This is embarrassing, but did you ask me to marry you last night?" She stuttered. "I mean, I don't know if I dreamed it. It felt so - real."

I chuckled and she looked horrified. I would definitely be getting that ring for her tonight. And I would plan a proper proposal. "I did. And you said yes."

She looked relieved for a moment before worry took over again. "I did, didn't I?"

"Yes." I nodded. "And it's too late to go back on your word. We will be married before the end of November."

Her eyes widened. "November next year?"

"No. This November." I said slowly.

She flinched. "Jace, that's really soon."

"I know I haven't talked to your father, but I will." I assured.

"What?" Fear flashed in her eyes and she pulled away from me, cringing into herself at the mention of the man. "You can't contact him." She pulled the sheet around herself, visibly shaking.

What the fuck did the guy do to her? "Olivia, talk to me. Why don't you want your father to know you're getting married?"

She focused her eyes on the wall. She wasn't staring at me, but I could see they were misting over with tears. My stomach clenched and my gut ached. What the fuck? "I never want to see him or the rest of my family again. Ever."

"All right." I sat up, pulling her into my lap. She struggled futilely for a moment. But only a moment before she slumped against my chest, curling her knees into her own. I held her in my arms and rocked her gently. If I could have seen myself a year ago I never would have believed it. I never would have believed a little lady like her would have captured my heart in her gentle palm, owning me completely.

"I don't want to talk about this." She whispered.

"Tough shit." I replied gruffly. "It's you and me against the world. From now on there are no secrets. Only truth. Why can't I contact your family? Why don't you want them to be part of your life?"

"My father is controlling," she paused and its now I remember Trisha warning me off. She told me she did everything she could to get Olivia away from her father and that she would do anything to keep her from getting hurt by another man. At the time I'd been furious. Now I was curious. What had Trisha meant? And what was Olivia trying to say?

"Go on," I nudged gently.

She pulled in a shaky breath. "He owns a law firm in Toronto where I was born and raised." I already knew this about her. I'd read it in her background check. "I have a brother who is only two years older then me. He is the family favorite. I suppose you could say I'm kind of known as the black sheep of the bunch. Anyway, my father wanted the two of us to go to school for law like he did and take over his practice. It was his dream and ever since I can remember he drilled our future into us until we believed we wanted it. But as I got older, I realized I held no love for law." She hiccupped. Her story was sounding shockingly familiar to my own. My own father had pressured me into running his corporation. The only difference is that Olivia had been lucky enough to sever the ties and walk away. I simply couldn't. I had too much responsibility tied to my deceased fathers desires to just walk away and start new. It didn't work like that. "I liked writing. And for a long time I thought I wanted to be a writer. But he never supported me."

"And your mother?"

"My mother is a socialite. It took me coming home only once with dirt under my nails for her to decide the doctors switched babies in the delivery room. No daughter of hers would ever play in the mud."

My heart felt heavy. I wanted to hurt her parents for the way they'd wounded her. She didn't deserve this and I knew these kind of wounds remained on the heart for a lifetime for most. I could only hope I would be enough to make new memories and wipe out the old, painful ones. Her parents never should have had kids. There was no love in the home at all. Whereas I'd had a harsh tycoon of a father, my mother had shown my sister and me nothing but eternal devotion and love. How was it that I was the fucked up one out of the two of us? Olivia had clearly had it rougher than me. "What were you doing?" I asked.

"What?"

"In the mud? What were you doing?"

She sighed. "I was trying to make flowers grow. I bought a package of seeds. Dahlias," her voice croaked. "I was trying to make them grow."

"Fuck, Angel." I pulled her tighter to my chest. "How old were you."

"I don't remember." She shrugged. "I bought the seed with the cook. She took me shopping one day when the nanny was sick and my mother couldn't care for me. She had an appointment."

I didn't know what to say. She had no childhood. "What were you and your brother like as kids?"

She sounded sad. "We were friends. We played together. He always got me so dirty when he chased me around the parks and mom would always be furious with me, but it was fun. He made me laugh."

I sensed this didn't end well. "When did the good relationship end?"

"When I started dating a friend of his. At my fathers pressure."

Now I loathed the man. He'd be lucky to walk away with two legs if I ever met him. "Go on."