“I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, Kris, that doesn’t make it right, though.”
“Is there any way you can forgive me? I’ll do anything, I swear.” His voice didn’t have his usual confidence. In fact, he sounded broken.
I had to give him the truth. I owed him that.
“The time I spent without you…it made me realize what an impact you made on my life. You took care of me, tried your best to protect me. You helped me find the person responsible for my accident, and you made it possible for me to get a little bit of justice.” I smiled at him, with tears in my eyes. The weight I’d felt on my shoulders suddenly lifted. “How could I not forgive you?”
A wide smile broke across Kris’ face and I fell into his open arms. I had missed the feeling of having his arms around me so much.
“I love you,” he whispered in my ear.
“I love you too,” I said. And I did. So much. And still... “What’s this about you being a billionaire, though?”
He smirked. “Not the best question with which to follow up a profession of love, you know.”
I grinned. “If that’s how you feel about it…” I made a move to walk away, only to be pulled back into his strong arms.
“You know what? I wouldn’t even care if you only told me you loved me so you could get your hands on my money.” He chuckled as he lowered his head. His lips brushed against mine, sending a race of electricity through me. “You’re worth it.”
Chapter 30
Preslee
It had been an entire year, and I still couldn’t get used to this lifestyle. Kris was the same sweet, kind, thoughtful person I had come to know so well over the course of only a few weeks. Now that his billionaire status was out in the open, nothing had changed. A small part of me had been worried that once he was able to be his true self around me, he would turn into a selfish and self-absorbed creep, but nothing could have been further from the truth.
Still, for all his perfection, it had been difficult for me to get over the fact that our lives were so vastly different. There was something unnerving about a person whose every need could instantly be taken care of with nearly no effort on their part.
Yes, he was a pretty normal guy, all things considered. But then he would talk about flying a private jet for a weekend in Paris the way other people would talk about spending a weekend at a local Motel 6, and I’d remember just how wealthy he was.
It took a long time for me to convince him that I did not, in fact, need to be taken for a weekend shopping trip in Paris.
“I want to treat you the way you deserve to be treated,” he would tell me.
“I know, and I love you for it,” I’d say every time. “But I don’t need all of those things. Maybe every once in a while…like for our anniversary, or my birthday, but not just because it’s Thursday. You know?”
“I’ll take that to heart,” he told me. And he had taken it to heart. That was why he waited two months for my birthday to roll around before he presented me with a new Lexus.
When I’d protested, he’d had a simple explanation.
“You need a car.”
I’d rebuilt my life, one piece at a time, over the course of the year. I’d gone back to school and was earning all A’s again. I’d done well enough with my VA jobs to afford an apartment. It wasn’t as glamorous as anything Kris would have picked for me, but it was a place of my own. Life was extremely good, and tonight was simply amazing.
“I’ve been waiting for a year to do this,” Kris told me. He was positively giddy, bouncing up and down like a little kid on Christmas morning. “You told me I wasn’t allowed to do anything like this unless it was a special occasion. What’s more special than our anniversary?”
We were seated on his private jet on our way to Paris.
“What better place to celebrate our love than in the city where love was practically invented?” I had to roll my eyes at his corniness, but it was just another thing I loved about him. He had the biggest romantic streak.
It wasn’t long before we were riding down the Champs-Elysees and the city of love awaited.
***
Later that night, we arrived at the entryway to a restaurant that towered over twenty floors above the main street. Kris discreetly handed the maitre’d a card and he directed us to an empty dining room. Kris led me to a table decorated with a centerpiece of pink roses – my favorite flower – and a number of burning candles casting a soft glow upon the room. A string quartet played softly from the corner of the room. It was like something out of a fairy tale.
“Kris…why are we the only people here?” I whispered conspiratorially. The empty tables were a little scary and ghostly in the dim lighting.
He chuckled. “I rented out the restaurant for the evening.” My eyebrows flew up in surprise. “I wanted privacy,” he continued. “And to be sure that we’d have the entire attention of the staff. It’s a special night. I want to be alone with you.”
I placed my hand on the table, palm up and sighed contently when Kris laced his fingers between mine. The Eiffel Tower glowed through the window adjacent to our table. I still couldn’t believe this was my life.
“If you had told me a year ago that I would be enjoying dinner in a Parisian restaurant tonight, with you of all people...I don’t know what I would have done, but I definitely wouldn’t have believed it.”
“Why me of all people?” Kris asked.
“Because you’re so perfect in every way.” He rolled his eyes, and I kept going. “No, I mean it! You’re absolutely amazing. I didn’t know there were people like you in the world. And you’ve made me happier than I could have dreamed. So thank you.”
“The same goes double for me,” Kris answered, lifting our joined hands to his mouth for a kiss.
I smiled, feeling shy all of a sudden.
“In fact,” he continued, “there’s only one thing you could do to make me happier.”
“Um, I thought you said on the jet that we had to wait until later on for that.” I winked.
He laughed, then shook his head. “I didn’t mean that. Well, not entirely that, anyway.” I raised an eyebrow and waited to see where this was going. He raised a finger to get the attention of our waiter, who approached the table with a silver tray. On the tray was a black velvet box.
My heart skipped a beat.
My memories had never completely come back, but I knew I’d never loved anyone the way I loved him, and a part of me sincerely hoped the box held a ring, but the rational part of my mind said it was too soon. After everything we’d been through, I was sure Kris would want to take things slow. It was probably a pair of earrings. Diamond earrings. Some really expensive diamond earrings.
I’d almost convinced myself when Kris removed the box from the tray and got down on one knee.
Oh shit. This was really happening.
“Preslee,” he began. “I’ve loved you from the moment I met you. You’re the light of my life. The only thing that could make me any happier is if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife. Will you marry me?”
He opened the box, in which sat the most exquisite emerald-cut diamond solitaire ring I had ever seen. But the ring didn’t mean nearly as much as the person holding it.
I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks. “This feels too good to be true,” I managed to say. “Am I dreaming?”
He shook his head. “It’s real, I promise. So what do you say? Will you marry me?”
“Of course I will!” I slid off my chair and threw my arms around his neck.
Somehow, he managed to slide a five-carat, absolutely perfect diamond set in a platinum band on my finger, without letting go of me. Even for all my protests in the past about looking too flashy or against him spoiling me, I couldn’t help but admire my hand in the dim light.
***
“You really went all out, didn’t you?” I stared at the gorgeous room, almost unable to believe my eyes. Chilled champagne. Flowers. “You were pretty sure of yourself, huh?”
He laughed. “I was hopeful. Let’s put it that way.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist and smiled up at him. “I almost lost you once. This way, I get to keep you forever.”
He grinned down at me as he reached behind me and started to work down the zipper of my dress. Before I knew it, we were on the bed and his hands were on me. We’d made love just last night, but it felt like it’d been forever since he’d touched me.
I’d wondered if time would change the way it felt when his mouth rained kisses down on me, or when his tongue teased my nipples, but it hadn’t. I still loved the taste of him, the feel of him in my mouth, but right now, I needed him inside me.
We’d gotten rid of the condoms a while ago, relying on my birth control to keep kids out of the equation for now. I could still remember the way it’d felt the first time he’d slid into me, skin against skin. And it felt just as good this time.
“Fuck, yes,” I breathed out as he drove into me, sliding home in one hard stroke. I arched up to him, and then we were moving.
He rolled us over so I was on top, my knees on either side of his hips. I put my hands on his stomach, giving myself a moment to adjust to the feel of him, so large inside me. I still marveled that we fit so perfectly together.
“Damn, I love watching you.” His voice was rough as he slid his hands up my hips and around my ribcage to cup my breasts. His thumbs brushed across my nipples and they hardened.
I moaned and began to move. I needed the friction, needed to quench the desire burning inside me. Only he could give me that. Our eyes locked and held as I fell into the rhythm that always felt so natural. Pleasure coiled inside me and I knew I was going to come quick this first time. I wanted him with me and moved faster. We could do slow later. We had a lifetime for it.
His eyes darkened and I knew he was thinking the same thing. He sat up, his arms going around me to hold me close as the angle of penetration changed. The base of his cock pressed against my clit and I gasped.
Then his mouth was on mine, claiming, possessing, and I lost track of everything. Of the world around me, time, space...the only thing that I could see or feel or hear was him. We were joined, and not just physically. There was pain in our past, but it had only served to bind us together even more tightly. He was a part of me and I of him.
And it was that thought, as much as the physical act, that pushed me over the edge. I stiffened as I came, my muscles tensing around him, forcing him to follow. His mouth tore away from mine and he called out my name. I pressed my face into the crook of his neck and let myself go, let him have everything.
What felt like hours later, we finally regained enough strength to make our way to the bathroom and clean up. After we finished, we wrapped ourselves in plush robes and stood by the window of our room overlooking Paris.
I could still barely believe it.
Here I was, with the entire world at my feet, the man I loved beside me, and a lifetime of memories ahead.
The End
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