41. Chapter 41
Chapter forty-one
By the time the elevator reached Xyst’s main floor, Lachlan had already caught me opening the locked folder on my phone.
“Don’t.”
I looked up.
“Whatever you’re thinking about sending me next—just don’t.”
I frowned. I’d been dying to send the next photo, but he’d read me too easily. I locked the screen and lowered the phone.
We crossed the club and were outside within minutes. Cold air swept around my bare legs as I pulled the wrap tighter over my shoulders.
An SUV with a two-man security detail waited at the curb. One man drove while another occupied the front passenger seat, leaving the back for us.
Lachlan opened my door and waited until I slid inside before following. I fastened my seat belt, crossed my legs, and settled the ends of the wrap over my lap.
The SUV pulled into traffic.
I gave him several blocks before taking out my phone and sending the picture.
His phone vibrated almost immediately.
He looked at me before reaching into his jacket for it.
I turned toward the window, pretending the lights outside were suddenly fascinating.
The silence lasted long enough that I finally looked over.
The second photograph showed me kneeling in black garters and thigh-high stockings, my breasts bare and lifted in my hands, one nipple pinched between my fingers as I stared directly into the camera.
Lachlan enlarged the image.
“You do realize you’re sitting beside me.”
“Yes.”
“With two of my men three feet away.”
I glanced toward the front. Neither man showed the slightest interest in us.
“They can’t see your phone.”
“That isn’t what bothers me.”
His attention returned to the photograph.
“Who took these?”
“A professional boudoir photographer Aria found for us. DarkMatter vetted her, and she apparently works with celebrities and other people who pay a great deal of money for discretion. The shoot was actually a lot of fun. Lacey, Scarlett, and I all got considerably bolder as the champagne disappeared.” I laughed at the memory.
Lachlan’s gaze darkened as his eyes shifted from the image to me. “There better not be pictures of the three of you together.”
I laughed. “Separate shoots, Irishman. Although Scarlett did point out that one photograph of all three of us would probably kill you.”
“She may have been right. Lucian and Nik wouldn’t want me seeing their wives like that any more than I want them seeing you.”
“Speaking of Lacey, she told me something interesting today.”
His eyes came back to mine. “Did she?”
“She told me you had DarkMatter agents sending you reports about me while you were in Boston. Every hour.”
He glanced at the image on his phone again, but didn’t respond.
“You were supposed to be giving me space.”
“I did.”
“Hourly reports are your definition of space?”
“I gave you space, Mouse. I didn’t stop protecting you.”
I laughed.
The completely unapologetic delivery made it impossible not to.
“You are ridiculous.”
“Probably.”
Completely ignoring Lacey’s warning, I let my gaze travel over him, then gave his thigh a condescending pat. “You’re a very naughty little bad boy, aren’t you? Maybe someone needs to put you over their knee and give you a spanking.”
His head turned slowly.
Apparently, I’d hit a nerve.
“Mouse.”
The threat in his voice sent a pulse straight between my thighs.
I should have left it there.
Instead, I smiled sweetly and picked up my phone.
His hand closed over my wrist.
“Think carefully about your next move.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ve spent the last hour digging yourself into a hole I’m going to thoroughly enjoy watching you try to climb out of.”
I leaned closer. “Maybe I don’t want out.”
His fingers tightened around my wrist.
For one long second, neither of us moved.
“Go ahead, Mouse. Keep testing me,” he said, releasing me and settling back.
That sounded ominous.
I sent the next photograph, and his phone vibrated.
This time he didn’t hurry to open it. He stared at me first, as though giving me one final opportunity to reconsider whatever insanity had possessed me.
I folded my hands primly over my wrap, and Lachlan opened the message.
The third photograph had been one of the photographer’s favorites. I was lying across white sheets with my knees spread wide, one hand holding myself open while the other disappeared between my thighs.
Lachlan exhaled slowly through his nose.
“God almighty.”
That was all he said. I’d been hoping to put a bigger crack in that legendary control of his.
Then his hand slid beneath the wrap covering my lap, and under the loose skirt of my dress. His palm settled against my bare thigh and moved slowly higher.
But his fingers stopped just short of where I wanted them.
“Not yet, Mouse.”
He squeezed my thigh once, then withdrew his hand.
I turned to stare out the window.
On the surface, he was the image of perfect control, but the hard outline beneath his trousers said otherwise.
Neither of us spoke for the next few blocks. I could still feel the ghost of his hand high on my thigh, while the bulge beneath his trousers made a mockery of his calm expression.
Then the SUV turned down our street.
One photograph remained.
If I was going to break that maddening control of his, this was my last chance before we reached home, so I sent it.
His phone vibrated as the SUV descended into the underground garage.
Lachlan opened the message, and a rough breath caught in his throat.
The final photograph showed me on my knees with my chest lowered to the white sheets, my back arched and my knees spread wide. Nothing covered my ass, and one hand pulled a cheek aside, leaving very little hidden.
It was, by a considerable margin, the one image I’d thought he would lose his mind over.
Lachlan stared at it and didn’t say a word.
I’d gone to such effort to get a reaction out of him, but the sudden silence did more to my nerves than any threat he’d made.
The SUV rolled into its parking space.
The driver put it in park.
Lachlan locked his phone, shoved his door open, and stepped out. He jammed the phone into his trouser pocket, then slammed the door behind him.
I barely had time to uncross my legs before my door opened.
“Lachlan—”
He leaned in, pressed the seat-belt release, and caught me around the waist.
A startled laugh escaped me as he lifted me straight out of the SUV.
“Someone seems impatient.”
“You have no fucking idea.”
Neither DarkMatter man looked back.
Lachlan carried me across the garage toward the private elevator, and I looped my arms around his neck.
“So which picture was your favorite?”
“You’re going to find out soon enough.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“It should.”
His hold tightened slightly, and the elevator doors opened.
Lachlan carried me inside.
The moment the doors closed, I expected him to kiss me.
Instead, he set me on my feet and kept one hand firm at my waist, his attention fixed on the numbers climbing above the doors.
Whatever he was holding back, it was taking effort.
When the doors opened, he took my hand and led me toward the penthouse.
We stepped inside, and I abruptly stopped.
A trail of rose petals stretched across the floor.
For a second, my mind simply refused to move past the sight of them.
Pink, peach, and deep orange petals curved from the foyer, through the living room, and toward the hall.
Every wicked thought in my head disappeared beneath a rush of surprise.
“Lachlan—”
He shut the door behind us.
I turned toward him as he shrugged off his jacket and laid it over a chair.
“What did you do?”
“Why don’t you follow them and find out?”
I looked back at the petals.
He’d planned this before we’d left for dinner, before I started torturing him with the naughty photos, testing how much restraint one Irishman possessed.
Something about that made the gesture even sweeter.
I followed the trail to our bedroom and pushed the door open.
Roses filled the room.
Dozens of arrangements covered the dresser, nightstands, and every other surface that could reasonably hold a vase.
Pink blended into peach and deep orange beneath the flicker of candlelight.
Petals had been scattered over the bed, while a massive arch of roses framed the bedroom window from floor to ceiling, Manhattan glittering beyond the glass.
It was extravagant.
Completely over the top.
And so beautiful I could only stand there staring.
I walked farther inside, trying to take all of it in.
“Lachlan, this is…” A breathless laugh escaped me. “It’s stunning. You did all this for me?”
No answer came.
I turned, and Lachlan was down on one knee.
For a second, I forgot how to breathe.
A small black box rested open in his hand, the diamond catching the candlelight.
My hand flew to my mouth.
“Oh my God.”
He looked entirely too composed for a man who had just knocked every coherent thought out of my head.
“I know exactly how long I’ve known you, Mouse.”
A shaky laugh escaped me through the tears already gathering in my eyes.
“I also know I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. I don’t need another year or another month to tell me what I already know.”
A tear slipped free.
Lachlan held my gaze.
“I want you in my home, in my bed, and beside me for every damn year I get. I want to wake up with you, come home to you, fight with you, laugh with you, and give you the world. I want my ring on your finger, and I want you as my wife.”
The hard lines of his face eased, and for one rare second this dangerous, impossible man looked almost boyishly hopeful.
“Marry me, Isabe—”
“Yes.”
The answer came out before he had completely finished saying my name.
His mouth spread into the full, crooked smile I almost never got to see.
“Yes?”
I laughed. “Yes, Irishman. Of course I’ll marry you.”
He took my left hand, his thumb brushing once over my knuckles before he slid the ring onto my finger.
I stared at it, then at him.
“It’s gorgeous.”
“You like it?”
“I love it.” Another laugh escaped me as I wiped uselessly at my cheeks. “I love all of this. I love you.”
He rose, and I barely gave him time to straighten before I threw my arms around his neck.
Lachlan caught me around the waist.
“Thank you,” I whispered against his mouth.
“For the ring?”
“For everything.”
Then I kissed him.
I meant for the kiss to stay sweet. It didn’t.
His hand slid down my back and closed around my ass, pulling me against the erection I’d spent the last hour creating.
I smiled into his mouth and rolled my hips against him.
He groaned before breaking the kiss.
His gaze dropped briefly to the ring on my finger.
“You happy, Mouse?”
I laid my palm against his chest.
“More than happy. I love the man you are. I love how strong you are, how fiercely you protect the people who belong to you. I want to stand beside you when everything goes wrong, make you laugh when it finally goes right, and give you as much happiness as you’ve given me.
And I never want to hear you suffering alone again. ”
His jaw tightened.
“Mouse.”
His hand came up behind my neck, and he kissed me slowly.
“And you have me for the rest of my life.”
He took my hand and turned me toward the window.
The rose arch framed the city like something out of a dream. He moved behind me and wrapped both arms around my waist.
Our reflection filled the dark glass—my red dress and loose dark hair, Lachlan towering behind me, and the diamond shining on my left hand.
“Look at yourself.”
My eyes met his in the reflection.
“That beautiful woman standing in front of me is my fiancée.” His gaze moved over me slowly in the glass. “Soon she’ll be my wife.”
My throat tightened again.
He kissed the curve of my neck. “I can’t promise you a quiet life, Mouse. You know me better than that. But I can promise you a good one. I’ll spoil you, take you everywhere you’ve never been, and love you every fucking day I get.”
His hand spread over my stomach, holding me firmly against him.
I covered one of his hands with mine.
“I love you too.”
His gaze stayed locked with mine in the reflection.
“Look at you,” he murmured. “My ring on your hand. My woman in my arms.”
His palm slid lower.
“And this gorgeous body you’ve spent tonight using to torture me?”
Heat immediately replaced some of the emotion tightening my chest.
His mouth brushed my ear.
“All mine.”
I smiled at his reflection. “Possessive.”
“Very.”
His rough voice whispered against my ear. “Now that I’ve got the important part of the evening handled—”
I knew that tone immediately.
Lachlan reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out his phone.
I knew exactly what was on it.
Heat rushed through me all over again.
“Now,” he said, his voice dropping into the rough tone that had been tormenting me since the ride home, “about those pictures.”