Defying Dorian: Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (24 page)

We walked to the center of the room where Dorian stopped, looking into my eyes.

“Tempest, baby, stand across from me. Give me your other hand.”

It was dark enough out so that the lighting of the observatory added an unexpected element of romance. The stars and dark backdrop of the night sky overhead set my pulse racing. I know that sounds corny but it was true.

I swear.

The room went silent. My head felt like it might spin off my shoulders. I mean,
I knew what I hoped this was about
, what I wished. Dorian spoke, breaking my train of thought.

“Michael is on a bit of a deadline everyone. I hate to rush such a blessed event but the long arm of the law knows no bounds.”

Blessed event?! Oh my God! It was really happening!

Dorian nodded, gesturing in the direction of my dad. “Are you ready?”

I snapped my head in the same direction.

“I am,” my dad replied, taking a step forward. “I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.”

While I watched him, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out my mother’s wedding ring. My breath stopped. Dad passed the ring to Dorian. There was no way I would keep it together. I was going to lose it.

Dorian let go of my hand and took the ring. After, he looked down at me. I couldn’t fight it any longer. A tear slipped out of my eye and ran down my cheek. With the same hand he held the ring in, Dorian reached for my face and with a gentle motion across my cheek, brushed away my tear.

“Why are you so sad?”

I swallowed the biggest lump in the history of my life down my throat. Fighting a torrent of tears, I replied, “I’m not sad. Nothing close to that. I’ve never been happier in my life.”

In the background, I heard Ainsley mutter, “Awww.”

Dorian’s face brightened. “Good. That’s the way I want to keep it, babe. Now and forever…”

My hand trembled. Dorian didn’t say another word. Instead, holding the ring, he slid it over my finger, positioning it to perfection. “Tempest?”

My gaze froze on the ring, only his words distracted me. I looked up into his eyes. His perfect, beautiful face filled me with joy. Only the words he spoke next surpassed that feeling.

“Tempest Rain, marry me.”

I was unable to stop them any longer. The tears flowed. I nodded and choked out ‘yes’ before throwing my arms around him and pressing my lips against his. From behind, I heard the sound of clapping and celebratory yells.

We hugged and kissed for a few seconds until separating. It couldn’t have been more perfect, more beautiful. There was only one problem, and it wasn’t one that either of us could solve.

In fact, it had nothing to do with us.

“Dorian,” I began, looking into his eyes. “I want to marry you. More than anything. But I just, I can’t…”

Dorian leaned back, clapping his hands and roaring with laughter. “You just said yes, woman!”

“I know I did, I meant it. I just mean, well, I can’t do it now. I can’t do it tonight.”

His laughter subsided. “Who said anything about doing it tonight?”

I frowned at him. “That’s not what you want?”

Dorian chuckled and stepped close to me, gliding his hands around my waist. “I know how important it is to you to have your father at the wedding. I wanted him here tonight, to be part of this special occasion, but until he’s free, the wedding can wait.”

It was like he’d read my mind. Before I could respond, he continued. “That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” I gulped, smiling at him and fighting a fresh round of tears. “Yes.”

“I love you, baby,” Dorian said, leaning in and kissing me once on the cheek.

The heat from his lips lingered on my skin when he pulled away. “I can’t wait to make you my wife. I can’t fucking wait.”

Reaching up, I smiled. “I can’t fucking wait either.”

Dorian leaned away, a booming laugh echoing from his mouth. “I love it!”

Over the next few minutes, everyone gathered around, offering us congratulations and good wishes. I stepped away from the group, walking off to the side with my dad. Once we’d gotten out of earshot we stopped and faced each other. He reached around behind his neck, rubbing it while a sheepish grin came to his face.

“I feel like I’m making you put your life on hold here, Temp.”

“What?” I replied, wrinkling my brow. “What are you talking about?”

My dad gestured with his chin towards Dorian. “He’s not the kind of man who likes to wait.”

I followed my dad’s gesture, looking at him also. Our eyes met, and he winked at me. I turned and looked at my dad again. “Don’t worry about any of that, Dad. You might be right, but Dorian’s also a man of his word. When he says he’s willing to wait until you get out of jail, he means it.”

My dad smiled. I kept going.

“And anyway, he already knows the deal. No dad, no wedding.”

His smile widened. “Let me see it, Temp.”

He pointed towards my hand, in the direction of the ring. I glanced at it for an instant before lifting my hand and extending it in his direction. My dad curled his fingers around mine. With a gentle tug, he pulled my hand close, studying it for a few seconds before looking at me again.

“You know – I think I want it after all.”

What?

Flabbergasted, I gawked at him, my mouth hanging open.

“Dad,” I stammered. “Are you serious?”

He winked at me.

“Dad!” I snapped, shaking my head. “You’ve been spending too much time around Dorian. You know that?”

My dad chuckled, clearly amused with himself.

“Oh, I’m just teasing, Temp.” he replied, opening his arms. “Give me a hug.”

I shook my head and leaned into him.

“I love you,” he began, pulling me closer for emphasis. “Your mother would be so happy to know you’re wearing it. I know she would.”

I leaned away from him a bit. “Thank you for saying that. I love the ring. It’s just…”

My dad shook his head, waving me off. “It’s time to let go of all those feelings. Your mom is gone. We’re still here, left to carry memories of her with us for as long as we live. That ring is a symbol of what’s to come, the hope and beauty that lies ahead for you in life.”

Oh man, I didn’t want to cry anymore. I seriously didn’t.

Choking back another round, I lifted my hand to my mouth. “Dad, I…”

He interrupted me again. “This is not a time to be sad, Temp. So, no tears okay?”

With my hand still on my lips, I fought like crazy to keep them at bay.

“Okay,” I muttered, reining them in at the last instant. “No tears.”

He reached up and draped his arm across my shoulder, turning me to face everyone. “Someday soon, we’ll all be together, and these people will be our new family. That’s as good a reason as I can think of to be happy. Right?”

I looked at them, then at him, an ever broadening smile stretching across my lips. “Yes, Dad. Yes.”

I hugged him again. “Thank you, I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Temp. I love you too.”

* * *

W
e’d been
upstairs in Dorian’s bedroom for hours celebrating the excitement of our engagement in the best way possible. After his third orgasm Dorian flopped back in the bed and looked up at the ceiling.

“Fuck, I’m ravenous, babe. You hungry?”

I was.
No joke.

I hadn’t had anything to eat all day long. Turning my head on the pillow in his direction, I nodded. “Yes, starving.”

Dorian wasted no time climbing out of bed and heading towards the door. Propping myself up on my elbows, I watched his magnificent ass flex with every step he took.

I never get tired of looking at it. Who would?

He reached for the handle of the door and started to open it.

“Hey,” I called out, causing him to stop in his tracks. “Are you going out there like that?”

Looking at me over his shoulder, Dorian smiled. “Yeah, why not? I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.”

Cocky, cocky, cocky.

“No,” I said, trying not to crack a smile. “What I mean is, don’t you care if someone sees you, like Ainsley or Oksana, for instance?”

Dorian scoffed at me. “What do you think, babe? You think I’m some kind of a perv? Like, I’d just go walking around the house with my sister and my personal assistant here and have zero fucking clothes on?”

He was confusing me. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

Dorian winked at me, waving me off. “Neither one of them is here. I gave Oksana the night off, and Ainsley’s out with a couple of her girlfriends. Knowing her, she won’t be back until early in the morning, if at all.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Now, I’m going to fill my stomach because my appetite for you knows no limits.”

Before I could say anything, Dorian walked through the door, disappearing from sight. I swished my legs free of the tangle of sheets and threw them over the side of the bed, standing.

Of course, I was completely naked as well, but unlike Dorian, I decided to play it safe. Reaching for his dress shirt, which he’d ripped off and tossed to the floor hours earlier, I picked it up and slipped it on. After buttoning it and taking a quick look in the mirror, I felt satisfied nothing would fall
or stick out,
just in case someone decided to make an unexpected appearance.

By the time I reached the bedroom door I heard the sound of Dorian’s heavy steps bounding down the stairs. I walked down as well, finding him in the kitchen with his head already halfway inside the refrigerator. Dorian heard me approach and turned, looking up at me and raising an eyebrow.

“Hey, I didn’t say you could wear that.”

I didn’t respond but instead straightened my arms, looking down at the shirt and admiring it. “Well, you should thank me because I look super cute. A lot more than you!”

Dorian chuckled and turned his attention towards the refrigerator again. “Is that a fact?”

I strolled a few feet closer, leaning over the kitchen counter and bracing myself on one elbow. “Mmm, hmm. It is.”

I’d honestly never thought of an open refrigerator door and a naked man as a sexy combo. But, watching him reach inside and move things around, looking for something to eat or drink… I had an urge to meow, literally, like a cat. The man was head to toe physical perfection. Stifling my inner feline, I bit my lip instead but never took my eyes off of him.

“Whatcha want?” he asked.

What do I want? About another three hours of what we’d finished upstairs. That’s what I wanted.

Without thinking, I blurted out a response. “It doesn’t matter to me, so long as I can lick it off your naked body.”

Dorian froze, pulling out a container of orange juice and looking at me. “What did you say?”

I flipped my hair away from my face. “You heard me.”

While I spoke, Dorian opened the container of orange juice and took several long swigs. Wiping his mouth, he turned and faced me, every tantalizing inch of his chiseled body filling my gaze.

“Sooooo,” he began, gesturing towards the refrigerator with his free hand. “What you’re telling me is that
anything
I pull out of here, you’ll eat off of me?”

I tried to do a quick mental inventory of what was in there. I racked my brain, thinking of things I didn’t like, or something too spicy. Oh man, I hated spicy food. If I left it up to him, I had no doubt he’d pick something to make me suffer. The only problem was, I couldn’t remember what was in there, mostly because I never paid much attention.

Fuck it.

Pushing myself into an upright position I straightened my spine in defiance. “Yes. Anything.”

“Uh huh,” Dorian began, turning in the direction of the open door again. “I see.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. I swallowed hard, wondering what the first thing he pulled out would be.

“Nothing spicy!” I yelped.

“Too late, babe. You should’ve thought of that before you said anything.”

Over the next several minutes, he literally emptied the refrigerator, taking out almost about everything he could find. When I say everything,
I mean everything
. Sodas, vegetables, cheese, meat, left over pizza, every condiment under the sun, fruit, desserts, and on and on… You name it. If it was in the refrigerator, he pulled it out.

I walked over and stood next to him, looking inside.

“Uh,” I protested. “The only things left in here are olives and baking soda…”

Dorian pointed at the jar of olives, winking at me. “Those have pits. I wouldn’t want you biting on the wrong thing.”

I shook my head. “You are unbelievable. You know that?”

Dorian closed the refrigerator door. “Thanks for noticing.”

With his back against the counter, Dorian stared at me, his eyes traveling up and down my body.

I stepped back, placing a hand on my hip. “Yes? Can I help you?”

Dorian licked his lips. Without a word, he turned his attention to the assortment of stuff he’d pulled out of the refrigerator.

“Hmmm,” he began, scanning all of them.

One by one, he’d pick something up and turn to look at me, only to shake his head, muttering things like, “Too salty. Not enough left.
Maybe later.
”