Desire a Donovan Read online

  “That’s true,” she said, clasping her fingers tighter in his. “But it’s a fault I try to overlook.”

  Dion smiled. “Thank you for that. What I’m trying to tell you, Lyra, is that I’ve never loved another woman, except my mother and my family. Ever. You are the first and the only. You are everything to me because you know all my good and bad traits and, as you just stated, you overlook most of them. I love you more than my own life and I want to spend our future making you feel as special and cherished as you are.” He removed his hands from hers, lifted the box and placed it in her hands.

  She looked at the box, running her fingers over the pink satin bow. He could tell that she didn’t anticipate what was actually in the box because it was too big. But she seemed excited just the same.

  Dion waited while she untied the bow and sat it to the side. She peeled back the floral paper and folded it neatly. Just as he knew she would.

  When she lifted the top and pushed past the tissue paper Dion held his breath.

  Lyra gasped. “It’s the picture I took of you on the dock the other day. Where did you get this?”

  “I came into your studio when you were looking at them, remember? When you looked away I swiped one.”

  “And I drove myself crazy for the hour after that swearing I had another photo but couldn’t find it.”

  “Sorry,” he said with a chuckle. “There’s something else.”

  Lyra looked into the box again, and tied with the same colored ribbon that had adorned the box was a diamond ring. She looked up at him, then down at the ring.

  Dion picked it up and lifted her left hand. “Now you can wear my ring on your finger and have my picture on your desk.”

  When she didn’t speak he lifted her hand to his lips, kissing the ring on her finger. “And you can have my heart forever if you want it.”

  Chapter 27

  Two hours later Lyra still hadn’t answered Dion’s proposal. They were at his condo sitting on his couch after enjoying a glass of wine. She wondered if he was still waiting for the answer and smiled inwardly at the fact that he probably was.

  “I want you to strip for me,” she said when they’d sat in silence a few minutes.

  “What?” he asked looking at her strangely.

  “You heard me. Strip.”

  With a nod he stood and reached out for her hand. “Come on, let’s go into the bedroom.”

  Lyra shook her head. “No. Right here. Right now, I want you to strip.”

  He gave her a smile, that intensely sexy one that sent sparks of lust darting throughout her body. When he stood, he pushed the two tables back and bent down to remove his shoes. Lyra lifted her glass of wine and took a sip as she sat back and watched him.

  His fingers went to his belt buckle first as he unclasped it and pulled it free of the hoops. He flattened his hand over his already swelling erection and Lyra sipped her wine again.

  “See something you like?” he asked.

  Lyra licked her lips. “I don’t see enough” was her reply.

  With a nod and a devilish grin Dion pulled his shirt free of his pants and lifted it over his head. His chest was bare as he made his pectoral muscles jump on command. “Cute,” she said with a sigh.

  When his fingers went back to his pants he undid the button and slid the zipper down slowly. He turned around, gave her his back as he let the pants slip from his hips, then stepped completely out of them.

  “More.” She beckoned.

  He obliged by slipping his fingers beneath the band of his boxers, pushing them over his hips, down his thighs and to the floor. His muscled buttocks still faced her and she looked him over with sexual hunger building steadily inside.

  “Turn around,” she said, her throat feeling a little dry even though she’d just had another sip of her wine.

  Dion turned, wrapping his fingers around his length and stroking it in front of her. “See something you like now?”

  “That depends,” she said, scooting to the edge of the chair.

  “On what?”

  “On how good it goes with my wine.”

  Dipping her finger into her glass she touched the tip of his erection, watching intently as a drop of the wine slid over his hardness. Dion moved his fingers just as she extended her tongue to lick the wine away. “Hmm,” she said. “Goes well with a dessert wine.”

  Lavishing his length with her tongue over and over, Lyra was rewarded with Dion’s groaning, his fingers delving deep into her hair, until he could bear the tortuous pleasure no more. He pulled her head away.

  “Your turn,” he said in a strained voice. “Strip.”

  Desire pooled in her stomach, reaching greedy hands toward her center where she was achingly wet and ready. So Lyra wasted no time standing and removing her own clothes until she stood naked in front of him.

  He reached for her then, pulling her to him for a kiss that blazed every inch of her body but focused solely on her tongue. Wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing even closer to him, Lyra took the kiss and ached for more. Nobody had ever kissed her like Dion Donovan. Nobody had ever made her feel the way this man did. Lyra had never truly known the meaning of the word desire until he’d put his lips on her. Now, she knew she would desire this Donovan for the rest of her life.

  It took momentous strength to pull away from that kiss, but Lyra did it. Then she placed her palms on his chest and licked over his taut nipples until he was whispering her name. When she pushed him back onto the couch he looked startled. She smiled as she straddled him, reaching a hand between them so she could guide his length into her opening.

  “You asked me a question earlier,” she said, slowly lowering herself onto his thickness.

  His hands gripped her face as the rest of his body held perfectly still. “Want me to ask you again?”

  Lyra nodded and eased down onto him another excruciatingly slow inch.

  “Marry me, Lyra. Be my wife, my love, my heart and soul forever?”

  On a gasp Lyra was completely impaled by him. Dion sucked in a breath. She leaned closer until her forehead rested on his. “Yes,” she whispered, then began to ride. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

  * * * * *

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  ISBN: 9781459230514

  Copyright © 2012 by Artist C. Arthur

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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