Six months later, January…
The day AFTER the opening of Alluring Indulgence Resort
“What did you think of AI?” Xander asked Mercedes as they stepped onto the private jet that would take them from Austin to Dallas.
“I thought it was rather impressive,” Mercedes answered with her one thousand megawatt smile, the one that made his blood run hot. “Almost as impressive as you were.”
Xander smiled, stepping back out of the way and motioning for Mercedes to take a seat in one of the cushioned leather chairs on the five person jet that they had used for both business and pleasure on quite a few occasions in recent months.
Once she was seated, he moved to the chair across from her, a small table holding a vase of fresh flowers between them. He knew that Mercedes had a fascination for flowers and for the last six months, Xander had ensured there were fresh ones on the jet whenever they took a trip, as well as in her office every morning.
“Was that sarcasm I detected?” he asked, looking over at her.
“What would give you that idea?” she retorted, a mischievous grin on her pretty lips. “What about you? What did you think of AI?” Mercedes asked, staring back at him as he relaxed into the chair, his long legs stretching out into the aisle.
Their short visit to the newly opened resort in Coyote Ridge was officially over. Not a moment too soon, as far as Xander was concerned.
Having been personally invited by Travis Walker to check out the Alluring Indulgence Resort at the official grand opening, they’d spent the first few hours after their arrival talking business with Travis, his husband Gage, and two of his brothers, as well as Luke and Logan McCoy.
A higher power must’ve been looking out for him though because, much to his relief, that had been the extent of the business discussions.
From that point on, it’d been an all-out free for all and, as intense as it had been, Xander was anxious to get home. They’d spent the morning having breakfast with the owners and other investors of Alluring Indulgence, without spending any time talking business. Not an easy feat with so many Type A’s in one room, but as they learned, it was possible.
In just a few minutes, they would be heading back to Dallas.
“I don’t have any complaints,” he told Mercedes. “The turnout was definitely impressive.”
Travis obviously had a long list of acquaintances who’d been foaming at the mouth, eagerly anticipating this event. No one would be going home disappointed.
Considering what the Walker brothers were striving for, Xander and Mercedes had taken the opportunity to talk to Travis Walker about future events at the resort, including some demonstrations and classes related to the diversified selection of sexual kinks. As it turned out, that was one of the main reasons he had been invited, aside from the fact that he held a hefty financial investment in the place.
Apparently, Travis Walker had been rather impressed with the BDSM theme nights that had become quite popular at Devotion. It looked as though Travis was looking to implement some of the themed nights for the resort as well.
To Xander’s surprise, Mercedes seemed more than willing to help in giving them her ideas. The look on Travis’ face when he realized that Mercedes was a Domme in her former life, as she liked to tell it, had been rather amusing.
“Well, I look forward to going back in a few months,” Mercedes said, her eyes darting toward the flowers. “Thank you. These are beautiful.”
“My pleasure,” Xander said, meeting her gaze before glancing over at the pilot who had stepped out of the cock pit looking for a thumbs up. Since no one else would be joining them on the short flight back to Dallas, Xander merely nodded his head in agreement.
“Did you talk to Logan while we were there?” Mercedes asked.
“About something specific?” She was with him during the brief conversations he’d shared with the man, so he knew she was looking for details about something.
Mercedes raised one perfectly groomed eyebrow.
Yes, he knew her well. She was fishing.
“Do you know if something is going on between Sam, Logan and, what was his name? Elijah something,” Mercedes asked, crossing one sexy long leg over the other, her extremely short skirt raising higher on her thigh and catching Xander’s attention. She enjoyed doing that to him. Got off on it. And truthfully, he didn’t mind at all.
Shit, what red blooded man wouldn’t enjoy being teased by the most gorgeous woman to grace the face of the planet?
“Why do you ask?” Letting his gaze linger on her long, sexy legs for a little longer than necessary, Xander took his time before meeting Mercedes’s eyes once more.
“I don’t know. Something just seems… different about her, I guess,” Mercedes said as the engines on the plane fired up.
“There’s something going on, but I don’t know any details,” he explained, hoping she wouldn’t ask him to elaborate because truthfully, he didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t want to know either. “I did talk to Logan briefly about my proposition. I’m still waiting for him to make a decision.”
“About your corporate takeover?”
Xander laughed. He wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a corporate takeover, but yeah. “He’s content working for XTX. I don’t blame the guy and Xavier Thomas is lucky to have someone so loyal. But I would like his help, if he’s willing.”
“What about Trent? Did you talk to him anymore?”
“A little.” Trent had reached out to him several months ago, digging deeper into Xander’s new business venture. It wasn’t so much a corporate takeover as it was a capital investment. One that he was currently moving forward with. Trent had expressed an interest as well, which meant he and Xander would be working together a little more in the future.
“So, they’re a thing now?”
“Who?” Xander asked, caught off guard by the random question. Hadn’t they just been talking about business?
“Pay attention,” she scolded him with a grin. “Logan, Sam and Elijah?” Mercedes asked. “I thought he would’ve been at the opening of AI but I didn’t see him.”
“He wasn’t there. Logan mentioned he was away on business, I think.” Xander had no idea. He didn’t make a habit of getting involved in other people’s love lives. Especially now that he had his own to focus on.
“I’d say that Travis was happy with the turnout.”
“He had every reason to be. Hell, I was rather impressed. They’ve worked hard to get to where they are.”
And he’d heard all about the design, the plans, and what the future held all within the first few hours after their arrival. He ensured Travis that he had no worries. The man knew what he was doing, and Xander told him as much.
And after the reassurances were made, they’d all moved on to the real reason they were there at the resort designed specifically for the naughty.
The pleasure.
And the activities that ensued from that point forward had been intense. It had almost been enough to keep his mind off of other things.
For the last twenty-four hours, Xander had been beside himself. Anxious. Mercedes had even noticed, calling him out when she found him fidgeting. Something that definitely wasn’t like him.
If she only knew.
But she didn’t. Mercedes had no idea that he’d been counting down the minutes for the last six months. And now the time had come. Finally.
For months, the two of them had been acting as a couple. Not only had Mercedes officially moved in with him, she’d also put her condo on the market just a month ago. She had relocated her office to the extra one he had at his place. They’d tossed around the idea of buying a local storefront to relocate their businesses, but after a lot of discussion, they found that working out of their home was just way too convenient.
Especially when they wanted to take a trip to his dungeon in the middle of the afternoon, which they did on a frequent basis.
But more importantly, for the last six months, Mercedes had begun to open up to him in so many ways. They’d shared many conversations about their childhoods, and he’d been shocked that Mercedes had lowered her guard enough to let him in. That, as much as the words, spoke volumes as far as Xander was concerned. He didn’t doubt her love for him and because she was willing to share the hard details of her life, he knew she didn’t doubt him either. Trust. That’s exactly what they’d found together.
As each day passed, Xander became more and more anxious while Mercedes became less and less defiant. Sure, there were times when her submission awed him, other times when he knew she needed a little encouragement – otherwise known as punishment. But no matter what, she always kept him on his toes.
Of course, there were those times when she called him Master, and the sound still did something to him. It made him feel things he never imagined possible.
He loved her. That was all there was to it.
They were making frequent visits to Devotion, and both of them had cancelled their memberships at Kink. It was no longer necessary since neither of them was interested in playing with others, and their reputations still held rather firm in that circle. So, it was just easier to engage at Devotion.
As for Clarissa and Shane, they’d sat down and talked to them both separately. As it turned out, their good friends had stopped seeing each other shortly after that debacle. Xander knew it had nothing to do with that particular scene and everything to do with Trent Ramsey. He wasn’t quite sure whether Shane realized that or not though. But, regardless of the reason, if the playboy actor had put the moves on Clarissa, no one was admitting to it. At least not yet.
Needless to say, Xander wasn’t sure he was up to speed on anyone else’s relationship at the moment because he was too busy trying to move his to the next level.
Mercedes still made his head spin, each and every day. He found that he woke up in the morning to thoughts of her and he fell asleep at night with her in his arms. He wasn’t sure he could ever go back to living any other way. Falling in love with her had been the single most profound moment of his entire life. Which was why he’d been working to get to this point.
The timing hadn’t been exactly what he wanted, but he had felt the need to fulfill his end of their deal before he popped the question.
As the plane took off, Xander thumbed the ring in his pocket, remembering what had happened in recent days during their trip to AI. Specifically the night Xander had fulfilled his end of the deal they had made all those months ago.
He thought the day would never come.
Xander loved Mercedes. With everything in him. If it meant he had to pretend to submit to her on occasion, so fucking be it. There was no question in his mind that he would move heaven and earth to make her happy.
He loved her that much.
She made his fucking blood boil and as he’d proven he was willing to go to damn near any length just to get close to her. It was the reason she’d given him a chance in the beginning. Giving himself up to her as her submissive for two nights over the course of six months had been proof. It was something he’d never done before, didn’t have any desire to do again, but all in all it had been worth it.
Totally fucking worth it.
“You said you had a meeting this afternoon?” Mercedes asked, reaching for a bottle of water.
“I do.” It wasn’t the type of meeting she was probably thinking, but it was a meeting all the same.
A naked meeting.
Right here on his private jet.
“Where?”
Ok, so clearly this conversation was moving in a direction he wasn’t quite prepared for. Why he thought he’d have more time to fidget and let his mind stumble over what he wanted to say, he didn’t know.
“Wait, before we get into what the rest of the day entails,” Mercedes said as she stood from her chair, moving toward him. Xander had to quickly pull his hand out of his pocket as she straddled his lap. “I just want to say that I had fun last night.”
“I’m not sure I’d go so far as to say that was fun,” he said with a smirk, “but I enjoyed the hell out of it.” He enjoyed what had happened once they were back in their room for sure. Just like he’d envisioned all those months ago, he had put that damn collar to good use. And the leash.
“I don’t think anyone noticed.”
“I’m sure someone did.” No one had said anything, but Xander hadn’t tried to encourage discussion either.
“I happen to like when you dominate me,” she whispered, leaning her head down. “It’s fucking hot.”
Yeah. Understatement of the century. “Not gonna argue there.”
“So what are you waiting for now?”
What the hell was he waiting for?
“Do you want me naked? Right here?”
“I want you naked all the time.” Xander’s body hardened as he realized she was pushing him to dominate her. Not that she had to push hard.
Sliding his hands up her arms, her shoulders, her neck, Xander gathered her hair in his hand and pulled it over her shoulder. He reached for the top button on her shirt and unhooked it easily.
Wanting to kiss her more than he wanted anything, Xander slid his hands back up to cup her face but as he did, he felt something beneath his fingers. Pulling the collar of her shirt open, he stared in disbelief at the diamond encrusted rose that settled at her throat.
Her collar. The one he had given her all those months ago but she’d never worn again. After all they’d been through during those first few days, Xander hadn’t found the courage to push her either.
“Did I mention that I really like it when you dominate me?” she asked him softly.
Yeah, she had mentioned that.
Xander’s throat was suddenly dry.
Realizing there was no better time than right now, Xander slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out the ring he’d been carrying around with him for the last three months.
Yes, for three months he’d contemplated popping the question but hadn’t been able to do so because he felt as though he owed her. He’d made a deal and now that he had followed through, he knew there was nothing stopping him.
He reached for her left hand, lifted it to his mouth and placed a kiss on her fingers. When he lowered it, he didn’t let go. Instead, he stared into her eyes, holding her gaze for long moments before he managed to get the words past his parched tongue.
“Marry me.”
Mercedes’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Marry me, Mercedes. You’re already my soul mate. And now I want you to be my wife.”
“I...”
“Wait. I’m not finished,” he told her as he slid the ring over the first knuckle, pausing. “I crave your submission. I crave your love. But nothing in this world is more important to me than to know that you’ll be by my side for the rest of my life. I love you, Mercedes.”
A tear trickled down her cheek and for a brief moment, Xander’s heart stopped beating. He was sure he was going to suffocate from lack of oxygen since he’d actually stopped breathing. “Tell me that you’ll marry me.”
But then she resuscitated him with the sweetest words he would ever hear. “Yes,” she whispered. “Absolutely yes.”
“God, I love you. So damn much,” he whispered, sliding the ring all the way on.
“I love you, too,” she whispered against his lips. “Master.”
And just like any regular business day, Xander and Mercedes moved on to their next meeting.
The naked meeting.
Where they sealed their deal once and for all.
The End