Free Insolence by Lex Valentine

from him.
    “I didn’t give you permission to leave.”
    Aric’s words were soft but the command was there
nonetheless. Ainsley stiffened. Since she wouldn’t look at him, he walked over
to her and cupped a hand beneath her chin, turning her head so that their eyes
met.
    The door inside him that he’d kept closed for two decades
sprang open. His heart soared, recognizing her as the one woman he’d always
needed, always loved. He smiled at her, angling his body closer, his free hand
taking her case from her and dropping it on the floor. He snaked an arm around
her waist, pulling her closer despite her stiffness. Then he played his hand.
    “Will you marry me?”
    She became so still that he knew she held her breath.
Finally she drew a deep, sobbing draft of air. “No.”
    Ice sluiced over him, instantly and painfully taking hold of
his heart. “Why not?” he ground out, fear getting a toehold within him.
    She tipped her head back, looking up at him with a scornful
expression. “Because that isn’t what I want and it’s not what you want.” Her
lip curled derisively. “But for whatever fucked-up reason you’ve decided on,
you don’t want me to walk out on you. Marrying you won’t give me what I need,
Aric. It won’t make you love me. Now let me go.”
    His nostrils flared as possessiveness gripped him. “Never.”
Knowing the elevator door wouldn’t open without his key, he pinned her against
the aluminum surface with his body. “You said you love me. That makes you mine,
Ainsley. I keep what’s mine. I don’t intend to let you walk out of here and into
the arms of another man or another Dom.”
    She glared at him. “This isn’t about me being your sub,
Aric. You were right. I’m not naturally a sub. But you’re a Dom and I love you
enough to be happy fulfilling your needs. There isn’t anything I can’t or won’t
be for you.”
    His breathing grew heavier with each word she spoke. His
heart pounded like a jackhammer. His cock thickened until it ached. “Then be my
wife.”
    A strangled sound rose from her throat. “No!”
    Aric decided the time had come to just take what belonged to
him, what had always belonged to him. Threading his fingers through her hair,
he lowered his mouth to hers. When his lips brushed hers, he said, “I love you,
Ainsley. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember.”
    He kissed her, taking her mouth in a masterful manner, his
tongue demanding entrance, his lips commanding a response. Over the past two
days, when he’d kissed her like this, she’d whimpered and gone weak beneath his
onslaught. Now she threw her arms around him and kissed him back fiercely. She
took from him and gave back at the same time. There was nothing of the Dom and
sub in either of them as they each gave from their hearts. With years of
yearning to make up, they devoured each other with lips and tongues and hands.
    Finally Aric broke the kiss, wanting to lift Ainsley into
his arms and take her to his bed—their bed—so they could seal their commitment.
He’d never unleashed the emotions that currently swirled within him. All those
years ago something inside him had recognized something in her, and he’d been
wise enough to know that it would overwhelm them both if he didn’t lock it away
deep inside himself.
    Early on they’d been too young, and later on he’d been too
stupid. He’d gotten involved in the lifestyle and had lied to himself about why
he held Ainsley and every other woman at arm’s length. But now he’d freed his
emotions from their stasis and he wasn’t going to let her walk away from him.
    Pulling her along behind him, he marched into his bedroom
and shoved aside a lithograph on the wall. He kept one of her hands clasped
tightly in his as he manipulated the combination lock. The door swung open and
he reached in, withdrawing a dark-green velvet box. He thumbed it open and
tears sprang to Ainsley’s eyes.
    “Oh my God. It’s your mother’s ring,” she