Your image URL does not seem to link to an actual image. That may be your problem. It should work otherwise in this context:
<p style="background-color: #e6d250; background-image: url("https://www.transparenttextures.com/patterns/natural-paper.png");">lorem ipsum</p>
<p style="background-color: #e6d250; background-image: url("https://www.transparenttextures.com/patterns/natural-paper.png");">lorem ipsum</p>