ROYAL BRIDE (A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) Read online

  “Yes. I’m sorry. Our country.” She nodded quickly, deciding to get on board with him as quickly as possible to keep him off the sinking ship that was her resolve to keep her secret.

  He nodded curtly. “You still went behind my back. Disobeyed my direct order to stay out of it, and you behaved like a spoiled brat when I asked you about it. Not to mention the over-abundance of attitude you’ve had with me since we took our vows!” It seemed he had indeed bottled up his frustrations with her.

  “I don’t want to be your doormat.” She whispered the statement and looked away from him.

  She heard him curse under his breath and felt him step toward her. “Is that what you think I want?”

  “All you talk about is obedience when you talk about us. That you want an obedient wife, a wife with no opinions.”

  “I never said I didn’t want a wife without opinions,” he corrected her, cupping her face with the hand not holding the offending leather strap. He pulled her gaze to meet his again. His eyes had softened, the tick in his jaw now gone. “I speak of obedience because you have never been taught that trait. When I give you an order, it’s for a reason. It’s my job to keep you safe, and having you dig around, looking for a terrorist group, isn’t exactly keeping you safe.”

  She tried not to let his casual grin weaken her resolve. He still held that belt in his hand. “I only wanted to help. I didn’t help her when it happened.”

  “We’ve been over that. You did the right thing. Now we know who we are looking for. If they had taken you or killed you, we would have no leads at all, and I would be without a wife.”

  She huffed. “Better for you, I’d think.”

  “What’s that?” He gripped her chin harder. “You think I’d rather be without you?”

  “I think you’d have an easier time with a wife who is willing to obey and take orders.” Her voice was firm, but she couldn’t deny the trembling in her stomach at his touch. Even his breath washing over her face as he spoke aroused her senses.

  Antonio’s jaw firmed as he stared down at her in silence for a brief moment. “It doesn’t matter. You are mine now, and I won’t let you go. You belong to me in much the same way I belong to you.”

  “Then I can use your belt against you when you are cruel to me?”

  He threw his head back and laughed. The sound eased Isabella’s worry enough that her shoulders relaxed and she allowed herself to enjoy his touch on her face. “Absolutely not, but we’ll figure something out for you to express your displeasure in a more respectable manner than you do now.” Well, that wasn’t much of a win, was it?

  “Can I have my clothes back?” she whispered, leaning in toward him, seeking the warmth of his lips. The entire night had been one battle after another with herself, and she was exhausted. She wanted only to have his arms wrapped around her and his mouth covering hers.

  “Not yet. We still have the matter of you going behind my back and getting involved in things when I told you not to.” The belt tapped her thigh. “But I understand why you did it. I still want to spank you, but I want to show you how fun it can be when it’s not a punishment. You have to agree to it, though. I won’t force you.”

  “You aren’t mad at me anymore?” Isabella didn’t think the man would relent on anything, let alone a chance to redden her backside.

  “Oh, I’m not happy, and I will be sure to put tighter restrictions on you when I need you to mind me, but tonight… no. I’m not mad.

  “You think this thing can be fun?” She reached around and fondled the leather belt. It was thick and heavy. She wondered why anyone would find a lashing anything but painful. It was used for punishment, after all.

  Once, a few years back, Raphael had brought home one of his girls. They weren’t in an actual relationship, but they were enjoying each other’s company. She heard them arguing, heard one of his glasses being thrown against the wall. At the time, Isabella had grinned, glad someone was finally standing up to her stick-in-the-mud brother, but shortly after the breaking glass, she heard slaps and cries coming from his room. The girl apologized over and over again before he finally ceased. Then Isabella thought she heard Raphael walking toward the door so she ran off, but she was sure she’d never see the woman again after he treated her in such a way. To her surprise, he had taken her out several more times before they broke off their relationship.

  “I know it can be. Take off your robe.” Antonio released her, stepping away from her to give her room to undress.

  The cool air of the hotel suite brushed against her skin as the silk robe slipped from her body. She felt her cheeks warm under the scrutiny of his gaze. His eyes swept up her body. “Are you sure you aren’t tricking me into a punishment?” she asked with her hands on her hips.

  He laughed again. “I won’t punish your naughty backside tonight, so long as you curb that attitude of yours.” He pointed a straight finger at her. “Now, go over to the bed and bend over it. Press your face to the bed and spread your legs a little.”

  She walked to the bed, the fluttering in her stomach increasing and her throat drying. The only experience she’d had with spanking was the one he gave her on the boat back home. It had been painful and humiliating. But afterwards hasn’t been so bad. Antonio had been generous in his physical attentions, even if she found orgasming over his lap a little embarrassing.

  The bedspread felt chilly as she pressed her cheek to it, her palms pressed to the bed on either side of her. She wiggled her feet until her legs were spread, not too much to allow him full view of her aroused sex, but enough that her thighs were no longer touching.

  “Very nice.” His praise washed over her naked bottom just before his palm cupped her cheeks. “I love your ass, Isabella. Almost as much as I love your tits.” His crude words should have made her less intoxicated by him, but she could already feel her insides starting to respond.

  Isabella closed her eyes and let herself feel his touch with her full focus. Warm hands ran over her rounded bottom. His fingers slipped downward, through the crease of her sex toward her clitoris. He stroked her there, circling the tender bundle of nerves until she moaned. He pulled back and gave her backside a sharp slap. “You won’t come tonight until I give you permission, Isabella. And don’t ask for it, either. I’ll give it when I’m ready.”

  What the hell? How could she hold off coming until he wanted her to?

  She jumped onto her toes when his fingers pinched the low curve of her bottom. “Stay still, baby.” He softened his command with the sweet nickname. She almost leapt across the bed when both of his hands rubbed her and spread her ass cheeks apart. “Stay.” His command irritated her, as though she were some pet, but his fingers were exploring, distracting Isabella from her ire.

  “Antonio,” she whispered, unsure if she was allowed to speak or not and not wanting him to stop his ministrations. She could feel the tensing of her clit each time he passed his fingers over the bundle of nerves.

  “You’re right. You’re supposed to be spanked, not fondled.” She couldn’t see him, but she imagined from his tone that he was grinning at her.

  The flat of his hand landed on her unprepared bottom, and she jumped from the sting of it. Again, his hand fell to the right then to the left cheek. The burn was subtle, not overpowering at all. The slaps were spaced out, and after each of them, he would grab her flesh and run his fingers through her cleft.

  Her body reacted instantly to the warmth he spread through her backside. She spread her legs a little further when he slipped a finger into her passage. A low chuckle was her reward, along with a sharp smack to her right cheek. “So nice and pink now,” he muttered as he ran his hand over both cheeks. His arm had snaked around her waist at some point, and she was pressed against his body. She could feel his erection through his pants at her hip. “I think you are ready for a few with the belt. You’re doing so well, Isabella. So good for me.” His lips pressed down on the center of her back, and his tongue made a trail up to her neck where he
nibbled on her flesh. “Fuck, you smell so good.” He kissed her shoulder tenderly and let go of her waist. “Hold still for these. Take them for me, and I’ll give you what you want.”

  “And what is it that you think I want?” she teased him, unable to stop herself. The arrogance in his tone drew out her inner brat.

  Three fingers were thrust into her wanting passage, pushing a deep moan of satisfaction from her lips. Her eyes rolled with pleasure as he pumped his fingers in and out of her several times, hard. If he’d meant to punish her, he was doing a piss-poor job of it. She arched her back as if to ask for more. Another low chuckle. “That’s what you want… but the real thing, I think. You want my cock buried in you, fucking you so hard that the bed pounds against the wall. Take these five licks with the grace of a princess, and I’ll fuck you until you scream for me.”

  His promise made her sex drip faster with her arousal, and she ached to have exactly what he described. Just the thrust of his fingers moved her body along the bed, making her nipples tender from rubbing against the bedspread. As quickly as he had presented his fingers, they were gone, and she grunted in dissatisfaction.

  His arm was once again around her waist, holding her to him. The mental image of what they looked like increased her desire. Her ass was high in the air, his arm hugging her tenderly, and his folded belt dangling just above her ass.

  Antonio swung his arm out, lashing the lower part of her bottom. The sting was more than his hand, but not so bad that she felt the need to escape. Soon, the sharpness smoothed out and left a warm residual effect in her core. Her legs trembled after the second stroke as the leather nipped at the tender flesh between her thighs, but he delivered the third without giving her a moment to catch her breath.

  After a loud hiss, he moved his hand from around her waist and plunged his hand deep into her hair, gripping her hard and pulling her head back. “Almost done. Two more. You can do it, can’t you?”

  “Yes, Antonio,” she answered immediately. As much as the belt stung her tender bottom, the sting almost turned into a fondling, and the fact that he was pleased with her effort increased her arousal even further. “Then you’ll fuck me?”

  He gave a little laugh. “Two more, then I’ll fuck you,” he promised and delivered the next two lashes directly after each other. Before she could react to the burn of it, the belt fell to the carpet and he released her hair.

  His hands were on her hips, pulling her raw backside to rub against his clothed erection. The fabric was rough against her spanked bottom, but she moved to find his cock. The sound of the zipper was louder than usual. His fingers dug into her cheeks, spreading them wide just before he thrust his entire cock into her.

  She grunted with the fullness, blinking back the tears that had sprung to her eyes at the sudden intrusion. He held her there, pressed against his hips, his cock filling her, stretching her for several long moments. Even over the hammering of her heart, she could hear his harsh breaths.

  He could have just thrust into her again and again and brought them both to a quick end, but he was in the mood to torment her more. Antonio slid his cock out of her slippery folds until just the tip of his head was nestled inside her warmth. She grunted and tried to move back, to take him again, but a sharp pinch to her ass stilled her. “Take what I give you, Isabella.” His voice sounded gravelly, as though he was having just as hard a time waiting as she was.

  “Okay.” She nodded, but she didn’t hold much faith that she would be able to remain obedient for long.

  “Ah, good girl.” He plunged forward, filling her again, and she threw her head back with a gratified hiss. “Again?”

  “Yes! Please!” she called over her shoulder. His shirt was still on. He hadn’t taken the time to undress. While she remained bent over the bed, completely nude, her husband had merely pushed his trousers down to allow his cock the freedom it needed to fuck her. On some level, she should be appalled at being treated as a plaything, but the rest of her tingled all over at the idea that he could only take the time to unzip his pants. That waiting to undress would have been too much for him.

  Her fingers curled into the bedspread, gripping it so tightly that her knuckles lost color. He continued the slow ministrations, and she tried to hold still, tried to take the teasing he wanted to give her, but every time he filled her, his balls brushed her clit, and the more he did it, the closer to the edge she was. “Antonio. Please. Please.” She didn’t care that she was begging him. She just needed him to fuck her with the urgency they both felt.

  With his right hand, he reached beneath her, finding her clit and rubbing it gently with just enough pressure for her to arch up and cry out from the need to come. She wouldn’t ask, she wouldn’t beg again. He had told her not to. Afraid that he would completely deny her if she disobeyed, she remained in her tortured state.

  “Ahh, so good.” He pushed harder on her clit. “You’re ready. I can feel your pussy clenching my cock… Fuck…” He tried to say something else, but she was pleased to note he couldn’t form any more sentences at that moment. “Fuck. Come for me, Isabella, come with me now,” he yelled into the room and plunged into her hard, and the sound of their flesh slapping together as he rode her was superseded only by their cries of release as they found their orgasms.

  Antonio was the first to recover and placed several soft kisses on her back as he slid from her body. “Stay here a second.” He patted her still sore backside and disappeared.

  Moments later, a cool washcloth was pressed against her warm sex. She rested her head on the bed, taking in deep breaths and waiting for her heart-rate to steady. She obediently spread her legs when he instructed so he could finish cleaning her. For a brief moment, she thought she should feel some shame in having her husband doing such an intimate thing, but it felt natural, as though she’d known him forever and trusted him to see to her every need.

  The idea startled her. The evening had started out with such anger, such hostility, yet by the end, he was helping her to stand and tucking her into bed.

  Once she was nestled in the bed, the covers pulled up to her chin, he kissed her. His lips moved over hers, licking at her, nibbling at her. When he broke the kiss, their eyes met, his still dilated from their lovemaking. “I can’t get over how beautiful you are. How much you’ve grown in such a short time.” The compliment felt real, but Isabella guarded herself against it.

  She hadn’t accomplished anything. Simply obeying him while having sex—extremely satisfying sex—wasn’t what he wanted or needed. She still had to prove herself.

  “The spanking wasn’t so bad.” She gave a small smile.

  He grinned back. “I could tell. You were sopping wet afterwards.” Her face flushed with his comment. He wasn’t wrong. Her body responded to the activity in exactly the opposite way she thought it should have.

  “Are all wives in your country treated like that?” Again, her ignorance showed, and she felt the sinking feeling in her stomach.

  “Not all. Just like in your country or here in America. It’s something that each couple decides for themselves.” He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “Get some sleep, Isabella. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

  “Will my clothes be brought back?” she whispered.

  He laughed. “You behave so nicely when you are naked.” With another kiss to her temple, he left her and retreated to the bathroom. Was that a yes or a no?

  ANTONIO

  Antonio had her clothes brought back into the suite after he left for his morning meetings. His security team wanted to discuss what they had found out about Karen Vega. Having purposely kept the reason for the meeting from Isabella, he didn’t talk about either of their schedules over breakfast. She also remained a bit vague about her plans, only mentioning that she would be away from the suite for the morning and would be having lunch with Maria, Silver’s wife.

  “Libertad has made contact with our government. Your father has requested that we consider a trade to get the girl b
ack.” Julian, the lead on his current team, began the briefing.

  “What? We don’t do that. He knows this.” Antonio clenched his fist under the table. His father ruled with his heart more often than his head.

  “The council-member’s family is pleading for her to be spared. They fear that if we do not act and work with this group, their daughter will be killed.”

  “Most likely, she will be,” another member of the team interjected. “We have found a location where this particular cell hides most of their captives. We can make an attempt to raid the area, but if she is not there, they will retaliate by killing her. I’m sure of it.”

  Antonio thought about it for a moment. If Isabella had been seen that morning, had been taken along with the woman, this conversation would probably be going very differently. He would be demanding that every able-bodied man search for and return her safely to him. No matter how much trouble she caused him or how much attitude she threw at him, he couldn’t stop thinking of her. Even after he finished making love to her, it wasn’t enough. He wanted her again and again. Spending the entire day holding her would still not be satisfactory.

  “How much intel do we have on this hideaway?”

  “We have a confirmed location, but not much else. We’ll need to do some surveillance to find the flaws in their security.” Julian unrolled a map, pointing out the area in which he spoke. “If they are responsible for Karen’s kidnapping, I think it’s safe to bet they have a few other women there as well. So far, two other members of your father’s cabinet have voiced concerns for their daughters.”

  “What do you mean, ‘voiced concerns?’ Do they know if their girls are gone or not?” Antonio asked with more than a little irritation. It was true that among his father’s generation, women were not as valued as they were among his own. Seen more as commodities and a way to gain status through marriages, they weren’t given the same opportunities as their male counterparts. He imagined what his wife would have to say on the matter and made a promise to himself not to bring the subject up while in the company of his father.