The ‘yet’ in that sentence was significant. Raina had no doubt that he meant it. It wasn't a matter of if they found Daniela, it was a matter of when. Raina hoped the other woman had a damn good excuse for her subterfuge, because if she didn't, her head really would go on a platter.
"Follow me," he said, taking her hand. He allowed her to pull on her robe and flip-flops before leading her away from the pool.
"Where are we going?" she asked curiously, shivering when he ran his thumb down the inside of her hand, subconsciously rubbing her as they walked. She loved the feel of his hands on her.
"To the bunker." His tone was strange; dark but excited.
Of all the places he might want to take her, she definitely wasn't expecting him to say the bunker. "Why do you want to take me down there? You demanded I never set foot in there again without your permission."
"Consider this my permission."
Raina frowned as they rounded the pool house, walking away from where she knew the entrance to the bunker lay. "This isn't the right way."
He inclined his head toward her and said mysteriously, "You aren't the only one who's been renovating this place."
Raina halted in her tracks and gasped in surprise as she was confronted with a concrete wall with a door in it in the middle of her lawn. Where had this come from?
Mateo answered her silent question. "It was built last week, while you were touring bakeries and decoration shops with your mothers."
"Yeah, but you think I would've noticed it back here anyway," she said faintly as he pulled her toward a door with a panel in the side.
He punched in a ten-digit long code that Raina immediately memorized. He didn't bother to hide it from her, so she figured he either didn't think she had the capacity to remember a code that long or he wasn't concerned that she could now enter this space.
"I had the building created to certain specifications. The way the land back here is graded, sloping away from the house, made for a perfect location for an underground building. The door is the only partly visible; the rest is under the estate."
As they made their way into the building, which was noticeably much cooler than the air outside, Raina wrapped her robe tighter around herself. Mateo walked at a fast clip, his hand tight enough on her arm that she didn't have a chance to stop and look around. Odd, considering he wanted to show her this building.
As they passed door after door, it started to become clear to Raina what the building might be used for. In Venezuela, on Sotza's estate, similar buildings existed. Raina hadn't been allowed inside them, but the staff gossiped enough that it hadn't taken her long to figure out what they were for.
"A prison." She looked at Mateo as if asking him to negate her words. He remained silent.
"You built a prison in our home?" she demanded incredulously.
She was too surprised to feel angry yet. But she knew the rage would come once the full implications of this building sank in. What it would be used for while she lived in the house only a few yards away.
"This is our backyard, not our home." Mateo’s voice took on a growly quality.
Raina didn't know why he was getting annoyed, he had to know that she wouldn't approve of this addition to the mansion.
"Don't you use semantics with me," she snapped. "This is completely unacceptable. You didn't even talk to me about it."
Mateo stopped in front of another door with another panel. He punched another, separate, ten-digit code. Raina filed this one away too. This door would face the house, and when Mateo opened it Raina was able to see a set of stairs the extended into an even deeper subbasement.
Mateo slid his hand up her arm to grip her bicep. He pulled her down the stairs with him, as though he thought she might try to get away. As angry as she was, Raina was also curious. If he'd managed to build an entire warehouse on their back lawn, what had he done to the original bunker?
Mateo didn't say another word until they completed their descent where the air in the bunker became cooler again. Raina shivered in the darkness. Mateo flipped on a light switch without breaking stride and continued down the path that Raina was now familiar with. She glanced up, as if expecting to see the hole in the floor of the pool house, but the ceiling was smooth and the surrounding area smelled like paint.
She held her breath as they entered the bunker room that had once contained the corpse of Casey's bodyguard.
Raina was surprised to find the room completely renovated. There was now a wall blocking off the room. In the wall was a door with a barred window.
Mateo moved to the door and punched in a third code. Raina heard the click of a lock unlatching.
"Oh my God," she murmured.
It was a bedroom. A woman's bedroom. Well, maybe not, but definitely feminine touches, as though a woman were supposed to find the room comfortable. Which of course, any sane woman wouldn't.
There was a large queen-size bed dominating the middle. A wooden dresser, a mirror, a bookshelf, two nightstands and a mini fridge. On the floor was a huge Oriental rug, a bright splash of colour meant to make the room look homey. There was a door off to the side that Raina would bet led to a bathroom. Whoever was meant to stay in here wasn't meant to stay in discomfort.
Raina turned on Mateo, her eyes narrowed, her fists on her hips. "Who the fuck is this room for?"
Mateo studied her expression. "For you."
A wave of despair swept over Raina as she realized she was going to have to go on the run again. “Not a fucking chance.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
"You’re mistaken, Raina," he said calmly, watching her expression carefully trying to determine her thoughts.
Raina was nearly vibrating with fury. "I'm wrong in thinking that you intend this room for me?"
He shoved a frustrated hand through his hair. "Yes, of course this room is for you. But it's not a prison."
Raina pointed at the bars on the window, her hand shaking. "Prison."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "If it becomes a prison then it's a prison of your own making."
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?” she snapped, hands on her hips.
He took a step toward her, close enough that she could smell the subtle hint of his spicy aftershave. He was so breathtakingly handsome it fucked with her nerves. Her libido wanted to stand up and take notice of him even when the logical part of her brain wanted to stab him in the eye with the nearest pointy object.
"It means," he said, his tone dripping with ice as his eyes became glacial, "that if you ever try to leave here, leave me, this will become your prison. When I had it built, its intended use was as a bolthole in case anything happens at the mansion. But if you insist on taking this attitude, it can become a more permanent cage."
"Don't you threaten me, asshole!" she snarled. "I'm going back to the house to think long and hard about this marriage."
She whirled around and headed for the door, but she barely managed two steps before he was gripping her and swinging her back around to face him. Her heart thundered as she realized she must've gone too far. The look on his face was utterly terrifying, as though he was rapidly losing control. His eyes had gone from ice to fire, their dark depths snapping with emotion.
“Don’t ever threaten me, Raina.”
His head descended to hers in an angry kiss. Raina tried to break away but his grip became punishing. In contrast to his brutal hold, his lips took her on a familiar dance, teasing, coaxing, looking for a response. She tried to resist, but her body was so in tune with his that her response came automatically. Her lips softened and she opened her mouth, giving him access. Then she was kissing him back, her anger meeting his in a heated exchange.
After a minute, he lifted his head, angrily staring down at her. They were both breathless from the intensity of their angry kiss.
"It's time you understand a few things about our relationship." His voice was a husky growl and she could feel his cock, steel-like within his pants, pressing against her bare st
omach. "I’ve given you more leeway than I have given anyone in my life. You are under the mistaken impression that we are equals and I am no longer willing to allow you to live under that delusion. We are not equal. We will never be equal. I am the boss here. I rule over this city, this house and the people within it. I rule over you. If I tell you to get your ass in this room, you will do it without hesitation."
Pain shattered her hopes as his words sank in. For months, he allowed her to believe that she would have the freedom she craved if she stayed with him. Now, he was essentially telling her that she had no autonomy whatsoever.
The realization cut deep.
Raina blinked back tears and tilted her chin. "You’ll have to keep me locked in here until the end of time if you intend to stop me from leaving. Because as of right now, there's no chance I'm going to stay here and marry someone like you."
His hands tightened until she cried out in pain and jerked in his hold. Instead of releasing her though he slammed her up against his chest and lifted her until her feet left the ground. Raina was barely 5’2” and Mateo was easily a foot taller than her. She clutched at his suit for support.
"We are as good as married already. You will never be allowed to leave." He reiterated, his voice taking on a mean tone.
She snapped her hand up between them and slammed her cupped hand into his ear, boxing him. He dropped her but didn't let go of her arm. He reached up to rub his ear but didn't react otherwise.
"Fuck that, we aren't married, and at this rate, we never will be."
"As far as I'm concerned, little girl, the only thing left to do is consummate this relationship."
Raina's eyes flicked to the bed. She didn't know if he planned this, but she knew exactly where things were heading, and she didn’t think it was a good idea.
"Don't you dare touch me," she hissed.
He swung her toward the bed until her knees hit the edge of the mattress.
Mateo bent over her, his broad form blotting out the light above his head. "You belong to me. I negotiated for you and in my world, the promise of marriage is as good as the marriage itself. I can do whatever I want to you."
With every word he spoke he damaged their bond, slowly built up over weeks of getting to know each other. A few hours ago, she might have admitted to actually falling for this man. But now? Now, she couldn't imagine spending another minute with him let alone a lifetime.
"If you touch me, right here, right now, I will never stop trying to leave."
His hand swung around so sharply that she didn't have time to get out of the way. She closed her eyes and flinched, but the blow didn't land. She opened her eyes to stare at him and realized that he stopped himself. The fact that he'd intended to hit her was enough to shatter the last of her feelings for him. He didn't care. If he actually loved her, he would do anything to protect her, even from himself.
"You've made a big mistake." Her words were bitter, spoken from a broken heart.
"Then I have nothing to lose," he said coldly.
Before she could attempt another run on the door, he shoved her backwards onto the bed. She landed on her elbows and bounced on the mattress. She tried to roll away, but he dropped down on top of her, gripping her face and kissing her again, another brutal kiss. She automatically reached up to shove him away, but he slapped her hands. As she was drawn further into the kiss, she groaned and grabbed his head, opening her mouth and kissing him back.
Sensations flooded through her mixing with her anger. Her body screamed for his while her mind screamed at her to run. The combination was heady, driving her to arch her body up against him, smashing her breasts into his chest. He deepened the kiss, his teeth catching her lips, his tongue shoving into the back of her throat, choking her. She gripped the back of his neck to keep him from going anywhere.
His hands were hard and punishing as he tore at her robe, yanking it from her body and tossing it away. He didn't bother with her bikini top but yanked the bottoms down her body. Panic beat at her mind as she realized this was really happening. Mateo was going to have sex with her. No one had ever seen her like this, naked and exposed. She broke the kiss and tried to cover herself, placing both hands over top of her pussy.
“We have to stop.” Her voice was breathless, but high with worry.
Mateo shoved her hands away and pinned her to the bed, his knee between her legs. He was allowing rage and lust to cloud his judgement. This violence was the product of Mateo's upbringing and lifestyle. This was the fundamental difference between the two of them. Mateo could control the rage if he wanted, but it was always simmering below the surface, he needed it to stay alive. But Raina had been brought up with love and compassion. Sure she got angry, but her base emotion was one of happiness.
Though hormones raged through her, begging her to pull him down for another kiss, she tried one last time to use logic. “You don’t want to do this, Mateo.”
His eyes held hers with a dark promise. “I have wanted to do this from the day I met you. Should’ve done it the day I met you. You would’ve had a ring on your finger and no reason to put your life at risk in Italy.”
“It’s always about my safety!” she yelled at him. “You need to get a life and stop controlling mine.”
“Not going to happen,” he growled, yanking his jacket off and throwing it to the floor.
While his hands were busy, she reared up and tried to roll off the other side of the bed. He yanked her back and attempted to grab both of her wrists in one hand. She wiggled one out and hit him on the side of his head, her nails raking down his cheek.
"Fuck!" he snarled and gripped both of her wrists so hard she thought they might break.
"Fuck you too!" she screamed up at him.
He dropped his head again and she flinched, believing he was about to take her mouth in another bruising kiss. He didn’t, he dropped his mouth to her breast instead, sucking it into his mouth through the fabric of her bikini top. Without lifting his head, he tugged her top beneath her breasts and teased her nipples with his tongue and teeth. Sensations flooded through her until she was gasping and dizzy.
He released her hands to tear at his clothes. She heard the sound of cloth ripping as he wrenched his shirt off. She clutched his shoulders, her body shaking beneath his. He reached between them and she heard the distinctive sound of a zipper. Seconds later he was fumbling between her legs, thrusting them wider and guiding his cock toward her entrance.
“I’m not ready!” she gasped, fear zinging through her.
He either didn’t hear or he ignored her. He gripped her bare leg and dragged it up the outside of his thigh. Time seemed to stand still as she heard and felt everything in slow motion. Her leg against the roughness of his pants, his lips buried in her neck, biting and sucking at her pulse beat. The steel of his cock against her soft inner thigh.
It felt like all the air was being sucked out of the room as he pushed inside her. She tried to gasp but the air strangled in her throat and she choked instead, lifting her head off the bed and then slamming it back down. Pain sliced through her. A pain she'd never experienced before, as unused muscles stretched and tore to accommodate him.
"So fucking tight," he growled dipping his head toward her.
Raina turned her head to the side and sank her teeth into his ear, biting down until he grunted in pain. He gripped her jaw between his thumb and forefinger, applying pressure until she was forced to open her mouth. He wasn't even remotely gentle and by the time she let go of him her jaw felt bruised. Using one hand he pushed her face to the side and held her head down with his fingers spread over top of her. She couldn't move her head; she couldn't bite him. She could only grit her teeth and take the pain of his body slamming into hers.
She assumed he would finish quickly, within a few minutes at the most. But he didn't. He kept moving inside her, kept holding her down with his brutal strength. Even while something inside her died at his ruthless possession, a spark came to life. A flare of pleasure that swe
pt over her, despite the pain.
They still had weeks, months and years of history. History where she'd always been attracted to him, always wanted him. And though she didn't want to want him now, her body was crying out for his.
Wetness was gathering between her thighs as he established a rhythm that her body couldn’t resist. Her heart hammered in her chest as instinct took over, reaching for the pleasure he was offering.
Tears leaked from her eyes, touching his fingertips where his hand was spread across the side of her face. They trickled down her cheeks, off her nose and onto the mattress. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, then allowed her body to relax.
As if sensing her capitulation, Mateo relaxed his grip on her and began to touch her softly, running his fingers down her cheek, her neck and the swell of her breasts. Raina kept her eyes closed, but she concentrated on the places that he touched, reaching mentally for every bit of pleasure he was giving her. She could hate him after, but for now, she was going to take this moment and hold it close. Her first time with a man.
Raina's breathing sped up and her face became flushed with excitement. She bit her lip to hold in a moan, but he must've heard anyway. He took her jaw his hand and she flinched, but all he did was gently roll her head up until she was facing him.
He leaned down and took her lips with his, leading her into a familiar exploration. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and returned his kiss, thrusting her tongue aggressively against his, the sparks igniting into a full frenzy as she was overwhelmed by the pleasure in her mouth and her pussy. Butterflies sang through her entire body. She couldn’t resist Mateo; she didn’t want to anymore.
"I need you to come for me,"
"Fuck… you." Her words were breathless and angry, at odds with the thrust of her hips against his and her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Her body wanted what he wanted, it wanted to come.
"I will fuck you," he growled, using her words against her. "I will fuck you every day from here until one of us dies. That is the only way that you will ever escape me."
Born a Queen (The Queens Book 3) Page 20