by Bella Grant
Warm hands smoothed over her skin, and ran down her thighs. “Such a good girl now, but you still must take your punishment.” And he began spanking her. His hand came down on her, creating a warm, tingling sensation throughout her backside and into her very core. Each slap to her ass made her hotter for him than the last. She slid her legs apart, arching her back to give him better access to her body.
“Very good,” he whispered and moved his hand down the crease of her ass to her heated core, which begged for attention. The spanking was over, and his fingers were moving through her slick folds. “Such a wet pussy.” He slapped her clit lightly, and she yelped but arched up further for him. “Good girl. Spread your legs more for me.” One leg slipped off his lap, spreading her even further, and her clit crushed against his knee. She began to grind herself shamelessly into his leg. “There you go, rub your clit for me.”
She reached back, trying to touch herself, but he pinned her hands at her back. “No, just use my leg. Let me watch your ass wiggle as you rub yourself and come for me. Come hard, Victoria. Come hard for me. Rub faster, Victoria. Faster, or do you need another spanking? Do you need me to slap your ass until it’s red and raw? Faster, rub your clit harder… Come for me, come for me. Right. Now.”
“Fuck!” Victoria screamed into the large bedroom, her shoulders coming off the mattress as her fingers continued to work her clit in circles, drawing out the intense orgasm for as long as the strong waves crashed over her body. When her body relaxed, she fell back against the pillows, a sweaty mess, catching her breath. “Fuck,” she whispered into the air. She kicked the blankets off of her. Even with the air-conditioning, she’d managed to overheat.
She walked over to the vent near the window, letting the cool air rush up her cotton nightshirt as she rested her forehead against the window. Through the sheer window covering, she could make out lights running along the edge of the estate, signaling where the ocean began. “A dip in the ocean would be awesome right now.” She laughed to herself.
A look at the clock told her it was well past midnight. She’d wasted most of her night pouring over books regarding customs and protocols for the royal family. The more research she did, the more photographs of Raphael she came across. Dinner had been so easy, and when he’d walked her to her room… Those eyes… His eyes peered at her with such power, such control, she couldn’t help but continue thinking about them.
Her fantasies often delved into the realm of spankings and submission, but never had she met anyone in reality who came close to being able to fit the shoes of the masked man in them. This was the first time she’d pictured a specific man delivering the well-earned spanking and fondling until she came over his knee. Even when she dated Jerald, he never entered her fantasies.
Climbing back into the monstrous bed, she chastised herself for allowing her obvious attraction to the prince to creep any further than appreciation. Not a single woman alive could overlook how hot he was with his chiseled features, strong arms, and athletic build. Everything about the man screamed power and confidence. Nothing was hotter than that, but she needed to cool her heels. He was engaged. And a flipping prince! Even if he wasn’t engaged, he’d be so out of her league, she wouldn’t even be able to see his league from hers.
She would meet the princess in the morning, and she needed to be able to look her in the eye and give her sincere congratulations. Then she would sit down and plan the woman’s wedding. And she would forget all about the teasing and fantasy the prince offered.
The woman could quite easily be the cover model for every fashion magazine in America without batting a perfectly mascaraed eyelash. Her soft brown hair with golden highlights cascaded down her back in large waves. Her sleeveless blouse portrayed a perfectly built frame most women spent years in the gym trying to achieve. Even the small mole on the left side of her chin gave her a perfect look. A small, round punctuation mark on the beauty that was Princess Carmen.
“His Highness has told me about the wedding he attended in New York. He said it was elegant but not stuffy.” She smiled from her seat in what Victoria had started thinking of as the tea and coffee room. Every time she was in that particular room, she was offered either tea or coffee.
“I’m glad he enjoyed himself.” She reached for her bag with her sketch pads in it, keeping her gaze away from the beauty in front of her. Compared to the princess, Victoria must have seemed like a wet rag.
“I will say he doesn’t want anything too extravagant for our wedding, and I agree. We don’t need to overdo.” Victoria had hoped to hate the princess. Or, failing that, at least find her snobby and reproachful. So far, she was neither of those things.
“I’ve done some research on the customs of this island and your own. The prince doesn’t seem to be too hung up on keeping with most of them, but I wanted your opinion. You are the bride, after all.” She forced a smile and hoped it appeared sincere.
“The traditions of my country are not as important as his. I will be his wife, and therefore will fall under his ruling.” As aroused as that way of thinking usually made Victoria, the way the princess said it gave her the impression she spoke from repetition rather than sincerity.
“Oh. I see.” Victoria turned the page in her notebook where she had made a bunch of scribbles outlining the pre-ceremony breakfast according to the Tobago tradition. “I was told I’d be able to get a guest list from the secretary, so that shouldn’t be a problem. The festival will be held on the first day of celebrations. I was thinking to open the gates of the estate to the common people of the island. The prince has done so much for them and they love him, so I thought it might be a good idea not only for the celebration itself but for the people of the island to be included.”
“Fantastic idea!” Raphael’s voice boomed from behind her. She immediately stood up and bowed her head as he made his way over to them, her cheeks flushing at the remembrance of what that voice had said in her fantasy. He walked to Princess Carmen, who had also risen to her feet with her cheek presented to him for a kiss.
Victoria noticed his side-glance as his lips brushed against Carmen’s skin and looked away. She didn’t need to be caught gaping at them.
“Yes, I think it’s wonderful as well.” Carmen nodded with a plastic smile. Raphael gestured for the women to sit and took a seat beside his betrothed. “Should we have an open-house type event or shall we hand out lottery tickets to the people?”
“I was thinking of having the festival run throughout the nearby villages, and you would attend the festivals together. Make your rounds. That way, we would not have to try to accommodate such a vast number of people here on the estate—which would also create, I’m sure, a security nightmare—but the people would be fully involved. I know they traditionally hold parties on the day of the festivities of their own, but having it funded by the royal family will take the financial burden from them and also include them directly in the festivities.”
Raphael nodded his agreement silently, not taking his eyes off her. She uncrossed and re-crossed her legs, turning her focus to the bride.
“Yes, I think that’s a wonderful idea. Although I’m sure it will take more than you to plan such an undertaking. You’ll need to hire a few people to help, perhaps bring the rest of your staff.”
“When we get closer to the event, I will have my staff come down. For now, they can actually get quite a bit done from New York.”
“I want to use as many local merchants as possible for the wedding. We have excellent printers, flower shops, musicians.”
“Of course. And all of those can be researched and arranged from anywhere in the world. Your country may be a small speck on the map, but it is rich in technology and culture.” Her pencil slipped from her fingers and rolled across the floor. Raphael picked it up and held it out to her, their eyes meeting for the first time since he entered the room. She plucked it from his grasp and turned back to her notes, scribbling things she needed to start researching quickly.
“Princess Carmen, I know you will only be here for a few days, so I was hoping we could get a lot done with your dress and your attendees’ clothing as soon as possible.”
“Oh, my dress. I hadn’t even thought about that.” She smoothed her hand over her long skirt.
“That’s fine. We can start by brainstorming.” Victoria chanced a look at Raphael, expecting him to be gazing at his fiancée, only to find him looking brazenly at her. She cleared her throat and continued to make suggestions for the dress and colors for her attendees.
Finally, the meeting ended. Four hours of suggestions and only one or two decisions made actually meant a very productive morning. As she gathered her things, the doors to the room opened and a breathtakingly handsome man breezed in.
Carmen’s eyes lit up and she rushed past Raphael to embrace the man. Victoria gauged Raphael’s expression to mean this man was no threat to his fiancée, himself, or their wedding.
“Excuse me. I’m sorry.” Carmen stepped to the side and grinned brightly. “Victoria, this is my big brother, Antonio. Victoria is going to do most of the planning for the wedding.” The reserved woman she had met earlier that morning brightened with the presence of her brother. Antonio definitely held a family resemblance but with more masculine features such as his square jaw and the thick mustache over his lip.
“Very nice to meet you, Victoria.” Antonio approached her, taking her hand and bringing it to her lips. She noticed, out of the corner of her eye, Raphael’s jaw clench and his body tense. “Surely, you cannot do all this work alone.”
“She will have a full staff to help her,” Raphael stated in a firm voice. Victoria glanced at her employer and found him glaring in their direction. Antonio still held her hand.
“Good. I’ve been to Rafe’s functions. He expects perfection, and it will take more than one person to accomplish such a goal.” Antonio let go of her hand and turned to face Raphael. “Forgive my barging in; I wanted to surprise my sister.”
“And you did.” Carmen rushed back over to him. “Are you staying? I’ll be here for the week… Will you stay with us? Mother was supposed to accompany me, but she fell ill. A cold.”
“I had hoped to spend some time at home before I travel to New York. I have some business there that won’t wait for very long.”
“Rafe, have you seen Julio?” came another voice from the doorway. “He was supposed to meet me at the pier for a boat ride… Oh—” Isabella stopped short when she noted the extra guest in the room. The white, sheer wrap around her waist did very little to cover her exposed body. From the look on Raphael’s face, Victoria understood he noticed that as well.
“Bella, Antonio has come for a visit. Perhaps you should go change.” His eyebrows raised.
Isabella looked over Antonio in much the same way a woman gazes over a new outfit at a boutique, sizing it up. Antonio did not look like a man that would back down from such scrutiny and proved that to be a fact by walking over to her and giving her a slight bow. “Princess Isabella. We have not met. I am Carmen’s brother.”
“Older brother,” Carmen interjected from behind him with a laugh.
“I see.” Isabella cocked an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder at her own older brother. “If you see him, please send him down to the pier.”
“Bella. I think perhaps you can skip the boat. Please, go change and we’ll have lunch.” Raphael spoke evenly, but the clenching of his jaw concerned Victoria.
Antonio nodded. “Yes. That sounds like a wonderful idea. Don’t you think, Princess? Go now, change out of that string thing you are wearing and meet us for lunch. It would be my pleasure to get to know you better.”
Victoria watched as Isabella huffed at first, opened her mouth as though to respond in a verbal assault, then snapped her mouth shut. “My bathing suit is not a string thing, it’s a bikini.” She turned her gaze on Carmen. “Don’t you like it, Princess Carmen?”
“It is lovely, Princess, but not suitable for a woman of your age or beauty. Please, now, go change and we’ll have a lovely lunch.” Antonio interjected before Carmen could respond. She gave a slight nod in agreement with her brother, but otherwise remained stoic in her position.
“My age?” Isabella looked as though he had slapped her. Victoria turned away, pretending to adjust her grip on her things. Raphael’s expression held less irritation now. He appeared almost amused at the prince’s chastisement of his sister. Shouldn’t he step in?
“Perhaps you would prefer to have lunch brought to your rooms? I’m sure your brother can arrange that for you.”
Raphael cleared his throat, dragging the attention back to him. “I don’t see a problem with your dining in your rooms, Bella. If that’s what you’d prefer.”
Victoria watched as the two men threatened to ground the princess to her room if she didn’t change out of her bikini. Victoria would agree the string suit was less than suitable for a princess and looked more like something she would see during spring break in Ft. Lauderdale, but she was a princess and an adult. Surely, these two men wouldn’t actually send her to her room like an errant child.
“I’ll ask Julio to have the boat ready tomorrow. It looks like it might rain this afternoon.” Isabella nodded and walked out of the room, looking at no one.
Victoria looked out the windows at the clear, blue sky.
“I will have a room readied for you, Antonio. Carmen, I will leave you to visit with your brother while I take care of that. Victoria, would you care to join us for lunch?”
“Um. Yes, sure, that sounds nice. This afternoon, I’d like to meet with whatever staff you would like me to work with so that we can go over a few things from this morning.” She shuffled the papers in her arms.
“Of course. I will have them ready for you after lunch.” Before she realized he moved, he removed the stack of papers and notebooks from her arms and gestured toward the door. “After you.”
“Oh. Okay.” She glanced at Carmen, talking with Antonio, who continued to stare at the door through which Isabella had marched.
The elite of New York had not provided so much entertainment when she worked with them.
RAPHAEL
Raphael spent the majority of his afternoon avoiding his betrothed, which had not been difficult to do with her brother in attendance. Claiming he needed to see to several things for an upcoming fundraiser, he locked himself in his office.
Lunch had been almost comical. His sister shot cold stares at Antonio from across the table while he responded with warm smiles. No one had spoken to Isabella the way Antonio had when meeting her. Although he knew his father loathed the bikinis she insisted on wearing, the king never mentioned it directly to Isabella. Yet Antonio, having known her for less than three minutes, managed to express his displeasure at her choice of bathing suit and also got her to change out of it.
Sitting with Carmen and going over vague details of their wedding left him frustrated and tired. Marrying Carmen was his duty, his obligation. As women of his status went, she was perfectly acceptable. Attractive, intelligent, and loyal to her own country, and he knew she would be so to him and his country. The problem with Carmen existed between them. No heat resided between them. When he held her hand, she showed no reaction, and his body didn’t respond to hers either.
Not like with Victoria. He continued to push her from his thoughts, but the more he did, the more she wiggled back in. A brush of her hand set his nerves on edge. When she licked the corner of her mouth as she thought to herself, he wanted to toss her notebook out of her hands and claim her mouth as his. Propriety be damned! Just having those thoughts with Carmen in the room made him feel like a traitorous ass. He would never act on them, never. Even if he lived a thousand years finding only brief moments of tenderness with the princess, he would never disgrace himself or disrespect her in such a way as to take a lover. He’d seen the pain it caused his mother, the way his father paraded around with his mistresses. Even when he made the attempt to be discreet, sadness lived i
n his mother’s heart, knowing he sought the warmth of another’s bed.
“Excuse me, Raphael.” Carmen’s little voice interrupted his latest round of mental lecturing.
Looking up, he saw her peeking her head in through the door. Sometimes he wondered why she seemed so afraid of him. He was a large but even-tempered man. She’d never witnessed him lose his temper. Not many had. “Yes, Carmen, come in. You don’t need to knock.” He waved her over.
She walked gracefully to his desk, a skill he had no doubt she spent hours and hours practicing. “I wanted to apologize for my brother popping in as he did. Sometimes he gets an idea in his head and acts on it before thinking. It would have been more proper to call ahead.”
Raphael waved a hand in the air. “No need to apologize. Your brother is welcome anytime, as is the rest of your family. No call necessary.” He tried to give her a warm smile, to put her more at ease, but she tensed further under his stare.
“I also wanted to thank you for allowing me to spend this week with you. I know it is customary for the prince to arrange all the festivities, and it is most gracious of you to allow me to give my opinion. Also, it gives us a chance to become more familiar with each other.”
“Carmen, you will always be given the opportunity to give your opinion, and you must always do so. I have no desire to rule over you.” The poor girl would probably collapse in a dead faint if she truly knew what his desires were in the bedroom. Outside the bedroom, he would have to keep a moderate tone with her, else she’d scurry away and hide. He would have no need to discuss obedience with Carmen. She’d been raised to be completely obedient to not only her parents but also to her husband, and he had no doubt she would follow every instruction he gave her. Which, surprisingly, took most of the fun out of it for him.
“Thank you.” She inclined her head. “Your sister… She seemed uncomfortable at lunch. Does my brother’s presence upset her?”
“Bella could use a little discomfort. Think nothing of it. I was just about to put my work away for the afternoon. Would you like to take a walk through the gardens with me?”