Weeks later
All this time, Noah’s been attending ceremonies without me, but tonight is the first night he’s asked me to come. I’m not sure whether it’s because he wants me to, or if it’s because the president told him to bring me. My father must be testing us to see where our allegiance lies, but I can handle whatever he throws at me. I’ll pretend I’m the good wife, the perfect daughter … as long as I get what I want in the end.
But first, I have to get through this night.
Noah and I quickly move through the showers together after everyone’s already gone up ahead. We go to the Jacuzzis and strip ourselves of our clothes.
He goes in first and sits down on the edge, gazing at me while I peel off my dress. His eyebrow arches at the sight of my nakedness, and a blush spreads on my cheeks as a smirk spreads on his lips.
“Still playing coy?” he muses.
“I can’t ever get used to your stare,” I say as I look down at my growing belly. “Especially not while being pregnant.”
“You should because it’s not disappearing anytime soon.” His seductive voice still brings goose bumps to my skin. “You’re beautiful. Even more so when you’re carrying my child.”
Smiling, I step into the Jacuzzi with a little more confidence than before. “Thanks.”
“I mean it. I’ve never wanted to claim you more than I do now,” he says, biting his lip when he looks at me.
I shake my head. “Are you ever not horny?”
His tongue darts out to wet his lips. “Does the world stop turning when we sleep?”
I roll my eyes in response.
He wades forward through the water and stops right in front of me, planting his hands on the edge behind me, trapping me inside. “Remember our first time together? It was here … in this Jacuzzi.”
“How could I forget?” I mutter, wrapping my arms around his neck. “You gave me a choice … fuck or get fucked …”
He bites his bottom lip. “I’m glad you made the right one.”
And he leans in to press a kiss to my lips that’s so bittersweet I can’t help but kiss him back.
So much has changed since I first showed myself to him in this room. I hated him so much back then, and now … I want this man to be mine.
In the short amount of time we’ve been together, we got married, I got pregnant, and I escaped and got taken back.
And now we’re plotting to take over the Family.
How fast things can change, especially feelings. Mine have been a whirlwind from the start, but he managed to silence the storm inside my heart with so few words … I’m still amazed.
My fingers instinctively curl around Noah’s hair as I stare into his eyes.
“Promise me we’ll fix this community,” I say. “If we don’t, I—”
He places a finger on my lips. “Don’t threaten me with things I can’t accept, Natalie.” He cocks his head. “Our child will grow up in a loving home.”
“You’d better stick to your word,” I reply, still playing with his hair while he inches ever closer.
He lowers his head and looks at me from underneath his lashes. “I’d kill a man before I’d let anyone put a hand on you or our child.”
I swallow as my heart flutters. “I think that’s the most romantic thing someone has ever said to me.”
He laughs. “You’ve never met a proper man then.”
“Or you’re just the craziest,” I retort.
“Perhaps …” he murmurs, inching so close I can feel his breath on my skin. “Or perhaps I’m just crazy about you.”
He plants his mouth on top of mine again and showers me with delectable kisses that make it hard for me to ignore this growing hard-on poking against my belly. He groans into my mouth while circling his tongue around mine, and it gets me all hot and bothered.
Who knew I’d be a sucker for a domineering asshole?
Ever since I got pregnant, I’ve wanted to jump his bones, and I’m starting to wonder if that’s the reason. Not that I’m going to ask him that question. He’s a man, so he wouldn’t know.
But that doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy it, and I can tell he does because he continues to smirk even while kissing me.
“What?” I mutter between his kisses.
“You’re horny, aren’t you?”
My eyes burst open, and a hot flash makes me turn red. “No, I—”
“You don’t have to lie,” he says, wrapping a strand of my hair around his finger. “I like it.”
He leans in again and presses a soft but hungry kiss against my neck, and my eyes almost roll into the back of my head. His lips drag a line all the way up toward the side as I turn my head in a love-drunk craze and let him do whatever he wants with me.
“I remember how much you craved my kisses back then,” he whispers into my ear. “How much you liked riding my cock.”
I moan as he nibbles my earlobe and tugs at my nipples with his fingers. “You’re already wet just thinking about fucking me again, aren’t you?”
“No,” I lie, and judging from the snort coming from his mouth, he knows it’s a lie too.
He tugs at my nipples until I squeal. “That’s what you get for not telling the truth.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You’re still as devious as always, I see.”
He grabs my chin and presses a greedy kiss onto my lips. “You know I’m never satisfied if I don’t get my way.” From the way he talks, he always manages to push every single one of my buttons. “And if you recall our last time here in this Jacuzzi, I didn’t get my way …” He suddenly wraps his hands around my waist and lifts me up out of the Jacuzzi, placing me down on the edge in front of him. “And I plan to rectify that right now.”
“What?” I murmur.
He spreads my legs with no remorse.
He glances up at me, clutching my legs tightly. “I’m going to claim that lost orgasm now.”
My lips part. Too late. He’s already dived straight ahead. Lips against my pussy, tongue swirling against my clit.
I’m lost. I’m delirious. Losing my mind to his delicious tongue-fuckery. I’m no match.
Within seconds, I’m moaning and grasping at his hair.
“Fuck, how long I’ve wanted to do this,” he groans against my skin.
His fingers dig into my thighs, but I pay no attention because I’m consumed with how he always manages to push me to the edge with his mouth alone. But this is the showers, we’re in a Jacuzzi, and the doors aren’t locked … anyone could come in at any moment.
“Wait,” I mutter, trying to push him away, to no avail. “What if someone finds us here?”
“So?” His brow rises. “Let them watch.”
My eyes widen, and my cheeks turn strawberry red.
“I don’t care if they see me enjoying my queen,” he whispers. “And I certainly don’t care if they find me pleasuring her either.”
Oh God, there he goes again with those words that always manage to completely overtake me. Lust fills my veins as he licks me deeply without holding back, and I find it hard to breathe.
Noah looks up at my panting face, then places a flat hand on my belly and pushes me to lie down. “Close your eyes. Just enjoy.”
I do what he asks even though it feels twisted beyond imagination because I’m lying here, naked with my feet dangling in a pool in the middle of a community with hundreds of people partying and fucking maybe a few feet away from that door.
And still, I lie here flat on the wet floor, biting my lip, wishing nothing more than for him to fuck me into tomorrow. I’ve truly lost my mind … and my heart.
“Don’t hold back,” he groans, sucking and licking hard.
A moan spills from my mouth. Right then, he shoves two fingers into me, and my lips form an o-shape from the spike in pleasure. Waves upon waves of ecstasy roll over me as he thrusts into me and licks at my pussy like it’s the only thing in the world he wants to do. This man … this man is my husband … my captor … and I just gave him my orgasm willingly. Because I’m a sucker for his love.
Suddenly, he pulls me right back into the water, and the hotness overtakes my ability to breathe. He immediately covers my mouth with his, not allowing me a second to recover.
“Mine,” he growls, setting both my body and heart on fire.
I wrap my legs around his waist, and within seconds, he plunges into me. I’m so wet and completely consumed by lust that I moan out loud with every thrust. The warm water and his eyes boring into me make me feel like I’m in heaven. And the look on his face is almost majestic, so raw and at the same time filled with so much love that it compels me to yearn for him. And I bounce along with his rhythm willingly, wanting to feel every inch of him inside me.
When he comes, he roars out loud, and his cock swells inside me. While he pumps, I clench my legs around him and tilt my head back as his comes forward, and he nestles his face into my crevice, planting sweet, delicious kisses along my neck that I can’t get enough of.
Suddenly, the door opens with a loud bang, and I squeal in response.
“How nice of you to wait until we got back to the temple …”
Patrick. I’d recognize his voice anywhere.
I turn my head and cover my boobs as best as I can.
“I thought all the patriarchs had already gone ahead,” Noah says, clearing his throat while quickly pulling out of me.
“I was a bit busy,” Patrick sneers. “Don’t mind me. I’ll skip the showers today.”
“No, no, by all means,” Noah says, trying to keep the peace.
Patrick holds up his hand. “No, thanks. I’ve seen enough.”
“We’re finished here,” Noah says. “No point in skipping an important part of the ritual.”
“Like you care,” Patrick scoffs, catching me off guard.
He can be so gentle and kind one moment and then vicious like a viper the next.
Noah rolls his eyes. “Stop.”
“What? I’m not doing anything,” Patrick says, shrugging as he walks toward the door leading to the terrace. But then his eyes narrow, and he homes in on me, and I can’t help but flush. “But I’m watching.”
He walks out and shuts the door behind him, leaving us flabbergasted.
“Well, that’s one way to ruin a great mood,” Noah says, as he wades to the Jacuzzi exit. When he gets out, I can’t help but stare at his beautiful round ass. I don’t even know why I notice, but I do.
He walks up to the shelf that has all the bath towels and grabs two. “Here,” he says, holding out his hand. “Let me help you.”
A cheeky smile spreads on his lips the moment I grab his hand.
“Thanks,” I say, and I can’t help but notice the sparkle in his eyes when he looks at me.
Is he … in love with me?
And why does my heart flutter so much whenever I think about it?
Am I … falling for him too?
I got so swept up in the moment, in us kissing and fucking like we’re crazy in love that I never stopped to wonder if I might actually want him for more than his power.
“What kind of husband wouldn’t lend a hand to his wife?” Noah says while he pulls me toward him.
Wet droplets roll down his skin, and for some reason, my eyes can’t stop focusing on them.
“Like what you see?” He raises a brow. “Because I certainly did when you came on my tongue.”
My cheeks turn red, but I immediately hide it by throwing a towel around my body. “Oh, please.”
“What?” He wraps a towel around his delicious body too. “Are you telling me you didn’t like it?”
I sigh and shake my head. “It’s not polite to ask a lady that, you know that, right?”
He crosses his arm while I walk to the door. “Who made up that rule?”
“I did … just now,” I say, and I glance over my shoulder and wink. “Are you coming?”
A smirk spreads on his lips. “So cheeky … Are you sure you wanna go that route with me?”
I lick my lips. “You wanted me as your queen, not the other way around.” And I open the door.
He bites his bottom lip and walks up behind me. “Touché.”
We go inside and close the door behind us, but his hand magically ends up on my ass, and I’m not even sure I hate it.
What has happened to me?
Have I changed so much that I’m actually starting to enjoy being with him?
I shiver at the thought of having to admit it to myself.
On the balcony, the people are already partying by the time we arrive, and I’m amazed at how little attention is paid to the fact that all the patriarchs have finally arrived. Normally, the people would be hanging on their words, but right now, they’re consumed with dancing and … fucking.
I gulp at the sight of the people fucking right there on the floor in front of me. It’s almost as if they don’t notice anyone around. No one cares, and everyone’s enjoying themselves like it’s all pure bliss. It still weirds me out that this is considered normal here.
The patriarchs are all seated in their chairs, watching the show in front of them while lazily drinking alcohol and eating grapes like they took inspiration from the Greeks, and it makes the bile rise in my throat.
There’s only one spot left right next to the president, and when his eyes land on me, I instinctively gulp.
Noah squeezes my hand and whispers into my ear. “You’ll be fine.”
“I know,” I whisper. “He just terrifies me.”
“Ignore him. Look who else showed up,” Noah says, and he points at someone standing in the corner way, way behind the president near the snack table. A woman dressed in all white. No towel this time, which means she didn’t come through the showers.
She turns her head. Half of her face is hidden behind a golden mask, but I still recognize her.
And while my eyes tear up, I whisper, “Mother.”
