by Sara Fields
“When you told me that people feared you, you weren’t exaggerating, were you?” she asked, the tenseness in her voice obvious.
“No, I wasn’t.”
“If the food had been subpar or not to my liking, what would you have done?”
“That depends. Sometimes I need to make examples of people and his punishment may include the emptying of his accounts, banishments, or even worse according to the nature of his transgression,” I answered.
“Would you order to have someone killed?”
“I have before,” I replied. I took a deep breath and appraised her carefully. Her gaze never left mine and I decided to press further. “Does that scare you?”
She shook her head.
“Would you kill me?” she asked instead.
“I would never,” I replied. “You are special to me, Isabella.”
“Why? You hardly know me,” she asked, and I popped a bite of food into my mouth.
“That’s true. It’s only been a small amount of time that we’ve known each other in person, baby girl, but I’ve been looking for you for a long time,” I answered, and her eyes returned to mine with suspicion.
“What do you mean?” she said, a cautious mistrust showing there for a fraction of a second.
It was time to tell her the truth.
“My cousin and I have both looked for you for a long time. I had almost lost hope when I got a phone call from Angelo about you.”
She didn’t say anything, waiting for me to continue.
“It wasn’t an accident that you ran into my cousin in the bar that night. Unbeknownst to me, he had found out about your presence here in Rome before I did, and he moved in quickly. There’s a reason he sought you out. There’s a reason that he took you back to his penthouse and got so angry when you refused to let him have his way. Granted, he was an asshole and deserved what he had coming to him, but he thought he could force you by his side and claim you for himself. He wanted to do this all before I found out who you really were, that he had found you before I had,” I explained. She stopped eating, listening to everything that I had to say instead.
“Who I really am?” she asked, narrowing her eyes as she tried to process my words. I took a deep breath and then I started to tell her the entire truth.
“You are the last member of an ancient bloodline that was long thought to have ceased to exist. Once, your family ruled over a portion of Italy along with mine, but as of today, your family has no kingdom left. The passing of time was not kind to them. You are the last of that royal line and my cousin wanted to claim you for himself in order to elevate his own status in the kingdom. Through marriage, he would have solidified himself as next in line for the crown. After that, I had little doubt that he would have tried to have me killed so he could take the throne for himself. You see, baby girl, you are a princess of your own right,” I explained.
“That’s ridiculous,” she replied.
“It isn’t, sweet girl. I’ve had people look extensively into your background, your parents, your great-grandparents, and many more generations back. In the early 1700s, your ancestors were subject to an extensive plot to overthrow the king. The entire royal household was poisoned or murdered in their very own beds, throats slashed in the middle of the night. There was a duchessa that survived though, and she was important because she had served as the king’s mistress. She was pregnant and gave birth to a male child some time later. Your line carried on in secret, trying to figure out a way to take back power, but was never successful. You are the last of the Ardulinis and that name carries with it a certain amount of power of its own now.”
“My last name is De Luca.”
“It is now. Your family name changed a number of times throughout the years to ensure that they remained hidden. I am sure of your lineage, baby girl. I’ve paid a lot of money and people to verify it,” I added.
“And now you wish to claim me for yourself?” she questioned.
“I would very much enjoy having you by my side as my queen,” I answered. For a moment, all was quiet. “But I won’t force it on you. I want you to know that.”
“I appreciate that.”
“My world is a harsh one and I haven’t been easy on you either, but that’s only because my role here demands it. I am one of many kings throughout the world and if I want to continue my rule, I have to be strong because only the strongest are allowed to survive. I rule with a certain amount of respect, along with a healthy dose of fear. Your presence here tests that and when you disobeyed me so publicly at the dinner yesterday, I had to show them that I wasn’t indulging you. They don’t know who you are, not yet. My court can’t see me giving special treatment to someone they view as an outsider. If I had not acted immediately, it would have put not only you, but my position at significant risk. We would have both been in danger if they saw me as weak. Do you understand?”
“This is a lot to take in,” she whispered.
“I know it is, but it was time that you learned the truth, baby girl.”
“This reason is why you didn’t have me killed when I was the one who killed your cousin, isn’t it?”
“Maybe that played a small part in my decision, but mainly it was because he was such an asshole,” I answered with a chuckle.
She laughed softly and I was happy to see the sparkle of her amusement reach her eyes. Then she was quiet for a long moment after that.
“What comes next?” she finally asked, her voice remaining calm. She was handling this remarkably well.
“For a period of time, the court will see you as my concubine, or as we discussed together, my lover,” I added next.
“Then what?”
“Then they will see me conquering you and eventually, taking you as my wife. My marriage to you would strengthen my claim to the throne and ensure that my position holds for a good long while. Your family had a number of quiet allies that I have yet to bring to my own side, but through you, those alliances will finally be secured.”
She stared at me with a certain amount of wariness. She chewed her lip before returning to her meal.
“I’ll need some time to think this all over,” she finally said, after she finished putting together and eating another bite of her chicken enchilada.
“Then you shall have all the time you need, baby girl,” I replied. “Let us finish dinner and the two of us can head back to my chambers to watch a movie together. After that, I will put you to bed.”
“I’d like to sleep alone tonight to clear my head and think,” she said carefully, and I didn’t miss the way her eyes flicked to the window in the direction that the sun had set or the way her voice wavered with the tiniest hint of fear. I had a feeling that as calm and collected as she appeared to me, the news of her true heritage had thrown her. She kept her eyes down, hiding from me as she ate for a while longer and I didn’t push her to do anything different.
“I will allow it for tonight, but I will come visit you for breakfast in the morning,” I finally answered, enjoying the way her jaw tensed just a little with her carefully concealed emotion. I poured her a glass of wine and she smiled, taking it gratefully.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
The rest of our dinner together was relaxed. She had seemingly pushed the information that I had told her aside and instead started asking more about my rule and my time here as king. Her intentional diversion wasn’t lost on me.
I told her how I’d grown up here, that my mother had died after my birth from complications and that my father who had reigned before me had lived a good life as king, only to get caught up at the wrong end of a gun during one of his business deals. I have taken the throne once I’d turned twenty-five. It hadn’t been easy, and I’d been forced to foil a number of treasonous plots that the court arranged to end my own life and take my kingdom for themselves.
She listened with interest and I was as transparent as I could be because if she was going to be my queen one day, she had to understand what she wa
s getting herself into. She told me about herself too, how’d she’d grown up in the States and come to Italy to finish up her master’s in business. Hesitantly, she admitted to me that she was adopted when she was only a toddler and had no memories of her birth parents either.
I knew much of what she told me already, but I didn’t spoil it for her. I’d created an extensive portfolio on her life. I’d even sent a sample of her DNA that I had collected from underneath her nails once she’d arrived to make certain that everything suggesting her lineage was correct.
It was.
She was Isabella De Luca Ardulini and I was certain that one day she would be my queen. She would choose me in the end. I was sure of it.
I would enjoy her screams of pleasure when I finally showed her what it really meant to be mine.
Chapter Nine
Isabella De Luca
The rest of the dinner passed uneventfully. True to his word, Matteo spoiled me with several glasses of wine and the richest piece of German chocolate cake that I had ever tasted. Shortly after that, we watched a copy of a movie that wasn’t due in theaters for several months. He’d been able to procure it and I didn’t question how he knew that I had wanted to see it.
I’d never mentioned my interest in the production of it, but he’d known anyway.
I wasn’t sure if I should be alarmed or impressed. Maybe he’d just gotten lucky in his guess. Knowing him though, this was all planned. He probably knew more about me than I even realized. Hell, he’d known about my birth parents when I had never learned their names. And I had tried.
The knowledge that I was descended from an ancient Italian family that used to rule over part of Italy and was involved in the same dangerous world that Matteo presided over was humbling and a bit shocking. I had done my very best to hide my surprise so that he didn’t know how I really felt, but I was still processing it.
It felt heavy, as if the weight of the world was suddenly on my shoulders.
To be honest, I didn’t really know how to feel yet. It was overwhelming and even though he promised protection, I wasn’t certain he could keep me safe when his own position was precarious enough that he had to ensure his people feared him in order to continue his rule. If I wanted to stay though, I’d have to say goodbye to so many things in my life, from my home back in the States to my aspirations to run my own business someday.
I hadn’t foreseen becoming queen to a secret world that didn’t even exist in the eyes of the common people, that was only empowered by the very, very rich.
Matteo was a part of that.
I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about him. He plagued my thoughts like an addiction. At every turn, I found myself reacting to his dominating nature, to the way he held my hand in his possessively, to his promises of taking me roughly like I was meant to be taken. I feared him, but at the same time, I couldn’t ignore the fact that my heart pounded when he came near and that my body desired him far more than I cared to admit. That wasn’t what bothered me the most out of everything I had learned tonight though.
I was truly afraid that I might be falling for him, that I might love him.
I needed to get out of here. I needed a place to think where I wasn’t surrounded with unfamiliar people, with things that only existed here and in fairy tales, but most of all, I needed some distance from him to figure out how I really felt.
I was going to leave. He’d hinted at the way out several times today and I was going to find it.
That night, he tucked me into bed with such tenderness that I questioned my own intentions, along with what I really wanted.
Although he was gentle tonight, he wasn’t always that way. Sometimes, he took me over his knee and taught me a firm lesson regardless of where we were or who was around, one that left me sore and unable to sit down for quite a while. I remembered how he’d thrown me over his windowsill and fucked me in front of his people and how he’d taught me about just how terrible ginger was as a punishment, all before the impeccably dressed court.
He was cruel. He was kind. He was both things and in order to have him, I had to accept all of it.
Today had been a wonderful day. He’d spoiled me and had been sweet with me when we’d been together all alone. I’d seen the man beyond the crown, and I liked him.
But...
Was it enough for me to stay?
He was quiet as he watched me, and I smiled a little at him. Warily, he cocked his head to the side. He had stripped me, and I was naked in the bed. I pressed my thighs together and reached for him.
“I was a good girl today for you, right?” I asked anxiously.
“You were very good, baby girl,” he answered. I didn’t say anything more and he continued. “I should reward you, shouldn’t I?”
“Please?”
I was going to run tonight, and I wanted to feel his touch one last time. I wanted to remember him like this, the sweet, gentle king who cared for his woman with everything he did.
His hand slipped beneath the covers, brushing against my mound and I sucked in a breath.
“How would you like to come for me, baby girl? Would you like it gentle or would you like to hurt?” he asked quietly, teasing my clit with the rough pad of his thumb.
I didn’t reply, instead pushing the covers out of the way and placing myself over his knees. For some reason, I wanted to feel his palm against my naked bottom. I wanted to feel his touch long after I slipped out of the castle and snuck into the mountains.
He sucked in a breath, rubbing his palm against my naked backside and dipping between my thighs to slide against my wet folds.
“Are you sore from yesterday?” he asked, carefully circling my clit as he spoke.
“Yes,” I answered.
He spanked me hard and fast.
“That’s not how you refer to me, is it, baby girl?”
“No, Your Majesty,” I whimpered.
He stopped my spanking and returned his fingers to my pussy.
“How did it feel for you to be stripped, spanked, and strapped by your king, baby girl?”
“I felt ashamed,” I whispered.
“That’s not all you felt, was it?” he pressed.
“No, Your Majesty,” I answered.
“Your punishment may have been quite harsh, baby girl, but your little pussy was soaking wet for me. It arouses you when you’re reminded of your place, doesn’t it?” he continued.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I whispered, shaking with desire as he relentlessly teased my clit. “Oh, please!” For a while longer, he touched me and then all at once, he pulled his fingers away from me. I moaned, trying to arch back into his touch, but it got me nowhere.
Instead, he started spanking me once more. I howled in surprise, his palm punishing me just as hard as he had done last night. I squirmed over his lap, trying to avoid his palm yet nothing worked. In minutes, my entire bottom was burning and then he began on my thighs. He spanked them harder than he ever had before and the residual ache from the previous day roared to life. He held me firmly against his lap and I realized that this spanking was only going to end when he’d decided that I had taken enough.
He pushed me that night, almost bringing me to tears before his fingers returned between my legs. I squeezed my eyes shut and caught my breath, before he threw me off balance once more by touching me as if he wanted me to come.
“You’re so much wetter now, baby girl. I think you enjoy getting your little bottom spanked, don’t you?”
He expected an answer. When I hesitated, the pressure on my clit lessened and my core clenched down firmly in protest.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I whispered, blushing hard with shame.
“You know what that means then, don’t you, sweet girl?”
“I’m not sure, Your Majesty,” I ventured.
“That means you’re going to go over my knee quite often, baby girl. I’m going to make sure this bottom is at least a little pink every day,” he threatened just as he pressed a litt
le harder on my clit.
My mind swirled at his warning and my nipples pebbled hard. My hips pressed down against his thigh and I imagined myself naked over his knee, getting my bottom spanked hard whenever I was naughty and even when I wasn’t.
My orgasm came hard and fast, making me shudder with pleasure even as my backside throbbed and stung from his punishing palm. His fingers slipped inside me, two in my pussy and one against my clit and I tensed as I felt another press against my bottom hole. I protested, but it didn’t matter. He claimed it roughly and I trembled as the quick ache burst through me. After that though, he started to pump all of those fingers inside me, over and over, and it started to feel good. Really fucking good.
He made me come several more times with his hand and I drowned in that pleasurable bliss. I cherished the way I felt over his lap, knowing that it would probably be the last time I came for him and likely the last time I was ever spanked too.
Those orgasms were intense. He pinned me and forced me to take every last orgasm that he demanded of me. I gave him all of me that night and enjoyed it for what it was. It was my way of saying goodbye.
I couldn’t have kept count of how many orgasms he pulled from my body even if I had tried, but by the time he was through with me, I was a very well satisfied, wet little mess. When he pulled his fingers from me, I sighed with my sated pleasure, lying languidly over his thighs as he petted the flesh he had just spanked so harshly.
“Are you ready for bed now?” he asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I purred.
He lifted me off his lap and placed me back on the bed. I cried out softly when my spanked thighs pressed against the mattress. He’d left me quite sore and I silently hoped that I would be able to see the marks of his fingers on my legs when the sun rose once again. He tucked me in, and I placed my cheek on the pillow, reaching back and feeling the heat coming off my skin.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“You needed that, didn’t you?” he asked, and I hummed quietly in response.
