Sacrifice

Chapter Three

S pitfire. My God. Aribella is a force to be reckoned with, and I want more of it—of her. No one has ever had the guts to slap me, and she’s done it twice. Fuck, my one gleam of her a year ago has not done her justice. If I were a good man, I’d make her life easier, but I’m not. I have plans, and I refuse to deviate from them.

The world shifted under my feet when I saw her coming around the house like a trained soldier. My heart beating itself to death. I knew I had a heart, but I don’t know how to deal with this suffocating feeling of being in such close proximity to her.

“If you want The Beast , Aribella, I can oblige you,” I whisper menacingly as she backs away.

She’s so bold, she runs from me. My cock seeps with pre-cum. God, this is fucking nuts. I straighten my coat and go after her. Aribella has nowhere to go, though. I watch as her foot catches on the third stair, giving me the advantage to catch her.

Snatching her up by the hair, I growl in her ear as we stand on the stairs, my chest to her back.

“If you hit me again, I’ll be forced to punish you.” I crush her against the wall as she tries to turn around. I swear she moans, but that’s probably my wishful thinking. It has to be.

“If I can get some clothes and my cat, I’ll be out of your way,” she huffs as I laugh. “Surely you wouldn’t throw a woman out on the streets without her clothing.”

Pulling her hair so she has to turn her head to the side, I study her. Taking all of her beauty in. The messy bun is slightly askew on her head as my hand clasps around it. Her glistening tears are left unshed in her eyes. Fuck me.

Her pouty, red lips don’t have a dusting of gloss on them. They are all natural, and I bet they’d look amazing around my cock. Shit. I want to test that theory out. Aribella, on her knees, naked, and mouth wide open.

I have the advantage here. She doesn’t seem to understand that I’ve won her, too. It will only be a little while longer and she’ll know. My cock will be deep within her cunt and she’ll be yelling out my name in ecstasy. I move my hips into her ass and close my eyes.

If I don’t let go of her, I’m liable to force myself on her. And while I’m a bastard, I won’t harm her. Yet.

“No.” I release her and she turns around, fear on her face.

I’m well over six feet, but this young, fiery woman isn’t short. Hell, she comes up to my chin. The perfect height to steal kisses from those pouty lips of hers.

Aribella tries to move past me, ignoring the fact that she’s at a severe disadvantage.

“Don’t try to run from me again.” I grab her, barely reeling my animalistic urges to show her who the fuck the alpha is. I manhandle her back to the wall.

This time we are face to face.

“Unhand me.” She lifts her chin in defiance. No way am I letting her go. But, I watch her with fascination and a bit of pride.

Most people cower before me. Not Aribella. She holds her head high and squares her shoulders. If we were in the Renaissance period, she’d be deemed royal and regal looking. She has no idea the war she’s causing inside of me right now.

Goddamn, she’s going to be a handful. “Oh, mi dulce reina.” I push her face up, forcing her neck to arch until I hear her yelp.

“I’m not your queen!” Aribella screams as she tries to knee me in the groin. Blocking her knee, I laugh at her gumption.

“Mmm. You’re going to be a lot of fun, aren’t you?” Shit, my inner thoughts slipped out. “You know Spanish. This is wonderful.” I already knew she was taking Spanish classes, but it’s nice to know her teachers are doing a good job.

“Oh, shut up. I want my cat and my clothes.”

Fuck me. She turns her lower lip down in the cutest pout I’ve ever seen. If only she knew I’d give her the world, she’d learn to exploit that.

Keeping a stern face to hide my amusement and how much I want her, I squeeze her neck.

“I fucking said no. When I speak, it is final.” Watching the way she processes what I’m saying is intriguing. Aribella goes from pouting, to shock. And now she is raging mad.

“Then I’m not going anywhere.”

“ Mi reina , you don’t have a choice. You can either walk out of this house alive. Or I can tote you out in a goddamn body bag.” The thought of killing her makes me nauseous. Besides, I’m not willing to kill her. Hell no. She’s going to be my queen, damn it, but I will have to put fear into her first. It’s the only way I can get her to conform to my needs.

Meow

Aribella’s body goes soft at the sound. The fight leaves her eyes as the stupid cat comes down the stairs.

“Can I at least have my cat, then?” There’s so much anguish in her voice, I’m not sure I can tell her no.

As I’m about to deny her request again, the cat stretches and runs its paws along my leg. I never thought I’d be an animal lover, but it seems I’m going to learn.

“Fine. You may have your stupid cat.”

Aribella gasps. “Don’t call him stupid. He’s a sweet, sensitive boy.” She’s not afraid of me right now, even though my hand is wrapped around her throat. She bends down and picks her baby up. I want to squeeze her neck again, instead I release her, not wanting to choke her. At least not yet, and not with my hand.

Anger and jealousy rise in me as she strokes the cat’s magnificent white and brown fur. Fuck me. I understand why she calls him Espresso.

“Let’s go.”

When she looks up, I see her smiling at the cat. “Fine.”

I step away from her, giving her just enough space to move. Aribella stomps down the stairs with her cat. I swear, said cat looks over its shoulder with the wickedest grin I’ve ever seen. I bet the son of a bitch is going to be like his owner; feisty.

Silence. That’s what I hear in the cabin of the car. It’s not peaceful though. Aribella hasn’t uttered a word to me on the drive to my house. Not a damn word. She sure has talked to the cat, though. He is curled up in her lap as she strokes him like he’s the king of the world.

By the time I pull the car into the driveway, I’m seething over how wonderful the fucking cat is to Aribella.

“What’s his name?”

Trying to reel in my anger, I look at her. It’s not like I give a damn what the cat’s name is. I just want her attention to be on me.

My question makes her smile at me. Ah, so talking about the cat is what makes her smile. Got it.

“Espresso,” she purrs, and kisses the top of his head.

Damn it, I am fucking jealous. I’m pretty sure what I’m about to do is going to make me the biggest asshole.

“We’re here.” I get out of the car, walk around the front, and open the passenger side door. Aribella gets out and looks at the house.

She doesn’t speak about the house, which must seem like a palace after that dumpy little farm or mention how much of a gentleman I am right now. However she does look over to the garden and her eyes widen in awe, I make a mental note of this for later.

Once we are in the house, the automatic locks engage. Aribella turns and looks at me. “ You are locking me in?”

Saying nothing, I take Espresso out of her arms as she turns to look at the Ming Dynasty vase in the center of the room. I walk toward Mossimo.

“Hey!” Aribella yelps and catches up to me. She yanks my arm. “Give him back.”

Her demand has me almost panicked. Why? I am on high alert, and the idea of her not being alright is worrying. But it’s the tremor in her voice that kills me.

“Make sure we lock this animal up in the basement.” Mossimo takes Espresso and says nothing as he nods his understanding.

“No. Please.” She yanks on me again. “Give Espresso back. You can’t do this.” She nearly trips over her feet to get to my head of security, but I grab her around the waist and put my hand across her mouth.

That crazy regretful feeling is back. Swallowing it down, I keep her firmly in my grasp. Aribella has to learn she’s not in charge.

“Pipe down, mi reina . If you do everything I demand of you, you will get to see Espresso again.”

The heat of her tears scorches my hand as I grip her harder. “I mean it. Calm down or you’ll be locked in the dungeon.”

Aribella goes soft against me. She has no idea what type of dungeon I have, but it seems to do the trick of calming her down.

“I’m going to let you go, and we are going to walk to my office. Do not run from me,” I warn her. She isn’t ready for the sex dungeon.

She’s shaking in my arms, but she nods her head, and I let her go. “Right this way.”

When we get to my office, I hold the door open for her and lock it behind me. I don’t trust that she’ll not try to run again.

“Sit down.” I walk around her and motion toward the seats in front of my desk. Looking at her, I hope to catch her eyes, but she’s looking everywhere but at me.

Aribella’s shoulders shake, she’s still crying. At least she’s not being disobedient. I’d hate to have to punish her, but she’s got to learn what’s going on here.

I know I should be gentle when I explain what her brother has done, but there is a reason I am known as The Beast . I don’t care if people's feelings get torn apart from being told the truth.

When she sits down, I begin, “As you know, the house and land are mine to do with as I please. What you don’t know is that your brother entrusted you to me as well.”

This makes her head pop up. “What do you mean?”

Steepling my fingers over the desk, I sigh. “Your brother stole over twenty million dollars from each of our neighboring casinos. I am the debt collector for the families that own them.”

Letting that sink in, I move closer to the edge of the desk. “It was either pay the money back or pay with his life.”

The blush on her face pales. I’d rather she be angry than look dead. “Did...” Aribella gulps and blinks back tears. “Did you kill him?”

I ignore her question. If I tell her the truth now, she will never understand. I have to make her hate her brother first.

“Your brother and I made a little deal you see, he traded his worthless life for yours.” A vicious smile creeps up on my face. “You are the payment for his debt.”

She doesn’t need to know that he’s already swimming with the fishes at the bottom of the Sabine River.

Her eyes go wide, and those luscious red lips open and close multiple times before she finally speaks.

“You can’t be serious.” Expecting her to try to get up, I ready myself. She surprises me as she wrings her hands together. “This can’t be true. Surely, this is a joke.”