Chapter 18 #2
“No,” my father curtly replied. “You will be here regardless of whether my daughter needs your help or not. We consider you a part of the team and the family, now. And I don’t throw family out.” I heard my father slap his palm on Arturo’s back.
“I, uh… appreciate that, Lorenzo. Thank you.”
“Oh so we’re back to that now are we?”
“Never had a boss, Lorenzo, and I don’t intend for that to change now.”
“Ha!” My father guffawed. “Just wait until you're married.” Arturo didn’t reply. “How’s your bike, by the way, any damage?” He asked.
“None. She rode it well,” Arturo chuckled proudly.
“She can usually do anything she puts her mind to.” My father responded before I heard their conversation nearer, and I knew I had to disappear.
I darted up the final stair, not stopping until I reached my bedroom. My heart hammered in my chest the moment I closed the door behind me.
Someone other than my family had stood up for me.
Arturo didn’t care about the consequences that may have come with standing up for me, in that moment he brought my father back down to earth. And I was so thankful. Tonight could have been disastrous. I’d never had someone watching my back that way before.
I closed my eyes as Arturo’s words from earlier floated through my mind.
“What do I fuckin’ want? I want you, you infuriatin’ woman!”
My fingers brushed my lips, remembering the feel of his pressed against them.
I knew it was wrong to want to kiss him the way I did this evening.
But if I was being honest with myself, I’d wanted to kiss him for weeks.
Maybe there was something aching in my gut that wouldn’t subside, something deeper than I wanted.
Arturo was getting under my skin, and I didn’t hate it as much as I was trying to make myself believe.
I stripped out of my dress, throwing it into the laundry basket in the closet.
My body was exhausted but I wasn’t. My mind was working overtime, and it was down to one man.
One man who infuriated me, but also made me feel alive.
Whenever he looked at me it was like I was the only person in the damn world.
I was used to being the centre of my family’s world, but never a man’s world. Never someone like Arturo.
I stepped into the shower and as I let the warm water soothe my body, images of Arturo this evening flashed through my mind.
He was slowly consuming my being, claiming me without me noticing and I felt myself succumbing with each passing day.
I slid my hand over my ass to feel the raised skin from the spanking he had given me earlier.
The pleasure overtook the ache I felt afterwards.
Was it wrong to enjoy the punishment?
Was it wrong to want more?
I must have stood beneath the spray for over thirty minutes until I knew where I needed to be, until I knew what I wanted to do.
After drying off, I pulled on an oversized t-shirt that covered what I needed it to, and headed towards the door. My feet seemed to work on their own as they led me towards the one man’s room I knew they shouldn’t.
It was wrong. I should have turned around and gone to bed, right?
But if it was wrong, why did it feel so right?
I kept walking, my feet tiptoeing across the marble floor, the coolness causing goosebumps to break out across my legs.
I knew my father had gone to bed, all the lights were off and there wasn’t a sound to be heard throughout the house.
With each stair I took, my heart thumped harder and louder than before.
I turned down the corridor where the men resided, including Arturo. His door was at the very end, the one that was beneath mine, and that overlooked the same lake mine did.
I tapped as quietly as physically possible.
Nothing.
I tapped a little louder.
Again nothing.
I needed to grow a pair and just go in there and tell him what I wanted.
I didn’t bother knocking for the third time, I tried the handle and much to my surprise it was unlocked.
Didn’t he lock his door at night? I teased the door open and stepped inside.
I felt like a thief in the night and I hated it.
I glanced around, my eyes already adjusted to the darkness from the walk down here, but I couldn’t see him.
I couldn’t hear the shower running either. Where was he?
“Arturo?” I whispered, but the answer was the same as before. Nothing.
I knew I shouldn’t but I couldn’t help but look around.
Earlier when I had snatched his keys I kept my eyes to myself, but now I wanted to snoop.
I needed to know this man… understand who he was.
Over on the vanity, an array of pictures sat proudly near the mirror.
One of a stunning woman with silky dark locks who looked just like Arturo. I picked it up to take a closer look.
That must be his mother. The one he warned me not to speak about.
I winced as I remembered my words to him in the office. Why had I said it? It was something Luca had told me the second week Arturo was here, when Arturo suddenly decided to stop flirting with me.
Dismissing the line of my thoughts, I focused on the other photo. This one must have been his parents and Arturo as a child. He wore the same cheeky grin Theo would give me and it warmed my heart to see him like this.
“What are you doing here, Isabella?” A voice came from the doorway. Embarrassed to be caught in the act, I dropped the photo..
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come in without your permission. I was just, uh… looking for you.” I turned to face him as I toyed with the hem on my shirt.
“Why were you looking for me?” He asked as he closed the door behind him, holding a bottle of water in his hand.
I peered up at him, drinking him in. He towered over me, his tattoos illuminated by the same moonlight that danced on the lake.
Grey sweats clung to his hips, his torso on full display.
He threw the bottle on the bed as he inched closer to me and this time I didn’t move. This time I didn’t cower away from him.
“I asked why you were looking for me. Don’t keep me waiting, hermosa ,” he whispered as his arm snaked around my waist drawing me closer.
My breath hitched as he pressed my body against his.
The thin layer of fabric may have been non-existent at this point as it did nothing to act as a barrier between us.
“Did you need something?” He asked, his tone soft and gentle.
“N-no, I just wanted to thank you,” I managed.
“What do I deserve a thank you for?”
“For standing up for me earlier,” I breathed shakily. “It meant a lot,”
“There was no way I was going to let your father talk about an arranged marriage for you,” he ran his thumb across my cheekbone as the rest of his hand cupped my neck. “The only man you’ll marry will be me, and that’s not up for discussion.”
“Arturo, you know that’s not something that could ever happen,” he guided my body to the wall behind us with every word I spoke.
“I wouldn’t sound so sure about that, mi princesa ,” he smirked, the cockiness oozing from every non-existent pore. “Are you only here to thank me, or was there somethin’ else you needed?”
“I don’t know,” I finally gave him my full attention, my eyes meeting his in an instant. “My feet led me here. I don’t know why.” Liar.
“That so?” He cocked his head to one side before teasing my neck with soft kisses. “I think you want somethin’ from me,” he whispered. “Give into me, Bella.”
“I can’t.”
“There is no one but you stoppin’ this, princess.” He brought his lips to mine, waiting for my acceptance. “Let me show you how perfect we fit. Let me help you see it.”
I didn’t know what I was thinking, or if I was thinking at all, but I pressed my lips against his.
His initial surprise melted away as I sucked on his lip ring.
With a groan he effortlessly lifted me off the ground wrapping my legs around his waist. The fabric of my shirt rode up around my waist but I didn’t care.
The passion burning through my veins was something I’d only ever read about or seen in movies.
He sank his fingers into my hair as his lips devoured mine.
He kissed me like a man half starved. It was as though someone had lit a fire deep within us both and it was beginning to become one I never wanted to go out.
One that was slowly becoming my lifeline.
“I fuckin’ need you, hermosa ,” he managed between aggressive kisses. “Most need oxygen to survive… I just need you.” I pulled back and looked into his beautiful brown eyes to see his pupils pulsing.“Be my oxygen, Bella, be my lifeline, be the one who keeps me alive.”
“Kiss me. Kiss me like it’s the first and last time,” i breathed.
That was all he needed as his tongue danced with mine.
The kiss was full of hunger, desire and most of all devotion.
My fingers found his hair as I fisted it gently.
A moan left his lips and mingled with my own.
I knew tonight couldn’t go any further than a kiss, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t another night.
Without breaking any form of contact, I felt Arturo carry me towards the bed that sat pride and place in the middle of the room. I sank into the mattress as he laid me down gently, as if I were his most prized possession.
“Isabella.”
“Shh, I don’t want to talk anymore. I just want you to kiss me,” I demanded against his lips, his stubble scratching my skin as the kiss deepened.
His free hand skated down my side, tormentingly slow, fisting my shirt the moment he reached the hem. He pushed it up around my waist, exposing my naked flesh, I heard the sharp intake of breath.
“Are you tryin’ to kill me?” He groaned against my skin.
“I came straight here after the shower,” I blushed.
“Let me taste you, hermosa .”
“Please…” I begged as his fingers skated across my apex.
“Is this what you want? Do you want me to lose myself in that tight, sweet pussy of yours?” he said against my neck.
“Y-yes,” I arched my back into him, unable to hide my need for him, unable to hide that nagging ache.
“Open your legs for me,”
I immediately obeyed, which was something I hadn't done with him before.
Pushing back was in my nature but with him I would let go.
It felt too good not to lose myself in him.
As my legs fell open, Arturo dropped to his knees.
His calloused fingers traced up my inner thigh, while his stubbled chin scratched my flesh with each kiss.
“I need to hear you beg, Princesa .” The sensation of his breath against my pussy was torture. He knew what he was doing. “ Ruégame, hermosa, ” he growled. “Tell me exactly what you want,”
“You.” I panted as his teeth grazed my bare skin.
“Not good enough. Try again,”
“I can’t, I’ve never—” I started but was soon interrupted.
“You can. Tell me exactly what you want from me, hermosa ,” he whispered, sinking a finger into my pussy. The feel of his finger spreading my walls was enough to send a pulse of furious need through me.
“More, Arturo… I need more,” I whispered.
“Like this?” He purred, thrusting another finger into me. He was spreading me wide and the pressure felt intense.
“Yes!” I squeezed my eyes shut as he began to move his fingers in a come hither motion.
I fisted the sheets beneath me, as I felt his breath slide against my core.
Then he did something that I did not expect.
With the tip of tongue, he fluttered it back and forth across my clit.
He knew he owned my body with just a few touches.
With a chuckle, he flattened his tongue and began to furiously slip it up and down my clit in perfect sync with his fingers.
But each time the pleasure began to build he dangled me over the edge before yanking me away again.
“Are you mine, Bella?”
I let out a soft moan in response, one he seemed to thrive off.
“That sweet as fuck moan doesn’t answer my question.” He removed his fingers from inside me, my arousal coating them.
“N-no.” I whimpered.
“Not the answer I’m looking for,” he breathed, grazing my clit with his teeth. “Try again, hermosa ,”
“Arturo—”
He thrust his two fingers inside me and I gasped at the forcefulness of it. His eyes met mine as my head shot up from the sheets.
“Are,” he started placing rough kisses against my sensitive clit, overwhelming my pleasure-ridden mind.
“You.”
Kiss.
“Mine?”
Kiss.
“Yes! Yes, I’m yours,” I whimpered, my hands no longer fisting the sheets and instead gripping his hair.
“Good fuckin’ girl. Does my girl want to come?”
God, yes!
“Please, I want you to make me come,” I cried, unable to think straight as he nipped, sucked, and stroked me into oblivion.
Was this wrong? Probably.
Did I care? Not in the slightest.
I flattened my palm across my mouth, trying to stifle my moans of pleasure, but it was no use. I was too far gone. I was teetering on the edge, ready to rocket to the sky at lightning speed.
And just as I was about to tip over the edge, he ripped his fingers from me. I cried out as a rush of disappointment surged through my body. Why had he stopped?
“Arturo, what are you doing?”
“Come for me, mi princesa ,” he demanded as he slapped his hand down against my clit.
Those five words combined with the spank were my undoing.
I screamed as the orgasm surged through my body at record speed.
Blood rang in my ears as sensation after sensation pounded through me.
I was free falling and for the first time I felt as though someone would catch me. Someone that wasn’t obliged to.
“You’re so fuckin’ beautiful.” His tone was astounded, like he didn’t believe that I was really here. I continued to orgasm as he trailed kisses up my body stopping when he reached my lips. “I’m one lucky fucker,” he smiled before kissing me gently.
I didn’t know what to say. For once in my life I was at a loss for words. What did everything mean? Were we now together? Is that what I wanted? What would happen tomorrow?
“Stay with me,” he asked, a hopeful tone lacing his voice.
“Okay,” the word left my mouth before I thought about the repercussions of our actions.
He lifted me into his arms to pull back the covers. The moment I was settled under the sheets, he slid in next to me and pulled me into his side. I sighed and let my head drop to his chest.
“Goodnight, hermosa ,” he whispered, stroking my neck.
“Night,” I smiled back, before allowing my eyes to close.
Tonight might have been a shit show, but so far it had been one of the best of my life.
I liked him. I really liked Arturo.
I was in so much trouble…