Keeping his bride

Aria

THE NEXT MORNING, I wake up to the sound of voices shouting in the hallway outside of the door. I blink, taking in my surroundings; confused at first but then quickly remembering last night. Mateo and I stayed in a spare bedroom, because his bedroom… Well, let’s just say things got a little messy.

The voices get louder, drawing my attention, and I can hear Mateo arguing in Spanish with a woman. Covering myself modestly with a sheet, I wrap it around myself and get out of bed. I need to find out what’s going on.

Just then, the door opens and Mateo peeks in. When he sees that I’m decent, he swings open the door wide and says with a dramatic wave of his hand, “See, I told you. Aria is alive and well.”

Esmeralda peers into the room and sighs dramatically with relief when her eyes land on me. She makes the sign of the cross against her chest and says something in Spanish while looking up towards the heavens.

“When Esmeralda changed the bedsheets in our room this morning, she got it in her head that I murdered you last night. You know, because of all the blood,” Mateo says with a roguish grin. “She didn’t believe me when I said you were all right.” He turns to her. “But now you see that she’s fine.”

Esmeralda glares at Mateo before looking at me with a much softer but worried look. “Hungry?” she asks.

I give her an emphatic nod.

She says something quickly in Spanish to Mateo and then disappears down the hall. Mateo walks into the room and closes the door behind him. “She’s going to make us a big breakfast.”

“So, we’re celebrating the fact that you didn’t murder me in my sleep last night?” I ask him sarcastically.

“Basically,” he answers with a chuckle.

I stare at his shoulder. It looks way better than it did last night with a fresh bandage. “The doctor stitched it back up?” I ask.

He nods. “A few minutes ago. Told me to take it easy this time.”

“Are you going to listen to him?” I question with a cocked brow.

“Of course not,” he answers before stalking towards me like a lion would with its prey. He’s the ultimate predator, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. He tackles me onto the bed, making me yelp in surprise.

“Mateo, your shoulder!” I protest as he places kisses down my neck and over my chest.

“I pay him a lot of money. The bastard can sew it up again later,” he says gruffly before he trails his hot, wet mouth down my stomach. And when his tongue sweeps over my slit, all former protests quickly die in my throat.

Mateo

AFTER ANOTHER ROMP in the sack and a nice, long, hot shower, we finally made our way down to breakfast. And Esmeralda wasn’t kidding when she said she was making us a big breakfast. The spread is immaculate, including all of our favorites and then some.

We eat, talk and laugh over the meal, and for a minute, I forget who I am. Aria always makes me feel…normal. Like we could be just a normal couple doing mundane things like having breakfast together without a care in the world.

But that feeling is short-lived, however, when my cell phone suddenly rings. When I see my uncle’s name come up on the caller ID, I frown. “Give me two minutes,” I tell Aria before disappearing outside.

It’s early afternoon, and the sun is beaming down. It hits me full force as I answer the call. “Domingo.”

“Mateo, how are you this morning?”

“Fine,” I grumble. I hate when he tries to make small talk. He knows I like to get straight to the point and not beat around the fucking bush.

“There’s a deal here in Cali that needs your attention.”

I swipe my hand down my face and glance back at the compound. I can see Aria through the window, and it hurts my soul to think I have to leave her again so soon. Those five days away from her almost killed me. “Right now?” I growl. “I just got home from a trip.”

“It will only be for a few days. Four at most,” he says. When I hesitate again, he then adds, “Hell, bring your whore with you, if you want.”

It takes everything in me to not throw my cell phone. Instead, I grip it tightly in my hand until I hear an audible crack. “She’s not a whore. And she’s not involved in our business,” I explain.

“I didn’t mean to offend you,” he says quickly. “Aria can stay at the mansion under guard while we conduct said business,” he offers in an attempt to pacify me.

I pause. “I’ll think about it.”

My uncle chuckles on the other end of the line. “I think we both know you’ve already decided.” And then he ends the call.

When I walk back into the kitchen, I can hear the melodic sound of Aria’s laugh as she jokes around with Esmeralda. The thought of leaving her so soon for almost another week tears me up inside.

Aria’s attention turns to me, and the smile on her face quickly drops. “What’s wrong?” she asks, the little crease between her brows making her look cute and fuckable.

“My uncle needs me to go to California.” And then, without second-guessing my decision, I blurt out, “And I would like for you to come with me.”

Aria’s gaze meets mine in surprise. But I can practically hear the gears turning inside that pretty, little head of hers, as she thinks about what a trip to the States could mean for her. Even after everything we’ve shared and all of our time together, she still wants to go home. Not that I can blame her after everything that’s happened and what she’s gone through…but the thought of losing her does strange things to me. It feels like a possessive beast deep within me is rising to the surface, latching its long claws into Aria before dragging her into the deep, dark depths of my world, claiming her, and refusing to let go.

She’s mine.

She’ll always be mine.

And I’ll never let anyone take her from me.

“Maybe…maybe I could visit my family,” she offers, her voice just above a whisper and her eyes so full of optimism.

“Visit or go home permanently?” I ask, barely containing my anger. She would leave me so easily? Never looking back? It’s not like I could simply walk into the front door of her parents’ house and present their daughter, who I’ve been holding captive for the past several months. I would probably be shot dead on the spot. But I’m sure Aria is not thinking about that. She’s only thinking about herself and being reunited with her family.

“Mateo,” she starts, but I don’t let her finish.

I stand up, fuming. “We’re going to California, but under no circumstances will you see or have any contact with your family,” I snap in a heated growl.

Aria’s face instantly falls, her eyes glittering with unshed tears.

I leave the kitchen after that, busying myself with work in my office for hours. I try to do anything and everything to distract myself from my little captive, but my thoughts always go back to Aria – her hopeful face when she thought she might be able to see her family – and it guts me all over again.

I stay away for as long as I physically can before I go to bed late that night. Aria is curled up on her side of the bed in one of my shirts. She’s pretending to sleep, but I can hear the occasional sniffle, letting me know that she’s been crying.

I lay there for a while, telling myself to just go to sleep and not comfort her. But my dark heart somehow overtakes my logic, and I find myself reaching for her. I pull her into my arms and hold her as she cries. She misses her family. I understand that more than most people. But I can’t let her go.

I pull back and stare down at her. Tears fill her eyes, the amber shining like melted honey as she looks up at me. In that moment, she’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen in my life.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“You know what your tears do to me,” I tell her before my mouth crashes down on hers. I kiss her until her whimpers turn into soft moans. And when I slide into her wet channel, I lick away the salty tears on her face and whisper beautiful words to her in my native tongue. I take my time fucking her. She reaches the precipice of orgasm several times before I wean her off, not allowing her to tip over the threshold just yet. I want to savor this moment with her. I want to keep her on the edge until she’s mindless with lust under me. Until I’m the only thought on her mind. Until only the two of us exist in this fucked-up world.

We fuck slow, like time has no value here in this room. Our lips explore each other’s mouths and necks and chests. I memorize every curve of her body with my hands. She touches my scars, and I let her. Her soft touch and kisses against my rough skin hidden under tattoos feel like nirvana, like she’s somehow healing me from within.

And when the buildup of pleasure becomes almost too much, I stare down at her beautiful face. “Tell me you’re mine, Aria. I need to hear the words,” I beg. I’ve never needed something so badly before in my fucking life.

“I’m yours,” she whispers just before a violent shudder rocks her body. And then she’s coming, her tiny nails carving crescent moons into my skin as she cries out the sweetest sounds.

Her pussy milks my cock, squeezing so tightly that I can’t resist any longer and I give in to my orgasm. I chant her name like a benediction as I rock in and out of her slowly, making her take every inch of me until I’m completely and utterly spent. My head feels like it’s going to split in half from the insane amount of pleasure I just overloaded my body with. My lungs ache as I try to catch my breath as my heart beats like an angry war drum inside of my chest.

Sex has never felt like this with anyone before. Aria is different. She completes me somehow. It’s like I was living in a black and white world before her, and suddenly my entire life is a myriad of vibrant colors. I can’t remember ever smiling before her, ever having a happy moment before her, ever…loving anyone else before her.

And I do. I love her, more than I ever thought possible. Just the thought of confessing that out loud; however, feels like falling out of a plane without a parachute. Because if she wouldn’t say the words back, if she didn’t confess the same back to me, I would want to do just that – take a header off a tall building without looking back. I couldn’t bear her rejection, and so I gently pull out of her and don’t tell her about a single thought in my fucked-up head.

Aria cuddles into my arms as we lay there in comfortable silence. And just before she falls asleep, I tell her, “You can call your family when we’re in California. Hell, maybe we can even arrange a video call.” My uncle has the technology to make that happen. And if it’s going to make her happy, well then, I’ll fucking do it.

I can feel her smile against my chest. “Thank you, Mateo,” she whispers.

Kissing the top of her head, I pull her impossibly closer to me. My hands begin to tremble as a horrible thought hits me hard in that moment. This could very well be the beginning of the end for us, but I refuse to let her go without a fight.