Ariana POV
Just say yes.
All she had to do was say yes, to let Dimitri control her completely, and her future was secure ... at least until Dimitri tired of her.
What in the world had she come to? She was Princess Ariana of Trenholm. She was Ariana Wilkins, daughter of Amalia and Paul Wilkins. She was a brilliant biotechnology student who won competitions for her biotech prototypes and posters.
Yes, she might have to agree on paper to being Dimitri's toy and sugar baby. She might willingly offer herself as his main supply of blood. But submit to him body and soul?
The idea made her feel sick, no matter how appealing she found Dimitri. No matter how he made her cry out in ecstasy, or how he spoiled her. He'd saved her life, and he'd saved her aunt and uncle.
Dimitri's eyes smoldered. "We are the fire and the fuel, burning together in this moment of ecstasy and fulfillment. You drive me wild with your hunger. Will you say yes, pet?"
His words were pure poetry, and his gaze made her melt.
Say yes.
It would be so easy. Just say yes to being owned.
Just say yes, and all her worries would disappear. She'd still have to live under his protection, but her aunt and uncle would be safe.
A knock at the door made Dimitri growl. He raked a hand through his hair and shouted, "NOT NOW! GO AWAY!"
Elina's voice drifted through the door. "Your Highness ... it can't wait."
Dimitri ground his teeth together, his eyes on Ariana. "Yes or no? Make up your mind now."
She spoke impulsively, hoping she wouldn't regret it. "Yes, Daddy."
His eyes blazed with joy, and he went to the door. Ariana retreated to the corner of his study. Everyone in the villa probably knew about the arrangement she had with Dimitri, but she had to maintain some dignity!
The light from the hall fell in a narrow sliver across Dimitri and illuminated Elina's serious face. Elina murmured, "Your Highness, I wouldn't disturb you unless it were important ... it's about the Princess Irina."
The muscles in Dimitri's back pulled taut like ropes as he stiffened. "The Princess Irina has NOTHING to do with me. Understand?"
Give Elina credit, she didn't flinch, even though Dimitri's tone was sharp enough to draw blood. In fact, she smiled slightly. "So, shall I tell them the engagement is off?"
Engagement? What engagement? Ariana felt her heart sink. Dimitri had never mentioned any engagement.
Dimitri snorted. "You can't call off something that was never real in the first place. They've been pushing her on me forever. The idea of being shackled to that woman for hundreds of years is enough to make me want to fall on a stake myself, or turn vegetarian."
Elina muffled a chuckle with her hand. "I'll let her know you don't want to see her, and to stay far away."
"Do that. Tell her I ran off with a commoner and got a disease," Dimitri drawled.
With a playful look in her eyes, Elina left.
Shutting and locking the door again, Dimitri approached Ariana on light feet. "Now, where were we? Oh yes. You were telling me that you surrender to me."
"You have a fiancee?" she asked in a steady voice.
His hands gripped her shoulders. "NO. I don't have a fiancee. I think you heard my conversation with Elina. If you're going to use that as an excuse to go back on your word--"
She bristled, insulted, "Never!"
But secretly she felt pleased.
His smile widened, becoming impossibly smug. "Are you jealous, sugar baby?"
It was on the tip of her tongue to say no.
He leaned in and inhaled her scent, then whispered against her hair, "I can smell that you're jealous. I love it. You might not want to admit it, but your body can't lie."
His hands cupped her breasts, and he gazed at her lustily. Heat shot through her body, and she moaned when he flicked his thumbs across her breasts, then lifted one breast to offer to his mouth.
She whimpered as he backed her against the bookshelf, then stepped back to shed his own clothing. His body was all lean, rough-hewn, powerful male beauty. Strong thighs, a broad chest, an arrow of hair stretching across his belly. His manhood jutted out, thick and hard.
Closing the distance, he lifted her up and thrust into her. Harder than before. The force of his entry had her eyes rolling back in her head. She moaned, feeling him inside her.
He ordered, "Wrap your legs around me. Tight."
She obeyed, breathless. He grabbed her hands and pulled them above her head, using the leverage to press against her and drive deeper. "Mmmm, I love how helpless you are," he murmured. "You may be a brilliant student, but right now, you're my beautiful, perfect toy. Prepare yourself for the ride of your life. I'm going to spend today teaching you who you belong to. By the time I'm finished, you won't remember your own name."
* * * * *
Dimitri POV
She felt so good around him. Velvety and satiny and so tight, it was if she was made for him. "You're so tiny," he whispered, running his hand down her side. "I don't want to break you."
Whimpering, her arousal filling his nose, Ariana ground against him. The coy little cat had turned into a smoldering sex kitten.
"There's nothing more beautiful than seeing you succumb to your desires, your pleasure fueling my own," he whispered. "I forget everything when I'm with you. And I'll make you forget everything but me for as long as I have you. Which, my sweet little pet, will be for a long time. A. Good. Long. Time."
He punctuated his words with deliberate, high-powered thrusts meant to hit all her pleasure points and make her fall to pieces in his arms.
Although he had duties as the resident royal and patron of the city, he planned to spend the day making Ariana submit to him fully.
He'd heard her acceptance and agreement. She said yes to his demands. But he knew that she only did so because he held her life and her aunt's and uncle's lives in his hands. Not that it troubled him that he blackmailed her into submission. She'd be better off under his protection and being spoiled for the first time in her life.
"I'm going to pamper you like no one else in history," he muttered in her ear as he savored every second of being joined with her. "Designer clothes ... jewelry ... furs ... the best electronics ... spa days ... trips ... the finest food and wine. You'll have whatever you want. You want a lab for your experiments? I'll build you one."
Ariana clung to him, burying her face in his shoulder as he moved with her, their hips gyrating together in a passionate tango. She didn't say a word about his plans to spoil her. His earth swelled, because she seemed too caught up in their lovemaking to respond.
His little pet was a true sensualist who had been wasted on the college guys in America.
"No one will ever match your hunger and the depth of your desires," he said huskily. "No one else could ever satisfy you. You're too much woman for them. But not for me."
"I don't want anything but you ..."
His heart melted at the declaration in her breathy voice. Spontaneous, sincere, real.
He leaned back to stare into her love-drugged eyes. "For that, sweetheart, you'll be showered with presents," he whispered. "I can't get enough of you. I'm completely addicted to the way you make me feel, to the fire you spark within my soul. I knew I needed you the minute I see your picture. I knew you were meant for me to spoil, to exhaust with passion, to possess."
His family's transparent ploy, using Princess Irina of the neighboring kingdom of Lammas to try and lure him out of hiding, wouldn't ruin the best thing that ever happened to him. He was keeping Ariana. He couldn't offer the little human everything she deserved ...
At least, not yet.
In the meantime, her wild responsiveness stroked his ego.
"Get ready, sweetheart," he murmured, nibbling her shoulder. "Because I'm going to spend today showing you exactly who you belong to. I have a list of desires, and you're going to fulfill every one of them."
Her screams as she climaxed in his arms were music to his ears, and he poured into her nonstop, reaching his own fulfillment.
He was never letting her go.
"Catch your breath." he murmured, holding her limp body in his arms. "You'll need all your strength and stamina today."