CHAPTER NINETEEN
Two years later, 10.18 p.m.
TWENTY-FOURHOURSCOULD be a surprisingly long time. In twenty-four hours a man could fall in love. He could make life-changing vows. He could be driven crazy by the need to be alone with the love of his life and not be stuck in front of cameras live-streaming his every move to an audience of millions.
There’d been so many cameras. So many moments when he’d just wanted to tell the officiants to hurry the hell up. But there’d been protocols to follow, expectations to meet, and Felipe Roca de Silva y Zafiro was still working on that tricky thing known as work-life balance. But now time was his. And it was almost twenty-four hours since they’d last been alone. The wait had nearly killed him. And his new wife knew it.
Tightly gripping her hand, he led a softly chuckling Elsie along the narrowing tunnel. There was only one place he wanted to be and the fast route wasn’t an option tonight. If she jumped into the ocean in that dress—and with the additional weight of the jewels in her necklace, earrings and tiara—she’d drown in seconds. He wasn’t letting that happen.
‘Spoilsport.’
She was still salty about it. Elsie had become quite the accomplished cliff jumper.
‘You just want me to strip you sooner,’ he countered playfully. ‘Sorry, sweetheart, you’re going to need just a little more patience.’
She shot him a sizzling look. Yeah, he knew her very well. Right now she was itching for him to undo the bajillion and one teeny tiny pearl buttons that fastened the demure lace back of her wedding gown. He was too—and she knew it. Which was why she was provoking him. He had, once again, left a ballroom of presidents and princes to party without him. Their wedding celebrations were still in full swing but he didn’t give a damn. He was having his wedding night now. He’d waited long enough. And he definitely didn’t have the patience for one button at a time.
‘Felipe...’
She’d stopped just inside the secret doorway. He’d instructed his valet to make a few adjustments to their cave for the evening and it was worth it to see the look on her face the second she saw it.
More cushions, more rugs, scented candles as well—not just the chandeliers. There was food too—a spread of sumptuous delicacies in platters on a low table, easily accessible from the bed. Yes, there was an actual bed, swathed in soft white luxury linen. It was a four-poster and he had plans for those posts. And beside the bed there was a large ornately carved box. He’d put that there himself.
‘What’s in the box?’
He smiled, loving that it was the first thing she’d noticed.
‘Silk ropes.’
‘Silk...?’ Her eyes went very round.
‘And some other little things I think you might like.’
The colour in her cheeks was now very rosy. ‘How long are you planning for us to stay down here?’
He pulled her close. ‘At least twenty-four hours.’
Twenty-four hours could be a shockingly long time.
Elsie felt as if it had been for ever since she’d had Felipe alone and all to herself. She had something to tell him. Something important—she’d only found out herself late last night and because tradition dictated she couldn’t see him again before the wedding she’d had to wait. But the wretched man distracted her—making her so mindless she couldn’t even speak.
‘Did you just rip the back of my wedding dress?’ She gasped, giddy with excitement as he hauled her closer against his extremely hard body. ‘Isn’t it supposed to go on show in the palace later?’
‘I’m sure someone can fix it,’ he muttered.
He was fully a careless, spoilt king at that moment and she loved him for it. He knew what he wanted and he wanted it now. So did she.
‘It’s beautiful, by the way,’ he growled. ‘But can we get you out of it now?’
‘Fel—’
Too late, he’d kissed her again and she was too far gone to remember her own name, let alone anything else. All she wanted was all of him. Their love-making was always pure energy, pure magic. But in this place—in his secret lair with its steaming mineral bath, on this, their wedding day—it was pure heaven.
‘We’re keeping the bed here,’ he mused later when he’d recovered enough breath to speak. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner.’
She rested her head on his chest, linking her fingers through his, and lifted their hands, admiring the way their wedding bands glinted in the light and her bracelet sparkled. ‘Best honeymoon destination ever.’
He chuckled.