She’d figure that out eventually.
Her legs were shaky as we walked through the meadow and I ended up picking her up and carrying her to the car. She thanked me quietly and wound her arm around my neck, securing herself against me as I strode back to my waiting vehicle. I placed her on the backseat and climbed in after her, knocking twice on the privacy window, thereby directing my driver to return to the castle.
The drive back was short, and I found that I couldn’t keep my hands off her the entire way. I slid my fingers up and down her legs, gently taunting her as she had teased me. Her breathing quickened immensely throughout the ride. I didn’t miss the telltale signs of her pleasure either, from the dilation of her pupils to the pinkness in her cheeks, to the way her thighs opened wider for me, little by little. She was an insatiable little thing and I couldn’t get enough of her.
And by the looks of it, she couldn’t get enough of me either.
When we pulled up to the castle, I had the driver take me around back to a small entrance that only my most trusted advisors knew about. In preparation for tonight, I had one of the sunrooms decorated with flowers of all kinds. It was set up special for the two of us to enjoy dinner tonight without interruption from anyone else.
Isabella was quiet for most of the ride, simply enjoying the sights as she leaned against me. It was obvious that she was content. I wound my arm around her possessively and she pressed herself even closer to me.
We arrived a short time later and I led her inside to the room I had waiting for us. There were a great number of candle
s brightening the room. They lined the walls, leaving long flickering shadows that illuminated the roses and various other incredibly beautiful flowers that decorated the little hideaway quite elegantly. Her sigh of delight was audible.
“What’s all this?” she asked.
“A proper date with the king,” I replied. Her returning smile was worth every last moment I had spent planning this for her yesterday while she had been sleeping.
I led her to the table, which was already covered in a number of various sized silver platters. They would be hot because they’d have only been served once my car had returned to the castle. My driver would have called ahead and alerted the wait staff of my imminent arrival.
My people were good at what they did and that’s why they worked for me.
I pulled back her chair and she sat down. I pushed it in, and she took the cloth napkin, situating it in her lap as she watched me sit down across from her. The chef entered and approached the table, waiting for my permission before he came any closer. I waved him over and he excitedly started revealing plate after plate of food, describing how he had been wanting to cook Mexican fare for a long time. He went into detail about the sauce he’d created for the enchiladas and the very expensive sharp cheddar he’d had flown in for such a special occasion. Isabella looked on excitedly and I watched as he fed her small bits of each item. She moaned appropriately in appreciation before I cleared my throat.
“How is it, baby girl?” I asked. The chef stepped back, nervously awaiting her reply. He knew I expected the best and if it wasn’t...
Well. Then I would have to deal with him, wouldn’t I?
She swallowed carefully, lifting her gaze to meet mine. It flicked to the chef and back to me. She sat back and pressed the napkin carefully to her lips before she finally replied.
“It’s very good. You’re right about employing the very best here,” she said boldly. The chef’s shoulders visibly relaxed and he stood there waiting for his next instructions.
“You’re free to go, Chef,” I murmured, and he nodded, quickly taking his leave before I changed my mind.
“When you told me that people feared you, you weren’t exaggerating, were you?” she asked, the tenseness in her voice obvious.
“No, I wasn’t.”
“If the food had been subpar or not to my liking, what would you have done?”
“That depends. Sometimes I need to make examples of people and his punishment may include the emptying of his accounts, banishments, or even worse according to the nature of his transgression,” I answered.
“Would you order to have someone killed?”
“I have before,” I replied. I took a deep breath and appraised her carefully. Her gaze never left mine and I decided to press further. “Does that scare you?”
She shook her head.
“Would you kill me?” she asked instead.
“I would never,” I replied. “You are special to me, Isabella.”
“Why? You hardly know me,” she asked, and I popped a bite of food into my mouth.
“That’s true. It’s only been a small amount of time that we’ve known each other in person, baby girl, but I’ve been looking for you for a long time,” I answered, and her eyes returned to mine with suspicion.
“What do you mean?” she said, a cautious mistrust showing there for a fraction of a second.