Note: We are 9 chapters away from a stormy climax. If you're enjoying the chapters, let me know! As I always say, I need as much help getting this right as I can. Many readers choose not to criticize or give me their feedback because they fear they might get bullied by other readers, but I am here to assure you that this is a misconception and will never happen. All my readers here understand how much it means to me. So, feel free to be as bold as you can. Your feedback will be constructive for me and will help me steer in the right direction. 

Having said that, I have already started working on The Scent and The Sapphire. Wish me luck! 

"I love what she has done to this place." I murmur a praise, sipping from the champagne as I look around the garden located in the middle of the building that is basically a 180-foot tall atrium with hundreds of varieties of shrubs, vines, and trees.

The Manhattan headquarters for The Rothschild Foundation Center for Social Justice is a slice of Eden tucked away from the public eye in the middle of the city. Established in 1923 and designated a New York City landmark in 1984, this building is where my Bubbeh spends most of her time since my mother took the reins of the business empire from her.

For a century, this place has remained strictly accessible only to employees and prohibited to the general public. Bubbeh shut it down for two years and had a makeover done and decided to open it to the public as a part of the legacy building's 100th birthday celebration. There's a reflecting pool, a water spring, and so on. It's like an oasis amidst the Sahara.

The place is flooded with the crème-de-la-crème of the American and British high society all having flocked together to the black-tie masquerade gala to please Elizabeth Rothschild and continue being in her good books.

"What a sheer waste of $300 million." My brother appears beside me, his tall and broad-shouldered physique clad in a custom black tux and a golden Venetian mask covering his eyes and forehead, and his hands shoved in his pants and shoulders squared, emphasizing his frame.

"What are you doing here? You said you weren't coming?"

"Don't ask."

"Let me guess. To keep an eye on Inessa?" I stop a passing server to accept a glass of champagne and hand it to my brother.

"She and I are not together anymore."

"That didn't keep you from skipping this... what did you call it this morning? God awful mass-gathering of peasants eager to please their lord Satan Elizabeth."

"I needed to see Senator Brown. He begged me to give him time. This is the only time I was available."

"So, you decided to bless him with your presence instead of having him run to you as you generally prefer. How very benevolent of you."

"I can be that."

"Sure. The person who would happily ignore the entire human population unless there's something one of them has that suits his motive or finds his interests."

"You just described your mother and grandmother."

"Yours too, loser."

"Satan and Satan's mother for me. Speaking of Satan," he chuckles and points an index finger towards Bubbeh mingling with the crowd, but it's certain she's coming in this direction. "Good luck."

"Where do you think you're going?"

"What does it look like? I have avoided her for two months. She'll lecture me the moment she gets a hang of me and I have no patience for her or her daughter tonight."

"Don't you dare... at least say hi. It'll make her happy."

"Got better things to do," he grumbles, leaning to kiss my head. Before I can even utter a word, he's gone.

"Was that my son who just pretended he didn't see his own mother?" It's my appalled mother in a stunning silk gown, her blonde locks tied in a neat bun at the back, and an exclusive Piaget signature collection dangling on her neck and ears, who appears from behind instead.

"He... needs to meet some senator," I sigh, leaning forward to kiss her cheeks. "You look beautiful, mama."

"I am always beautiful. That man is no son of mine. He takes after his grandfather emotionally cold, but he wasn't that way towards his own family," she huffs, still staring in the direction he left.

"Let it go, please."

She shakes her head and lowers the Colombina hand-held mask off her eyes.

"I should. Let me take a good look at you." Her frustration ebbs within seconds as her gaze does a scan of me. Reaching out for my face, she cups it, her face brightening with a dazzling smile. "You look like the most precious diamond in the world, my darling summer child."

"You never fail to spoil me with your compliments," I smile. The teen Juliette in me thrives in it. "Sometimes I feel Areston is right. If he has one serious competition in this world, it's you."

"Nonsense. His love can never surpass mine. You have been the love of my life since you were no bigger than a 1/4 inch long seed in my belly. Of course my love is always going to be more," she notes dismissively. "Is that necklace from the Spirit of the Siren collection?"

"Yes." I touch the diamonds.

"He has a good taste, but that's obvious because he chose you."

"I know." I laugh.

"And that ring... did he propose?" she gasps, capturing my fingers for a close look.

"You'd have known if he did, mama."

The soft smile on her face vanishes and a hard expression replaces it. "I should have known a lot of things," she says, gently dropping my hand. "Perhaps things like my daughter having moved in with him. I am appalled you'd keep such a huge development in your love life from your beloved mother."

"How long have you known?"

"Since you moved in, of course."

I sigh, raising the champagne to my mouth. "Why didn't you ask about this over our call?"

"I was waiting for my daughter to impart that piece of news to me," she snaps at me softly. "A woman should never move in with a man in his house until they're married, my precious darling. You just gave a boost to his phenomenal ego. You're a Rothschild and you compromised."

"Mama, don't start..."

"I hope you haven't told him that you love him? You're to keep it with you until you're at the altar exchanging vows."

I roll my eyes. "Don't worry. I have inherited some levels of pettiness from you so that's what I fully intend to do."

"Good."

"He knows it's your idea."

"Excellent," her face lights up.

A while later, I am talking to a group of senators when my Bubbeh finally finds time to see me.

"I have been looking for you," she says in her polished Mid-Atlantic accent, reminiscent of old Hollywood glamor, dismissing the senators without even sparing them a glance or bothering to return their greeting. She cups my face in between her palms. "Let me take a good look at my pride. I haven't seen this ethereal face in two excruciatingly long months. My! You have only grown more exquisite, my beloved little poppet."

In a figure-hugging, strapless custom black haute couture gown, monstrous Piaget diamond earrings and a matching necklace with an emerald-cut center stone, blonde hair in vintage waves parted on the side, simple and classic makeup of black eyeliner and nude lip, Elizabeth Rothschild is the very definition of royalty. The woman commands attention with her straight posture, poised demeanor, and a resting bitch face that can make grown men tremble in front of her.

I place my empty champagne glass in the passing server's tray and put my hands in hers. "It's good to have you back in the city, Bubbeh. You look magnificent as usual. You had a good relaxation on the trip, I presume?"

"St. Barts was too hot for my liking. Did you like your birthday present?"

Shoot. I was supposed to listen to Shukura when she was blabbering about it while I was engrossed in reading a report.

"You didn't?" She asks, appalled.

"It's too early for my birthday present, Bubbeh. I thought I'll see it on my birthday." Wrong. I had totally forgotten about it.

"I commissioned Ralph Lauren on a short notice to do the interiors for the yacht I bought for you as your birthday present. You couldn't even bother taking a look at it?"

I entwine my fingers around her. "I apologize. I have been keeping busy. I really do appreciate the present."

"You haven't even seen it."

"I love it nevertheless," I smile. "You could be giving me a shell from the beach as a birthday present and I'd still love it, Bubbeh. You know it."

Her face finally relaxes into a smile. "Your innocence worries me a lot, Vivie. You shouldn't be happy with little things. You are my pride and the heir apparent of the Rothschild dynasty. You should only be satisfied with the grandest things this world has to offer."

"If you insist."

"I'm dismayed you denied being escorted by the prince I arranged for you as your date for tonight. You rejected him without even knowing him," she complains in an inimitable aristocratic-sounding voice of hers. "My heart shudders when I imagine how appalled he must have been. It was distasteful of you, Vivie."

"Elizabeth, hello." We're interrupted by one of her best friends.

Finding the perfect reason to escape, I leave the two, and make my way to the bar. I need more alcohol in me to survive this evening.

"Lady Lysandra!"

"Juliette," she lowers her cocktail and hugs me. She's looking like a Greek goddess in a silky ivory-colored boat neck dress with her shoulder-length titian hair styled in vintage waves and statement Piaget jewelry to match. "Come and have a drink with me. This is my third glass of champagne."

"Whoa. Thirsty, are we?" I settle on the chair beside her at the bar and request the bartender for a dirty martini.

"My dad is here and he used the opportunity to lecture me again. That's why I did not want to be here but August thought otherwise. He's a benefactor to your grandmother's foundation so his presence is required. But of course his royal highness has more pleasing things to waste his time on. At Obsidian Syndicate to be precise," she lifts her fingers to make air quotes. "I'm filling in as his proxy as usual. You came alone? Where's Prince Areston?"

"He had some work and he hates social events."

"Ah. I understand. The brothers are three peas in a pod I suppose." Her phone vibrates and she lets out a frustrated groan. "I have to go. My father is looking for me so I cannot stay here any longer. I shall see you around."

After successfully having extracted myself from a group of businessmen and politicians, I find myself escaping needing a break at the bar counter once again.

I am texting Areston only to receive zero response, probably because he's busy, I feel an arm around my back, startling me.

"Lev! You scared me. You know how an unexpected touch like that freaks me out." I gasp, placing my palm above my heart as I try to calm my breathing.

"I apologize."

"Don't," I swallow, smiling and placing my hand on top of his. "I am sorry I didn't mean to be rude. You know how it is."

"I know, sunshine. Don't worry about it. Who are you hiding from here?" He's looking insanely handsome and mysterious in a black tux and a Venetian mask covering the upper half of his face, which he lowers.

Selene and my conversation from earlier today comes to my mind.

Ode à Juliette. That's the name of his signature limited edition perfume line dedicated to you. The production has wrapped up so he contacted Lavaux & Co. Publicité to handle its advertising, marketing, and public relations. Since my agency is in the middle of being acquired by De L'Aquila Luxury, the transition has made us too busy to take on new clients. I had to decline it. I mean... I would have been able to accommodate him but honestly I didn't feel comfortable when I found out it's sort of his love letter for you, which he has been apparently wanting to keep secret until launch since he started working on it three years ago. I talked to Ari about it and he said it made sense.

"Just some vultures who'd leave no opportunity to discuss business and my exaggerating Bubbeh who's upset about me rejecting a blind date."

"A blind date huh?"

I chuckle, raising my drink to my mouth. "She doesn't know about Areston yet. I have no wish to divulge that bit of information to her or she'll start planning a wedding."

"Is that not the next step in your relationship with him?" He orders his preferred drink. King of Spirits absinthe and Clarke's Court Spicy Rum.

"I just want things to be between Ares and I at first rather than having the whole circus involved from the start. It's something that's sacred to us."

"Hmm."

"Lev, can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course. Since when do you need permission?"

"I heard you're working on the launch of a perfume line named after me?"

He smiles, thanking the bartender for his drink, and takes a calculated sip. "I shouldn't have expected Selene to maintain a secret from her sister."

"I want you to not associate me with it. You're my close friend. I do not want you to feel like things have changed between us just because I am in a relationship, but the thing is, it has to an extent. I would have requested this even if I'd found out about it when I was single because you know I do not like to be fodder for tabloids. And now for me to accept it when I am with Areston, it would not only be disrespectful to our relationship, it would also cause more wagging tongues. You know it better than anyone else how fiercely I have managed to avoid it for the past decade."

He looks ahead, holding his drink to his mouth. "I'll kill the line."

"No. That would mean a huge waste. I can't allow you to do that, Lev," I curl my fingers around his and turn my body in his direction.

"It's alright. That doesn't matter to me. What's the use of launching a line whose muse and inspiration I cannot announce to the world," he says, also turning to face me in a way our knees our touching. He lowers his glass and takes my hand in his. "You don't understand, sunshine. No money is ever worth your happiness for me. Two decades ago I promised you I'll look after you and that stands the same today. I don't mind killing the damn perfume line if you're uncomfortable being its muse in public

"Lev."

"Keep your hands off her, Christakis," Chase roars, snatching my hand away from Lev's, pure rage is vibrating off his frame that's intimidating Lev's. "You better kill that fucking perfume line or I'll do it for you. But be warned. If I get involved, you wouldn't have a goddamn company anymore."

"Chase!"

"You stay out of it, pumpkin. It's because of your naïve nature he gets encouraged," he glares at me and turns to Lev before I can even speak. "And you. She has a boyfriend. What the fuck do you think you're doing here leaving your plus one alone? Trying a vain attempt to get cozy with my sister?"

"You came here with a plus one?"

He has never had a plus one to any events before. I like to be alone and keep speculations at bay. Not fond of tabloids. Has been his reason for as long as I can remember.

"Lianna," Lev sighs, climbing off his stool and putting a distance between us. His demeanor is as composed as before. He never loses his cool. "She didn't get an invite and it's the event of the season so she asked me if I could bring her as my plus one."

"Oh."

"Leave before I make a scene in public and trust me, I wouldn't hesitate even for a second," Chase demands, stepping before me so he's standing like a wall between us with his well-developed arms crossed over his chest.

"Are you fucking out of your mind?" I am glad there's no one around when I yell at my brother once Lev is gone. "How dare you insult him like that!"

"Stop talking to him."

"You don't get to decide that."

He dismisses me with ignorance and orders his signature cognac.

"Chase, I am talking to you." I huff in a whisper, sliding into my seat as the crowd starts flooding the bar again.

"Look, I am not sorry," he sighs, settling in the seat Lev vacated. "You said there's no one more important to you than Areston and your relationship, yet you're hellbent on sabotaging it by letting your ignorance encourage fuckers like Christakis? The more you keep up the whole we're friends and nothing has to change bullshit the more it gives him hope."

"What hope?"

"You can't be seriously that fucking naive?"

"He's not in love with me like that if that's what you're implying."

"For a woman as smart as you, that's a dumb statement to make. He's obviously pinning for you and no guy would tolerate it. How do you expect Areston to do it? Hell, I'd fucking kill such a guy if I were in his place. Do you not realize it can affect your relationship? Especially when Areston was pretty fucking clear even 11 years ago how much he hated that guy's presence in your life?"

I sigh. "We are grownups now, Chase. Friendships like this shouldn't stir problems in a relationship."

"And in which grownup manner are you planning to handle when he continues to be friends with some woman whom he knows is pinning for him? You're setting a precedent by normalizing friendships with people who're in one-sided love with you regardless of knowing you're in a serious relationship."

That strikes me like a poisonous arrow with a sharp blade that not only spears me but spreads into my veins, chilling me.

"Judging from your reaction you wouldn't tolerate it. Of course you won't. You're my sister and I know for a fact what a fucking hypocrite you are just like our mother and her mother. So you need to grow the fuck up and smell the goddamn coffee, pumpkin. I am leaving this bullshit event, but you stay away from him and think about what I said," he says, kissing my forehead in the whole big brotherly way he has gotten used to as if he's the elder one and I'm the younger, and leaves me to replay his every word in my mind.

"You don't tolerate your man's female friendships. Hypocrite is what you are." I hear a familiar voice and turn to the woman sitting beside me who removes her emerald diamanté encrusted mask.

Darina Ivanov in a shimmering emerald dress. She's resembling a snake that she is.

"I agree with every point your brother made. You should listen to him," her dragon shaped statement earrings jangle as she turns her face to me.

I grind my jaw, turning my attention away from her, and dipping my glass to drink the remainder of champagne. "Eavesdropping and poking in matters that do not concern you. Where are your manners?"

"Is it a lie, though? Everything that your brother has said. You are a hypocrite who is apparently so jealous she has destroyed her man's closest friendship that lasted strong for a decade until you re-appeared."

"I haven't destroyed it yet, but I will. The day I make Areston destroy all ties with you."

"What more are you going to destroy that he hasn't done himself already?Because of you he no longer wants to see me or talk to me unless it's absolutely necessary. I know it's all you. It's because you're insecure and can't see his friendship with one woman who understands him. Who helped him when he thought he had no one," she adds, fury laced in each word. "I knew you were not the right woman for him, but I believe it now. He wouldn't have tossed the sacred relationship that we had just like that."

My fingers tighten around the stem.

"He will regret discarding me when you leave him once again, which you will. Fragile women like you cannot withstand dominant men like him," she continues her rant ignorant of the absence of response from my side. "I gave him all he needed. Money. Camaraderie. Sense of family. Warmth. Everything. All of it to be tossed away just like that. You can't imagine my distress and heartbreak. It's all because you cannot handle or give him what I gave him."

I slide down the chair and turn to Darina. "Have fun wallowing in self-pity. You can claim to be all that he wants, but you'll never be the one thing he needs more than his own life. Me."

I stop by the reflective pool once I'm out of her sight and drag a deep breath to relax the weird sense of turmoil riling up in the depths of me. Am I really so jealous and insecure?

"Vivie! I have been looking for you." My grandmother interrupts my thoughts, making me look up from the surface of water I've been staring into. "I want you to meet the prince. He's here regardless of your appalling behavior. Such a gentleman."

Fuck. "Bubbeh, please. I told you I am not interested. I am dating someone already."

"I am infuriated that you do not wish to divulge more information pertaining that matter to your beloved Bubbeh, but that's a discussion for another day. Just make an introduction. He's a powerful businessman that has several shared business interests and investments with The Rothschild Group. It wouldn't hurt to say hello, my pride," she beams, adjusting my hair. "You have no idea how rare it is for him to grace an event with his presence. Oh, how I would love for you two to meet and fall in love."

"Bubbeh! Are you even listening?"

"Hush now, Vivie," she silences me as if I'm some errant child and taking the mask from my hand, she secures it on my eyes. "He is going to be absolutely charmed by you. It'll be love at first sight like your grandfather and I had."

I watch her in disbelief as she takes my hand in her and drags me along. I follow her as she proudly struts towards a group of four men, one of whom has managed to keep the attention of the other three with his towering and demanding presence.

"Bubbeh, please!"

"Stop being querulous," she chides in a hushing tone before leaving my hand and walking to the group. "Excuse us, gentlemen. Your royal highness, how wonderful of you to have graced this 100th anniversary gala with your presence. I appreciate the munificent donation you have made."

I stare at the back of a sophisticated, familiar tall, dark presence.

Areston!

I don't have to see his face or for him to turn around to know it's him. It's like there's a thread that connects us. A pull so strong that I can recognize him even in the dark or with my eyes blindfolded.

"It's an honor, Elizabeth," he responds in his toe-curling thick husk.

My heart is thudding wildly when my grandmother looks in direction. "I'd like you to make acquaintance with my exquisite pride. My granddaughter. I understand she declined being escorted by you tonight. She had obligations she couldn't dismiss. She meant no disrespect I assure you. Vivie? Darling. Come."

The smirk on Areston's face as he turns around to face me is as gratifying as the look in his eyes. Crimson blush spreads on my face under his heated gaze. It's like the beast eyeing its victim. Me. This was his plan to surprise me. The sneaky jerk tricked me... but since when? Has he been the prince all along? When did he even plan this? Wait. He was the prince I was talking to him about in Greece at my new place's trace while wrapped in his arm? How's that possible?

The butterflies in my stomach seem to have crossed the proportion of their threshold as I chew on my lower lip, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear, ravishing him with my eyes.

Light gleams off his dark hair and a dark, brooding air sizzles around him. He emanates magnificence and dominance so effortlessly without even trying. The black tailored tuxedo molds his tall, muscular frame, accentuating his height and physique. He looks breathtaking. Perfection. The ivory mask covering his eyes is giving him a darkly enigmatic and lethal vibe that has my hormones pumping hard. I am fantasizing about getting rid of his bow tie and ripping open his jacket and shirt and licking him all over.

"Pardon her for her lack of courtesy, your royal highness. Vivie, this is His Royal Highness Prince Areston De L'Aquila. The prince of Caravaggio and Selene's brother-in-law. You must have met him at the wedding? He's one of the most generous donors to our foundation and a patron to the cause. Your royal highness, this is my pride. My granddaughter Juliette Vivienne. She's the most pulchritudinous thing you have ever seen in your life, wouldn't you say?"

Her lack of awareness of my history with Areston is the classic case of what happens when one is born in a family of people who are so self-absorbed they never pay attention to aspects of your life other than what they care about. She has no recollection or whatsoever apparently that the Prince Areston she's so gloating about is the same Areston Grosvenor her granddaughter was in love with.

How would she?

She never knew because my mother forbade me from telling her about my relationship. Mama was already upset and wary that it was going to ruin my focus from the goals she had set for me and Bubbeh finding out about it would have meant unnecessary drama. Perhaps on a bigger scale than mama's when I'd told her about Areston and me. She loved him, but she didn't love the fact that being in a relationship meant dividing my time to something like being in love that was irrelevant according to her and caused nothing but loss of focus and determination.

"I have to agree with you. She's the most exquisite thing I have ever seen." The intensity of his gaze and words regardless of the classic impassivity his face has maintained makes my blood rush down south.

Shivers and tickles spew all over my spine as he takes my hand in his, his thumb titillatingly stroking the skin on my wrist. I find myself holding my breath as his lips touch the back of my palm.

"Good evening, Ms. Rothschild. I am very pleased to finally meet the granddaughter Elizabeth couldn't stop gushing about." The deep baritone of his teasing voice acts like someone pouring a frigid bucket of water on my piping hot skin.

I swallow hard as I realize what he is doing. Roleplaying as the prince he's supposed to be meeting me the first time and making me fall in love with him as per my Bubbeh's not-so-secret plan. Excitement piques in me.

"Likewise, your highness. My Bubbeh can't seem to stop raving about you either." I manage with my heart thudding wild, meeting his glinting eyes with a smile. All my earlier rage from Darina's blabbering melts. "We appreciate your generous donations to The Rothschild Foundation for Social Cause."

"Always delighted to be of assistance towards the good cause." He makes no effort to leave my hand, his thumb continues skating my pulse on the wrist.

I can hardly keep myself from blushing like the summer sun in front of my grandmother who seems like she has fulfilled her lifelong mission and has achieved some sort of nirvana.

"She's single by her choice," Bubbeh adds out of nowhere. "Not one man has she come across until yourself that has held her attention. My Vivie is one picky woman. She is quite hard to impress."

"I shall do my best to impress Vivie like she has never been before," he notes smoothly with mischief in his eyes, earning a soft laugh from my grandmother.

"Juliette should do, your highness," I narrow my eyes at him.

"Siren is a name more fitting for you, Ms. Rothschild. What do you think, Elizabeth?"

"Oh, I love the name. It suits her. Siren is what my pride is. Now, I'll leave the two of you alone to get acquainted, your highness. I am so delighted you came."

"So am I," Areston says, his eyes never leaving mine.

"The two of you should dance. No better way to get acquainted then that," she's only too giddy to supply.

"That's a splendid suggestion indeed. Dance with me," he commands, doesn't ask, his pupils dilating with a dark gleam in them, the mask adding more to his sensual appeal.

I smile shyly. I can't believe I am blushing in front of the man who spends his night and waking hours inside me. He tilts his head a little as if reading my mind when I don't immediately respond. It's because I am in a trance set, utterly bewitched by the prepossessing sight of him that makes the inner muscles of my stomach and vagina clench.

Oh, I want to be ravished by that mouth. My body aches to be roughly handled by him in his classic Areston De L'Aquila way.

Slipping his hand on the low of my back possessively, his fingers splaying over my bare skin, making my heart rate shoot in anticipation, he guides me to the center of the atrium where couples are lost slow dancing to soothingly jazz performed live by the world-famous Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Pulling me in his arms, he rests his palms on the dip of my waist, and I wrap my arms around his neck. Everyone else fades away for us.

"Hello, Belle," his lips quirk up in a bewildering smile. A side of him only I get to see that too when it suits his obnoxious self.

"Hello, Beast," I grin, enjoying the feeling of being home as his warmth and scent envelops me. "Whatever happened to Siren, jerk?"

"Gone with the wind." He deadpans.

I laugh and immediately suppress, knowing Bubbeh would be watching us and would throw a fit if she sees my laughing in a public event. It's unladylike in her dictionary and so a blasphemy.

"How long have you been planning this?"

"A day before I came to see you and found that fucker cooking Thai rice for you. I'd called Elizabeth to make the donation and personally accept her invitation. It happens to be that she switched me for some Belgian royal she wanted you to meet."

"She seems to be in love with you, your highness."

"Well, she should. I am her grandson-in-law."

"Not yet."

"Soon."

I grin, drinking in his mesmerizing features. "Did I tell you how handsome you are?"

"I am glad you love what you see, tesoro. Pleasing you happens to be my ultimate goal always."

"Mm. Good. You're so toe-curlingly beautiful it's making my vagina hungry."

"Speaking of your hungry vagina," he leans to whisper in my ear, his warm breath tantalizing me, flaring goosebumps all over my skin. "How's it doing?"

I blush harder. "So far, it hasn't felt any different than my thong. The slightly thick stuff against my clit caused some tingling every time I walked and it brushed against it. Made me wet. But now it's nonexistent."

"Let's see how nonexistent it feels now," he kisses my hair, uncaring of packing a PDA, and slips one hand in the pocket of his pants.

It's a vibrating thong!

"Fuck." I gasp as I feel a deliberately slow vibration start humming against my clit. My fingers curl around his jacket, clenching him like my life depends on it.

"How's that for nonexistence, baby?"

The vibration starts crawling up, the buzz making my hips twitch. Fuck. "Stop it! Please. My goodness. Areston, stop!"

"A little foreplay never hurt no one," I hear wicked amusement in his voice as he changes the setting that pushes the vibration intensity up a couple of notches.

Lowering my head against his chest, I close my eyes, biting my lip to prevent a moan. "Ahhh, Ares! Please. For fuck's sake!"

" I revel in pushing your limits and having you at my mercy, tesoro. It never fails to captivate me to watch your resilience towards my torment continue to grow," he kisses my ear, his hand secured tight around me, holding me against his body, forcing me to groove along with him.

His words make me undone. Little shudders and trembles that originate in my pelvis start wracking my body.

My knees feel so weak I'd be sinking in the ground if it isn't for his hold on me. "Ares, please. Please! Argh. Why are you doing this to me!"

Shocks of pleasure shoots through my core. The vibration feels so good. So, so good. But the place I am in, surrounded by everyone, it feels so wrong... so arousing but so wrong. But so erotic. Every pore in my body agrees. I mentally thank the couples dancing around us and the fact that it's night. No one can at least catch what we are up to.

"Because I love corrupting you, baby. Pushing you to the edge until you're a whimpering mess, begging and utterly unraveled for me. Until you surrender and dissolve into submission to shatter in a way only I can piece you back together.

I look up at his visage that remains as tranquil as a marble statue, a stoic mask in place, his chiseled features void of emotions as usual. But it's in his eyes. Dangerously betwitching, an enigma reflecting his darkest desire burning in them, making zero attempt to veil the degree of his depravity.

"You want to tear me piece by piece and then put me back together?" Damn. I feel so close. I can feel the dampness between my legs flooding me.

"Yes." It's a confession as sharp as a whip's crack. His voice is devoid of any pretense or warmth, his gaze dark and unflinching.

He slides his hand once again inside his pocket and the vibration stops just when I'm on the edge. I am panting as he returns the warmth of his palm against the bare skin of my back, pressing me against him, until there's no space in between us.

"Do you want me to bend you over and use you, tesoro?"

"I do."

"Come. I want you to eat first," he entwines his fingers and guides me to his assigned table.

"Are you for real?"

"You need to eat, Belle."

"I don't eat mass-catered food." I gasp, frustrated from the need to orgasm.

"That's why I arranged for Gabe to prepare dishes for you."

"Seriously?"

"Do I joke too often?"

"You are unbelievable, your highness! I am wet and I want you to fuck me."

"All in good time, tesoro." The corner of his mouth twitches as he pulls the chair and settles me in it. Gabe is waiting for us with two plates in his hands.

"I am so pleased to see you with him. I told you he wants you, didn't I? I knew he bought that necklace for you. It's a symbol of the start of a relationship. Look at you two now. You found love and I played cupid." In a sequined body con haute couture gown and glittery silver chandelier earrings that are moving too much with every word she says, Alva is busy gloating while seated next to me at our table.

"You just want credit for everything," I murmur, tipping my glass for a sip of champagne.

Areston force-fed me a serving of pasta he had Gabe prepare to cater me creamy parmesan linguine and hazelnut budino. He didn't eat himself, but bullied me into eating, and I did because having homemade food in front of me made me ravenous. There was also this fact that I was frustrated from being edged and stuffing my mouth with food if not my pussy with his cock felt like a good idea so I gave in.

The fingers of his right hand are threaded with my left's possessively as they rest on his thigh under the table, his thumb idly stroking my wrist as he chats with China's President of the Supreme People's Court and the Procurator-General who seems to I found out are close acquaintances of his. It's rare for him to be in public and rarer is he is enjoying conversing with the public in an event. They're obviously an exception.

None of it, however, has kept him from edging me more until I'm close to climaxing and then stopping. He's bidding time on purpose. Tormenting me seems to be the singular mission of his presence here. I can easily leave the table to teach him a lesson but I don't have that strength left in me and I'm enjoying this game of delayed gratification. He's right. I love testing my own limits with him. My limbs are trembling from all the vibrations I have endured so far.

"Nonsense. I do deserve the credit," Alva says dismissively and fixes a big grin on her face as she leans close. "I get to be one of your bridesmaids. I am not too old to be one, am I?"

"You need to slow..." I halt in my sentence, squeezing the life out of Areston's hand entwined with mine and the fingers of my other hand gripping the edge of the table as intense vibrations rip through me.

Each shockwave of savage frenzy, more powerful than the last. I look down, swallowing hard. A riot of powerful sensations assaults me. I try hard to maintain a normal face despite my inner shattering bit by bit, and finally giving in, I close my eyes. My clit feels swollen as it quivers enduring the asynchronous waves from the vibration. I am yearning for a climax that would free me. He's in no mood to let me have it.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine... just fine."

I heave a deep breath when he stops. Gritting my teeth, I look at him only to find him busy in conversation. This jerk. His composure is calm and collected while my own is a whimpering mess as he likes me to be.

"Does your cruelty know no end?" I ask once we're alone.

"Take it easy, baby. You have had enough already," he reaches out to take tonight's third glass of champagne away from my hand and returns it to the table.

"Are you afraid I might end up ruining your tux by puking on it, your highness?"

He lifts my hand and kisses the back of it. "I want you to be in your complete senses when I fuck you. You kept me starving by leaving me home to join your friends for lunch."

The slow deliberate strokes of his thumb against my wrist is doing its own little thing on my skin and dooming big havoc on my body as erotic trembles rush down my spine.

"You're seriously not sulking over that, are you? I thought we had sorted it out?"

"We sort it out, I agree. It doesn't mean I won't take it out on your body, baby."

"You're such a deviant, your highness." I tilt at a decent angle so that it might appear to others that we're merely talking, while my fingers graze above his bulge straining against his pants. I can't help but simper with pleasure when it twitches under my touch. "I am soaking wet. This chair... it's imprinted with something I'd rather slather all over your cock."

"Is that so?" If it was possible to get killed from the intensity of his eyes, I would have died.

"Why don't you see it for yourself?" I lift my dress under the table cloth, grateful for the thigh high slit, and guide his hand between my thighs under the butterfly structure vibrator.

His throat moves as he presses my clit, stroking his fingers up and down my slit.

"Hmm," he hums, removing his hand and putting his index finger into his mouth. "Delicious. You never disappoint, tesoro."

"Let me give you a tour of the library," I slide my hand in his and rise up. "It's an interesting place. Dark... isolated... soundproof, something I am certain you'd like."

We walk past the bust of my first ancestor who arrived in New York sitting proudly on a pedestal in the Gothic-style library of the Rothschild Foundation's headquarters. Away from all the crowd and chatter into a peaceful and dark allure. The air is thick with the lingering smell of wood polish and old paper. Towering walnut bookshelves that touch the ceilings line up the walls, filled with leather bound books that have gold-embossed spines. They're glowing under the dimly lit wrought iron lanterns slung from a vaulted ceiling casting long shadows across the chamber.

"I need you, your highness." I grab Areston's jacket and push myself against him as budging him is almost impossible for me. "You've tormented me enough already."

"Have I?" He pins me against a bookshelf, his mouth hovering above mine. His cerulean stare reminds me of a beast. The mask still sitting around his eyes is making me need him all the more for some reason.

"Please."

My body tightens. I feel a fire blazing a visible trail along every artery and vein as his hands glide down my body. Lifting the hem of my dress, he unties the straps of the thong-like vibrating panty and raises it to his nose to inhale. I suck in a deep breath watching him relish it. My throat feels too constricted for me to breathe. He shoves it in the pocket of his pants before unbuttoning his pants and unzipping it with an urgency and pushing it down along with his boxers to reveal the glorious sight of his cock springing free in attention. I salivate.

"You will keep me at the top of your priority." He grabs my one leg and wraps it around my waist, holding it securely there with one hand as his other hand guides his cock at the center of my wet core. The first brush of it leaves me dizzy and disoriented. I feel like my pussy will combust just with the touch of it because I have been waiting and starving for it long enough.

"I do keep you, Ares. You're my first priority always."

"Not in words. But actions. I have spent eleven years without you. Everyone has selfishly had you for those years. I need to be compensated with your complete attention during your off-hours for that time lost." His handsome face bears an aloofness, like a star unreachable and distant.

His childish demand makes me smile. I cup his handsome face between my palms. "Does it apply to you too?"

"I never want to be in anyone's company apart from yours anyway," he asserts, the piercing intensity of his gaze unwavering. There's no room for uncertainty in his voice.

"Fuck me. Let's discuss this tomorrow. We'll have the whole day to ourselves because you've promised to make me too exhausted to climb out of the bed."

"Maddening woman," he whispers against my mouth, drawing me into a rough kiss.

He is hard and merciless as he forces his tongue into my mouth, letting it boldly foray inside, tasting every inch of me. My fingers run in his hair as I urge him to deepen the kiss. A deep mewl escapes my throat that ends up being trapped in his mouth. A tight spiraling sensation arises in my belly and rises upwards, consuming every treacherous part of my body on its way. He is consuming me, making me loose in the maelstrom of this intense passion.

His one hand settles on my clit. He massages it in circles. The frantic heat building around us is threatening to combust me. "So wet... perfect. All mine."

"Only yours. Always, your highness," I smile wantonly, looking into his burning eyes as they devour me. We're both breathing heavily from the kiss.

There is an ache in me he needs to fix. So he does. He grabs me by my waist and rams his thick, long cock in me, driving himself deep inside me. I feel so good. It's like nirvana. My eyes close at its own accord, relishing the fullness inside me, the feeling of being stretched like this by him.

"Keep your eyes on me," he demands, his voice low and deep, pounding me. Pulsating waves radiate through my body, melting me. My leg dangles around him as he fucks me hard. "So. Fucking. Good. Tight. Fuck."

"Harder, Ares! Oh, I love having you inside me," I mewl, tugging at his hair.

He trails kisses to my neck, sucking and biting my skin. I love what he does to me. I want him badly. He slaps his cock deep in me thrust after thrust, his one hand clutching my leg behind his waist and other circling around my clit, and his mouth returning on mine in a vicious assault. It's such a heady combination. I find myself moving my hips, gyrating it around his cock as I match his pace to fuck him back.

"I love this. Your cunt is squeezing me so greedily. Trying to milk my cum inside you right away," he groans.

"Harder. More. Ahh. So good." I cry, my vaginal walls squeezing him as he says it is.

Our heartbeats match as they have become frantic, our breaths battered. I can feel a powerful orgasm build inside me as he increases the speed and intensity of his pace.

"Yes, baby. Choke my cock just like that. I will fill you so full of my cum it'll leak as you walk," he pinches my clit, making me cry.

"I am close..." I can see the sparks flashing in front of my eyes as the world becomes a little blur.

"Come for me," he grunts, pumping his cock in me so hard my orgasm finally hits.

His thrusts become more relentless and savage. His fingers keep digging deeper in my skin, bruising me.

I pull his mouth on mine as I float in the throes of a powerful wave that hits me followed by his own that follows soon after. He has been just as starved for me.

"Fuck, Belle," he lets out an animalistic growl in my ear, causing my blood to roar as his cock swells and his form jerks as he releases the thick stream of his cum inside me.

He kisses me ruthlessly as his own orgasm consumes him, making him lose the rhythm of his strokes. He collapses his forehead on mine, both of us panting in silence.

"Thank you," I smile after a while, watching him fix his outfit. "I can't believe we fucked in a place my Bubbeh considers her sacred space. That too... in front of the bust of my ancestor. He'd be turning in his grave for his dynasty's heiress to be in love with an Italian because his Italian wife apparently cheated on him with her Italian tutor. Apparently, she thought the language was too seductive until she started finding the man, too. It's a dirty secret of our family, of course."

"Never a dull moment with you, tesoro," he laughs softly, one of his rares that always does things to me. "Remind me never to let you go to an Italian tutor."

I run my fingers on my nape. "I was hoping you'd be mine, but I understand if you don't want me."

"I'll teach you all the Italian you need to learn in bed," he extracts a pair of black lace panties that match my dress from his pocket. I shake my head. So meticulous.

"I am in the mood for one more dance with you before we leave," he says, sliding it up and adjusting my dress.

"Are you hell-bent on showing my Bubbeh that we've fallen in love within an hour of our first meeting?"

"Maybe," he lowers his dark head to brush his mouth against mine.

"You might as well ask her to get us hitched by tomorrow."

"Not a bad idea."

"You're not taking me seriously, your highness," I pout in protest against his mouth. "She's going to start annoying me with questions."

"Direct her to me. I'll handle it."

I cock a brow, adjusting his bow. "Fulfilling the duties of my husband already?"

"Always," his voice is a teasing husk as he nibbles at my lower lips. 

How was the chapter?

What was your favorite part? 

Have your seatbelt tied for the next chapter. It's about to hit the rocky road, which is aka Belle's worst nightmare. Any guesses?