Even from afar, Mt. Aehrenthal’s lobby sparkled like a jewel in the night, with all the chandeliers glowing in majestic glory while crimson and golden flames danced and crackled within brick fireplaces. A couple of photographers happened to be lounging in the corner when the two couples walked past the hotel’s main doors, and upon recognizing the new arrivals, the photographers instantly went on alert and started taking photos enthusiastically.

Sean cursed under his breath upon seeing this, more so when he heard Isla say ruefully to Devon’s wife, “I get why they’re taking photos of you and your husband, but why us, too?”

“The media’s attention on us since we married has been crazy,” Hilary acknowledged, “but don’t let that make you underestimate Sean’s popularity.”

Devon swiftly moved forward when he realized what the two women were talking about. “Sweetheart, I think we should---”

But it was too late.

“Don’t let it get to you, Isla.” Hilary’s voice was filled with concern. “Sean and Devon are billionaires, and that’s what most of them are attracted to.” She had seen the faintly troubled expression on Isla’s face and mistook it for worry about the way the two attracted women like flies.

“I see.” Isla wondered if she had heard Hilary correctly. Did the other woman just say Sean was also…a billionaire?

“Sean and Devon know this, too,” Hilary rushed to assure Sean’s companion when she saw the other woman start to frown. “So there’s nothing to worry about. I’m sure Sean---”

“Would like to have Isla back,” Devon finished for his wife. Slipping an arm around her waist, he said smoothly, “We’ll see you two at dinner.” After a polite nod to the other couple, he immediately led his wife away in an effort to forestall her from saying anything even more damning.

Sean and Isla stared at each other.

“Was that true?”

“Will you be happy if I said yes?”

Isla couldn't believe how things had turned out. “You’re really a billionaire then?” she asked faintly.

Sean’s smile didn’t reach his eyes as he answered, “Yes, ma’am.” And with that, Sean waited for her to shed tears of joy like any mercenary woman would, but instead he saw Isla’s emerald eyes shoot sparks at him.

A moment later, and Isla hissed, “You jerk!”

What the hell?

“You’re a billionaire, and you had the gall to insist that I pay for everything?”

It took one full moment for Sean to realize she was joking, and another moment to appreciate the nuance behind it. In not so many words, she was telling him none of it mattered – he was a billionaire, he had lied to her about it, and now she knew the truth. None of those things mattered, and she was telling both of them to move on.

Sean slowly shook his head. “How the fuck did I get so lucky?” He could see in her eyes that his wealth didn’t really matter to her – or at least not the way it would have to most people.

“Not that lucky.” Her tone was cheeky, and her eyes were twinkling with mirth. “I’ll be giving you a full accounting for reimbursement plus interest.”

“You can try,” he drawled, “but if I were you, I won’t count on it.”

“Who’s being the cheapskate now?” She sputtered with laughter.

“Rather than that, I’m simply ensuring you keep your word. You pay that way---” She caught sight of the devilish gleam in his eyes as he started to bend his head. “And I’ll pay this way.” And just like that he was kissing her, in full view of everyone at the lobby, and so very thoroughly that she had a feeling they could be arrested for public indecency.

By the time he lifted his head, she could only gasp for breath, which later turned into a giggle when he swept her up in his arms – again.

“You need to stop carrying me like this,” she told him laughingly, “or you’re going to make me look spoiled.”

“I do plan on spoiling you,” he answered without breaking his stride. “Are you complaining?”

One of the photographers waylaid them before she could answer, asking Sean rather daringly about her identity. The question made her tense. Ten minutes ago, she would’ve been certain of Sean’s answer, but now that she knew he was a billionaire?

“Her name is Isla Bouchard.”

The reporter started typing on his smartphone like a madman while Isla’s startled gaze snapped to Sean, who then grinned at her as he said, “And she’s the woman I’m going to marry.”

The last thing Isla saw before the elevator doors slid close was the man’s jaw dropping open, and her incredulous gaze swung to Sean as soon as they were alone. “Sean!” Her voice was a horrified wail. “Do you realize what you’ve just done?”

“Step 15, I believe.”

Isla choked. “This is not Step 15!” Step 15 in Charlotte’s outline was for them to make their engagement public by posting a classy, discreet notice with the local newspaper in his hometown. “This is Step 15 magnified by a thousand times---” She stopped speaking.

An expression of dread crossed her face, which Sean had no problem interpreting. “I’m guessing it’s only occurred to you that our wedding won’t be as low-profile as you assumed?”

Isla threw him a look of consternation. “Will you please take this more seriously?” Isla stared down at her fingers, wondering if it was time to take a bite, literally and figuratively. She had planned everything about their marriage, and part of that plan was to take her time thinking of how to best let her family know about Sean.

Obviously, that one was out of the window. News didn’t just travel fast these days. They flew at lightning speed, and she was certain everyone in San Diego would know about Sean and her before even the evening news showed up on their TV screens.

“I’m feeling hurt again,” Sean said teasingly at Isla’s look of anxiety. “Aren’t you pleased that the pauper you thought you were marrying turned out to be a prince instead?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m willing to bet your income isn’t anywhere close to Prince Gabriel’s of Contini.”

Sean grinned. “Good point.” But actually it wasn’t. He, Devon, and the others – men whom the media liked to refer to as SAFE or San Antonio’s Finest Eligibles – were good friends with Gabriel de Konigh. They knew each other well enough to share the necessary figures about their net worth, and so he knew for a fact that his wealth was at par with Gabriel’s personal fortune.

But for now, he’d let Isla’s words slide. The way she remained oblivious to the size of his bank account amused him, and Sean hoped she would stay that way for a long time.

Sean only allowed Isla’s feet to touch the ground when they made it back to his suite. She marveled at the sheer vastness of it, which was easily ten times the size of her hotel room. It was like a log cabin in the ordinary sense of the word, but it was also extremely posh, with ceilings so high it made her feel like she was in a church and expensive paintings hanging on its bark-paneled walls.

The suite also had a huge balcony, along with its own piano, and it was this last one that had Isla turning around to him in surprise. “Is that normal? A piano?” She really had to ask. “Or did they just get the idea from Fifty Shades----mmph!”A soft, thrilled laugh escaped her as Sean pushed her back against the wall.

His powerful body covered hers, hard muscles meeting soft curves, and heat exploded between them. It obliterated everything that was unnecessary – his wealth, her fears, the secrets they still kept – and left only what mattered: burning gazes, heavy panting, and the heavy thumping of their hearts – everything that made him a man, and her a woman, and the fact that they wanted each other.

“Is that what you want, sugar,” he whispered. “Kink and bondage?”

Her lips curved. “Maybe. Maybe not.” Her smile was as old as time, as potent as it had been from the very start, and Sean fell for it hard and fast, just like the way man first fell for the wiles of Eve.

“You’re teasing me,” he growled.

“Can’t I?” Her tone was breathless, her eyes naked in their innocent desire for him.

He didn’t answer right away, but the way his forceful gaze roamed her face said more than enough. She was his – and he would never let her forget it.

“Talk to me,” he said gruffly.

“I think you already know. As always.” Her tone was both exasperated and tender, a combination that two of them knew was dangerous.

“Say it anyway.”

“Then…” Her eyes searched his. “Are you truly certain you want to marry me?”

Even though you’re a billionaire?

The words hung in the air, unspoken but heard.

“I hate to break this to you, sugar, but I’ve always known who I am.”

Isla blinked. “You have a point there.” And then she let out a soft laugh, the sound a seductive melody. It had him pressing his body harder against hers, and she bit back a whimper when the proof of his desire nudged against her belly.

“Then we’re okay?” He waited until her gaze met his before shifting against her. This time, the head of his cock brushed against her clit, and as her eyes widened, he did it again, the movement deliberate and explicit in its question. Are we okay? Can we fuck now?

“Sean!” His name, however, came out more a moan than a call of reproof.

A roguish grin slashed his lips. “Shall I take that as another yes?”

She wished she could say yes. It was what she wanted, what her body craved. But she had to be sure first.

“Jonathan isn’t even in your league,” Isla said jerkily, “and I couldn’t make him happy.” She was counting on him to read between the lines – like he usually did – and when she saw a frown mar his handsome face, she knew that he had.

“How many times must I make it clear to you, sugar? Swanson was an idiot.” Contempt lined his voice. “And I’m nothing like him.”

Isla’s breath hitched as he slowly ran his knuckles down her cheek.

“Now that’s done---”

Everything in Isla wanted to succumb to the sinful temptation lacing his thickly accented drawl, but now that she knew it was really going to happen and she would soon be his, fear of the unknown overwhelmed her, and insecurities she didn’t even know she had swelled to the fore.

What if she was just good at foreplay but not at the actual deed itself?

What if she ended up disappointing him?

What if she was actually frigid?

Isla started shaking her head, saying weakly, “Didn’t we promise to meet your friends for dinner?”

Sean frowned at the thread of reluctance in her voice. “Devon’s no idiot,” he said curtly. “He knows if I’m a minute late, I’ve found something delectably better to feast on---” He saw her color spread across her lovely cheeks and grinned. “It bothers you that they would know?”

“Of course it would!”

“That’s too bad---” Sean’s smile was pure arrogance. “Since I’m not the type to deny myself the pleasure of your body for the sake of propriety.”

Even though her mind knew it was wrong, said body thrilled at his words, and Isla’s anxiety grew as her chances of escaping with her virginity intact became even smaller. “I don’t think I’m ready---”

“Give me five seconds,” he crooned, “and I’ll have you more than ready.”

“I’m not joking---”

“Neither am I.”

“Sean, I’m serious. You’re n-not the one to call the shots here. It’s my body---”

“Only for now.” His eyes glittered down at her. “But the moment you take my name, I’ll own every inch of it as your husband---”

“Do you know how archaic that sounds?” she asked helplessly.

“I don’t see why it should when I believe it goes both ways.”

Both ways?

“My body is yours, too, Isla Bouchard. Remember?” His hand snaked between their bodies as he spoke, and her knees knocked against each other when he started guiding her hand farther and farther down---

“Oh. My. God.” Her voice trailed to an inaudible finish as her fingers brushed against his long, thick, hard cock. Or maybe it was just that her heart was beating too loud and hard to hear anything over it.

The feel of him between her fingers was incredible, corrupting every fiber of her being, and before she knew it, she had already tightened her hold around his manhood –

Sean groaned, and her grip tightened even as her body trembled harder in acute need. “Sean.” She wanted to say so much, but she didn’t have the words, didn’t even have a single idea of what to say. All she could do was let her womanly instincts take over –

Sean bit back a groan as her fingers started to stroke him. “Isla.” Her fingers moved over his skin in delicate exploration, tormenting him without even intending to. Her touch was far from being skilled, but it made no difference to him. He wanted her like he couldn’t remember wanting anyone else.

The shudder that racked Sean’s hard, big body had Isla feeling faint, but even so she couldn’t make herself stop stroking him. It was like an obsession sight unseen, and the moment her fingers clasped his hardness, it became addictive. A feminine sense of power rushed straight to her head when she saw the way he was staring at her. He was looking at Isla like no one but her could arouse him, and she couldn’t help but react to it –

“Teach me how to please you, Sean.” A groan slipped past his lips at her plea, and the sound made her feel reckless. “Teach me everything you know, everything I need to drive you crazy. Please?” She squeezed his cock for emphasis, and he groaned.

“Troublesome witch.” His voice was harsh, but the glitter of lust in his eyes was all for her. “Why don’t you just say you intend to make me your slave?”

The savageness of his tone didn’t scare her – nothing could, with the way his cock was still so hard between her fingers, and the way he groaned when she had to release it.

“Isla,” Sean growled. He needed her hand back on his cock, dammit.

“Ssh.” Her voice was an exquisite mixture of shyness and delightful provocation. “Since you don’t seem to want to teach me, I’ll have to learn on my own.”

It was heaven and hell watching her work hard to undress him and feeling the accidental brushes of her fingers as she unbuttoned his shirt and unzipped his jeans. By the time she had him completely naked, his need for her had reached violent heights, and when he looked down on her, he could only feel ruthless pleasure at the expression on her face. Good. It was only right that she suffered, too.

Isla was struggling to make her lungs work. False bravado had allowed her to undress Sean fairly quickly, but when she had finally gotten his briefs out of the way, sanity had returned in an instant, and Isla had been stunned to find herself on her knees – and staring straight into his cock.

How in the world had this fit in her mouth, Isla wondered dazedly. Darkness had made his length seem manageable, but nothing could be further from the truth. His cock was too much of everything: long, thick, hard, and…it looked angry enough to pummel her pussy into…well, something.

“You look scared,” Sean said tautly.

Isla couldn’t even make herself lie. “Yes.” His cock suddenly jutted up, nearly bumping her nose, and she gasped as she lost her balance and fell back on her butt. Isla’s face burned hotter when she heard him laugh, but the sound faded as she looked up and saw him – really saw him – and oh dear Lord, but he was perfect.

With darkness sheathing him, all she had known from earlier was the smooth, muscled feel of his body. Even so, it had been enough to excite her and make her dizzy with longing. But this –

He was built like a Greek God, tall, dark, and sinewy, his muscles looking like they were set to ripple at the first touch of her fingers. How beautiful he was, so much so he took her breath away.

Isla’s gaze moved over his body again, slowly this time, but possessively. He really was perfect, she thought dazedly, and he was hers.

Her gaze flitted back to his erection, heat blossoming in her cheeks as she felt his eyes on her. Wetness pooled between her thighs at the realization that he was watching her stare at him. She should be embarrassed, and she was – but not to the point that she could stop and tear her eyes away from the rather furious vision of manliness in front of her.

It was just so…angry. It looked fit to burst, making her feel like there would be hell to pay if it didn't find its way to her pussy. The thought had her unthinkingly gulping, audibly, too, and she heard Sean chuckle over her head. The sound was marked with lazy arrogance, and so was his voice when he drawled, “Are you done discovering, little witch?”

She wetted her lips as she stared at his cock, which now looked even…angrier. “Umm…” His erection jutted again, and her lips parted in shock when it actually stretched another inch. Oh. My. God. She was inexperienced, yes, but even she knew his cock was not of the average size!

“Isla?” Sean offered her his hand, and she took it blindly and let him pull her up to her feet.

She met his hazel gaze, and the lust in it made her whole body throb and quiver.

“You’re shaking,” he observed in amusement. “Swallowed more than you chewed, didn’t you, sugar?” But he didn’t wait for her to speak – there was no need, the look on her face was answer enough – and simply bent down to put an arm behind her knee as he swept her up.

A tiny whimper escaped Isla as he carried her to his room, her still-shaking body pressed against his naked chest. How many times did this make, she wondered dizzily. Three? Four? He made it look so easy, carrying a full-sized adult in his arms, but she knew of course it wasn’t, and her throat tightened at the knowledge of how strong he was – and how he would soon be using that same strength when making love to her.

Sean’s room was as luxuriously appointed as the rest of the suite, and the bed he laid her on was the largest she had ever seen, making her wonder absently about its dimensions. Maybe an extra, extra queen – if such a size existed?

The thought drifted away as Sean joined her in bed, and again he wasted no time in undressing her, his skillful hands leaving her no time to even contemplate how she would feel once she, too, was naked. She just suddenly was, and when the weight of his big, hard body settled over her, it just felt so right, so good, so perfect, and unexpected tears stung her eyes.

This was what she had been waiting twenty-eight years of her life for.

And suddenly, she realized she couldn’t wait any longer.

Sean knew the moment Isla pulled his head down for a kiss that something had changed. He had intended to take his time with her even if it killed him, intended to do it slowly and gently the way she deserved. But the second their mouths fused, her fiery passion burned his plans to ashes. There would be no time to rain feather-soft kisses on her face and all over her face, no time to have his hands fully explore the sweetness of her curves and for his mouth to suckle on her breast –

There was fever in her kiss, hot, wild, and contagious, and when she pressed her full length against him – her hands sweeping over his back, her erect nipples scraping his chest, and her legs snaking around his, the same fever raged into his system, and blood rushed to his head.

“Isla.” Sean’s voice was strained. “You have to---” He forgot what he had to say as she started writhing under him.

“Sean, please.” A moan against his lips just before she kissed him with utter abandon: she bit his lip, sucked his tongue, and ground her mouth against his. Her wildness enthralled him, but even so he did his best to fight against the hypnotic lure of her passion. It was her first time, dammit. He had to keep his damn cool –

Isla pulled back, her come-hither emerald eyes full of need for him. Kiss me. Touch me. Fuck me. Need me. Own me.

His restraint snapped, and Sean thought savagely, To hell with control.

He hauled her back to him, and this time it was his mouth consuming hers, his lips forcefully parting hers as his tongue demanded entry into her sweet cavern so he could give them what they both wanted. His kiss was rough and bruising – feral. It would’ve terrified virgins of all ages, or it should have, but not the redheaded goddess in his arms. Not his Isla.

Instead of shying away from him, his sweet witch wrapped her arms around his neck and submitted herself completely to his will. Her lips parted, and her tongue followed his wherever it went. She was a witch made demented by passion, and that was goddamn fine, because she had him unhinged with lust as well.

As his hands rushed all over her body, hers did, too, both of them eager to explore each other’s bodies, which they considered their mutual properties.

His hardness was strange and new to her, and it had her moaning and writhing even as she couldn’t stop stroking whatever muscles she could reach. Sean, you’re so hard. You’re so beautiful. You’re so perfect.

The way she breathed and gasped the words went to his head, and if he had been a beast, he would have howled at the way she made him feel.

“Dammit, Isla.” He found himself actually shaking her. “Don’t you see what you’re doing to me?” He knew he sounded like he was begging, but he didn’t give a fuck. He was a man at the end of his tether, and if she didn’t quit being so damn seductive, he really would lose it.

Unfortunately, his warning seemed completely lost on her, with Isla only laughing at him like a witch begging to be punished. And so he punished her, kissing her harder and biting her shoulder. “Stop being so damn provocative,” he grated out, “or I’ll end up tearing your pussy apart.”

But again, all his words achieved were a smile that was sweet, sly, seductive, a smile that was pure woman. “I can’t wait for that to happen---”

The rest of her words were lost in his kiss.

This time, Sean was really out of control. Passion raged in his blood, and all he could think of was sinking his cock in her pussy. He plumped one breast in his hand and ate it, devouring her nipple and the sweet flesh that supported it. He felt her arch against him, her fingers digging through the locks of his hair as she pushed her breast deeper into his mouth.

And then he bit her nipple, even knowing it would cause as much pain and pleasure, he just had to bite it, but instead of making her push him away, he felt her clutching his head harder.

“Yes.” Her cry was long and exultant. “Oh God, yes.”

Her cries turned him into a madman in her arms, and wrenching his mouth away from her breast, Sean moved farther down her body, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her thighs as he parted her legs. He wasted no time on foreplay but simply pushed his tongue between her folds.

“Seaaaaaan.” Her legs locked around his neck.

His tongue thrust in and out of her pussy.

“Oh God, Sean.” He could feel her shaking body stretching against the silk sheets she had twisted under her fingers.

He continued fucking her with his tongue even as he let go of her bottom to reach for her breasts. His fingers found her nipples, and he pinched them hard.

“SEAN!”

Her body started to convulse, and as soon as her creamy essence flavored his tongue, he pulled back. She cried out in protest, but he ignored this. She would know soon enough that what he had in mind was better –

He positioned himself between her trembling thighs.

So much better.

Sean drove his cock into her pussy and broke past her hymen in one swift, firm stroke.

Isla screamed.

He took hold of her legs, bringing them up to keep them locked around his waist as he began to pump his cock into her body. He was not at all gentle, and it was exactly what they both wanted.

Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.

Her cries bounced around the room, and he quickened his pace, his hips pumping fast, his balls slapping against her pussy.

Oh Gooooooooooood.

The sexy little cries she made from the back of her throat had him shuddering, and the sight of her sweet little butt up in the air, shaking at his every thrust, had him groaning. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” He found himself pummeling into her harder, doing as he promised, hell bent on tearing her pussy apart.

Yeeeeeees.

He felt her reach blindly for his hips, clasping him closer to her as if to beg him to fuck her harder – Sean lost it. “Isla.”

He rammed into her again and again, and even when she cried out in his arms –

Sean!

He still didn’t stop. Even with her convulsing around him as she reached her orgasm, even as powerful shudders racked her body, even as he felt her start to go limp, he still didn’t stop –

Oh my God. Sean. Too much.

Those words were what he had been waiting for, and he hadn’t even known it. They pushed him past the brink, and with a guttural groan he shoved his cock into her as deep as he could one last time.

Sean, oh God, Sean.

She sobbed his name over and over as he spilled his seed into her, and when he was finally spent and lying against the bed, she continued to sob as she crawled on top of him. She fit him perfectly, he thought numbly as he closed his arms about her.

I never knew, Sean. I never knew.

She kept sobbing the words out until her voice faded into whispers and later into silence. He felt her breathing slow down, but his own heart kept trying to smash its way out of his chest.

Sex had never been so damn good with any other woman – never – and as the memories of her cries played in his mind…

I never knew, Sean. I never knew.

Sean stared up at the ceiling and tried not to think why that was.

There wasn’t any point anyway.

Once his father fully recovered, it would be over between them.