Wild Billionaire Romance - Chapter 40: Chapter 40

MARAT
I slipped out of bed a couple of hours ago, leaving Destiny asleep while I used the private gym on the penthouse floor.
After my workout, I showered in one of the other bathrooms and donned a pair of joggers before meeting the hotel concierge with double my standing breakfast order. He’d also brought a selection of clothes, shoes, and other items I ordered from the hotel shops for Destiny.
My wife.
The word filled me with inimitable pride. I rubbed the hollow spot over my heart, wondering at the surge of emotion I was feeling. It had been a very long time since that particular organ got any sort of exercise.
What is the woman doing to me?
I had no idea, but I liked it. I wanted more of it. More of the new, different, real things I was feeling.
“Good morning, sir.” The concierge interrupted my train of thought, and I frowned at him.
“Is everything good, sir?”
“Yes, but I don’t want anyone coming inside the suite without me present. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir. Apologies. I thought you meant the bedroom was off limits.”
“I meant everywhere,” I growled.
There was no way in hell I was letting anyone inside the suite with my Dumplin’ still asleep and vulnerable. Especially not while I was otherwise occupied.
I already took a risk using the gym, but I had no choice. I woke up still amped and ready. But she was exhausted, and she needed to sleep. Especially for what waited for her today.
The workout helped get rid of some of my energy, but I was still fired up. Just thinking of Destiny lying in bed, her soft, sweet body all relaxed and warm from sleep had my cock thumping inside my boxers.
And here I thought I wouldn’t go at her like a rutting beast today.
Yeah. Right. I had hoped she’d remain in bed while I was gone. Truthfully, I didn’t know what I would have done if she’d tried to leave.
That wasn’t exactly true. I know what I would have done. I’d have stopped her. And if by some miracle she got away, I would have tracked her sweet ass down.
Not that she could get far. Unless she wanted to go naked.
I’d already gotten rid of that pitiful excuse for a uniform. It made me angry just thinking about her wearing that fucking corset with the under wire digging into her soft flesh.
Ferragamo was a fucking pig for making his servers dress that way. I’d already set the ball in motion to buy out the club and set up new management. He wouldn’t know it was me. Not yet anyway. But it was the least I could fucking do.
But back to my unwitting wife. Unless she didn’t mind being butt ass naked, my sweet Dumplin’ stayed right where she was. Where she belonged. In my bed.
The thought of her trying to leave me filled me with a myriad of emotions from anger to hurt and I was not ready to delve into that fucking mess. I frowned and hurried my pace.
Luckily for both of us, since I had no idea exactly how unhinged I was regarding this woman, the sounds of her in the shower told me she was still in the suite.
Thank fuck.
“Will you be needing anything else, Mr. Volkov?”
The concierge—Bradley, according to his nametag—offered me a slight bow.
“No. Did you get everything I asked for?”
“Yes, sir. Would you like me to arrange the articles in the closet?”
The closet was in the bedroom. That was a hard fucking no, Bradley. Of course, I did not want the greasy fucker in there.
“No,” I growled, taking the shopping bags from him myself. “I’ll do it. Leave. Now.”
The asshole was probably looking to get a name to sell to some tabloid. It wasn’t the first time the face of Volkov Industries had company in Vegas.
But every fucking time I did, the vultures circled, looking for carrion to feed their frenzied hunger for gossip. Fucking paparazzi.
“Yes, sir,” the man said, taking way too long to walk his skinny ass to the elevator.
I waited for Bradley to leave, sending a fast text to Josef to check the man out. I trusted in the hotel to do background checks on employees, but I had a different standard.
The fact my brother and I owned a significant percentage of the place meant the general manager would do what he was told, but I would not have Bradley fired until I ran my own check.
I did not like fucking with people’s lives unless necessary. But if it was necessary, if Bradley was trying to sell information about me to the press, then I’d rip his life apart with my bare fucking hands.
I walked to the bedroom, placing the shopping bags on the chaise lounge that sat against the wall when you entered. I sat at the foot of the bed and waited. It didn’t take her long. Just a few minutes. But when she opened the door, all the air left my lungs.
Goddamn, she was so fucking pretty.
Standing there with her dark, damp hair around her shoulders, all wrapped up in a soft robe without a single drop of makeup—I’d never seen a more beautiful woman.
She was stunning. And she was mine.
“Good morning, Wife.”
Her smile faltered. She almost tripped walking across the carpeted floor towards me and I frowned, reaching out to steady her with sure hands.
“First Dumplin’ now Wife. You got a thing for nicknames or something?” she remarked, looking at me like I was nuts.
“Not a nickname. You signed the marriage license last night, Josef and Stan, one of my guards, heard you say I do. We can write vows to each other later, but that would be just for us,” I said and shrugged, wondering for a moment what vows she would write for me.
“Wait what?” she asked, her voice going high at the end.
“You’re my wife. We’re married. Congratulations.”
“Be serious.”
“I am serious,” I said, watching her closely to gauge her reaction.
Confusion. Disbelief. Shock.
But somewhere in there I saw something else. Somewhere in there I saw pleasure. And it was enough to give me hope.
“Okay, I need you to slow down. Take a breath. Now, what are you saying?” she asked.
“Would you like a diamond or some other kind of stone for your wedding band? I was thinking sapphires to match your pretty eyes, Dumplin’.”
I ignored her sputtering. Her gasp of outrage. The way she tried to shy from my touch. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to hurt my feelings.
“Marat, we can’t be married. That-that’s crazy.”
“It’s not crazy. It’s fact,” I said, handing her a copy of the marriage license, which I’d already had sent to the proper authorities.
“You. Are. My. Wife. Marianna Destiny Valdez now Volkov.”
I let that settle before I continued, watching her shocked face for any sign she might pass out or throw something at me.
I’d been hoping for a different reaction, but stunned silence was fine for now. She’d have plenty of time to make it up to me later.
“I had the concierge deliver some clothes from the boutique downstairs. I hope you don’t mind, I selected them for you,” I explained.
I did not tell her how I’d obsessed over the color and texture of each object. How I’d envisioned her in blue silk dresses with nothing but sheer panties beneath.
Thump.
I cleared my throat.
“Anyway, it will hold you over until we have time to do some real shopping. Oh, and your license and passport with your new last name are being printed now. They will arrive before we go back to New York.”
“New York?”
“Yes, it’s where we live.”
“No, I live in Vegas.”
“You lived in Vegas. Past tense, Dumplin’. You’ll get dressed, then we’ll discuss terms.”
“Terms?” She raised her eyebrows, shock widening her blue orbs until they practically drowned out the rest of her face.
Goddamn.
She was so pretty. Like a Disney princess when she looked like that.
Well, a Disney princess with a pinup model body and fuck me mouth. I opened one of the bags, grabbing the first aid ointment I’d ordered.
“Come here.”
It was an order, not a request, and I was pleased when she shuffled forward. I unscrewed the top of the tube, focusing on the task at hand and not on the fact I’d just forced this woman into marriage.
“Open your robe, Dumplin’.”
Heat flared in her gaze. She tried to hide it, but it was too late. I saw, and I was not unaffected.
Thump. Thump.
I bit back my groan as she obeyed my order, untying the knot at her waist. I wanted nothing more than to fulfill the need I saw sizzling in her sky blue eyes.
But we had things to talk about. So, I resigned myself to being content with just that one thing. I squeezed a drop of antibacterial ointment onto my fingertip and ran my gaze over her delicious body.
Her skin was pink and warm, flushed from the shower. She was beautiful. Breathtaking. So goddamn tempting.
“Come here, Dumplin’. That’s it. Poor, Baby,” I murmured, my voice sounding like I swallowed a mouthful of gravel.
I lifted her plump breast, revealing the angry red mark caused by the under wire from her corset last night. I frowned. The bruise was already there, but I suddenly wished I’d burned the fucking thing that caused it.
I did not want to hurt her, but I had no choice but to run my fingertip over her marred skin. Destiny gasped.
Her eyes were huge in her face as she watched me tend to her. It was a level of intimacy I’d never known. It made me feel useful, needed.
That was heady. That was new.
I’d been wanted. Desired. Craved by many. But needed? That was something out of my realm of experience.
She needed me to take care of her. This was a woman I’d known for less than a day, but I’d spent the better part of last night going through her purse. Unlocking her phone. Hunting for any bit of information I could find.
Sure, it might be unsavory. But I really had no choice. I was keeping her. And I needed to know everything I could.
Lines had been crossed, but it was too late now. This was unfamiliar territory for me, and it made me so damn excited. I stroked her skin, loving how she submitted to me, allowing me to tend to her.
My cock was so damn hard, but I wasn’t going to fuck her again. Not yet.
“Better?” I whispered.
My careful ministrations took a turn as I ran my fingers down her sides, to her hips, pulling her closer to me. She was so soft. So different from the women I usually took to bed.
They were all hard lines and angles. But my Dumplin’? She was all rounded curves and sweet temptations.
My mouth watered for her.
“Yes. It’s better,” she whispered.
“Good. I have breakfast if you’re hungry.”
“Just coffee for me in the morning,” she replied.
“Cream?”
“Yes, please.”
“I’ll bring it to you. Now get dressed,” I repeated, allowing myself one plucking kiss on her lips before putting her gently away from me.