Punishing the Princess Read online

  I couldn’t answer him on that. I liked River a lot but I was beginning to really like Dante a lot, too. And Nat…could I ever really get over him?

  Chapter 3

  Dante

  I almost regret leaving Summer to go take a shower right after I handed her phone to her for River’s call.

  When I came back from the shower, Summer was dressed and ready to go. To her aunt’s house though, not to River’s.

  “I’m sorry,” Summer said. “River said only I can go see him and his grandfather. No one else can go right now, even Lincoln.”

  “Oh, alright,” I said. “I just thought that I could represent the school in seeing River, but you could do it for us, too.”

  “I’m going as River’s girlfriend,” Summer said.

  “What?” I instantly reacted. Summer’s declaration surprised me so much that it caught me off guard.

  “To be able to see River and his grandfather under tight security,” Summer said, “I’m going as River’s girlfriend.”

  “But you’re not really going out with him as his girlfriend,” I asked.

  “Not really,” Summer said.

  “Good,” I said, pulling her to me and kissing her lips. “Because I want to continue what we have. And definitely more.”

  “Dante,” Summer said. “I don’t know if I can have something more with you, too.”

  “What?” I asked, completely surprised. This time, it threw me for a huge loop. No woman has ever refused me.

  “I’m not ready to be serious with anyone,” Summer said. “To be honest.”

  “If I was Nat, you’d be,” I said. It wasn’t planned. Something inside me felt so bitter, so angry.

  “No, no,” Summer said. “That’s not it. I’m just not very experienced and all.”

  I relaxed, bending down to lift her hand and to bring it up to my mouth to kiss. I pulled her into my arms and held her, “I don’t care if you’re experienced or not, Summer,” I whispered into her ear. “I just know I care so much for you.”

  I bent down to kiss her mouth, devouring her like a starving man. This started out as a mission for me, but now I was getting lost in the reality of it all. I was beginning to develop real feelings for her.

  She tasted like sunshine. Her smell was like honeysuckle, jasmine, and all kinds of florals. And when I see her, I have an overwhelming urge to hold her, to touch her, to own her.

  “Summer,” I sighed. “What you do to me.”

  “What is it?” she asked, her beautiful eyes blinking as she searched my face.

  I pulled her closer. “Oh nothing.” I caught myself. Summer had a way of making me feel like anyone else other than Dante Black.

  “You could tell me,” Summer said, reaching up to hold my face between her hands so she could look into my eyes. She smiled. “Your eyes. I love this shade of blue. It’s majestic yet so stormy. Why are your eyes so stormy, Dante?”

  I wished I could tell her, but I couldn’t.

  For the first time in my life since I entered the Inner Circle, I didn’t want to complete my mission.

  Instead of telling her, I clenched my hands into fists.

  “You are so handsome, Dante,” Summer said. “I wonder why you would even be with a girl like me when you’re so worldly, so well-traveled, so…”

  “Stop it, Summer,” I said, shaking her slightly. “Don’t put yourself down just because I didn’t respond to you. You are more beautiful than anyone I’ve ever met. You are beautiful inside and out. I’ve never met anyone like you. You take my breath away. You make me wish I’m not who I am. You make me wish I was a better man.”

  “But you are, Dante,” Summer said.

  If she only knew what I came to her world, her town to do. She should go hide…away from me and everyone else precious to her.

  You are not my son if you do not become a man like me, my father’s words echoed in my mind to me.

  Summer stood up on tip-toes to kiss the tip of my nose. “Cute nose,” she said.

  I had to smile. That simple gesture caught me off guard.

  She was so refreshing. So unpredictable unlike the worldly sophisticated women I’ve slept with.

  I’ve done so many unspeakable things for my father and the Inner Circle over the years, even sleeping with those women. I’ve learned how to have the wildest sex from them. I’ve learned how to pleasure and please a woman from them. But I’ve never learned what it was like to be in love with a woman.

  Looking at Summer, with my head in a cloud, I wished I had never been born as my father’s son. A Black of Black Biotechnologies.

  Summer’s stomach rumbled, and she turned red. “Oh, I’m so embarrassed.”

  I laughed. “Don’t be. It’s your way of telling me you’re starved. How about I fix you something before dropping you off at your place?”

  “Okay,” she said. “Come on. I’ll help you.” She led the way into the kitchen like she had been there so many times. She had…when Nat lived in this house.

  Somehow the idea of her being in Nat’s house with Nat made me feel like I wanted to punch someone. Nat.

  I didn’t like it at all…this obsession Summer had with him. This hold he had over Summer, and why she couldn’t fully let go to be with anyone else.

  Fuck Nat and fuck that Summer loved him so much.

  “Aww,” I needed to go get out of this room with Summer. I needed to go into the room that I turned into a gym and punch some bags. “I’m sorry about this Summer, but I have to go…”

  “That’s okay,” Summer said. “I know where the refrigerator is. I’ve been here so often it’s like a second home. I’ll make something from the fridge.”

  “Sure.” I had to go now. She had been to Nat’s house so often it was like a second home? What exactly went on between them?

  I walked into my office at home, sat down and looked up Nat Donovan.

  There he was. The Golden Boy. Tall, model handsome, winning smile, and credentials that could open any doors.

  Location: Unknown

  Fuck, he was smarter than I had pinned him.

  Now I know for sure that Summer Jones loved him, but did he loved her? Did she mean more to him than just a childhood friend?

  Two months since he disappeared off the grid, and he had not made contact with Summer or her aunt. The Donovan boy genius was good.

  With a girl like Summer fully in love with him, and he couldn’t feel anything back for her…he must be more cold-hearted than me or he must have been castrated.

  Because how could any man resist her?

  I couldn’t, and I thought I had a heart made of tar.

  Turned out, Golden Boy Nat Donovan was colder than me.

  Chapter 4

  Summer

  River was right about how high security it was just to get to visit his grandfather’s place of recovery.

  I couldn’t even begin to trace back to where we started…back when River drove us out of Malibu to a small airport hangar, where I was blindfolded by Max Millions’ men, not by River, who drove us somewhere I suspected to be out in the desert, before flying us on a helicopter. Then driven in a vehicle before finally stopping at some location where I was finally allowed to see.

  River took off the blindfold himself, but whispered into my ear how sexy it was to see me wearing one. Max Millions’ minions were gone so it was just River and me, walking down this futuristic neon-lit tunnel.

  “Did you take me to space or something?” I asked.

  River laughed. “No not quite.”

  We passed a room, and I glanced in. Modern contemporary furniture in a pristine clean room. Sleek lines with smooth edges filled with neon lighting.

  “Could have fooled me,” I said. “This looks like the Jetsons gone fashionable. What year are we in?”

  River laughed again. “Beautiful yet so funny. That’s why I couldn’t help falling in love with you.” He turned and pulled me into the room, closing the door.

  Immediately he had
pushed me against the door, his hands sliding into my hand palm to palm as he held my arms up over my head. “Um, what do you have in mind?” I asked. “Do I need to strip searched to go further down the tunnel?”

  “Yes,” River growled. “Thoroughly.”

  His mouth crashed onto mine, as his tongue delved into my mouth. “I missed this,” River growled. “I missed kissing your luscious lips. I miss tasting your tongue and your mouth. I miss all of you.”

  “I missed you too,” I said, kissing him back.

  Within seconds we were on the bed, and he had pulled my dress up, my panties down, and had settled into his favorite position…his head between my legs and his mouth on my core, devouring me while I moan, grabbing his hair. “I can’t get enough of your cunt against my tongue.” His tongue slowly licked me, twirling on the tip of my clit before he bit me, sending me into shuddering ecstasy.

  He kissed his way up to take my nipple into his mouth to suck on it. His other hand pinched my other nipple, making me cry out in pleasure, which he silenced by kissing my mouth with his.

  “I wished I can take off every piece of clothing of yours, Summer, and take of all of mine so we’re lying naked together. I want to feel your skin against mine before taking you,” River said.

  “So why don’t you?” I asked.

  “You want to?” River asked.

  “What do you think?”

  “Summer…I want to but I want to respect you too, having lost your trust before, and…”

  “River,” I pulled him to me. I took off my dress and was standing naked before him.

  His eyes were glued to me. “Holy mama,” he said. He undressed quickly, then he lifted me to place me on top of his body. It felt so good being completely naked skin to skin with each other.

  He groaned as my core settled against his rock hard dick. Before straddling him, he flipped me over to be on top of me. “I want to savor every single second with you,” he said. He continued kissing every inch of me while his fingers rubbed my core until I cried out.

  “I want you to come, too,” I said, pumping him. I kissed his tip and continued pumping him until his eyes closed and he came on to my stomach.

  “Summer,” he groaned. “That was so good.”

  “Come with me,” I said, leading him to the large bathroom with a high-tech shower. “Let’s play with these buttons.”

  “I like playing with your buttons, Summer,” River said, his body pushing me flat against the shower walls as he rubbed against me.

  His mouth was on my nipples, sucking me, while he lifted one of my legs up over his shoulders. He rubbed against me, edging in slowly but now fully. “So fucking tight,” he said, shuddering. “I want you so bad, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

  He turned on the showers, and began washing me, using his fingers to try to get me to relax.

  I was so relax when River began to ease in.

  “Oh my God,” I cried out, as I felt an incredible pleasure, mixed with pain.

  “I’m hurting you, Summer,” River said. “I’ll stop.” He pulled out, but with his fingers, he continued to plunge into me, pushing me to climax.

  I collapsed into his arms as he held me up and kissed me over and over again.

  When I opened my eyes, I was wrapped in a fluffy white bathrobe with River by my side on the bed.

  “Oh River, we completely forgot to see your grandfather. We got carried away and…”

  River smiled. “It’s okay. He was told we would see him tomorrow morning. It’s fine to be exhausted after all that traveling to get here.”

  “We’re staying overnight here?” I asked. “I didn’t know that. I thought it was close enough for me to see him and then go home.”

  “Do you have to go home right away?” River asked.

  “No, just that I wasn’t expecting to spend more than a day.”

  “Well, this is your room while you’re here,” River said.

  “And my room is down the hall further.”

  “Where are we? Some kind of hotel?” I asked.

  River smiled. “You might say that. We’re at a wellness resort my grandfather owns as part of his company.”

  “That’s right, Max Millions owns resorts and spas too, dedicated to wellness and good health.”

  “You’ve been studying up on my company,” River said. “Wanting to see how much Max Millions’ companies are worth when you marry me?”

  “River, that’s so…marry you?”

  “You’re my girlfriend now, but when we graduate from Hidden Falls, we can get married so we can be together even when we go to college together.”

  “I can’t even think about that yet,” I said.

  River picked up a strand of my hair and said, “I already know how I feel about you.”

  I looked at his handsome face, smiling with pride. It was the happiest I’ve seen River. “I know,” I said, taking his hands. “You don’t have to tell me how you feel because you have shown me by action.”

  “There is no one else that I want to be with,” River rubbed his cheeks against mine. He kissed me. “No one.”

  “River…we’re still only in high school, and…”

  “I know we’re young,” River said, “but my mother had me when she was 19. And I don’t have anyone else except my grandfather for family. I’ll be running Max Millions Enterprises in the future, so that would be set for me. As far as family…” he reach out to hold my hand. “I want to start one of my own someday.”

  “You’re so mature and confident,” I said. “You know where you’re going and what you want already. I’m just trying to finish high school.”

  “You can do all that…finish high school but also plan out your future. I’m always planning and making goals,” River said. “It’s one thing my grandfather instilled in me since telling me that I would run his companies one day.”

  “You’re amazing,” I said.

  River turned me to face away from him as he spooned me in bed. “I’m not. Not compare to you. I had everything handed to me, and I’m known just for being the heir to my grandfather’s empire. I didn’t build the empire myself.”

  He began massaging my back, as I fell asleep.

  Chapter 5

  Summer

  I felt like I was going to explode. Someone was pounding into me, slapping flesh against flesh, in a frenzy.

  “Don’t stop!” I commanded. “Don’t you dare stop.”

  “I won’t. I’ve been waiting so long for this. Years!”

  Nat.

  He was fully naked, all muscular glisten and toned deliciousness.

  His ginormous dick was in me, thrusting in and out until I finally climaxed.

  He groaned and climax into me before falling on top of me.

  “Summer, I love you so much. That’s why I stayed away from you. I don’t want you to get hurt. Being with a guy like me, you will get hurt, and…”

  “Nat!” I cried out. “Why do you try to sabotage our relationship even before it begins? Why don’t you want to be with me? Why?”

  “You need to eat,” Nat said. “Your stomach’s grumbling too much, it’s like an orchestra in there.”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  I felt a kiss on my nose. “Wake up, Beautiful!”

  “Nat?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

  “Nat?” a familiar voice asked in disbelief. “You were dreaming about Nat? That’s why you were moaning in your sleep?”

  “Oh my God… River? Where am I?” I asked.

  “At a top secret location,” River reminded me.

  “Now I remembered,” I said.

  “It’s time to get up, Sleeping Beauty,” River said. “Grandfather’s expecting us to join him for breakfast.”

  “He’s much better that he could have breakfast with us?” I asked.

  “He’s still recovering,” River said.

  “That’s good news!” I said, getting up. “Now where’s my dress?”

  “Oh y
our dress…it’s being washed. It got a bit crumpled up during our activities last night.” He smiled.

  “Our activities?” I smiled.

  “Our rough and tumble fucking hot activities,” River growled, pulling me to him to kiss me passionately. “I could go for another round, but we have to get going.”

  I looked at him, taking him all in. He was strikingly hot in black jeans, a black button down shirt and a diamond earring in one of his ears. “You look like a rock star, River.”

  He reached down to put his hand on my butt underneath my bathrobe. “Oh you have the most perfect sexy butt, Summer.” His hand circled my butt. “I need to get to know this area of yours much better next time.”

  “Uh huh, River. Now can you help me find what to wear?”

  River walked over to the walk-in closet and swung the door opened. “Take your pick,” River said.

  I walked in and was blown away with the variety of pretty designer dresses, blouses, t-shirts, and jeans in the closet.

  “They’re all my size, too,” I exclaimed.

  River grinned. “I’m glad you seem to like them.”

  “River,” I jumped up into his arms. “I love them. You are so thoughtful!”

  “When you said you’ll be coming for a visit,” River said. “I wanted to make sure you had everything you’d need for your stay.”

  “How do you know my size?” I asked.

  “I took one of your dresses, blouses, jeans and t-shirts from your room the last time I was at your place,” River said. He looked proud. “Are you impressed?”

  “Yes, very impressed,” I said.

  “All you have to do is choose one to wear to meet Grandpa for breakfast.”

  “Would you choose one for me?” I asked. “I don’t know what would make the best first impression for your grandfather.”

  River walked into the closet and said, “Sweet, pretty, innocent, smart…” he pulled out a yellow flowers on white ruffle dress.

  “Cheerful,” I said. “Good choice. Happy colors can help with the recovery.”

  “You can help with the recovery, Summer,” River said. “You always know what to say. Grandpa will just love you.”

  I dropped my bathrobe to the floor in front of River.