The Devil's Angel Read online

  “You are going to be the death of me,” he said as he kissed her forehead. Yvan lay at her side and pulled her into him. “Now go to sleep, my love. You’re going to need your strength for tomorrow, and the day after that and the day after that…”

  “Every night, Yvan?”

  “Every single day, regardless of what time it is.”

  “Thank you.”

  “No, thank you. You make me the happiest man in the world.”

  Chapter 10

  Rae watched Yvan from under heavy lids as he moved about their bedroom. It had been two weeks since the attack, and two weeks of untold pleasure. He couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her, and Rae couldn’t be sated. She wanted him to touch her, to make her writhe in pleasure all the time. But she still felt like she wasn’t getting the full experience. Yvan had yet to make love to her the way she wanted him to. She had already healed and the bruises were slowly disappearing. Rae wanted to feel him on top of her, inside her, but Yvan always told her to wait.

  They were in Spain and had been there for the better part of two weeks. Yvan had given her the tour and shown her where he grew up. The castle was amazing, but Rae couldn’t bring herself to stay there for more than a night. She was sure she could hear the voices of his ancestors in the corridors, but Yvan always told her that it was the wind.

  Now they were at a house he had bought for her. It was larger than anything she had ever seen and too big for the two of them. It was one of her arguments for making love—children would fill the empty rooms at both the house in Madrid and in Los Angeles. Yvan always said the same thing. “Be patient, my love.” She was sick and tired of being patient.

  Rae was glad she was confident about being sexual, but there was a fear that occupied the back of her mind. She didn’t want to be like Rubi…she didn’t want to behave like her twin sister. That same fear was what told her she should be more aggressive in bed, not just for her own fulfillment, but so Yvan didn’t regret marrying her and not her sister.

  However, Yvan always seemed to know what she was thinking. When that fear pulled her in he would say, “It’s only you, mi angelita. No other woman has made me feel the way you do. You drive me wild, insane with hunger for you. Te amo.” She had a feeling that he would keep reminding her until the day he dispelled all the fear and doubt inside her.

  Rae sat up, and the satin sheet gathered around her waist. She quickly picked it up and covered her breasts. She was still shy. That hadn’t changed. She looked back to see if Yvan had seen her. It seemed he had. He leaned against the balcony door, his chiseled chest bare and his flannel trousers hanging low on his waist, and grinned at her. He sipped his coffee, his eyes never leaving her.

  Rae sucked in her cheeks as she felt her face heat as it always did when she was embarrassed. She fixed her prosthetic leg, one of many Yvan had specially made for her, and stood up. She dragged the bedsheet with her to the bathroom. Before closing the door, she turned around to face Yvan and stuck her tongue out. He threw his head back and let out a bark of laughter. Rae watched him for a couple of seconds, never tiring of seeing that look of pure happiness on his face.

  * * * *

  “You are the love of my life, Rae,” Yvan whispered as his hand lay on his heart. Every single morning he woke up, he was amazed at the new ways he loved her and how much his love for her kept building. It was like he was laying bricks, one after the other, making the wall more fortified.

  Yvan knew he was driving Rae crazy by holding back on the love making. He was planning a wedding. He never knew how hard it was getting it all together. He had relinquished their earlier wedding to a planner. But he wanted to plan this all by himself and make it perfect, just for her. They were going to have the ceremony on a private island he had spent two weeks acquiring for her, Isle Angelina. Rae was bound to flip out, because she didn’t like it when he spent excessively on her. But he had an empire worth billions, and the value grew each day. If he didn’t spend his money on her, who would he spend it on?

  Today was her birthday, but she didn’t think he knew. It just told him that they still had so much to learn about each other. He was going to fly her out to her private island, just off the Spanish coast. He already had a priest, a band, a florist, and a caterer waiting for them. They were making sure that everything was as perfect as he had left it the day before.

  He hated lying to Rae, but one white lie that kept him away for five hours, just to stage their wedding, didn’t seem so bad. White lies, those were the only lies he was allowed to tell. That only involved hiding her gifts from her, surprising her with romantic dinners and picnics. Yvan considered his lying tongue of his past life. A life he was never going back to.

  “Hurry up, or I’m going to leave without you.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Somewhere special.”

  Rae opened the door and peeked out. “That’s not really an answer, because anywhere I go with you is special.”

  She disappeared behind the bathroom door, and oddly enough, Yvan felt a sense of loss not having her within view. He knew she was just on the other side of the door, but his heart wasn’t being rational. Rae had been separated from him. He rested his hand over his chest and said, “Be still, my heart. I’ll fix this irrational sense of loss in just a second.”

  Yvan pulled his clothes off as if they were on fire and licking his flesh. He ran into the bathroom and came to an abrupt halt at what he saw before him.

  Beautiful. His lips whispered the word. Nothing was as truthful as what he felt at that moment. He watched as Rae’s caramel body was caressed by millions of tiny droplets of water, making her gleam, the steam creating a fantastical cloud around her. She looked so unreal. His eyes caressed her body from head to toe, every inch of her making his groin pulse in need. He looked at her foot and he couldn’t help but smile. She was perfectly whole and normal to him. This body was what he knew to the point that whenever he saw a woman with both her legs, he felt like something was wrong with them.

  “Yvan, mi amor.”

  The sound of her sweet voice pulled him out of his thoughts. His eyes lifted to meet hers, and immediately he saw the intention in them. She let her lashes fall half-mast and licked her bottom lip. It was a brazen transformation, from a timid dove to a woman who wasn’t afraid to show her sexuality and claim what she wanted from her husband. As usual, Yvan was only too happy to oblige.

  “I missed you,” he said.

  “You did?” Rae’s blush was full hue, tinting her face with a lovely shade of rose-crimson.

  Although it annoyed him that she always seemed surprised that he loved her, it still kept innocence and honesty in their relationship. “I did. I would like to join you.”

  “Why don’t you?”

  Yvan let out a low rumble of laughter. “Because you drive me crazy. Because I love you and find it hard to deny you anything. If I join you in that shower, we won’t be able to leave in time.”

  “I promise to behave.”

  “Okay.” Yvan stepped into the shower but stood away from her. “I might kiss you, I might touch you, and I might make you come, but we are leaving this shower in the next ten minutes.”

  “Well then, Mr. D’Alessandro, you better get on your knees, because I would really like to come.”

  * * * *

  Rae looked out the window as the jet flew low over the turquoise ocean and brilliant green islands. She couldn’t believe how beautiful nature was. The reflection of the sun’s rays shining against the water was like little diamonds bouncing on the waves. She turned to look at Yvan as his thumb rubbed with affection against her hand.

  “You like the view?”

  “I love it.” Rae bit into her cheeks, afraid that her excited smile was now turning goofy. “You haven’t told me where we’re going yet.”

  “Because it’s a surprise, you goofball,” Yvan teased. “You’re going to love it, I guarantee that.”

  “I loved what you did to me in the shower
this morning.” Rae bit her bottom lip. As soon as the words came out, she regretted them. Yvan didn’t need a reminder of Rubi, and with as wanton as she was becoming, she was afraid Yvan wouldn’t know the difference between them anymore.

  “What just happened?”

  Rae looked away and stared at the clouds. She didn’t fight him when his hand slid under her chin and turned her eyes to his.

  “Tell me.”

  It was an order, not a request. Rae had come to recognize these things about him. There were times he would ask, but other times when the tone of his voice told her he wasn’t giving her a choice.

  “I don’t want you to think I’m just like Rubi,” Rae said quickly under her breath, the words tumbling over each other.

  Yvan’s brow rose in reprimand, and his mouth hardened as a familiar tic jerked his chin. He looked away, and Rae knew it was to hide his anger from her. When he looked back she only saw concern in his gaze.

  “I don’t want you thinking about her, ever. I don’t mind you being so sexual, it only makes me more confident. It’s actually doing my ego some good.” A shadow of a smile formed on his lips. Yvan’s hand slid to cup her jaw then lower to caress her breast. Rae let out a hiss of desire when she felt his warmth through her cotton dress. “It’s a good thing you want me so much, because I want you even more. I love making love to you, feeling your body hum beneath my touch. I love how your body lifts off the bed and how you buck against my mouth when I taste you. I have never felt this ravenous before. Sometimes I feel like I’m going to scare you away, because all I want to do is consume you. That is why, on this trip, we are going to spend most of our time outside the bedroom rather than inside.”

  Rae pouted. Yvan had gotten her so hot under the collar only to tell her that they weren’t going to make love once they arrived. “Why?”

  “I know that you and I know everything there is to know about each other. Cyber-dating for eight months, not being able to touch each other, helped.” He chuckled. “However, my love, you need to learn how not to be with me twenty-four hours a day. I’m going back to work soon, and I want you to find a project you would like to do.”

  “I work at the orphanage.”

  “Wouldn’t you like to do something more for them?”

  “Of course I would. I just don’t know how.”

  “You just haven’t figured it out yet. My money is your money. Don’t be afraid to use it, I’ll just make more for us.”

  Rae nodded. In her mind she could already see all the changes she could make at the orphanage. She felt a bubble of excitement well up in her chest. She could improve the boarding rooms, repair the old structure, and offer the volunteers some kind of wages to help with their personal needs.

  “Thank you.”

  “I love you. By now you should realize I would do anything for you.”

  “Anything?” Rae could feel the mischief take over. “But you said we wouldn’t be making love when we arrived.”

  Yvan chuckled. He pushed a button that buzzed the cockpit and gave an order for them not to be disturbed. He reclined her chair as far back as it would go. Rae found herself grabbing hold of the arms of her seat. Yvan knelt between her knees and slowly eased her dress up to her thighs. Rae could already feel her body tremble, a telltale sign that her climax was building up.

  “Honey, I’m not a martyr, and I’m definitely not crazy. I was simply suggesting a change of scenery. That way we could both see the view and keep busy trying to make a baby.”

  Rae sat up at the mention of a baby. Tears burnt her eyes and she let them fall. She could almost see their son with his father’s brown eyes and her dark hue. He was going to be perfect. She was just about to start thinking of baby names when Yvan’s large hand pushed her back.

  “I want a baby with you, Rae. But right now I want to taste you. I can smell the sweet scent of your need.”

  Rae arched off the chair when Yvan hooked his fingers in the band of her panties and pulled. She almost jumped off the chair when Yvan’s finger tickled her clit.

  “Ten minutes to landing, sir,” a voice said over the intercom.

  “Oh no!” Rae’s hand covered her mouth too late. It wasn’t her intention to sound so disappointed.

  A grin tilted the corners of Yvan’s lips as he raised his eyebrows in suggestion. The amusement was soon replaced by a dark gaze. Rae didn’t get a warning. Yvan lifted her thighs off the seat and buried his face into her center. When she didn’t feel the warm swipes of his tongue, she knew her panties were still on. Rae tried to push him back and climb off the chair when he took her clit between his teeth and started teasing her. With the friction of the fabric, the sensation his teeth created, and the warmth of his mouth she didn’t have any control of her body. She grabbed hold of the chair as her climax crashed into her. She felt like she was falling. Her body vibrated in satisfaction.

  The seatbelt sign blinked and Yvan got back in his seat. He fastened her seatbelt as well as his. Rae was loopy as her body melted into the leather. She ground her ass in the chair as the last embers of her orgasm still tickled her clit. Yvan seemed to have noticed. He forced her legs apart and rubbed two fingers against her clit. Rae could feel her body come back to life.

  “Please. Please,” she begged.

  Yvan’s wrist circled quicker as his fingers moved feverishly. “There we go,” he mumbled when she came once more.

  This time his fingers didn’t leave her until her pussy stopped clenching. Rae panted, her head falling on his shoulder. She watched as Yvan righted her dress. When she looked out the window she saw that they were already on the ground.

  “Are you ready, or do you need a minute?” he asked.

  “I need an hour. You might have to carry me.”

  “My pleasure.” Yvan undid the seatbelts, lifted her into his arms, and carried her out of the jet and into a truck waiting for them.

  Chapter 11

  Rae had spent the fifteen-minute drive to the villa asleep. Her body needed to recuperate. When they arrived, she was confused by the flurry of activities going on around her. There weren’t more than ten people in the house but they each zoomed past her. It was like a beehive.

  “Come with me, senora,” an older looking woman commanded her in Spanish.

  Rae didn’t get the chance to say no. She was pulled out of Yvan’s grasp and herded up the stairs. The woman took her to the bathroom and held her hands out. “Your clothes.”

  “You’re crazy.” Rae didn’t mean to insult her, but only one person had seen her naked—Yvan. She wasn’t about to take her clothes off for someone else.

  Rae shooed the woman out. She looked around the bathroom, which was probably bigger than most people’s houses. She saw the bubble-bath with floating rose petals. It was a beautiful gesture but one she could not use. She would need help to get in and out of the tub and she wasn’t about to accept it from the old woman. Rae shed her clothes and went into the shower.

  Rae had barely spent five minutes in the shower when the woman barged into the bathroom and held out a towel for her. Rae had never felt so frustrated. But the shock on the woman’s face when she realized Rae only had one leg was priceless. Rae let out a bark of laughter, and after a few seconds the woman dropped her frown and smiled back at her.

  “It’s okay.”

  That was when it hit her. She didn’t have her leg on and there was someone there with her. And instead of cringing away or crying, she was laughing. She could only thank Yvan for this newfound confidence.

  * * * *

  Rae felt sore. She had been pulled, plucked, and powdered. She hadn’t seen Yvan in over two hours. She needed him to rescue her from this gang of cosmetic witches. Looking into the mirror, she saw someone who wasn’t her. She saw Rubi. The makeup was too much, her hair was too curly, and the dress looked too provocative. Rae wanted to cry, but she fought the tears. Was this what Yvan had instructed them to do, told them how he wanted her to look like? So many times he had told Rae th
at he loved her and not Rubi. But when she looked into the mirror she saw Rubi. It was just that Rae’s hair was much longer than her twin sister.

  Stiffening her spine and plastering on a fake smile, Rae walked out of the room. She didn’t look around her, just ahead. And when she saw Yvan only disappointment consumed her, not love. Yvan was smiling, but it didn’t last long. He leaped onto the stairs, taking them three at a time. When he reached her, he threw her over his shoulder and took her back to the room.

  “I don’t understand, Rae,” Yvan said as he paced back and forth. He made a sweeping motion with his hand and said, “If this is what you want, of course I will give it to you. But I want to say my vows to my Rae not a Rubi look-alike.”

  “But it was you who told them to make me look like this.” She grabbed her dress as she yelled. “I hate this dress, I want my hair braided, and I don’t want to wear this much makeup. Wait...what do you mean vows?”

  Yvan knelt before her with a weak smile on his lips. “Our wedding got interrupted. I thought that maybe we could get a do-over. But just with us and the priest.”

  “Really?” The anger had dissipated and happiness took over. “So you didn’t tell them to make me look like her?”

  “Never.”

  Rae ran her fingers through his thick, wavy hair. Relief swept through her body. “I don’t want to look like this, and I want my dress. I know Rubi wore it, but that is my dream dress.”

  “Okay, it’s in the closet.”

  “What about the makeup?”

  “Why didn’t you tell them to stop?”

  “I didn’t know how to. I didn’t want to seem rude.”

  “You are the mistress of this house. You need to learn how to run a household and command the people who work for you. Unfortunately, bossing people about is something you have to do as a D’Alessandro. There are thousands of people who work for us. Come, I want you to try. Start with the makeup people.”