The Billionaire’s Bargain Bride

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CENRIC

“Ready?”

“Not sure.” Sadie still looked puzzled. “I really don’t like it if I don’t know where we’re going. What’s with the surprise?”

“Trust me. We won’t ride on a roller coaster.”

“Damn it, Zhuri.” She touched her necklace. She finally got it back. Her friend even told me that Sadie forced her to accept it as collateral.

The elevator slid when we reached the ground floor, where I parked my cars. I had collections from vintage to sports and even customized, but among these, I chose the Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet. If girls loved diamonds, we boys loved our rides.

“Why this one?” she asked out of curiosity as she ran her finger on the sleek gray exterior.

“Because it’s timeless. It reminds me of you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Cheesy.”

“Call it cheesy, but that’s the truth.” I closed the door as soon I stuffed her in.

“It still smells brand new,” she noticed. Of course, it was. The interior was touch-sensitive in finest black and dark gray. I only drove it once. “And those three will just follow us?”

“Yup.” I fastened her seat belt while she was engrossed inspecting the car. “I wanna be alone with you.”

“Sorry. I forgot.”

“It’s okay.” I touched her thigh. She wore a red knee-length dress, ankle boots, and a scarf around her neck. Her hair curled stylishly. She looked fantastic, and I wanted to feast her with my mouth.

“Why are you staring at me?”

“Your eyes remind me of winter.”

She chuckled. “You’re crazy romantic today, Cenric. This morning we had breakfast in bed. Then you painted my toenails. Then after I took a shower, you brushed and blow-dried my hair. Are you okay?”

I leaned down to kiss her even if those three idiots behind us had flashed the headlights. “I’m scared to mess this up. Actually, I’m terrified.”

“So do I. But you are not alone with this. And that’s why it’s called marriage because there’s us to work this out together.”

“Don’t give up on us no matter how terrible my decisions will be,” I said sincerely, and she gaped at my words.

“I won’t. Now drive. We won’t get there unless you start the engine.”

“Maia, start.” The engine roared.

“What the hell? You named your car? I hope it’s not your ex’s.”

“My last girlfriend was in high school. I almost didn’t finish college. Then I didn’t have time to go out there after my enlistment.”

“You joined the Marines.”

“Yes.”

Our trip was smooth. We listened to music. Sadie was chatting with her friend, then occasionally laughed. I wondered if it was something her friend’s text or just memes on social media.

“Care to share it with the class?”

“It’s Zhuri. She’s been dating this guy named Adean for a month now, and he hasn’t—you know.”

“You mean they haven’t slept together.”

“Yeah.”

“Your friend is not serious about this guy.”

She faced me. “Why’d you say that?”

“Zhuri might be just messing around. I didn’t sleep with you on our wedding night, but not because I didn’t want to. It was because I wanted to earn your trust. I wanted to build our relationship with trust. I didn’t want to confuse your feelings with the sex we shared. God knows how many times I thought of us in bed. It was crazy. I couldn’t think straight, but I value you more than my unruly dick. So, if your friend is talking to you about him not initiating sex, she’s just maybe using him. She’s only looking for hookups. Not an expert. Just a guy who hooked up a lot.” I squeezed her knee. “Sorry.”

“Of course, I know you’re not a saint. But are you sure you don’t have kids somewhere?”

I looked at her. Her question was valid. I just didn’t think she would ever ask me. “Do you think I wouldn’t let my kid know me if I have one? My parents raised us right—to be responsible. I didn’t plan on being alone forever. I always dreamed of having a family on my own. Even as a playboy as Cas, he wants someone will take care of him when he grows old.”

“I dated once in college. In high school, I went to girls school—”

“Really?” She surprised me. To be honest, I hadn’t read the full report in that folder.

“Yeah. My father is an asshole. So this guy—”

“Am I gonna wring his neck or thank him?”

“Maybe both. But it was a disaster.”

“Did he force himself on you?”

She laughed out loud. “No. Nothing happened like that. We were making out—”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“Are you sure you wanna continue telling that disaster date?” My voice started to deepen.

She rolled her eyes. “Just listen and stop interrupting me. There was a party of one of the students from my Economics class. We were making out in the car.”

I groaned.

She hit me playfully. “Concentrate on the road, big guy. It happened so fast. One thing I knew, someone had just pulled out my make-out partner from the driver’s seat. Jeez, I won’t ever date a damn mama’s boy again.”

“You won’t date anyone other than me. Period.” I burst out laughing, and she was just staring at me like what was so fun with her terrible dating experience. “Sorry, babe.” I tried to contain my laugh until my eyes went teary. “That was awful.”

We arrived home. The gate slid open.

“Who’s house is this?”

“Us.”

She stared at me as if I talked in a different language.

“I was supposed to bring you here after our honeymoon, but that emergency happened.” I parked the car at the entrance.

I assisted her out of the car. Her eyes wandered in amazement as she looked at the new house.

“I let Dad’s friend design the house. He’s an architecture beast. Shall we?”

She nodded and hadn’t said a word since she stepped out.

“Say something. If you don’t like this, we can just come over every weekend.”

“I don’t know what to say.” She was literally speechless, but her eyes told many things otherwise.

“I’ve seen his work. Linear is his best design. I only told him I wanted something less vibrant but modern neutral with accent colors. For the decors and furniture, I chose some of my own. The interior designers just arranged them to compliment the architecture. Mostly, the walls are floor-to-ceiling glass. It has a pool, gym, and plants at the backyard and front I thought you might like.”

She was just standing there while I was explaining the floor plan of the entire house.

“You prefer a penthouse? Or is this overwhelming, or reminds you of bad—”

Now she surprised me. She just shut me off with a kiss. I wrapped my around her and kissed her back. When we broke the kiss, she smiled.

“I should surprise you more often.”

Her eyes flickered open. “This is incredible. Perfect.”

“So you like it?”

“I thought it was obvious. And that’s our first kiss in this house. Looking forward to more, though.”

“There will be a lot.” I grabbed her hand. “Let’s go up. There’s an elevator that leads to our own space.”

“We have?”

“And the panic room. I hope we don’t have to use it. It’s just part of the insurance.”

“I get it. No need to explain,” she said excitedly.

“There’s a library with two desks.”

“Why two?”

“For us.”

“What else?”

“Five bedrooms.”

“Wow! So are we going to the main bedroom now?”

I smiled as I opened the door and let her in.

“This fits two rooms.” The curtain was drawn to the side, giving a view to the vast backyard, a daybed on the side, two hanging lamps on both sides of the well-made king-sized bed.

“There’s also a conference, entertainment, seven baths, outdoor seating area. I thought you’d like to spend your free time there. Your closet is on that side.” I pointed to the right. “And the left is mine, but there is a secret door that connects to yours.”

She carefully sat on the bed, testing it. She patted the space beside her. “Come here.”

“Let’s christen this bed.” I pushed her to the center and crawled over. My heart began racing as my lips merely an inch into hers, her breath fanning my face. She parted hers as an invitation. Anticipation ran down my spine, and my cock began to harden.