Chapter 23 - Leon

Natalie kneels in the sand, her black bikini leaving little to be desired. She builds the sandcastle higher and grins. She looks back at me with sand-covered hands.

"Are you sure you don't want to build a sandcastle with me? You know you should start practicing. Live a little. Maybe act like a child for the first time in your life."

Her teasing tone has me wishing the baby were here already so I could toss her ass over my shoulder and drag her into the ocean.

She would have it coming after the way she's spent most of the morning teasing me. It's been a welcome relief after the heaviness that sat between us last night.

I still don't know why I opened up to her the way I did. I kept everything that had happened in the last fifteen years to myself. I didn't want to tell her that her father was the man who murdered my brother.

The last thing Natalie needed was to destroy her life more than it already was.

And then I went on and told her that her father had started the war between us. I wish I could go back to last night and not tell her that. I should have come up with another reason for Pavel's death, but I couldn't think of one at the time.

I didn't want to keep lying to her, either.

The only way we can build a relationship where she trusts me is to tell her the truth, even if it will be hard for her to hear it.

If she wants to survive in this world, she needs to know how brutal and ruthless it can be.

Natalie wiggles her fingers at me. "Come on. Have some fun."

"Not going to happen." I turn another page in my book, but I can't focus on it at all as she bends over and sticks her ass in the air.

It wouldn't take much to slide the material to the side and enter her in one thrust. I'm sure she's already soaking wet; her pussy is calling out to me like a siren song.

Natalie turns around and crawls over to me on her hands and knees. "You look like you could do with a bit of fun. I could bury you in the sand. Maybe make you look like a mermaid."

"You know, there's a problem with mermaids," I say in a husky tone as she straddles me and rubs her core against my hard length.

"Oh?" She moans, her head tilting back as she rolls her hips on me. "And what's the problem?"

"You very much love the feeling of a thick cock buried in your tight pussy. If I'm a mermaid, I'm not going to have a cock."

She smirks and leans back. "Yeah, but you could spank me with your tail."

"Fucking hell, Natalie. This is a public beach, and you know damn well I can't fuck you out in the open."

Natalie looks around; the nearest person is several feet away.

With a wicked glint in her eye, she slides her hands down her body, her hips grinding, figure eights in my lap.

She pulls her bikini bottom to the side, fingers swirling through her wet folds.

I groan and pluck her off my lap, laying her in the sand next to me. "You're becoming a horny little thing, aren't you?"

She grins mischievously, rubs over her tummy, and slides her hand into her bikini bottoms. "I might be. If you don't want to take care of me, I"m happy to take care of it myself. There"s no one looking."

"Tell you what." I lean closer to her, dragging her earlobe between my teeth. "Why don't you and I go take a swim? Then we can head home, and I will give you everything you want and more."

Natalie's soft moan sends all the blood in my body rushing south. Her eyes drop to my lap, and her fingers trace the outline of my cock, and I nearly lose it.

"Swim, then home, solnyshko, and then you can play with your pussy all you want in front of me before I finally give you the cock you've been craving."

"Do I have to beg?"

Smirking, I get to my feet and tug her up with me. "Oh yeah. And while you're doing it, you're going to be crawling across the floor. Naked. Showing me your wet pussy."

Her eyes flash with lust as I take her hand, fingers still wet with her arousal.

I put them in my mouth, tongue swirling and sucking until she's cleaned off, not a drop of her going to waste.

"You're going to need to do that tongue thing again, but on my clit next time."

She turns and heads for the ocean, her hips swaying from one side to the other. I follow her like a lovesick puppy.

Natalie wades into the water, tensing each time a wave crashes into her before relaxing as she walks deeper until the water is up to her waist.

She giggles and splashes me water, I don't know what's gotten into her today, but she is as playful and horny as fuck. Maybe it was good to bring it all out in the open last night. Maybe this is her moving forward and accepting our life and me.

"Come here, Natalie." I crook a finger in her direction, cock swelling harder when she obeys me without question. "Look who's finally learned to be a good girl."

Before I can do anything about it, she leans forward and bites my nipple.

She dances out of my reach, laughing as I rub away the sting.

"I will pay you back for this. If you think I'm not going to leave handprints on your ass now, you're wrong. I won"t give you another orgasm for the rest of the trip."

Natalie shrugs and reaches for the strings at the back of her neck. "I'm sure I can beg you for it. Worst case scenario, I know how to fuck my fingers thinking about you. I"ve been doing this for a while before I tracked you down.

I lunge toward her, arms wrapping around her body and tugging her close to me. "Devil woman. Keep your damn top on. We're getting out of here, and then when we get home, I'm going to teach you what it means to be mine."

"Pearl gave me nipple clamps as a wedding gift."

And just like that, I'm teetering on the edge, torn between fucking her in the ocean or taking her home and depriving her of orgasms until she's whimpering and writhing beneath me.

"Car. Now."

She laughs and heads for the shore, looking at me over her shoulder. "I can't wait for the day you can fuck me on the hood of your car."

I don't know how the hell I'm going to get through the rest of our honeymoon if she's going to be taunting me like this.

A new side of her has come out, and I like it. There's nothing like a woman who makes it known that she's willing to tease and toy with you and is sassy as fuck.

We collect our things, and she keeps her comments to a minimum, eyeing my cock through my shorts like it's the only lollipop she wants to lick.

Her stomach starts to rumble as we get into the car. "I might need a little snack before we get back to the house."

"What does the baby want to eat?" I ask as the engine revs, and I back out of our parking space.

She taps her chin with her finger. "I'm thinking something sweet, but not candy."

"There's a bakery close to here. They have the best pastries you can get."

Natalie's eyes light up. "That sounds great. Um ... but this cover-up is kinda wet."

I turn down the street that leads from the beach to the bakery. "Stay in the car, and I'll run in to get us something."

I park the car at the side of the road. "I'll be right back. Try not to get so horny that you start playing with your pussy in the car."

She laughs and rolls her eyes. "You're acting like some kind of animal."

Leaning over, I brush my lips against hers. "I'm sorry, did you not see yourself on the beach? You were an animal."

"You seemed like you enjoyed the show. I thought you were going to fuck me right there. I was hoping for it."

"One of these days, I'll fuck you on a beach, you little exhibitionist."

"Not an exhibitionist." She smiles against my lips as she dips in for a kiss. "I just want you to claim me anywhere you possibly can."

If this doesn't make me hard as a rock within three seconds, I don't know what will.

I'm aching as I leave her in the car and hurry into the bakery. The queue isn't long, but all I can think about is getting my order as quickly as possible and getting back in the car with Natalie.

Taking her to Saint Tropez was the best decision. It's as if we live here in our own little bubble, nobody knows us, nothing can touch us here. I have reduced my working hours and can fully enjoy my days with my wife. She is mine alone.

Finally, I get my order and hurry back to the car, eager for Natalie to continue her teasing just so I have something to punish her for later.

When I get to the car, the passenger's seat is empty, and Natalie's phone is on the floor; my heart sinks to the pit of my stomach. Then rage flows through my veins, and my blood boils.

I frantically scan the area, but no sight of Natalie. She's been kidnapped.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I punch the top of the car so hard that it leaves a dent.

I pull out my own phone and dial Denis's number. He and a couple of our men followed us to Saint Tropez, remaining at a distance to give us our privacy. I didn't want Natalie to worry or think she was not safe.

"Boss." Denis groans as the sound of a solid punch comes from the other end of the call. "Is something wrong?"

"Natalie has been kidnapped." My tone is low and deadly as I still look around, searching for some sign of her. "I will send you my location. I need you and the others to get here immediately and start looking for her. Send two people to the house. No one will rest until she is found. And inform Boris, too."

"Yes, boss."

I hung up and sent him the location before walking down the street to the corner. People walk around, talking to each other and looking down at their phones. But I don't see a single sign of Natalie anywhere.

My phone starts ringing as I walk back to the car. I don't know the number, but my heart is racing as I slide my thumb across the screen. "Hello?"

"If you're looking for your wife, you're not going to find her."

My vision turns red. "Carlo, you fucking bastard. If you so much as touch a hair on her head, I'm going to kill you."

"Careful, Leon. I know where she is right now, and you don't. If I were you, I would spend a little more time thinking about what your men did, then you know why you deserve this."

"Natalie has nothing to do with this. Let her go."

"No."

The call ends, and when I try to call the number back, it goes straight to a voicemail inbox that's already full.

The second I find Carlo, I'm going to tear his throat out for taking my wife.