The Brokerage (An Obsessed Alpha Billionaire Romance Book 1, #1) Read online

  Without so much as a sound, he pulled the coat slowly, and completely, off me. It fell to the floor in heavy folds as I stood naked, only wearing heels, waiting.

  “Let me finally see what I bought.” He said.

  I turned to him and stepped forward. I was almost fully against him, my nude body wanting the heat of his hands and his mouth to warm me. I could feel his hardness, straining to break free.

  I drew my painted lips back and showed him my teeth.

  “Is this what you meant?” I asked, the playfulness in my question softening my eyes. He was fun to challenge. A worthy opponent.

  He placed one hand around my waist, and yanked me forward, grabbing the back of my neck, trying to pin my mouth to his.

  My palms had immediately flown to his chest, and were now braced between us, trying to maintain some distance. I was an inch away; he would've been kissing me.

  “No, not yet.” I breathed.

  Chapter 4

  I had put the details together. If he had undressed me but had forbidden me to show my naked self to anyone, that must mean he had also ordered us to be left alone. I took that as my cue.

  I walked naked over to the bar, poured us both another drink, and then turned around and said, “Come get it.”

  He grinned at me.

  He likes my boldness, I thought.

  By the time he crossed the room to collect his glass I had finished my own drink, quickly, and without an outward sign of disgust this time. He seemed impressed, finishing his drink as quickly, and smiled in acknowledgment. I grinned and repeated, “Where are my rooms?”

  He cocked his head to one side and said, “Plural?”

  “Plural.”

  He laughed aloud, the sound breaking from his throat, and I knew then, I was expecting more than anyone he’d previously purchased had.

  “And, I'll expect to receive a list of my duties, by tomorrow morning at 9 AM sharp,” I added.

  He looked at me, assessing me with a look I couldn’t quite pin and said, “You are fairly forward, for a virgin.”

  I looked at him, smiling coyly, and shrugged my shoulders, “Did you want to be bored?”

  Chapter 5

  Once he led me to my rooms, I closed the double doors in his face without a goodnight. Let him spin and wonder, I thought to myself.

  Immediately, my hands started to tremble, and I realized how grateful I was, in retrospect, that he had alcohol available. I wasn’t confident I would have survived the exchange without the liquid... Liquid courage is right...

  Tonight, in the delivery room and then here, on his ship, had been the first time I’d been alone with a man.

  That had included family.

  Chapter 6

  I woke up to an annoying buzz and opened my eyes to see a cell phone on my bedside table that was not there when I went to sleep. The idea, that someone had entered my room as I slept, disturbed me.

  I sat up, reached for the phone, and looked at it.

  A-1... What does that mean?

  Is that honestly why you woke me?

  No. Join me. Breakfast. Now. Stern-side deck, level 3.

  I set the phone down and looked around, trying to decide if I was ready to get up.

  Ten minutes. I texted back.

  Make it five. Your coffee has already been poured.

  Ha!

  I threw back the covers and dashed to the lavatory, discovering on the way that my bags had been unpacked and my toiletries laid out.

  I scowled. Some boundaries were going to need to be outlined, it seemed.

  * * *

  I walked out onto the deck and picked up my cup of black coffee as I passed him, without so much as a glance his way. I knew part of the urgency in rousing me for breakfast was the need to see me, his purchase, in the light of day. I acquiesced because I needed to have a look around. I wasn’t certain where we had sailed during the night, or where we were headed in general and wondered if I would spot any landmarks.

  Standing at the deck’s edge I did a panoramic survey. We had flown from Milan to our mooring just off the coast of Genoa last night. It appeared we were fast approaching Monaco.

  Good, I have friends here, I noted.

  I felt his eyes on me. I was wearing a brown bikini; small, but tasteful.

  I turned and faced him, leaning my back against the railing, as I sipped my coffee assessing him, wondering who he was.

  I had been worried I would be sold to some fat, aging businessman with one leg in the ground, waiting out his final days. I knew my rights; that consent could be withdrawn at any moment no matter what price was paid. But my reputation was at stake as well. I knew I would need to ensure that no matter what, he, whoever he might be, at least enjoyed my company.

  My older sister had helped me plan and submit my application. My father had wanted me to follow in her footsteps and had arranged a marriage for me when I was five. When he discovered what I had done, that I had sold myself through The Brokerage, he would be furious, but I knew that ultimately, he would forgive me. He loved me and knew through our exhaustive arguments on the subject that I wanted to ensure my destiny occurred on my terms. My virginity was mine, not something I was willing to leave to the whim of any other, particularly, a male.

  Whether that be my father or a husband, I thought to myself.

  Chapter 7

  “Monaco?” She asked, finally.

  I grinned, loving that she was well-traveled.

  “Côte d’Azur.” I shrugged, “I have several stops in this region, not just Monaco, for business.”

  She smiled and the expression lit up her face. She seemed excited.

  “May I visit with friends when we stop in Monaco?” She walked forward, placed her cup on the table, in its saucer, and came to stand in front of me, blocking the rising sun from shining in my eyes.

  I looked up at her, studying her face. I took a sip of my coffee, then set the cup down and patted my lap, “Sit here, and ask nicely.”

  She threw her head back and laughed, which both irritated and delighted me. I was unaccustomed to being denied, anything.

  She leaned forward, giving me a view of her cleavage that instantly sparked attention beneath my swim trunks, and placed her hands on my shoulders.

  “I did ask nicely.” She smiled, taunting me with her breasts, which I could not stop myself from staring at. “And I will sit there when you know my name.”

  With that, she turned and ran to the starboard railing, my heart lurching violently, when she jumped onto the rung, hovering for a moment before waving, as she dived over the side. The two security officers that had been overseeing us had run towards her, talking into their wrist mics, but did not reach her in time. I scrambled up in an instant, raced to the edge of the deck, certain I was about to see some horrible attempt at humor gone very, very wrong.

  To say I was relieved when I looked over and saw her there, bobbing in the water, would be an understatement.

  Thank god! I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

  She swam out as I watched, looking back once to find me watching still, then reached behind her and untied her top. She then turned her body to face me, lifted her arm, and swirled her swim top in the air above her head.

  Vixen!

  I was livid. One explicit rule – DO. NOT. LET. ANYONE. SEE. YOU. NAKED. EXCEPT. ME.

  How hard was that to follow??!

  Without thinking, I climbed up on the railing, and jumped over.

  When I broke the water’s surface, ten or so feet from where she was treading water, she tossed me her top and started swimming towards me.

  I grabbed the thin strip of material, and said, angrily, “I gave you one instruction.”

  She smiled. “And I have not broken it.” She waved upward, back towards the ship, showing me there were no onlookers.

  I realized, at that moment, just how astute and experienced she was regarding servants, service, and the interplay of masters and servants. She’d kno
wn that the moment the guards had known their presence was an intrusion, they would avert their eyes immediately, after they were sure there was no danger. It cooled me, but just barely.

  I grabbed her arm and pulled her to me. She submitted, still grinning, then threw her arms around my neck and wrapped her legs around my waist.

  “I am ready for you to kiss-...”

  I kissed her before she finished her sentence, holding her around the bottom with one strong arm while the other pressed her head forward as my mouth assaulted hers. I was hungry for her – hungrier than I could ever remember being for a woman.

  Chapter 8

  My heart raced as he kissed me. When I felt him grow hard between us, so many other things came crashing into my senses. Fear. Excitement. Nervousness. Warmth. And an undeniable sexual pull. The area between my legs was waking up. Throbbing. I wanted to shift my position so that his hardness was centered against my swimsuit bottoms. Right there. I had thought I would lead this exchange, be the one to fully determine when we would consummate our relationship, but here, treading water, with new and overwhelming sensations moving across my body, I realized he was driving this. He wanted control, which made me grateful.

  I knew I was arousing to him, because of how bold I was, despite being a virgin. I could tell, and I loved challenging him, loved the feeling of power and of taking charge of my destiny for the first time. For a fleeting second, I realized these sensations could weaken my boundaries, allowing this to go further than I was comfortable with. But for now... The waves lapping around us, the sun warming my skin as his kisses heated me from the inside... For now, I wanted to lose myself in this moment and trust him to drive us.

  I dug my nails into his back, holding on tight, wanting to move against him. To feel overpowered. To feel free to receive this experience entirely, far away from my father’s eyes and influence. Far away, from the cloistered confinement I had known all my life.

  He moved his hand in order to palm more of my ass, grabbing me more fully, starting to touch me underneath my bikini bottoms. The thin fabric of our suits provided only a hair’s breadth barrier between us.

  I panicked. I’m not ready!

  I couldn’t breathe, suddenly overcome with the thought of him reaching inside me.

  I pushed at him, twisted my face away, as I released my legs and got them between us. I pushed off, breaking free of his grasp and swimming away several feet before turning to look at him, as I gasped.

  “No! I didn’t say yes, yet!” Didn’t he know I wasn’t ready!

  He looked disoriented, confused. He shook his head, shaking the water out of his eyes and then looked at me.

  He reached out his hand and said harshly, “Come here. Now.” It was not a request.

  Covering my chest with crossed arms, as my feet kicked treading water, I gritted back, “No!”

  “Now, girl!” He motioned more urgently, and this time I notice he was looking past me, to something, or someone, else.

  I turned and saw what he’s looking at.

  I immediately saw a very fast and very expensive speedboat with two men bearing machine guns at the bow headed straight for us.

  That’s my father’s boat!

  Chapter 9

  “Get behind me! Put your arms and legs around me and hold on tight!” I barked toward her as I pulled her quickly to me.

  “Taylor! Bow-side port!” I yelled, before hearing him yell back: Go!

  I locked her ankles around my waist, eyed the distance to the approaching motorboat, and noticed they hadn’t yet seen us in the water. I paddled us over to the left, toward the stern, keeping an eye on the approaching boat. When the gunmen raised their machines and turned toward the starboard side, I dove down under the ship, the girl dragging water but holding on tight, nonetheless.

  Good girl! I thought.

  The ship had come to a stop when we jumped off the railing. It had then reversed to be within easy swimming distance before stopping again. I knew the plan; we had run through the drill at least two hundred times, under every conceivable circumstance, including variations of weather. Taylor was a stickler for details and safety. He was the best and had earned my trust, as I had his.

  I dove deeper, strong strokes taking us under the hull. When we reached the bottom, I found the lever and pulled, opening a panel. I pulled out two, pint-sized oxygen tanks and handed one to the girl after she had released me. I forced myself to ignore the floating boobs and hair that my receding erection still wanted to be near.

  I placed the mask’s straps around her head as she blew out, oxygen surrounding her face, to create a seal. I should have known she was an accomplished diver and knew her way around the equipment. I left it to her, then, and put my own on.

  To my right, I caught a glimpse of movement and realized it was bullets! They whirred just a few feet away, so I grabbed the girl’s hand and pulled her toward the front of the boat, just a little port side of the hull so that we had at least a little barrier.

  Once we reached the designated spot, I reached for another lever and this time the hidden hatch opened just before I pressed it. One of the security team stuck his head down into the water, spotting me the minute he looked around. He stuck his hand out and I grabbed it, allowing him to pull me to safety, as I reeled her in behind me.

  I was relieved Taylor’s plan, and his recommended top-secret modifications to the vessel, had worked. Particularly with such valuable cargo on board. He had said it was easier to avoid would-be pirates by jumping overboard, rather than stay a sitting duck until they boarded or burned the boat down. It would also be more convincing if they had assumed, I drowned. Whatever the case, I was grateful.

  As I sat just inside of the portal’s opening, I motioned at my security officer to toss me a towel. I handed it down to the girl so she could exit the water, covered.

  Damn, I had to find something to call her other than ‘the girl.’

  Chapter 10

  “Status.” I barked.

  “Team Lead Tango is under heavy fire. We’ve lost one of ours and taken out one of theirs. We were alerted to the radar penetration just after you entered the water, so we were combat-ready. Their watercraft is circling, its men yelling in Arabic to hand her over, that she is the property of King Hallella.”

  I swung my head to look at her. “Rondenia is your mother?” I was stunned. I knew her family well. Her older sister, Elan, was a student at Georgetown still, and her mother had me check in on her whenever I was in D.C.

  She stayed silent, pensive. She looked from me to Smith, the junior officer who had pulled us in, presently taking off his shirt, with his back to us, so that she would have a suitable cover, then back to me. Finally, she nodded, once, a look of terror in her eyes.

  “Elan only has one other sister, and you are not Farah.” She needed to start explaining herself, fast.

  “I am Farah’s twin. Older than she by two minutes.”

  Third-in-line, the presenter had said, that would mean the Crown Prince and Elan were the elders to her. I whistled, low.

  It made sense. When she was born, Jordan’s king, her grandfather, was undergoing treatments for a terminal illness and the State was in upheaval.

  “They hid you in case the country shifted into enemy hands as it had in Saudi Arabia a couple of years ago when King Salman overthrew his uncle,” I noted aloud.

  She nodded, one more time. Suddenly, it was clear what her short nineteen years in hiding had taught her; she was frightened, her very existence threatened at every turn, someone having already died because of her presence here.

  She was wearing Smith’s black shirt now, ten sizes too big. Smith maintained his discrete position as he held his gun at the ready, watching the door with his back to them.

  I leaned forward, something fierce and protective welling up inside of me, overpowering my every thought, my every action. I placed my hands on her shoulders and held her, firm, as I pierced her eyes with mine and said:

  “Yo
u are safe. We will fight to protect you, even to our deaths. You will go nowhere you do not wish to be. But, remember this. You are Rondenia’s daughter. She is the fiercest, most iconic image of female empowerment the world has ever seen. She is a warrior; a peacemaker. Your blood is her blood. You are a warrior then, too. You can face down any foe. Including the men of your father. Do you hear me?” I shook her with the last question, wanting her to be certain she absorbed what I was saying.

  Rondenia would want no less! On my honor, I would die for her!

  Tears had welled in her eyes and now spilled over. She threw herself forward, arms circling my neck, and moved into my lap as she sobbed, telling me her name was Jana.

  Jana, which is always short for Jannah, means paradise. I pulled her to me and kissed the wet hair over her temple. Perfect. A perfect name for her. Paradise.

  Chapter 11

  “All clear, topside.” Smith turned and nodded at me, relaying the information he was receiving from his earpiece.

  I looked at her, drew her back so that I could see her face now that her sobs had subsided, and said, “Are you ready to get out of here?”

  She looked at me with caution.

  “We will protect you, you know that, don’t you?”

  She glanced from me to Smith and back and then nodded and smiled, still a bit grim.

  “Hey now, you cost me more than this boat. I always protect my investments.” I chuckled, allowing the light to reach my eyes, knowing she needed the levity of a little playfulness right now.

  She chuckled.

  I pulled her to me and gave her a big squeeze. I think she likes that she almost broke my bank. I laugh with her.

  “Come on. Let’s get you into some proper clothes.”

  We stood, while Smith opened the door and checked the hallway, just as several other officers arrived.