WARNING: Sexual Situations, References to Sex, References to Rape
I had been awake for hours, staring at the drapery that hung from the bed when the maid came in to wake me. From the undertones of pity in her voice I could tell the staff had been briefed on the situation.
"Miss?" she said, gently touching my arm and sighing when I flinched away, "The Prince and his men are about to leave for the manhunt. His majesty told me not to wake you but I thought you might want to see him off."
"Thank you, Claudette, you did the right thing," I praise her, rising from the bed. My pounding head scolds the rest of me for being unable to sleep. Claudette helps me into a robe and before she could even finish securing it around my waist I was out the door, anxious to catch Luke before he leaves.
When I got to the entrance hall I was suddenly drowning in a sea of men in armour. I stood on my tiptoes to look over the crowd and finally spotted Luke's blond head. I pushed past the enormous men with even larger weapons in their hands, leaving a trail of "pardon me your highness" behind me. When there was a clear path to him, I paused and wondered how he could even think of not saying goodbye. His eyes wandered from his conversation with Calum and he caught a glance of me. I'm sure my appearance was atrocious considering I substituted sleep for crying. I ran into his open arms, my feet slapping against the hard stone floor.
"It's not even dawn yet, what are you doing up?" he inquired, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
"You were gonna leave without saying goodbye," my voice was muffled as my face was firmly pressed into his chest.
"You needed to sleep," he stated as he not-so-subtly tried to close my robe so my revealing nightwear couldn't be seen.
"How are you feeling today?" he said, probably noticing the dried tear stains on my cheeks.
"Lightheaded, like I might faint any minute. I think it would be best if you stayed here, for my wellbeing," I looked up into his bright blue eyes hopefully.
"Nice try Em. You probably just need to eat something, make sure you go in for breakfast when I leave..." his voice trailed off and he resumed his conversation with Calum about strategy. I roll my eyes at how stubborn he's being. So as a last resort I use the only thing I know will always get his attention. I grab his face and pull it down to mine, attaching our lips in a heated kiss. He didn't pull away in surprise, but instead tugged our bodies closer together. I used every trick I've learned in my short career of sexual interaction; running my fingers through his hair, quietly moaning his name, and even slightly grinding against him.
"Stay. I need you," I whispered in his ear, leaving a trail of kisses along his stubbly jaw.
"You're making this so hard for me," he groaned, his hands running up and down my body, getting closer to my arse each time my lips touched his skin.
"I can tell," I grined, speaking of the growing excitement in his pants. He pulled away and looked down at me, probably to respond with a snippy remark, but his face went blank when he spotted the cheeky lingerie peeking through my robe and I knew he was putty in my hands now.
"Come here," he growled with lust, leading me down the hall till we reached a storage closet.
I was feeling very successful by the time our clothes were on the floor. It certainly looked like I had convinced Luke to stay, which was not an easy feat.
"You are by far the most meddlesome person I've ever met," he panted, moving his lips from my breasts to make another mark just below my ear.
"But if I didn't meddle, we most certainly wouldn't be in this position right now," I gripped onto his shoulders tighter as he shifts the angle and another wave of pleasure washes over me.
"No, I suppose we wouldn't," he grinned and recaptured my swollen lips. My eyes fluttered closed in pure bliss and I wrapped my legs around Luke's waist allowing him to go deeper inside of me, which makes us both let out a moan. A sharp knocking on the door disrupted our actions. Since there was no lock for the small closet, I had my back pressed against the door so no one could intrude. Evidently, that won't stop people from knocking till their knuckles bleed. Luke perked his head up but I quickly pulled his lips back down to mine.
"Just ignore them. They'll give up and go away soon," I whispered in between kisses. He nodded and put his fingers to good use as we both start to approach our climaxes.
"Prince Luke, I have urgent news," the head guard said from the other side of the door. I groaned and let my head fall back against the door when Luke pauses altogether.
"What is it?" he asked, his hair which was damp with sweat, fell into his eyes.
"This morning the serial rapist struck in London. His victims were two young girls, not yet 14. He left them dead just a few miles outside of the castle walls," my heart broke when the man finished his report. The fact that the same monster who came after me was also going after children sickened me to my core. And with one glance at Luke's horrified face, I knew there was no amount of begging, bribing, or sex that could get him to stay behind. That didn't mean I wasn't going to try though.
"Prepare the men. We'll leave in 10 minutes," Luke ordered and the guard's footsteps trailed away from the door. Before I could even blink, Luke was already halfway dressed and trying his best to force some clothes on me as well.
"Please," I begged weakly, receiving only a stern shake of the head.
"I'll start letting you win when we play cards. And I'll stop complaining when you're hungover. I'll do anything you have on your schedule that you don't want to do for a month and I won't switch your alcohol with water anymore. I'll stop leaving my shoes everywhere so you don't trip on them. And I'll even stop teasing you with Ben and Jack at the breakfast table. Just don't go," I pleaded, feeling hot tears well up in my eyes.
"Baby," he said, cupping my cheek with his large hand, "You're blowing this way out of proportion. Yes, I'm leading a manhunt for a dangerous criminal, but there's no way I'll get hurt. I'll have an army of soldiers surrounding me and a city full of loyal subjects. The only way I could possibly get hurt is if I'm distracted, fretting about you driving yourself mad with worry. So as long as you promise to keep calm, I can guarantee I'll come back to you in one piece."
"Okay," I said, taking a deep breath as Luke tied my robe securely around my waist.
"Good," he leaned down to kiss me and we both melted into the embrace. Both of us were still pretty worked up from our previous activities, Luke still had a semi hard-on.
"It's a shame we had to stop," I hummed against his lips.
"I'll make up for it many, many times when I get back," he gave me a final goodbye peck and I giggled as we walked back to the entrance hall and to Luke's horse.
"Be safe," I said as he climbs onto the saddle.
"I love you" he smiled broadly and snapped the reins of his horse.
"I love you too," I called out, but it was probably lost in the sound of the army of men's feet that were following his lead.
...
Ashton and Michael found me an hour later, sulking in the storage closet. I let Luke go without a fuss, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about him being gone.
"Emma! We've been looking everywhere for you," Ashton exclaimed, dragging me out the closet.
"Luke gave us specific instructions. We're not to take our eyes off you for even a moment. He'd have our heads if he found out we lost you for an hour," Michael said.
They took me to the dining hall and I pushed food around my plate for twenty minutes before they gave up and took me to my quarters to get changed. Of course they insisted on coming into the room instead of waiting outside so the maids unfolded the changing screen in the corner.
"So Em, Luke said we have to take you to the parlor where all the ladies of court have tea time," Ashton said as he and Michael snooped about the room, fiddling with Luke's things.
"What?" I screeched, anger erupting in my chest.
"Yeah he said it always cheers you up," Michael added, oblivious to my repugnant reaction.
"His intention wasn't to cheer me up, he wants me to just sleep through this whole thing. That little... he knows all I ever want to do when I get back from those things is sleep because I've either just been bored half to death or all of the drama drives me to exhaustion. I'm not going," I declared as the maids helped me into the last layer of my dress.
"Well... you kind of don't have a choice. We were ordered by the heir to the English throne to make sure you're in the tea parlor by 10:30," Ashton explained, flopping down on the plush lounge.
"I'm the heir to the French throne and I order you to ignore Luke's orders!" I exclaimed, pulling back the changing screen and crossing my arms over my chest with irritation.
"The French government has no power over me I'm an English subject," Ashton said simply. I turned my head to Michael, knowing he can't use that excuse.
"Michael, as my subject I command you to help me get out of tea time,"
"Sorry Em, I doubt I'm going to get sent all the way back to France and be thrown in jail just because I made you attend tea. Besides, I'm not risking being put on Luke's bad side again," Michael said as he crams four cookies that the maids had brought into his mouth.
"Ash!" I turned back to Ashton desperately, "Wouldn't you rather be with Bryana? You two are newlyweds you shouldn't be wasting your time watching me!"
"Conveniently, my wife will be in the parlor with for tea as well, so yes, I would love to be with her and I can kill two birds with one stone because I'll be able to watch you too," Ashton smiled smugly.
"I won't go! You'll have to physically drag me there," I shouted stubbornly, planting my feet to the floor. They turned to each other and shrugged. Unfortunately, I was no match for the two six-foot-something boys and they ended up carrying me all the way to the parlor while I cursed Luke's existence under my breath.
"Ahh the princess is gracing us with her presence today," one woman remarks snidely. I gave her a very forced smile and quietly sat down.
The conversation almost immediately went into gossip. Apparently Lady Pembroke just had a baby and named it after her Lord Pembroke's brother. And the baby has the brother's eyes so now everyone's saying it's his baby since it's common knowledge of anyone inside the social circle that Lady Pembroke and the brother have sex in the potato pantry every Tuesday.
After several more stories that sound almost identical to the first, the women started whining about their spouses. Lady Addington complained about how fat her husband has gotten and how she can hardly stand to sleep next to him. Lady Dabney interjected and said she married a man far too old and that he can't even get it up at night anymore. The conversation eventually petered out until it's mostly quiet. The ladies scoured the room for someone to pick on and I rolled my eyes as I quietly sipped my tea in the back. Unfortunately for me, Lady Foster's criticizing eyes spotted me and more importantly the purpling love bites showing just above the neckline of my dress.
"Princess Emmaline," she snickered, "What's that on your neck?"
"It's a hickey!" Lady Marlowe exclaimed. All I can do is open my mouth in horror.
"I thought she was supposed to be the virgin Princess, to keep Prince Luke focused on becoming king," Lady Burke whispers to Lady Platt.
"Well never mind that, I suppose she's a proper English girl now. You can't truly be English until you've gotten a hickey from Prince Luke. God knows we've all been there" Lady Platt giggles.
"That's quite enough," I said, standing up and silencing them, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going somewhere I won't have to listen to a group of petty women gossip their brains out because they have no other way to express their regret for marrying their husbands for money and social status, not love." I stormed out of the room and heard footsteps coming after me.
"Leave me alone," I said to Michael and Ashton as they catch up to me.
"We promised Luke..." Ashton said, looking at Michael with worry.
"What Luke doesn't know won't hurt him. Just give me an hour to myself," I begged. Michael and Ashton turn around and discuss for a minute and I rolled my eyes.
"You have twenty minutes," Ashton says and the way he crosses his arms against his chest tells me it's non-negotiable. I huffed dramatically and started walking towards my quarters, hoping to blow off some steam before my over glorified babysitters come back.
As I walked down the seemingly endless hall, I wondered when Luke would be getting back. Although I'm beyond irritated at him for his overprotective tendencies, I do miss having him around. Not to mention I'm eager to finish what we started in the storage closet.
Naturally, being so caught up in these thoughts, I hardly noticed the panel on the wall just ahead was cracked open. I didn't think anything of it since there's secret doors all over the castle that are used as pathways for the servants. As I passed the crack in the wall, I could see my quarters ahead and the last thing I was expecting was for my sleeve to be roughly tugged on from behind. The panel slid open all the way and in one swift motion I was pulled in and the panel closed again. Everything was pitch black so my eyes couldn't see who had pulled me in but I recognized the scent of his foul breath anywhere.
The guard gripped my arm and forced me deeper into the tunnel with him. I was surprisingly calm. I had been expecting the worst all day so I suppose I was prepared. I laughed humorously at the thought of Luke and hundreds of soldiers going into the city to search for this criminal when he's actually in the castle, probably about to do horrible things to me.
"Laughing princess? I thought for sure you'd be screaming your lungs out for that pretty boy prince of yours to come save you like last time," he said to me, chuckling to himself.
"You're a sick, twisted person, you know? You get off on inflicting torture and pain on other people and it's revolting. I'm not giving you what you want. You won't get a peep out of me," I declared, wishing my voice didn't shake. The man just laughed his evil laugh again and tightened his grip on my arm.
We eventually reached a door, which lead to what looks like an abandoned wine cellar. The only thing in the room is a wooden chair which he shoved me into once he locked the door.
"Can't have anyone interrupting us again," he smirked.
"You don't have to do this. They're out looking for you in the city now but it won't be long till they're back. I'm sure you'll be sentenced to life in jail or execution. If you leave now you can get away to somewhere they won't find you. I won't tell," I rambled on and to my surprise the man started pacing the floor as if he's considering what I'm saying, "But if you stay now you will be caught. There's two highly trained men probably looking for me right now, not to mention what Luke will do to you once he's back. He gave you quite the beating last time." with a smirk I gestured to the permanent limp in his leg which was probably caused by Luke.
"He won't be back anytime soon, Princess," the man grinned devilishly, "A friend of mine who's specialty is ending lives in a tortuous way is making sure of that. I doubt he survived even this long. Yes Prince Luke certainly won't be bothering us again..." the man continued to talk about Luke's torturous death but I am unable to make sense of words. My heart hammered in my chest and a sick feeling weighed down in my stomach.
"Listen to me you worthless whore!" The guard's hand slapped across my face. I knew what happens next. He'll probably go on talking for some time, probably to completely break me. Then he'll rape me, kill me, probably leave my body down here to rot, and get away before anyone knows he's here. He won't be punished for ending the lives of those poor victims, or for raping and killing me, or for orchestrating Luke's murder.
"No," I said quietly to myself.
"What was that?" The man demanded.
"I said no!" I stood up out of the chair furiously. I won't let him get away with this. I won't let him kill the love of my life and just walk away from the castle. I clenched my fists and try to remember how Luke punched him the first time. I mimicked his actions the best I can, and my fist connected with his nose and luckily the blow had quite a bit of power behind it. Obviously I don't have the same affect that Luke would considering I'm at least a foot away from being Luke's height. I heard a crunching sound but I'm not sure if it was the sound of his nose breaking or my hand. The man screamed out in pain and I gave him a swift kick to the balls before he can retaliate. He fell to the ground, clutching his genitals in agony. Before I can even think about what to do next, the door to the cellar made a sound. As if it's trying to be opened.
"Princess?" The timid voice of one of my maids said from behind the door.
"Go get help. Get Ashton and Michael," I said and I heard footsteps hurry away from the door. For the next few minutes all I can do is stand over the man and wait for him to try to get up, and kick him in the balls again as hard as I can, clutching my busted knuckle.
The door is finally shoved at again, this time with much more force behind it. I looked to the man and saw that he's finally passed out and I ran to unlocked the door. Michael, Ashton, and the few guards that remained at the castle flooded into the room. Michael placed his hand on the small of my back and quickly lead me away from the cellar with Ashton following closely behind. They brought me back to my quarters and tucked me into the large empty bed. Tears pricked at my eyes when I smelled Luke's familiar scent on the sheets, but I blinked them away.
"Luke's dead," I whispered.
"Em you're just panicking I'm sure he's fine," Michael said from his place at the bedpost. Ashton stood at the door with his arms crossed.
"The rapist, he hired someone to kill Luke," I whimpered as a few tears slipped from my eyes. Michael's eyes widen and Ashton quickly leaves the room, probably to organize a search party for Luke.
I stared at the ceiling for hours, just waiting for Ashton to get back and confirm the worst. I couldn't even cry, there was just a numb feeling constantly circulating through me. We barely had a chance to be happy before our whole future was ripped away. Ruling the country side by side, kids, growing old together; it's all gone now.
When the sky was fully dark, I had lost all hope. Michael tried his best to keep my spirits up, but gave up after an hour or so. I buried my head in Luke's pillow, finding the smallest bit of comfort.
Ashton didn't get back till around midnight. The door burst open, startling both mine and Michael's preliminary mourning.
"Well?" persisted Michael as Ashton caught his breath.
"He's alive," Ashton said joyfully. My head sprung up from the pillow.
"Where is he? Is he okay? What took you so long?" I interrogated Ashton.
"He's fine, the rapist lied, there was no assassination attempt," Ashton grinned, "The bridge was flooded when they tried to return from the city. We had to help them swim across the river. Luke wouldn't leave his horse."
"Where is he?" my heart fluttered with disbelief. Ashton opened his mouth to answer, but the shouting from a little ways down the hall did it for him. I rushed out of bed and into the hall to see Luke with a staff of at least twenty people following him. He gave security orders to a few guards, dictated what was to be written as an official statement, and conversed with the head of staff about instructions for the rest of the castle; all while trying to avoid the maids armed with towels trying their best to dry off his dripping wet clothes.
"And I want the criminal out of this castle as soon as humanly possible. I can't promise I won't strangle him to death if he's just downstairs. Transport him to the local prison. He can await his sentence there," Luke said to the head of guard and dismissed everyone. I leaned against the doorway for support. Just the sight of the man I thought was dead just ten minutes ago knocked the breath out of me. He came back, just like he promised, not even a scratch on his perfect skin.
Luke almost closed the distance between us, but stopped in front of me. His huge blue eyes looked over me and his broad shoulders slumped at the sight of the bruise on my cheek and my quivering lip. He was obviously taking full responsibility for this whole thing. His fingers brushed over my bruised cheek so lightly I barely felt it. A few tears slid down my face and he finally scooped me up in into his arms. Ashton and Michael left the room and closed the door behind them.
We didn't talk for half an hour, we just stood in the middle of the room in a desperate embrace.
"You're wet," I finally said, but I still clung to his wet body like I hadn't seen him in years instead of hours.
"I'm sorry," he muttered although I doubt he was talking about his soaking clothes.
"What happened to me is not your fault. I'm not letting you take the blame for this like you do with everything," I pried his hands off me and walked to his wardrobe, pulling out dry clothes.
"How bad did he hurt you?" he asked in a small voice as I unbutton his shirt.
"I'm fine," I said, but his eyes catch sight of my split knuckle and he quickly pulled my hand away from the buttons.
"Then what's this?" his large hand encompasses my small, hurt hand.
"That's probably from when I punched him in the face," I grimaced as I try to flex my fingers and pain shoots through them.
"You punched him?" Luke exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yeah," I smiled at the sight of his eyes lit up with at least a little bit of joy.
"My brave girl," he praised, kissing the cuts on my knuckles repeatedly, "I'll have to teach you how to punch so you don't hurt your hand like this."
Once we both got changed, I climbed into bed and blew out the candle keeping our room lit up. Luke came in after me, laying his head on my chest.
"Your boobs are soft," he sighed contently as I massaged his scalp, running my fingers through his damp hair that was curling quickly because of the water.
"I think we're through the worst Em. I think we've maxed out on bad things that can happen in a lifetime," he uttered sleepily as his fingers traced circles on my thigh.
"I hope so," I whispered. I'm sure we're probably not through all of the bad stuff, but at this point I don't think there's anything we can't get past? Sure, we got off to a rocky start but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Somehow, this arranged marriage that neither of us wanted to even give a chance is the best thing to ever happen to me.
