27. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
SEBASTIAN
By the time I am due for my nightly session of breeding, I manage to drink myself to a state of complete sedation. Every thought of her is gone, replaced with a fond numbness that keeps me sane. It’s absolutely wonderful, and exactly what I needed to get rid of the emotions building up inside.
Now all I need, is to figure out a way to keep this buzzed sensation constant, and everything will surely go back to normal.
Tonight, I’m back in the previously designated room.
It’s sterile and lifeless, just like the rest of the palace.
Expensive paintings decorate the walls in thick gold frames.
While they should create a unique atmosphere; I only see the fa?ade of Hawthorn.
Every room tells a story, and within those stories is nothing but nightmares.
Condensation runs down the chilled crystal glass, sending a shock to my fingers before melting.
I stare at the almost completely disintegrated ice cube in the amber liquid, my wrist flicking to make it swirl aimlessly until it disappears.
There’s a knock at the door followed by the creak of it opening.
My eyes close as I count the number of footsteps shuffling in, the rim of the glass pressing to my lips.
Five.
The liquid burns as it runs down my throat, but I welcome the ache of it.
I set the glass down on the small table before my eyes open.
I stand to my full height and take a step forward.
Georgina is by the side of the bed, tying off what looks like a braid Victoria is sporting tonight.
There are two other housemaids I can never be bothered to remember the names of.
Each of them holds fluffy white towels and their faces are flushed.
Mary stands with her arms crossed over her chest, pushing her tits up. Her lips are pulled in a firm line, and if her gaze could kill, Victoria would be on the floor.
I wish I had a second bottle of bourbon.
Georgina steps away, making herself into a shadow in the corner of the room.
I’m always grateful she can’t see me fully in all my glory.
The woman has always been a mother figure, so the last thing I want is for her to see my cock standing tall.
As for the other two housemaids, they have a full view of the show, and I don’t have a care in the world about it.
If they watch me fuck Victoria then it’s on their own accord. I don’t force them to look.
“Can we get this moving?” Mary’s voice grates my nerves. If this bothers her so much, she can leave. No one’s holding her hostage. Being inside the room is on her, not me.
I shoot her a look of aggravation which is returned with a roll of her eyes.
Mary doesn’t push it. She makes her way to the chair I had been sitting in with a show of running her manicured nails against my shoulder before taking a seat.
I fight the grunt of annoyance as I move closer to the bed, watching Victoria’s head turn in my direction.
Tonight, will be different from the previous sessions.
Victoria knows it, too. I can see the longing in her eyes for what we had before.
My gaze must show the same, because she softens with a look of understanding.
The silence is comfortable and before I know it, the buzz is gone.
I’m sobered by her presence alone. I’m not Prince Sebastian Baros, prince of Hawthorn, and she’s not Victoria Pierce, a peasant that lived in the dirty village.
Right now, I’m Sebastian and she is Victoria. We’re two regular people with an invisible string tying us together.
We move as one, I stand before her, her thighs brushing mine from where she sits. The silk of our robes glide together perfectly and I run my fingers along the neatly done braid that rests over Victoria’s shoulder. She’s beautiful.
She doesn’t even realize it.
Victoria leans back to rest against the sheets. The royal blue robe is partially open, allowing me to see the curve between her breasts, her naval, her bare cunt. I want to take her like this. I want to watch as pleasure erupts and shines in her eyes.
What I want doesn’t matter. If anyone knew Victoria was turning into a weakness, she’d be taken.
My throat flexes, adam’s apple bobbing as I jut my chin, silently asking her to flip and Victoria does without argument.
For once, I’m thankful she doesn’t push.
She knows as much as I do, the consequences at stake for the dangerous game we’ve been toeing.
I drew the line and she’s making her way over it. Slowly but fucking surely.
I part her thighs, feeling the way they tremble beneath my palms. Brushing my fingers against the soft skin of her inner thigh, I tap my index finger once.
It’s the only warning I give her before my cock fills her pussy.
Victoria’s knuckles pale as she grips the sheets from the sudden motion and I want to soothe her, to apologize for not stretching her out properly.
Mary wouldn’t allow it. She hasn’t since the very first time I fucked Victoria.
This wasn’t supposed to be about her pleasure, or even mine. It’s strictly royal business.
Victoria means nothing.
A shaky breath leaves me as my hands grip her hips, each snap causing a cry to leave the trembling brunette beneath me. I feel as if I can’t fucking breathe. I need this done as soon as humanly possible before I sacrifice everything for this girl.
Every thrust has the walls of her pussy clenching around my cock, strangling it in a way that has my head spinning more than the alcohol.
Fucking her is an addiction.
Her cunt was made to take my cock. No other pussy has ever felt like this, and I don’t think there will ever be another that can possibly compare. I’ll never be satisfied again. Not unless I have her.
She’s shaking violently. What I can see of her face pressed into the mattress is flushed a deep crimson.
I close my eyes and lean forward, pressing my forehead to her spine as each thrust becomes animalistic.
My balls tighten and lift. I’m right there and so is she. I can tell she’s about to explode.
Just a few more pumps of my cock and this can be over.
Just a few . . .
“Sebby.”
My vision blackens and every flicker of movement comes to a complete standstill. Victoria tenses immediately and I’m tossed straight into memories deeply buried from my childhood.
Eight Years Old
Why does it have to be a girl?
When Georgina told me I would have a new friend to play with every day, I hoped she meant a boy, like me.
The short person in front of me is definitely a girl.
A weird girl. She’s smiling wide and there’s a gap between her two front teeth.
Were they supposed to be like that? Would her teeth come back together like a normal person?
“Hi!” the girl says. I step back when her small hand shoots out towards me.
Even with her dress being sort of white, I can see the dirt smudged on her palm.
I know it’s not polite to not shake someone’s hand, but what if she has rabies or something?
Mother says most people who live in the village have dirty germs. Some even get bit by dogs and white bubbles come out of their mouths.
Maybe the rabies made the space between her two front teeth.
“I’m Veronica!” Me stepping away has done nothing, because she approaches with every step I take back.
She’s fast and I hate it. I’m supposed to be the fast one.
Before I can step any further, she’s grabbing my hand and shaking it.
Our arms move up and down in a sort of wiggling motion and she’s… laughing?
“Did ya hear me? I’m Veronica!”
I stare at her, my eyebrows knotting together. She touched me and she’s not afraid of me. Why isn’t she afraid of me?
“Sebastian.” I swallow and her lips pull down into a frown once I say my name.
“That’s a big name.”
Veronica steps back, her hands on her hips as she stares at me. The collar of my shirt feels too tight. If I knew I wouldn’t get in trouble, I’d unbutton the top button. I don’t like the way she’s staring at me. Is she afraid now? Because I said my name?
“Sebby.”
I blink, my nose wrinkling. “Sebby?” I repeat, and Veronica beams brightly at me.
“Yep,” Veronica says, nodding her head firmly before she lunges toward me. My arms shoot out instinctively, catching the smaller girl for a second before we are tumbling onto the ground. “Sebby!”
I don’t hate it. I don’t really like it either.
I frown at her, turning to rest on my side as she mirrors me. There’s going to be a grass stain on my white shirt, and my mother is going to be upset, but I don’t care right now. Not when Veronica is staring at me with the biggest brown eyes I’ve ever seen.
“Ronnie,” I say and it’s her turn to frown. “If you are going to call me Sebby, that means you’re Ronnie.”
Sebby.
Sebby.
Fucking Sebby.
No one — not one fucking person besides her — has called me that in my twenty-one years. Not even my own mother has given me a nickname.
Veronica whips around, her brown eyes wide with a mixture of relief and fear. She’s trembling, and it isn’t from pleasure. Good. Every second that passes, builds a rage burning through me. What the fuck is happening? How is this happening? How did I not see through the act she’s been portraying?
“Sebastian, wait.”
No. No.
“Get out.” Veronica’s face pales.
I don’t break our gaze as I rip myself away from her, stumbling backwards.
Mary’s hand touches my shoulder, and the patience that has been hanging on by a thread is gone.
I shove my wife from me, tearing my gaze from Veronica to stare at Mary.
Her blue eyes go wide as if she doesn’t recognize me.
Hell, I don’t recognize myself right now.
I’ve felt anger before, but this is deadly.
“Get the fuck out!” I snarl, my hand coming to the back of Mary’s neck.
She tenses under my hold, but thankfully doesn’t try to fight when I push her toward the door.
The other two housemaids are already out, towels left abandoned in a mess on the floor.
Every ounce of oxygen is being sucked up and used instantly.
My breathing is harsh, heavy and exasperated as if I just ran for my fucking life.
The sound of shuffling behind me has my body moving with lightning speed.
Veronica is pinned beneath me in seconds, her wrists pressed harshly down against the sheets.
With a soft whimper, her chocolate eyes glisten with tears she won’t let fall.
Even now, seeing her so terrified, I can’t get myself to stop, to think of what I’m doing.
The magnetic pull forcing me to her finally makes sense.
Veronica Beverly has always had that effect on me.
“Not you.” My words are clipped and loaded with venom.
She isn’t going anywhere. Not until she fucking explains this fucking fiasco we’re in.
“Sebastian, think about what you are doing.” Georgina’s voice is cautious. She’s speaking in a tone that’s intended for a wild animal. I’m the wild animal.
My gaze shoots to the older woman, a sinking feeling churning in the pit of my gut. Georgina stares at me, her expression nothing of remorse. No.
“You knew,” I sneer. Georgina flinches. “How long.” I’m not asking, I’m demanding an answer.
Georgina’s shoulders drop with her face, overwhelmed by guilt. Good. I want her to fucking feel every ounce of pain over this, just as I am. Even with her own demons battling her, she doesn’t look away from me as she speaks.
“I figured it out yesterday.”
Warmth spreads up my neck, the heat a blaze on my olive skin.
“You’ve known this for a day and kept it from me?
Me?” I can’t mask the hurt in my voice, the soft crack of every word.
There’s nothing worse than being betrayed.
Not from the people I care about most, and they are currently right here with me.
The girl who was my entire world, once upon a time. She hung the fucking moon in my eyes.
Realization hits, leaving me with a sword lodged straight through my chest. I release her wrists and back away until my thighs hit the chair. My chest heaves, bile building in my throat.
I fucked her.
I took her virginity.
I ruined the one person I swore I never would, because of duty.
“This arrangement is done. If you haven’t fallen pregnant by now, you never will. Georgina, see to it that a new handmaid is arranged.” My gaze flicks to Veronica’s devastated face. Before I can think about changing my mind, I leave, slamming the door behind me.