by S. K Munt
‘I think you’re right,’ I heard Adeline giggle. ‘Well, don’t scare her further, and don’t be long.’
Oh God get me OUT of here!
‘I won’t,’ the prince assured them in that husky voice of his. ‘Larkin? Are you still there?’
I froze in the settled fog and held my breath as the sounds of splashing increased- the Companions departing, no doubt. If I stayed quiet enough, maybe he’d think that I had found a way out and would leave me be.
‘Larkin…’ the prince sounded amused, but that wasn’t enough to calm me down, not nearly enough. ‘I can see you, you know- you’re breathing so hard that you’ve exposed yourself in the steam.’
I groaned and straightened, placing my hand on the misted glass and ducking my head. ‘Please, your highness just let me leave, okay? I know that I’m probably in a lot of trouble for ignoring that closed sign but I swear to God that I’ll never set foot in here again if you just let me slither away. I’m scared straight, I promise you that!’
Karol chuckled and splashed again, his sounds deafening through my filter of humiliation. ‘That’s the problem, little lark. I can’t have you stumble in on me in a compromising position like that and allow you to leave scared, can I?’
‘You should!’ I insisted.
‘YOU should turn around and face me instead of cowering against the wall,’ he shot back; his tone firmer than it had been before. ‘Not only have you been trained to cope with and partake in this sort of scene, but I am the Prince of Arcadia and you are not supposed to defy me, remember?’ My stomach knotted itself on the words ‘partake’ and ‘scene.’ Yes I’d been told that one day I’d be expected to service Kohén with some of the other Given girls present, but never had I imagined actually doing that! And now that I’d seen a multi-person romp with my own eyes, I knew that I would have nightmares for the rest of my life.
‘Your highness…’ I whispered, mortified and terrified ‘I’m sorry for interrupting you but please…just let me go and send me word of my punishment after you have… finished.’
‘I have no intention of punishing you for bypassing that closed sign, nor will I be able to finish anything knowing that you’re in such a state over it,’ he said sharply. ‘But I will report your insubordination to mother if you continue to ignore me, and your poor conduct to your instructor.’ He paused, letting that sink in and then repeated in a calmer voice: ‘I don’t think either of us want my mother or Maryah involved in this, so please Larkin, come into the pool as you intended to before, and stop treating me like I am beneath you and force me to prove otherwise.’
I made a face at the foggy window, but I knew that he was right. I could get into a lot of trouble, and I had not handled the situation well at all. I wasn’t so sure that the other Given girls would have fared any better in my position, but I wasn’t about to let knowledge of this mortifying experience become known to the girls in my class when Maryah reprimanded me for it at the duchess’s request! I sighed, collected my wits and turned to walk back to the edge of the pool, looking at the waterfall across the water and over Karol’s head instead of at him. Unfortunately for me there was a mural of Miguel and his Gabriella making love directly above it on the other side of the curved ceiling, and I could have sworn to God that she was smiling smugly at my distress.
‘I am sorry, your highness,’ I said woodenly. ‘I displayed poor manners just now, and can only blame my lack of experience for it.’
‘Then let’s see you get some experience so that it doesn’t happen again, hmm?’ Karol asked, and my spine could have melted in fear. ‘And you can start by looking at me, and not over me. I know you probably haven’t seen many naked men before, so I can pardon your flight reflexes- but I won’t have you plunging through a plate glass window in your need to avoid me. Besides, you have no reason to be embarrassed by my nudity Larkin… it is quite all right for you to look if you’d like to, and if the sight of me makes you feel a bit light-headed or aroused, then that’s okay too.’
My pride took a hit from his condescending tone, and my anger spiked at the suggestion that I wanted to gawk at him or that I would have an arousing physical reaction to his nakedness. Maybe Karol Barachiel had a lot of fans in Arcadia who would love to trade positions with me right now so that they could drool all over him, but I was NOT one of them! Before I could moderate my anger, I dropped my eyes to the prince’s half-submerged and fully erect member and said calmly: ‘It is not I who ought to feel embarrassed right now your highness, but you. Legend has it that you are quite well endowed, but from here, it looks as though the Barachiel genetics do not fare as well in chilled water as they so in the stories of your conquests.’ I smiled angelically when his eyebrows shot up like rising gates and tilted my head to the side, examining his (EXTREMELY very large) erection more obviously. ‘Or are you just not hard yet? I wouldn’t be surprised- men so like to hunt and probably grow weary of having old kill dropped into their laps after awhile, right?’
Karol’s eyes narrowed dangerously. ‘Were you sixteen right now, I’d show you just how hard and endowed I am, little bird and the legends would come from between your lips after.’
My heart jumped up into my throat at the threat, but I swallowed it down, safe in the knowledge that he could only banish me for my attitude and not make good on his threat without finding himself on the wrong side of Arcadia’s walls as well, and without his commanding baritone. People over the age of sixteen who preyed on people under the age of sixteen were not just banished in Calliel- they were castrated too and not even King Elijah was above that rule. It was the second hardest form of punishment that we had.
‘Your brother might object to that even if I were, seeing as how I am his plaything, not yours.’
‘Well, if you’d like to keep it that way than I suggest that you follow through on your taunts and actually get into the water as I have commanded you to do,’ Karol retorted. ‘After all, it is our father who has the final say over who remains in the harem and who is tossed into the Wildwoods, not Kohén, and he’s been irritated once this year already by your clever little friend- I doubt he’d take a second infraction so well from within the harem. And disobeying me is a serious infraction, Larkin- we don’t have a glyph for ‘Uppity smart-ass’.’
I glowered at him but obediently walked forward and to the left, submerging first to my ankles, then knees then waist in the warm water. I did so calmly and carefully, barely stirring the pool’s surface, but when I tried to turn away, the prince reached out and snatched up my wrist, forcing me to face him. I yelped, immediately overcome with panic but he just laughed and caught my free flailing hand, bending both of my wrists behind my back and pressing himself into me and up against the edge of the pool. He was hard all over and a tawny brown, cutting a figure that was awe-inspiring and terrifying and as he secured me in place with his hips, I felt his erection press into the gap between my thighs. Terror cloaked my mind immediately and I opened my mouth to scream, but Karol simply laughed and released one of my wrists to cup my mouth.
‘Don’t even consider it,’ he taunted me, his eyes bright in the foggy air. ‘I’m not going to take advantage of you Larkin- we both know that that’s a crime and the Barachiel men are not criminals. Nor do we have to force ourselves on women to find satisfaction.’ I said nothing but he didn’t seem to care. His eyes travelled down over me, and he clucked his tongue. ‘My, my, my…’ he drawled. ‘You’ve done a spectacular job of blossoming, haven’t you?’ His eyes lifted to mine and he smiled. ‘But you don’t care about that sort of thing, do you? You don’t want to be beautiful, and you don’t want to be admired or conquered… you want to be the one who does the conquering yes? Oh, don’t look so shocked- who do you think told Kohén that you’d be able to live as a free woman if he kept his hands in his pockets in your company, hmm?’ His eyes hardened. ‘Who do you think told him that it was a stupid promise to make at such an innocent age? Me. I told him that you could be free, and I told him that i
t was a mistake to confide that in you because now, you have your heart set on leaving don’t you? Which may not happen if Kohén returns and see how his little duckling has become a swan after all, and reacts physically the way I am reacting to you right now.’
I sucked in a breath from between his fingers as he voiced my gravest fears. ‘He won’t do that,’ my words were muffled by Karol’s palm, so he slid it down to cup my jaw, allowing my lips to move freely while my skin shivered in disgust. ‘I am his friend, and the fact that I’ve grown breasts won’t change that.’
‘You’re both fools,’ Karol argued, looking me over again. ‘And you’ve changed in places other than your chest, Larkin. A man would have to be blind and devoid of every other sense not to notice that! How is a teenage boy supposed to resist such a mouth-watering kill, when it is lain in his lap, as you so eloquently said?’
‘His common sense will prevail, and he has plenty of sacrificial lambs to sate his appetite with,’ I argued.
‘They’re not as pretty or as clever as you are though.’
‘They’re beautiful and willing, but my mind will be of more use to the kingdom than my looks will, and he sees that,’ I said snottily. ‘And the fact that you’d favour my looks over my wit in his position just further proves that the wrong Barachiel boy is going to be crowned next.’
Karol frowned at me. ‘You think I’m weak because I find you attractive?’
‘I think Kohén is stronger and a true Barachiel, like Miguel was,’ I said coolly. ‘And if you want to prove yourself as worthy of the crown, start by letting me go right now. Because for all of Kohén’s teenage hormones, he’s yet to grow hard at the sight of me and shove himself between my legs- even though he’s been entitled to make advances towards me for three years now!’
I half expected a slap across the face for that remark, but Karol surprised me yet again by releasing me and backing away with his hands and lips straining upwards. ‘Damn, you’ve got a spine on you girl…’ he lowered his hands to his sides and winked. ‘I’d very much like to bend it to my will, even if that would be a sign of weakness.’
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and I felt my scalp sweat as a result. ‘You’re twenty-eight years old, and I’m fifteen! How has bending my spine ever occurred to you yet, let alone appealed to you?’
‘I’ve been noticing you for years Larkin,’ Karol said, waving his hand as though that were a normal thing for a future king to say to an underage subject. ‘Not sexually not at first of course because you were very slow to develop. But I always knew that you’d grow into that delicious mouth of yours and have longed to see if your hair and skin feel as soft as they look- which is precisely why I warned Kohén off giving you false hope in the first place! Any fool could see that you would grow to become a great beauty- father saw it too- but Kohén didn’t heed me and now I fear that that sharp mind of yours will be wasted in some Blue Collar harem if I don’t intercept your path.’
I stared at him, agog. ‘How?’
‘By claiming you as my own, of course.’
I hugged myself and began to inch back towards the steps. ‘Y-you can’t touch me!’ I yelped, my voice pitching maniacally. ‘You’re not allowed to! I am his!’
‘Now you are his, but if he releases you after conquering you, you will become fair game,’ Karol wet his lips and glanced down at mine. ‘And I just want you to know now that I intend to hunt you down and restore some order to the situation if that happens.’
I was beside myself with hysteria. Was the future king seriously asking me to be his whore? ‘I don’t understand!’
‘You want to be a plantation owner, yes?’ Karol asked archly, tracing circles in the water as he closed in on me again. ‘Don’t look so betrayed- Kohén’s revealed the whole plan to me and I support it one hundred percent... in theory.’ He touched a finger to my lips before I could respond and stared into my eyes. ‘But if he fails to uphold his end of the bargain, I will come and find you and claim you as my own, understood? I will give you all of the gold you can carry in return for your submission, and you will get your land, Larkin.’ I stared at him over his finger. ‘You will have to work as a Companion once you are defiled, remember? So if that happens- you will work for me for as long as it takes for you to save up a little nest egg, and then I will get you to Janiel so long as it’s understood that I will visit you from time to time to collect… taxes,’ he finished with a wry smile. ‘With a smile.’
‘B-but I won’t be allowed to work a farm as a-’
‘Not on it as a Blue Collar, no- but you will be able to be an investor and with the king’s blessing, you will be permitted to oversee your investment by living on site.’ Karol smiled knowingly, and I couldn’t help but feel relieved to know that Madeline’s clothing boutique was the sort of success that could be mimicked in the farming industry. ‘There are Companions in Yael too, you know- and you could be the most successful of them all if I introduce you to Elbert Yael and encourage his acquiescence.’ He grinned at my scowl. ‘I know that doesn’t appeal to you, for you do not want to bear the label of the Companion caste on your arm for the rest of your life, but if you please me as I suspect you will then, well…’ he traced his fingers over my lips and added huskily: ‘I don’t see why you’d ever need to work on your back for anyone BUT me ever again. Is that not a generous offer?’
I was glad that Karol was pressing me up against the side of the pool again, because I knew that my legs would have given out from underneath me if I’d been standing alone. ‘This is an insane conversation to be having,’ I whispered. ‘Not only do I have faith that Kohén will follow through on his plan, but you’re not king yet Karol- Elbert Yael will seek your father’s encouragement, not yours.’
‘I will in a few years time, when you are twenty-one,’ Karol’s breath was warmer than the steam against my face, his body hard and dangerously curving around mine. ‘So remember this conversation and this promise Larkin, and show your gratitude for my generosity by meeting my gaze the next time that it falls upon you, all right? I know you won’t pledge your body to me exclusively right now, for you’re far too loyal to my little brother to demonstrate doubt in him- but you are hearing me, aren’t you?’
I thought that over and then after the longest time, nodded which caused Karol to beam beatifically. I didn’t mean that nod- I would sooner plunge over the side of the tidal falls and into the jagged abyss below then take payment for sharing myself with any man, but I didn’t want to provoke Karol when he was so close to letting me go.
‘Good girl,’ the prince pressed a kiss to my cheek and then reversed away from me, still grinning that sexy grin of his that no photograph or portrait had ever done justice. Jaiya had been right- he was beautiful and the legends were right as well- he was powerful. I hadn’t realised it straight away but the kiss that he’d deposited on my cheek had caused a ripple of calm to wash over my nervous system, calming me. Damn the Nephilim! I wanted to be angry, not soothed! ‘I like knowing that you trust me.’
I frowned at him as I made my way up the steps and out of the water. ‘I don’t trust any of you,’ I objected. ‘I don’t believe a word you say! You just manipulated my emotions and you know it so don’t you dare smirk at me- I’m not charmed, I’m sedated!’
Karol cocked his head. ‘So what could I do to inspire trust in me in a charming way?’
‘Why do you care?!’
He grinned. ‘I’d like to be friends, Larkin. Surely you’ve noticed that I am close with all of my lovers? It’s not a lie you know, or a farce. I love every girl who shares her life with me.’ He dove backwards, swinging his arms like a butterfly wing and I looked away from the way his chest and arms flinched and rippled. ‘In fact, women in general fascinate me and I love earning their adoration.’
‘You are either a very good liar to be able to say that with a straight face, or very confused on the subject of love and women,’ I responded, reaching for the towel that I had dropped earlier and ci
nching it around my waist. ‘Your women don’t adore you because of you- they adore you as someone suffering a boss who whips them with leather, would prefer one who whips them with silk. If they knew a life without whipping at all, they would spit on your favour.’
‘That’s incorrect,’ he said. ‘Adeline loves not only to be bound in silk, but whipped by it.’
‘Because she was told that she had no other choice,’ I corrected him. ‘I’ve heard her speak very highly of you, yes, but it is not love. A heart cannot be shared around like a resource, and Miguel Barachiel proved that when he broke Satan’s heart, then his own, after promising it to her.’ I pointed to him. ‘You are his descendants and I believe the shepherds when they tell us that you have the potential to be just as great as he was, but we were made in God’s reflection and he was as flawed as Satan was! I’d no sooner trust you than I would Emmerly, for you both have something to gain if I fall, regardless of your attempts to soften the impact with your offers of money and land.’
Karol’s eyebrows shot up again. ‘You’re an expert on theology now? If you’d read the creation story at all you’d see that I have descended from a hero and an angel- not some creepy little pimp who lured beauties into syphilis-infested alleyways! And though I agree that Emmerly is a conniving little snot, she’s not evil- she’d just a teenage girl and not all of them are as morally fortified as you are!’
‘Expert?’ I repeated. ‘You think someone has to be bright to get the moral of the creation story? Think, your highness, please! God swept the earth free of most of the corruption and went to measures to ensure that would never happen again, but he bestowed the gift to the exact same race of people who had messed up the first time! There was no Hell when the people in Eden began to squabble and hoard things, and Satan had been purer than any of them until she was broken by YOUR brightest angel! How your descendants could read that story and still decide that creating a caste of loose women to entertain the father’s of other women’s babies was a good idea confounds me enough as it is, without you giving me those sad eyes and asking what you can do to gain my trust once I am forced to become a loose woman as well!’
