by Marian Tee
The prince suddenly laughed.
My eyes widened. “You were lying!”
“And you fell for it,” the prince said with a smirk.
My head reeled even more and I almost wanted to pinch myself just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. My serious-as-hell stepbrother prince had made a joke. And he had even laughed!
“Lady Ella?” As he spoke, the prince tipped my chin up, making me jerk at the suddenness of his touch.
When our eyes met, I found my throat turning dry, the brightness of his gaze doing strange things on my body---
Oh no, no, no---
Please don’t---
But it was too late.
I was wet again.
Impossibly, undeniably wet, and even as I pressed my thighs together under my skirt, there was no stopping it, the moisture soaking my panties in a moment.
The prince’s nostrils flared, as if he, too, knew of his effect on my body. He said thickly, “I need you to answer me honestly, ukhayyah.”
The last word sounded so beautifully exotic on his lips. It wasn’t the first time he had called me that, and wetting my lips, I asked tremulously, “W-what does it mean?”
“Little sister.” The prince’s lips twisted in a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Oh.
It worked like a bucket of ice-cold water, reminding myself of the painful reality of my life.
The prince was my stepbrother, and I had no business feeling like this about him.
“I need to go.” I tried to pull away, but the prince’s grip only tightened.
“Not until you answer me.” He didn’t wait for me to speak and went straight at it, his voice turning abrupt as he asked, “Have you ever been kissed by a man?”
My eyes widened. That was one question I had never expected him to ask.
“Have you?” the prince insisted.
I shook my head.
“Good.” His eyes blazed with such intensity, that I became all the wetter for it. “Another question, ukhayyah.”
“You said just one,” I protested unevenly.
“This will be the last,” he promised huskily.
My toes curled at his tone. A small sensible voice told me that this was getting onto dangerous territory again. But with the prince looking at me like I was the most beautiful girl on earth, I couldn’t help it.
Throwing common sense out of the window I asked, “What is it?”
“Would you like to claim your reward?” His lips dropped an octave. “Would you like me to have your first kiss?”
Oh. My. God.
There was only one answer to that.
“Yes---”
And before I knew what he was planning, the prince had bent his head and kissed me.
Even though I expected it, I still stiffened in shock, a part of me wondering if this was all a dream.
The prince’s lips brushed against mine, over and over until my lips started to part. His tongue immediately slid in, taking advantage. It was strange and incredible, the feeling of his tongue inside my mouth. When I whimpered, the sound seemed to trigger something inside the prince, making him deepen the kiss. His tongue stroked mine more boldly and explored my mouth more thoroughly.
When the prince released me, I gasped for breath as I stumbled back.
Had we really just kissed? Was it really my stepbrother’s mouth on mine?
My gaze flew to the prince, but he looked so composed it was as if I had only imagined what happened.
“Wh-wha---”
The prince didn’t let me finish. “You may go.”
The Punishment
I didn’t tell anyone about what happened that night. The prince hadn’t forbidden me to do so. He didn’t have to. This was exactly like what happened the first night we meet. If I ever spoke a word, I’d end up ruining my mother’s marriage – the one thing in her life that was purely beautiful and happy.
And I just couldn’t do that to her.
After school the next day, a soldier came to me, saying the prince was requesting for my presence in his study.
“Could you tell him I’m not feeling well?” Not waiting for the soldier’s answer, I smiled wanly at him before closing the door on his face.
I threw myself on my bed, still in my uniform. It was all a lie of course, but I just knew I wasn’t ready to face him yet.
Memories of our kiss flooded my mind. I squeezed my eyes shut, but they persisted to haunt even the darkness behind my lids, taunting me of my weakness.
That kiss shouldn’t have happened, but it had, and I hadn’t done anything to stop it. Instead, I had returned the kiss, surrendered myself to the kiss and if the prince hadn’t put a stop to it, I would have let the kiss go on…forever.
For the rest of the day, I locked myself inside the room, even going as far as skipping dinner because I still wasn’t ready to face him.
Near midnight, someone knocked on my door, waking me up. “Who is it?” I called out. I was sleepy and confused, unable to understand why the soldier outside my door didn’t just tell me who it was.
“May I speak with you?”
It was the prince.
When I didn’t answer, the prince said quietly, “I do not want this between us, Lady Ella. Let me speak with you. Please.”
The raw sincerity in his voice drew me in, and before I knew what I was doing, I was already unlocking the door and letting him in. “Your Highness,” I mumbled, sinking into a curtsy. I avoided his gaze the entire time.
I heard the prince close the door and lock it. The latter stunned me, made me wary all of a sudden. I looked up, and the mocking gleam in the prince’s blue eyes made me gasp.
He had tricked me again!
I tried to run away, but the prince was too fast. Before I knew it, he had twisted us around, my back slamming against the door while he held me caged between his arms.
I was trapped.
We stared at each other for a moment, both of us breathing hard. The prince was dressed in dark night robes, the deep V showing a sliver of his marbled bronze chest, while I was in a slip of a nightgown, one that revealed more than it hid.
The prince started to bend his head.
I began to struggle. “No---” I started to scream, but the sound was swallowed into his kiss.
The prince kissed me long and hard, my desperate struggles no match for his strength. He kissed me deeply and passionately, kissed me until I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but moan and surrender into his touch. No longer able to resist what my body wanted, I wrapped my arms wrapped around his neck. Hesitantly, I kissed him back, and at the first touch of my tongue with his, the prince shuddered.
His control seemed to break, the kiss becoming wild, the prince sucking on my tongue. It was another first, and I couldn’t get enough of it. I wanted him to suck my tongue forever.
His mouth moved down, the prince kissing my neck, sucking hungrily on the pulse. His mouth moved down once more, his fingers clearing the way as he pulled the neckline of my blouse down. When tore my bra away and my breasts popped out, I gasped in shock at finding myself half-naked all of a sudden. I hastily tried to cover myself but the prince quickly caught my wrists and pinned them over my head.
“Keep still,” the prince snarled.
And I did, because he had never used such a tone with me.
I trembled as the prince’s gaze moved down. “Such beautiful breasts,” he murmured.
I shook my head in mortification. “It’s too big.” The words came out of nowhere, but my worry was real. My shame was real. They were too big. I believed that because my breasts tended to make men stare at me the wrong way.
“Too big?” the prince mocked. “For an ignorant man perhaps but not for me.” And he seemed to want to prove it as he cupped one large breast with his equally large and strong hand. My breast filled his hand nicely, and the sight was almost hypnotic.
A whimper escaped me when the prince started kneading my breas
t. It was the most amazing sensation, the most addictive feeling. Then he started tweaking my nipple, and I lost it. I started rocking against his body.
“Please, please, please.” I couldn’t stop begging.
I wanted more of his touch and I didn’t want it to stop.
As if hearing my thoughts, the prince asked, “You want me to stop?”
I shook my head wildly.
The prince released me.
“Don’t refuse me again.” The prince slammed the door shut behind me as he left, leaving me shaken and confused.
The next day, I came down for breakfast, wondering if I’d see him, scared if I would.
But he wasn’t there.
“The prince’s left last night, milady.” Seeing my stricken look, the cook clucked her tongue. “You two had a fight again?”
“S-something like that,” I mumbled. A veritable feast laid waiting before me but I had no appetite, the knowledge that the prince was gone making me feel listless.
“It will be fine, he’ll come back.” The cook patted my hand comfortingly. “All my life I have worked here, watched the prince grow from a wee babe. Never had I seen him so worried when you didn’t come to join him for dinner.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “The prince was…worried?”
“That he was, child. He even had me send you a tray but told me I shouldn’t let you know about it.” The cook winked.
“I see.” I was dumbfounded by her revelations.
“The prince does not find it easy to trust anyone, milady. He doesn’t find it easy to show his emotions, but I tell you, milady. Yesterday, it was very obvious he missed your company---”
“But we don’t even speak when we eat together,” I protested. “At all!”
“Ah, you are indeed young, milady.” The cook smiled. “You can enjoy a person’s company even when not a single word has been spoken, and that’s how it was with you and the prince. He always dines alone, milady. Even when his family is all here, he prefers his own company, taking his meals in his suite. But when you came…”
When I came, there was not a day I hadn’t my meals with him, whenever the prince was in residence. All along, I had thought that was because it was tradition…but now I knew it wasn’t.
Could it be true? Did he really enjoy my company that much?
Something spread inside me, something warm, beautiful, and forbidden.
I mustn’t read anything into it, I told myself. I mustn’t. Even if he did enjoy my company, that was it. It didn’t change a thing. He was still my stepbrother prince. Nothing would – could – happen between us, and I had to remember that.
The Supper
The prince came back the next day, and this time I didn’t think twice about joining him for supper. I had again dressed up for the occasion, choosing a long-sleeved robe with loose transparent sleeves and a tight-fitting bodice. But even now, I couldn’t admit to myself that I wanted to be pretty for him.
Seated on the head of the table, the prince was dressed formally as always, this time a black and white tux, the bowtie making him look even more regal than usual.
His sheer beauty had me faltering in my steps, making the prince frown. “You are all right?”
“Umm, yes.” But with the prince’s bright blue gaze following my every movement, I ended up stumbling twice. On the third try, the prince made a frustrated sound and met me halfway. “Is everything all right?” he demanded.
“Yup.” I didn’t meet his gaze as, instead of making my way to the foot of the table, which had always been my place, I went to stop before the chair next to him.
“Are you lost, Lady Ella?” The prince’s voice was acerbic as he followed behind me.
I shook my head. “Nope.”
He raised a brow. “Let me make it clear to you then.” He nodded towards the other end of the table, which was a full dozen feet away. “That is your place.”
I knew that. I even told myself to get moving. But instead, an imp inside me made me ask, “Why do I have to sit all the way there?”
“Why do you even have to ask?” the prince snapped.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why won’t you answer my question?”
We stared at each other again, the prince’s blue eyes frosty with displeasure. But then all of a sudden, a calculating gleam appeared in his gaze---
Unease skittered over my spine. Shit. I might have bitten off more than I could chew here, I thought, gulping. I started to take my words back, but it was too late.
“Forgive me.” The prince spoke in a lazy voice, the purring tone mesmerizing me. He stepped towards me, and I jerked when I felt his hand on the small of my back. The simple touch had heat exploding inside me, and all I could think of was how wonderful it felt to have him touch me.
“It would be my greatest pleasure to have you seated beside me, ukhayyah.” He gestured to the chair. “May I?”
It took me more than a second to realize what he wanted and, flushing, I stepped aside so the prince could pull out the chair for me.
The moment we were seated, attendants immediately came forward, placing napkins on our laps before serving us the first course.
We ate in silence.
I wanted to say something but I couldn’t think of anything to talk about. Once in a while, I would sneak glances at the prince but he appeared fully concentrating on his meal, his every movement slow but graceful. Even after all this time, I could honestly watch him eat forever. It was like an art form, and I wondered if all members of royalty ate like this.
The prince suddenly looked up, his spoon pausing mid-air, and once again he caught me staring at him. “Is something on my face, Lady Ella?”
Shit.
“Yeah, I think…umm…there.” I pointed at a random part of his face before quickly looking down.
“My thanks for pointing it out,” the prince murmured, but the smirk in his voice told me I wasn’t fooling anyone.
Shit.
The attendants cleared away the plates from the second course. When they were gone, that was when I felt it---
The prince’s hand on my knee.
I froze, my eyes flying to him in shock.
“You see, ukhayyah, it is for your benefit that I gave you that seat,” the prince said silkily. “If you are this close to me, I would not be able to resist.”
His blue eyes captured mine. “And you would not be so foolish to think of resisting me, will you?”
I shook my head mutely.
His fingers started trailing up my thigh and it was all I could do not to cry out loud.
The attendants came back to the hall just as the prince’s fingers found my sensitive flesh. I froze, and I tried not to look like anything was happening as the prince started to stroke me. My panties were drenched in seconds.
The prince smiled – a dazzling sight – just before his fingers pulled my panties to the side.
Oh!
I couldn’t breathe, could only look down at the table as the prince started stroking a tiny nub of flesh between my legs. I knew about it, of course, but I had never tried to touch it, hadn’t even known how sensitive it was until now, with the prince making me want to scream at each tortuous stroke.
God, I hated and loved that he was so good at this. I wish I could be as good, just so I could drive him crazy the way he drove me out of my mind.
“Lady Ella?” It was one of the attendants, and I realized she was unable to serve me the third course until I leaned back on my chair.
The prince’s thumb started moving faster.
Oh, oh, oh---
It was all I could do not to shudder as I forced myself to lean back against my chair. The position had my legs parting wider, making me more exposed to the prince’s touch.
The attendant bent forward---
The prince slid the smallest tip of his finger inside of me.
I gasped.
The attendant froze.
Oh dear God, please go away!<
br />
But she didn’t of course. Instead, she looked at me with concern, and her frown deepened when she saw my tormented expression. “What’s wrong, milady?”
The prince pushed his finger a fraction deeper inside of me.
I shook my head vehemently. “N-nothing,” I stammered.
The attendant threw me an odd look. “All right, milady.”
When she left, I looked at the prince. “Please.”
He lifted a brow. “Please what?”
I gazed at him in frustration. Dear God, I didn’t even know what I was begging for!
“Please…do this?” The prince withdrew his finger out of me---
I started to sigh in relief, but I also had to battle away a strange feeling of disappointment.
“---or this?” He pushed his finger back in, deeper than before.
I whimpered, shock and pleasure mingling at his penetrating touch.
And so it went on, throughout the entire ten-course meal. His fingers fucking me, thrusting in and out, but never so deep I would feel stuffed.
When we were done, the prince wordlessly offered me his hand and I took it, both of us knowing I had no choice. He left my knees shaking so badly there was no way I’d be able to walk without his help.
The prince walked me to my room, with not a word spoken between us.
My heart hammered against my chest the closer we came to my room. Would this be finally it, I wondered wildly. Would this be the night we’d close our eyes to the reality, would this be the night we’d throw caution to the wind and do what we both wanted?
Because this was what he wanted, too, didn’t he?
Even though I was his ukhayyah, his little sister, surely the prince wouldn’t be able to deny the truth?
He wanted to fuck me.
Me.
Ella.
His stepsister.
“Lady Ella.” The prince’s voice was rough as we stopped before the door to my bedroom. A pair of soldiers was always stationed outside my room, but neither guard looked our way even when the prince and I came to stand between them.
I swallowed. “Yes, Your Highness?”
Hunger blazed in his eyes and I saw it turn fierce as his gaze moved down, lingering on my breasts, which rose and fell with every shaky breath I drew.
