Royally Trained

by Diana Ames

  When the prince had begun bringing small animals for Gilly to treat and save, Gilly had thought the prince was being kind. After the animals started to have cuts and bruises that could not have occurred naturally, Gilly had started to suspect that the prince was actually abusing the animals. When she had confronted the ten-year-old prince, he’d broken down and cried. Telling her about his beast, he’d explained how it was eating him up inside, and the only way to satisfy it was to hurt something. Gilly had understood, knowing what he’d seen and experienced, and held him while he cried. She’d vowed to him that she would always be there for him to help and heal anything he hurt when he couldn’t control his beast.

  And she’d kept that vow. The woman on the bed was by far the most damaged creature he’d ever sent to her, and Gilly knew that the beast was taking control of the man. It wouldn’t be long until there was nothing left but the beast. Even then, Gilly would keep her vow, and she would remain loyal to the man and his beast.

  ***

  Damian awoke, feeling pain in his neck. He’d fallen asleep in a chair beside Jenalynn’s bed. He couldn’t bring himself to leave her last night. He felt responsible for her condition.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” a voice said from behind him.

  Damian’s head shot up, and he turned to look at Dr. Gilly.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” she repeated. “Your loyalty is to Prince Anton. This woman is just a tool, a vessel, that obviously wasn’t made for the applied task.” Gilly kept her tone cool. It disturbed her to see the defiled body in front of her, but she would not allow it to show. Her allegiance was with Prince Anton.

  “You’re fooling yourself, Gilly. He’s gone too far; he’s lost it. He wants her in his bed as soon as she’s capable!” Damian’s voice was full of anger and frustration.

  “That is his right,” she replied calmly. “The woman signed up for this.”

  “This is not what submission is about,” Damian told her. “Don’t kid yourself.” Damian’s eyes filled with fire at her blind acceptance. “I know you feel something more for him, but if he had you tied up and naked in front of him, he would do exactly the same to you.”

  “If you feel that way, Damian…” She paused, taking a deep breath. “Then, perhaps you should teach him what submission is really about. That is your job, isn’t it? To teach?” Disdain was evident in her tone and words. “As for me, I’m not submissive, and I will never be naked in front of our prince.”

  “And it eats you up, doesn’t it?” Damian asked softly, malice evident. “That he doesn’t want you? You’d love to be in his bed in any way you could get there, wouldn’t you?”

  “Get out, Damian. If I catch you in here again before she awakes, I will have you banned from medical.”

  Damian gave her a long, slow look from head to toe. She was short, perhaps only five feet tall. Her body curved in the right places even though she was slender. Her hair and eyes were a deep chestnut brown. But there was a hardness to her features as if she’d seen and been through too much. Damian knew she’d never been in a relationship, but he had no idea if she was still a virgin or not. For several years, she had left the castle grounds to attend medical school, and there were no rumors or gossip about her.

  “Get out,” Gilly told him again as she opened the door for him.

  Damian gave her a hard glare before stalking through the door and out of the medical wing.

  ***

  Prince Anton sat straight up in his bed. He was shaking and drenched with sweat. The nightmares he’d hoped he’d vanquished plagued him all night long. A glance at his clock told him it was already midday. He’d been awake long into the night thinking about Damian’s ultimatum, but the prince had yet to come to any conclusions.

  Rising from his bed, he headed straight for his bathing chamber. Anton quickly cranked up the hot water and dived under the waterfall of steaming liquid. The nightmares always left him feeling dirtier than any of his actions with the women he used. Damian had been wrong when he’d said the prince was trying to punish his mother by hurting the women. No, he was trying to get his mother out of his head, so she would stop tormenting him. It was working less and less these days.

  The damn woman who’d birthed him had been dead for more than ten years, and he still couldn’t escape her influence. As he felt the rage flood through his body, he desperately tried to beat it back down. He always tried, and he used to succeed, to keep the rage and the beast buried deep. Lately, however, it was getting stronger.

  Damn it. He needed a woman. He needed a virgin pussy. He liked virgins. They were pure; he didn’t feel as dirty after he had a virgin. If the blonde hadn’t cried out so beautifully, he would have stopped beating her, and he would have had his virgin pussy. But her cries had egged on his beast. When her screams had finally ceased, he’d realized he’d come all over himself. He hadn’t bothered speaking to the woman, and he hadn’t untied her because he knew the clean team would handle it. He’d just gone to cleanse himself.

  Thinking about the woman’s screams got him hard. He dropped his scrub brush and began a slow stroke up and down his cock, reliving the flying blood and her hoarse screams. She’d attempted to contain them when he’d demanded her silence, but he knew how to wring the pain-filled cries out of her mouth. Faster and faster, he rubbed, squeezing tighter and tighter. He liked it almost painfully tight. Reaching down with his other hand, he squeezed his balls hard, and just like that, jets of come shot from the head of his cock.

  He bent down and calmly picked up the scrub brush, feeling the rage abate slightly. Maybe he could feed the beast with memories and his own hands. As he scrubbed, Prince Anton felt hopeful that he could avoid arrest and capitulate to Damian’s demands.

  ***

  Mellissandra was cold and hungry. She’d dozed off and on, her sense of time completely gone. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been here, but from the hunger pangs plaguing her, she thought it had to be about two days.

  She was angry. Did they lock me in this room just to forget about me? Is this part of the training? She didn’t know what was expected of her. She was told that someone would tell her everything she needed to know. How the hell can someone tell me what I need to know if no one is even coming to bring me food or wood for the fire?

  What she did know was that she had to get her anger under control. She couldn’t fly off the handle at whoever eventually showed up. She didn’t want to end up in the torture room for being defiant. She was supposed to be submissive. While she didn’t know exactly what that meant, she was pretty sure yelling and throwing things were not a part of it. Of course, at the rate she was going, she’d be too cold and weak to do anything.

  Rising from the bed, Mellissandra kept the heavy blanket around her as she made her way to the bathing chamber. She would drink more water and take another hot bath. No matter what it took, she was determined to get through this trial. Her family needed her to be strong.

  “Father, I will find a way to get the money for Brady’s treatment,” Mellissandra promised.

  He was sitting at the table with his head in his hands. “It’s not your responsibility, Mellie. I don’t want you to do anything rash. I will find another job, and your mother will make cuts in the household expenses.”

  “Father, you can’t get another job. You don’t have enough time to sleep as it is. And the only expense left for mother to cut is in the food we eat. The little ones need nourishment. I’m the eldest. I can help,” Mellissandra told him forcefully.

  Mellissandra’s family, while not wealthy, had never done without until recently. Six children were expensive though. And now, one was diagnosed with cancer and needed costly treatments, so money was very sparse. Mellissandra was the oldest at nineteen years old, Brady was the oldest son at fourteen, and the two sets of twins were just two years apart at six and four.

  Mellissandra knew that just getting out of the house and giving her parents one less mouth to feed and one less person to clothe woul
d make a difference. She also knew that she needed to find a way to get money. Jobs for unskilled females were few and far between, ranging from waitress to whore. Although neither paid well enough to support herself on her own and give money to her family, she had to try. She thought her virginity might be worth something extra.

  “Mellie, whatever you’re thinking, get it out of your head,” her father told her. “This is not your problem to deal with. It’s mine. I won’t have you ruin your future to help support my children.”

  “Yes, Father,” Mellissandra told him meekly. She knew though that the first chance she got, she was going to find a way to help her family.

  ***

  Damian went to his suite to shower and change. He’d been in the same clothes since the interviews, and he felt grimy. The room was frigid as no one was permitted to enter his chamber without him present. He would have to call for more wood before he showered.

  Something clicked in his head after he made the call to order his firewood. He’d forgotten about the redhead. Without his orders, no one would check on her or take her food, wood, or clothing. She’d been locked up in that room with nothing since he’d taken her food tray.

  He looked at his watch. It had been eighteen hours, give or take, since he’d left the training room and just over twenty-four hours since the interviews. She would definitely be hungry, and if his room were anything to go by, she would most likely be freezing.

  He picked up the phone again. His shower would have to wait.

  ***

  Ten minutes later, Damian stood outside the locked doors to the training room. Three servants stood in front of him, two carrying firewood and one with a large tray of food. Damian unlocked the doors and swung them wide open.

  “Put the food on the table,” he said, directing the servants. “Get a fire started in here immediately.”

  The room was even colder than his, and he shivered. He could see his breath as he exhaled, and that worried him. The woman had no clothes on, and it was as cold as winter in here. He hoped she had a strong constitution, or they might have another woman under medical care before the night was over.

  Looking around, his eyes widened when he didn’t see the redhead anywhere in the room. He listened above the sounds of the servants lighting a fire. He thought he could hear noise coming from the bathing chamber. She had to be in there. He knew the servants locked the other doors in the room after he’d finished training the last woman. For a moment, he heard nothing other than the crackling of kindling catching flame.

  “Out!” Damian demanded. “I will tend to the fire.”

  The three servants hopped up and dashed for the door. No one questioned Teacher Damian’s orders when he was in a good mood. To hesitate now, when he was irritated, would be suicide. Damian closed the doors behind the servants and locked them. Then, he strode to the door of the bathing chamber and threw it open.

  She was there, asleep in the hot tub in the center of the room. The room was steamy and warm. Damian smiled at her resourcefulness. As he noticed a half-full glass of water on the edge of the tub, his smile turned into a full-fledged grin. He wouldn’t have a sick woman on his hands tonight. He might have a pissed-off one, and he conceded that he deserved her anger. Damian was grateful that she had the wherewithal to keep herself warm and hydrated. She might be hungry and angry, but she wouldn’t be sick. Training would begin tonight.

  Damian cleared his throat, but it didn’t wake her. From the profile view he had, he could clearly see her head above the water and the gentle rise and fall of her breasts as she breathed, so he knew she hadn’t drowned while dozing in the tub. He cleared his throat again, but she still didn’t move.

  “Woman!” he barked.

  Mellissandra jumped, startled by the shout. Her head shot up and then swiveled to face the annoyed man standing in the doorway. Her face turned red until it matched her hair. She was angry.

  ***

  Prince Anton knocked on the door in front of him. Normally, he wouldn’t bother with knocking, especially since this apartment was inside his castle, but the person who resided behind this door was the one person he respected.

  After a moment, the door opened, and Anton stepped inside. When the door was closed, he sat down on the sofa and put up his feet. This was one place where he could be himself and relax. His beast was always quiet around Gilly.

  He wondered, not for the first time, why they had never married. Years ago, before his beast had ruled his life, Anton had considered proposing to Gilly; but then she’d left the island. As his bloodlust grew, he realized it was a good thing she’d left when she did. If I had married Gilly, would she have contained my beast before it got out of control?

  After Gilly returned she was distant and unreachable. When she’d finally allowed Anton back into her life, there was simply no sexual attraction there for him. How hard would it have been to turn the lights off and mate, pretend she was someone else? Sex is sex, right? It hadn’t mattered though, by then Anton needed to cause pain to have sex. Besides, he wasn’t about to procreate with someone who had royal blood, no matter how distant the connection. There would be no monster-inbred children from him.

  Gilly handed him a scotch and sat next to him on the sofa.

  “Will she live?” he asked.

  “I believe so, Anton. She’s in bad shape though. What were you thinking?” Gilly asked him softly.

  She gazed at him through her lowered lashes. Damian had been right earlier. She would give anything to be the one in Anton’s bed. She would do anything to have him look at her with lust in his eyes. She would even allow him to whip the skin from her back if it meant that he would bury himself deep inside her and give her his baby. But Gilly knew it wasn’t meant to be. That option had been taken away from her. That was why she’d left the castle to become a doctor.

  “I wasn’t thinking, Gilly. The beast took over, and he loved hearing her scream. He fed on it and on her blood until the only thing that could stop him was when the begging ended.” Anton tossed back his drink and set the glass down. With his elbows on his knees, he put his head between his hands. “Damian is going to have me arrested if I go near another woman, Gilly. I raped a woman in his club.”

  “Anton,” Gilly said. Moving closer, she put a hand on his back. “You’re the prince. The woman in medical right now signed up for this. The woman in the club works in a sex club for heaven’s sake. How can you rape someone who is paid to be there to fuck? No charges would ever hold up in court. Damian is out of his mind to threaten you with arrest.”

  “Yeah, it wouldn’t stick, but the twenty-four hours I would sit in a jail cell, awaiting release…” He shuddered. “Can you imagine what other prisoners would do to me in those twenty-four hours? Because I can, Gilly. It would be hell on earth.”

  “Then, lock him up first,” Gilly said. “He threatened the prince, the last member of the royal family.”

  Anton leaped to his feet and spun to look at Gilly. He saw calculation and hate on her face. It frightened him a little because it was like looking in a mirror, but it also excited him. He felt a stirring in his groin. Maybe there was more to his little Gilly than he’d thought.

  ***

  “Who the hell are you? What are you doing in my bathing chamber? Did you bring me food?” Mellissandra yelled, firing questions at the man standing in front of her. She felt a chill and looked down to realize she was still naked. “Stop looking at me!” she screamed. She dashed for the thick towel to cover her nudity.

  “Get your anger all out now, little one. This is the first and last time you will be permitted to shout at me,” Damian told her.

  Mellissandra stopped in her tracks. Fear overtook her as the torture room flashed before her eyes. She stood naked, shivering, in front of the man she now recognized as her interviewer.

  “No more anger, hmmm? Good,” Damian said, walking forward.

  He frowned when she shrank away from him as he held out a dry towel. Is she afraid? By just
those few words? Damian gave her a quizzical look. “Why are you afraid, little one? I will not harm you.” In one swift motion, Damian wrapped her in the towel, encircling her with his arms. He pulled her in close and dried her body. She fit so perfectly in his arms, and her body felt so good against him.

  “Never mind, it doesn’t matter right now. You need to eat, and I need to tend the fire.” Damian left her covered in the towel to provide her with some warmth until he got the fire roaring. Pulling her into the bedroom, he said, “Eat for now, and I will attempt to explain why you have been neglected. Then, we will discuss your training.” He pushed her toward the food on the table. “What is your name, little one?” he asked.

  “Mellissandra Elias,” she replied as she dove for the food. She grabbed a piece of cheese and shoved it in her mouth. She was starving, and table manners weren’t on her list of priorities.

  “Mellissandra,” he repeated thoughtfully. “That’s beautiful, but it’s quite the mouthful. I will call you Sandra. That is all you will answer to. Do you understand me, Sandra?” Damian stopped fussing with the wood and glanced over at her.

  She was stuffing food into her mouth quickly as if she were afraid it would be snatched away from her at any moment.

  “Sandra,” he snapped. “Are you paying attention to me? When I speak, you listen! When I ask you a question, you answer! Do you understand me?”

  Mellissandra looked at him with contempt. How dare he speak to me as if I was a half-wit! With a little food in her belly and the fire warming her chilled bones, she felt her spirit and anger rising. “I understand you just fine,” Mellissandra told him, her eyes narrowed.

  “Then, you understand that you will only answer to Sandra from this point forward. And you will listen when I address you and answer when I question you,” Damian said, glaring at her. This one doesn’t appear to have a submissive bone in her body. It excited him, but it also confused him. Why the hell did she apply to be a submissive?