by Diana Ames
“I’ll deal with your lying later,” he said angrily as he stalked out of the room.
***
Anton was working out in the gym. He’d been here for the past two hours, trying to rid himself of the feelings crushing his chest. When he’d felt like this in the past, he’d found a woman and—
Anton cut the thoughts off even as they began. He wasn’t going to give his beast fuel.
He let the weights he was lifting slam to the ground. He grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and then he stormed out of the weight room. Exercise hadn’t helped to calm his inner brutality. In fact, with every pump, it had seemed Anton could feel the anger rising higher and higher to the surface.
Entering the royal wing, Anton stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Gilly standing at his apartment door. It took him less than a second to reach her and pull her into his rough kiss.
***
Damian stalked out of the training room with one goal in mind. He was going to find Anton and beat him senseless for breaking the rules he’d put in place a year ago. Then Damian was going to beat him again for not staying away from women.
Damian was beginning to think he would have to lock up Anton before he would stop. He might not have hurt Sandra this time, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t the next time he was bold enough to break Damian’s rules.
Damian was also upset by Sandra’s lies. Why did she feel it was necessary to deny that Anton had been there? And Damian knew it had been Anton. Only a handful of people in the entire castle—a few of the security officers and servants who’d known him when he was a child, Gilly, and Anton—called him by his given name. Of those, Anton was the only one who could have the slightest possible reason to want to see the new submissive.
Damian could see Sandra trying to protect Anton with every word out of her mouth; her face was so expressive. But why? Does she think I have more power than the crown prince? It made no sense.
He was still fuming when he reached the royal wing. He turned down the corridor that led to his apartment. He was surprised to see a security guard stationed at his door.
“Teacher Damian,” the guard said with respect. “I need to speak with you privately. It’s urgent.”
Damian swallowed his frustration, and in agitation, he ran a hand through his hair. The guard could tell this wasn’t the time to bother Damian, but he had his orders.
“If we could step into your quarters, sir,” the guard said. “It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes of your time.”
“Well, come on then,” Damian said with resignation. He was sure the fastest way to get rid of the guard was to hear him out.
***
Anton kissed Gilly furiously, bruising her lips under his. Breaking away, he unlocked the door with one hand and kept the other clamped on her wrist as if she were going to try to escape. Flinging the door open, he dragged her into the room, not even noticing that she wasn’t struggling against him.
He closed the door with a violent kick and slammed her body against his. He kissed her again, raping her mouth with his tongue this time. His hands made their way to her blouse, and he ripped it open down the front, forcing buttons to hit the walls of the small foyer. He put his hands on her shoulders under the shirt and dragged it down her arms. From years of experience, in one motion, he bound her arms to her sides with her shirt.
Pulling away from her mouth, his tongue trailed a path down her shoulder. His lips teased her bare skin until he reached the border of her bra. Abruptly, he bit one nipple through the satiny material. He groaned as he felt the hard pebble against his teeth.
As he pushed her farther into the apartment, he began stripping off his clothing. His T-shirt went flying, and he dropped his sweaty shorts two steps later. In a moment, he was stark naked, sporting a raging hard-on.
Breathing hard, his nostrils flared as he took in her appearance. Part of him wanted to stop before he hurt her, but the stronger part of him just wanted to fuck her until she begged for mercy. When it seemed like she would speak, he slapped his palm over her mouth. Working one-handed, he took off her bra and stuffed it into her mouth, tying it around her head. He undid the button and zipper of her pants and jerked them down to her ankles. She stepped out of them without hesitation. His eyes widened when he realized she was not wearing any panties, and a quick look at the clothes she had been wearing a moment ago confirmed that she had not showered or changed after their earlier tryst.
Backing Gilly up against a wall, he lifted her by her ass cheeks, and her legs automatically went around his waist. In one swift movement, he buried himself balls deep in her wet pussy. He groaned as she somehow managed to ride him with her arms bound to her sides. He groaned again, louder this time, as she came all over his cock seconds after he’d impaled her.
It felt good, but it wasn’t enough for him. He needed to cause pain. His beast was raging deep in his belly, demanding blood. He pulled her off of him and set her on her feet. Just as she was regaining her balance, he grabbed her by the hair and threw her into the living room. She went spiraling, and unable to catch herself on her hands, she fell face down over the arm of a cushy chair.
Anton followed her into the room and picked up the belt he’d left on the floor yesterday. When he slashed the belt across her upturned ass, his beast roared with the crack it made. He hit her again and again as she whimpered through the makeshift gag. When her ass was sufficiently swollen and red with welts from the leather belt, he tossed it aside. Almost lovingly, he stroked her flamed cheeks and then brought his hand down hard. She struggled against the restraints, and her scream could be heard even though she was gagged with her bra.
He spit into his hand and rubbed the saliva over his throbbing cock for lubrication before he positioned himself against her virgin asshole. With a roar, he thrust hard into her. She went limp under him, but he never realized it as he pounded into her torn body. It only took a few minutes before he came deep inside her body.
As his body calmed from the intense orgasm, Anton came back to himself. Now that the beast inside him was satisfied, it went dormant, allowing Anton to see the damage he’d wrought. As he looked down at the bound and gagged Gilly, he was horrified at what he’d done. With his cock still deep inside her ass, he began to cry.
***
Damian listened to the guard go on about the man who’d shown up at the castle, demanding his daughter. It irritated him to think that Sandra had been lying from the very beginning, but her outburst over the medical department certainly made sense now. Her father had said she was looking for a way to ease their financial burdens and pay for the treatment for the cancer that was rapidly killing her brother.
Damian wasn’t sure how she planned to accomplish that goal by being the prince’s submissive, but he’d never claimed to understand the inner workings of a woman’s mind. He dismissed the guard and promised to deal with the situation later. As soon as the guard was gone, Damian left his apartment. He still had the prince to deal with.
***
As Anton sobbed above Gilly, he never heard the pounding on his door. He wasn’t aware of the man who’d burst inside the apartment and was now standing in shock at the sight in front of him. He only became aware when Damian grabbed him and threw him away from Gilly.
“You sick son of a bitch!” Damian yelled. “It wasn’t enough to ruin all the woman I’d trained for you! It wasn’t enough to beat a woman until she nearly died! It wasn’t enough to try to seduce an innocent woman! You had to rape your sister as well!”
Damian took a swing at Anton and connected with his jaw. Although Anton had seen it coming, he did not try to block it or move out of the way. I deserve anything Damian wants to dish out and more. I brutalized Gilly—my sweet, innocent Gilly who gave me her virginity and allowed me to fuck her on my desk after I beat her. Anton shook his head in confusion as Damian’s words came back to him. Gilly is my sister?
Damian pulled Anton to his feet by his hair and punched him in
the face again. Damian was too angry to realize that Anton was not defending himself or fighting back. Damian’s rage was fueled by the sight of the unconscious woman still draped over the chair beside them.
“You…” Damian kicked Anton in the ribs. “Sick…” He threw another kick. “Mother…” He kicked again. “Fucker!” His last word came with a kick to Anton’s already bruised face.
Anton covered his face with his arms, finally realizing that Damian was angry enough to kill him.
Damian looked down at Anton, sickened by the pathetic man lying bleeding and naked on the floor. “Not so tough when it’s not a tied-up woman, are you, Anton?” Damian taunted him. “Get up and fight me, you coward!”
He stopped when he heard muffled shouting coming from the now awake Gilly. He left Anton and ran to her side. After he removed the gag, he was stunned when Gilly began screaming at him.
“What are you doing? Stop hurting him, Damian!” Gilly shouted with anger. “Untie me right now! He needs help.”
“He needs help?” Damian shouted incredulously while unbinding Gilly’s arms. “You were unconscious, and the bastard was still fucking you, Gilly!”
“He didn’t do anything I didn’t want him to,” she told Damian furiously.
Kneeling down beside Anton, she began feeling his ribs and abdomen for internal injuries. Though he groaned every time she pushed on his body, Gilly was satisfied that he wouldn’t die from internal bleeding or a punctured lung in the next few minutes.
“How long has this been going on, Gilly?” Damian asked, trying desperately to rein in his anger.
“None of your damn business, Damian,” she snapped at him, pulling Anton’s hands away from his face. She gasped when she saw his beautiful nose now sitting crookedly between his eyes.
“How long?” Damian snapped. He was pissed. Anton had tied her up, beat her, and possibly raped her, and she was worried about his injuries. Damian was beginning to think the crazy gene ran through the king’s line and not the queen’s.
“Not even a week,” Anton replied from the ground.
“Gilly, go clean yourself up,” Damian said, not looking away from Anton.
“I’m not leaving you alone with him, Damian,” she said furiously. “Look at what you’ve already done!”
“Gilly, sweetheart,” Anton said quietly, “I’ll be fine. Go take a cool bath. It will help the pain you’re going to feel when the adrenaline wears off.”
“But, Anton—” she began.
“I will be fine,” he said again. To prove his point, he began sitting up. It was slow and took some effort, but he managed to pull himself into an upright position. “Go. I hurt you, Gilly. Tend to yourself.”
She reluctantly rose to her feet. Uncaring that she was completely naked, she stalked up to Damian and slapped him hard. Still unsatisfied, she slapped him again. Palm prints stained Damian’s cheeks red and Gilly felt pleased with the physical evidence she’d left on his face.
“He better not be any worse when I get back, Damian,” she said in a low, fierce tone. “So help me God, if you do anything else to him…” Her words trailed off, and she left the threat unfinished. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes, Anton. We need to get you to medical to get those ribs checked out.”
She didn’t bother retrieving any clothing. Most of it was destroyed anyway. With her head held high, she stomped out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.
“What did you mean when you said Gilly was my sister?” Anton asked as soon as he was sure she was gone.
“Damn it,” Damian cursed. “You would have to remember that.” Damian sat down on the edge of the sofa, his anger waning slightly from Gilly’s confession that what Anton had done to her had been consensual.
“Quit stalling, Damian,” Anton demanded with a wheeze. “I’ve fucked her three times now, and not once did I use protection. Are you telling me that I’ve been fucking my sister? That I’ve possibly knocked up my own flesh and blood?”
“No one was meant to know. I only knew because I accidentally overheard my father talking to yours,” Damian told him.
“My father?” Anton asked with horror. He’d hated his whore of a mother, but he’d adored and worshiped his father.
“He paid Gilly’s father to marry her mother. Your father put her father through medical training and moved them to the castle. Her mother was your father’s long-standing mistress,” Damian explained.
Anton slumped a little with that information. He knew his parents hadn’t loved each other; they hadn’t even really liked each other for that matter. But that was the way of royal unions. His parents had married to unite the country. After he had been born, Anton doubted they had even looked at each other, let alone shared a bed. He didn’t know why he was surprised to find out that his father had taken a mistress. A man could only go so long without satisfying his baser needs. But it still devastated Anton, and the knowledge that his father’s mistress had been Gilly’s mother was mind-blowing.
“What am I going to do, Damian?” Anton asked him a little desperately. “What if she’s pregnant?”
“I have no idea, Anton.” Damian planted his head in his hands and rubbed his face vigorously. “What were you thinking? It’s Gilly for God’s sake! You know how she feels about you. Even for you, it’s slimy to take advantage of that!”
“It wasn’t intentional. I had planned to talk to her later this evening, so I could try to let her down gently,” Anton said. “But how the hell am I supposed to tell her she’s my sister? That she’s in love with her brother?”
“My advice,” Damian said with a deep breath, “don’t tell her. Just go with your plan to let her down easy, and then do everything you can to avoid her. What good would it do to tell her that the man she grew up emulating isn’t really her father?”
“Pour me a drink, would you?” Anton asked from his place on the floor. “I’d get it myself, but I think if I move too much, I might die.”
Damian stood and made his way to the liquor cabinet. He grabbed a bottle of scotch and two glasses. Sitting on the floor beside Anton, he poured them both a drink. Swallowing the alcohol in one gulp, Damian hissed as it burned down his throat.
“You still haven’t learned, Damian. Fine scotch is meant to be sipped and savored, not slung back like cheap liquor because you can’t bear the taste.” Anton demonstrated with his glass of scotch.
“You hurt her, Anton. I don’t care what she said. An unconscious woman can’t give consent,” Damian said softly.
“I know I hurt her, Damian. But I swear to you that she was with me every step of the way until the end,” Anton said sincerely. “She wanted what I was doing to her. Every time I’ve been with her, she’s instigated it.”
Damian swore again as he poured himself another drink. He couldn’t believe the fucked-up situation he’d found himself right in the middle of.
“If she turns up pregnant,” Damian said, “we’ll deal with it then. Let’s not worry about the chickens before the eggs are even out of the hen. But Anton…man, seriously, you’re going to have to break off whatever this thing is.”
“Yeah, you’re right. No sense worrying about what hasn’t happened.” Anton raised his glass in a mock toast. “You know she’s going to blame you for me breaking her heart, right?”
“I’ve got broad shoulders,” Damian said, tapping his glass against Anton’s.
“Shit, Damian,” Anton said as he tried to stand. “Have you been working out, brother? Help me the fuck to bed.”
Damian rose to his feet, and putting an arm under his, he gently helped Anton rise. He groaned at the sudden movement. Damian half-carried and half-dragged Anton down the hall. Damian lowered Anton into bed, and when Anton was settled, Damian turned to go.
“Damian,” Anton called.
Damian turned back to Anton.
“Thanks,” Anton said.
“For what?” Damian asked.
“For not killing me,” Anton said with a grin.
>
“Just break it off, Anton,” Damian said with a sigh. “And for the love of God, whatever you do, do not fuck her again.”
Damian closed the bedroom door behind him, but Anton’s laugh still followed him down the hall. It wasn’t until he was back in his apartment that he realized he’d never confronted Anton about Sandra.
CHAPTER TEN
Mellissandra was furious with the way Damian had used her weakness for him to get her to admit she’d lied. How dare he play with me like that? How dare he start a fire in my belly and then walk out? How dare he leave me to wonder just what he will to do to me for lying?
Pulling herself up from the bed, she made her way over to the tray of picked-over food she’d been eating earlier. Grabbing a muffin, she munched as she walked into the bathing chamber. As she avoided even glancing at the tub, she made her way over to the large shower. She felt hot and sticky, and she could smell Damian all over her skin. She just wanted to wash the past few hours away.
Is Damian going to the prince right now? She wished she could go to the prince or even call him to warn him that Damian had figured out someone had been here with her.
Prince Anton had been sweet, kind, and even a bit seductive with her. She’d enjoyed his company. Those were all good things in Mellissandra’s mind, considering she had applied to be his submissive life mate. She should be able to get to know him before being expected to jump into bed with him.
As her knees grew weak at the thought of jumping into bed with Prince Anton, she leaned against the shower wall for support. She couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. She had been raised to be a proper, good girl. She’d never even been tempted to steal kisses with any of the boys from the village. But look at her now. She had strutted around nude in front of men she’d just met. She’d climbed into a bathtub with one of them. She’d even licked Damian’s cock.
Remembering the things he’d done to her in the bed sent another wave of heat rushing through her middle. Glancing down at her body, she could see that her nipples had hardened into little pebbles, and she couldn’t resist pinching one lightly. Mellissandra gasped, her own touch fanning the flames currently growing in her body. She felt wicked. What was worse was that she liked it. She dropped her washcloth and touched her other nipple as well. As her head fell back against the cool porcelain tiles, she felt moisture building between her legs, and it had nothing to do with the water beating down on her.
