"I came to apologize for the other day." Kenrick hesitated.
"Oh that," replied Addie quickly.
"That's nothing. It's very common among the royals."
"What?" he panicked. What was she hinting at?
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what happened the other day."
She deliberately kept it double-edged.
"What happened the other day?"
Kenrick was on the verge of snapping. Perhaps he would have a heart attack?
"You were not there in your chambers when I came to visit."
Kenrick breathed relief. It was not much fun anymore, her playing this cat-and-mouse game.
"What I mean to say is, the royals always keep the commoners waiting," Addie stated, giving him an escape clause.
He was still reeling under her spell, caught in the web she had woven dexterously.
"But Addie," it was the first time that he addressed her thus. It sounded odd, coming from him.
"You're not a commoner."
"Well I was, until a short time ago."
"But that's of no importance now," Kenrick assured.
"In a way, bereft of our titles, we're both commoners. Moreover, the present is key, the present is all we have. Why go back to the past?"
Addie read different layers of meaning in that statement. And she was not going to let it pass.
"Well, past was the present of yesterday. Past is the foundation of the present. And both will carry the future forward. So let's give our past its due."
"All right, all right," conceded Kenrick, irritation creeping into his tone. If there was one thing he could not stand, it was pedagogy.
"I'm not one to argue with you."
Addie kept quiet. Her ploy of annoying him had succeeded.
"Is that all, Kenrick? I need to get back to my studies."
Was she going overboard, thought Kenrick. He came for one thing, something else occurred. And now he was being forced out of the place. What had he achieved?
"That's all, Addie," he heard himself saying it.
"I've returned your visit. I apologized for the other day. Now it's your turn to visit me."
"What is this, some kind of tit-for-tat?"
"In a way," replied Kenrick slyly, allowing himself the pleasure of a tiny wordplay.
"In that case, okay," agreed Addie, missing the mischievousness in his answer.
"But please, no deadlines. I have my exams on my mind, and I need to focus."
"Fine, but you can't disobey the prince, remember?"
"Yes, and also the future king," she added.
Chapter Thirty-Four
"So it's going to be Kenrick and Addie now?" Phil asked, surprised.
"Yes," replied Kenrick.
"I could manage that much."
Both of them were lounging in the chambers, and it was mid-morning. Phil was getting the details of what had transpired at the meeting.
"Which is a lot, Phantom," Phil noted.
"I'd say getting to first name terms is a great starting point."
"I think so too."
"Your charm can take over from here."
"I'm not so sure of that," replied Kenrick.
"She's the shrewdest woman I've ever met."
"Ah," said Phil.
"I had a bad feeling about it."
"If this meeting was anything to go by, I still have a long, long way to go."
"Why do you say that, Phantom?"
Kenrick said nothing for some time.
"She's a very intelligent girl, Phil. Not the least like what I expected her to be."
"Well, you get them in all types."
"Yeah, I know," answered Kenrick.
"But maybe here's something I hadn't bargained for."
Phil fell into silence too. The entire tone and manner of Kenrick suggested a seriousness he was not used to.
"Was there any reference to her catching you with the servant women?" Phil asked.
"Not overtly."
"Oh. Did she indicate it in a veiled manner?"
"I thought so."
"It could be your mind playing tricks, Phantom."
"No. She was playing this cat-and-mouse game, and I almost fell into her trap."
"Then?"
"Then she let me escape," Kenrick noted.
"That's her trick. She almost has you in her vice-like grip, and then she lets you go. Just like how a cat plays with a mouse… and kills it slowly."
"This means," Phil said after a long pause.
"We need to formulate a whole new strategy to counter her."
"Nah," Kenrick waved his hand.
"I doubt any of our grand strategies would work on her. She's above them all."
This was news to Phil. Phantom was not the type to resign to a situation, and yet here he was, with his guard down.
"You know what, Phil." There was a quiver in his voice.
"While I was talking to her, she asked me to leave the premises."
"What?" Phil could not believe his ears.
"In so many words?"
"In so many words," Kenrick said slowly.
"She was preparing for her exams when I'd entered."
"So?"
"So when I was halfway through my speaking, she asked me if there was anything else to say."
"Oh God."
"That was the first time anyone has ever done that to me."
It pained Phil. What a state royalty had descended to, he thought.
Then again, came a tiny voice from somewhere within himself, how much was the contribution of royals like Phantom to this decadence? Whatever he was doing could be fun for him, but did he ever think of his victims? Perhaps, he wondered, payback time was here.
Both of them fell silent, each trapped in his own web of thoughts. The rest of the morning passed that way, spreading a kind of negativity in the chamber.
*****
That day, he had seen her in close proximity.
This time he saw her flawless, smooth-as-feather skin from near. It was something he had not seen before. And that added even more allure to her person.
Then Kenrick realized: Every time he met Addie, he discovered something new about her. That day at the university, it was her hourglass figure, silhouetted sexily against the backlight. This day in her study, it was her heavenly skin.
He was almost reaching out and touching her cheeks. He had done it to hundreds of women, and without thinking even for a second. But here, he was on guard. He could never do that to Addie.
What was it – was it love? He hated to think it was. But probably there was no other explanation for it.
Or was it because she was his stepsister, and he was afraid of creating a scandal? Possibly. Be that as it may, but this was not his habit.
From his coign of vantage across her desk, he had seen her soft bosom heave gently. And with each heave, it had brushed against the edge of the desk. How lucky that desk was! For it could feel her divine breasts, this treasure trove that was out of bounds for him.
Suddenly he thought of her pussy. That was even more of a treasure. He tried to imagine it in his mind's eye – and he got a hard-on at once. Of course, he had no idea what it looked like, but he knew it had to be the sexiest pussy in the world. It would be soft, it would be golden, it would be tight. It would be–
Could Addie possibly be a virgin?
That thought mesmerized him. Kenrick, in his true avatar of conquering women with his cock, was something of a virginity specialist. He was always dreaming of virgin pussies, and somewhere the law of attraction worked for him. Somehow, all the world's virgin vaginas made a beeline to his bedroom door and waited outside for his benign consideration. And then he had them all.
Cracking open a virgin pussy was something else altogether. It was Kenrick's biggest high. He had already given the analogy of a nubile girl being like a new bike to Phil. Compared to that, a virgin pussy was like plucking the first flower in spring. Soon there would be p
lenty of flowers, but that first ever flower, bright and colorful, smiling and happily dancing in the wind, had to be his. There was no compromise on that.
Something told him that this flower called Addie was the first one in the spring. And he had to be the one plucking it. The way it was bright and colorful, smiling and happily dancing in the wind, told him that she had to be a virgin. And that made his loins tingle even more for her. If only he could take her right now, then and there?
And yet, he knew that this was not possible. There were a select few things in the world that had to be earned. They never came your way, even if you were the prince and future king. This was the divine order, and no one could alter it.
Here was one such sweet little thing that he needed to earn. And to earn it, he knew, he needed to deserve it first. Till then, he had no right to desire it. First you deserve, then you desire.
All of this was new territory for Kenrick. For the prince, who was used to having any woman for the asking, to be denied one woman, to wait for her, and to work for her was an unknown zone. But strangely enough, he liked the thrill of it. For far too long, he had snatched women. Now he wanted to earn one.
He felt a bolt of electricity go through his entire being at the thought of holding Addie in his arms. Then he would kiss her gently on those luscious lips that looked as if they were about to burst any minute. Then he would kiss her neck, and go down…
Before he knew it, he was masturbating.
*****
Kenrick got up late the next morning. By then, Phil had gone for his customary walk on the green, communed with nature and was back.
"How is His Royal Highness Prince Kenrick this morning?" Phil asked with his usual enthusiasm.
"Oh sorry, how is just Kenrick this morning?"
He laughed. Kenrick got up and sat on his four-poster bed, smiling at his friend's jibe.
"You know what, Phantom," said Phil.
"We both need a change of scenery… Let's go on a leisurely drive to town, spend some time in the malls and return. What do you think?"
It sounded like a good idea.
"Let's go," agreed Kenrick.
"But, no bike ride this time." Phil was firm.
"Okay, as you say," Kenrick laughed.
*****
In less than two hours, they'd hit the highway in Kenrick's Rolls Royce Phantom.
Phil as usual was in the passenger seat, both his feet on the hallowed dashboard of the Royce. He was humming a tune, and was his happy self as always, but the prince was somewhere else. He was playing Beethoven's Ninth on the music system – and that gave a hint about what was playing on his mind.
"Say, Phantom," started Phil.
"What do you want to do in town?"
"Nothing in particular," replied Kenrick.
"Wanna shop, or grab a bite, or catch a movie?"
"Nope, nothing that we can't do back at the manor."
"Of course, His Highness, but you can do everything back at the manor."
Kenrick shot him a glance.
"I was just thinking, since it's trending these days, why not be like the good old commoners?" Phil played.
That clinched it for him.
"Great idea!" chuckled Kenrick.
So they shopped, ate out, and caught a movie. They picked up some tees for a lark from a discount store (royalty hunting for discounts!), ate some fish and chips in a street side café, and watched Richard Linklater's Boyhood in the cinema at the mall.
Simple commoner stuff.
Chapter Thirty-Five
After Kenrick left – he was no longer His Royal Highness Prince Kenrick for her – Addie couldn't concentrate.
This was an unwelcome intrusion, especially after she had decided to kick start her studying, and now she would have to go back on her word to Kate as well not to be thinking of him. And that was something she loathed. For Addie, her word was her deed.
She knew that Kenrick saw a different Addie that day. And in a way, he had asked for it. By removing the protection of protocols, Kenrick had exposed himself to all the vulnerabilities of a commoner. And that was not a good sign.
What a paradox this was – Addie turned royal from commoner just weeks ago, and weeks later, Prince Kenrick turned commoner from royal. Of course, hers was a public spectacle, and his was a private affair, but the dramatic irony of it was still relevant.
It was a huge realization. Prince Kenrick becoming just Kenrick was not a mere change of position. It was the harbinger of colossal change, and she shuddered to think about the shape of things to come.
She needed to talk to Kate about this quickly. But she desisted from it. For one, she knew her best friend was busy studying (they had both agreed to do it). For another, she felt awkward to run to her over each little thing, like a child running to her mother.
And that reminded her of her own mother.
Tonight was going to be unpleasant for Addie, no doubt. Her mind was already in turmoil, and to top that, thoughts of her mum would make it worse. But the damage was already done; there was no way she could roll back her stream of memories about her mother.
If only her mother were around! Not only would she have advised her about the correct course of action, Addie would have felt secure in the arms of her mom. Now, she was just an orphan, with no one she could really turn to in this crisis.
In fact, Addie realized with a start, her mother was no longer even in her world – unlike before, when she was the center of her universe. Earlier, she would run to her mum for everything, but now she could not even think of her mother for that, whatever the circumstance.
All she had was Kate. And Mrs. Bradley.
But that gave her reason to brighten up. Mrs. Bradley was the person she should confide in. She could tell her about the prince's – Kenrick's – visit and about the conversation they had had. Maybe the governess would throw some light on her possible next course of action.
Or – she did a double take. Was that the right thing to do at all? This involved the royals (and she was one, too, however much she detested it), and it involved the prince (who, for the rest of the world, was still Prince Kenrick). Wouldn't that be a kind of breach of protocol? Who was she to divulge details of a personal nature to a rank outsider (and Mrs. Bradley was one, however close she was to her)?
What if something like this was leaked to the media? The ensuing mayhem was difficult to imagine. The television channels and tabloids would have a field day, and she would be in the thick of the storm. God alone knew what impact it would have on her, and – more importantly – on her mother, the queen.
No, it was too much of a risk to speak about this to Mrs. Bradley. The only person she could trust was Kate, who'd witnessed the events firsthand. Or?
Suddenly she was gripped by a terrible panic. Was she to trust anyone at all? Was her life not hers anymore? Could she not share small details of her mind with her best friend either? What kind of a trap had she fallen in?
She closed her book in disgust. No way was she going to get any studying done in this frame of mind. Maybe she should just have an early dinner and retire for the day. Her best bet was to get up early and try to catch up on her preparation first thing in the morning.
"I'm feeling ill, good night," she kissed her friend Kate goodbye on the cheek.
She got up, left the study and went to the chambers. Mrs. Bradley was there waiting and came up to her.
"Shall I order your dinner, my child?" she asked.
"Yes, Mrs. Bradley."
"My dear, are you not feeling well?"
The old woman came and felt Addie's forehead.
"It looks like you're rather exhausted. Is it because of your visitor this afternoon?"
Obviously Mrs. Bradley knew. One of Addie's assistants must have told her. In a way, she was thankful that there were people keeping watch. That was a good thing – or maybe not. In the future, who knew?
That was a scary, if involuntary thought. How did she think that up?
BDSMing the Brat: ** 20 Book ** Taboo BDSM MEGA BUNDLE Page 57
