Heartless Prince: A Dark Captive Romance (Dark Dynasty Book 1)

by Stella Hart

Mellie nodded sagely. “That one will look great on you. I was actually hoping you’d pick it.”

  She spent the next couple of hours fussing over my hair and makeup, transforming me from a pale, lethargic-looking waif to a living doll with bright red lipstick, thick eyeliner, blush, and lashings of mascara. My hair was in a stylish up-do with a few loose tendrils hanging down to frame my face, and diamond jewelry sparkled on my ears and neck. The final touch was a tall pair of stiletto heels.

  “Perfect,” Mellie finally said, looking me up and down. She checked her watch. “Just in time, too. The ball is starting soon...”

  Mellie led me up the stairs and into a spacious ballroom on the second floor. It was already filled with other girls in gorgeous gowns and men in tuxedos and masks, and the air carried the heady scent of perfume, cigar smoke and liquor.

  I drew in a deep breath, fear stabbing at my guts as I stared around, taking in the elaborate beauty of the room. It had high ceilings and a polished hardwood floor with multiple chandeliers hanging from plaster ceiling roses, and heavy-framed oil paintings hung on the wood-paneled walls. On one side there was a small stage with a string quartet playing classical music, and the far side was lined with tall French doors which led onto a wide balcony outside. From where I was standing, I could see that the balcony overlooked the dark ocean beyond the mansion. Moonlight made the gentle waves sparkle and shimmer like a million jewels had been dumped into the water, and I marveled at the view.

  If it wasn’t such a horrible event, I’d actually be thrilled to be invited to such a luxurious ball. Instead, I had visions of throwing myself off the balcony and hoping I tumbled into the water below so I could swim far, far away from this terrible place.

  Mellie left me on my own so she could go and find her father, and I went and hung by a wall with a few other girls, hoping I could blend into the background. No such luck. Several masked men came up and spoke to me, offering me drinks and chuckling at my obvious anxiety as if this were a regular gala and I was just a nervous girl waiting for her Prince Charming to sweep her onto the dancefloor.

  I tried my best to be civil and held myself back from clawing the men’s eyes out like I so wanted to—I didn’t want to be murdered, if I could help it—and the night went on, minute after heart-pounding minute. At nine o’clock, when waiters in black suits went around the room offering a fresh round of canapés, I saw a chance to slip out onto the balcony and get away from all these horrible Crown and Dagger assholes.

  I quietly stepped outside and headed over to the far side of the balcony so that prying eyes wouldn’t see me through the French doors. Then I took in a deep breath, drawing the refreshing ocean air into my lungs.

  “Lovely out here, isn’t it?”

  I turned to see who had spoken. My heart sank as I took in a tall white-haired man in a Venetian mask. I’d seen him across the ballroom earlier, groping the terrified blonde from Kansas.

  He stepped closer to me. “It’s nearly winter, so you’d think it would be freezing and windy, but we’ve been blessed with perfect weather tonight.” He slid an arm around my waist, and I gulped. He wasn’t here to discuss the weather. “I saw you sneak out here. You were hoping I’d follow, weren’t you?”

  I swallowed hard. “I just wanted some fresh air.”

  He laughed. “I’ve been watching you all night. I know you noticed me too.”

  Yeah, noticed you being a disgusting sleaze, I wanted to say. I bit back the words and stayed silent instead.

  “I’ve decided to bid on you and the little blonde farm girl,” he went on, eyes glittering behind the awful mask. Hungry, lecherous, terrible eyes. “If I win you both, I can compare the two of you and see who responds better. See whose cunt and asshole is tighter. I’m guessing hers, because she’s more petite than you, but you never know….” He moved his hand down lower, fingers digging painfully into my left ass cheek. “I know we’re supposed to wait for the Bonding ceremony to take your virginity, but I’ve never liked rules. I should bend you over this balustrade and fuck your tight ass right now, make you bleed all over my cock. If it’s not pussy, it doesn’t really count as losing your virginity, does it?”

  My breaths came fast and shallow, and my hands shook with terror. “Please,” I murmured in a ragged voice. “Don’t.”

  He didn’t listen. He pushed my dress up off the floor, hands groping between my legs. My panties tore, and he spat on one finger and slipped it into my ass crack, massaging the digit over my puckered hole. “Spread your legs, bitch,” he muttered.

  “No! Stop!” I pleaded. His free hand went to my mouth, muffling my shrieks and cries only seconds later.

  I heard him unzip his pants, and he grunted in my ear. “You better not get me dirty, little whore.”

  I closed my eyes, waiting for the agonizing violation. It never came.

  “Get the fuck away from her!” said a furious and familiar voice.

  I whipped my head around to see Elias stepping out of the shadows, his face etched with fury. “She’s been promised to me. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to aggravate my family by taking something that belongs to me, would you, Mr. Porter?” he went on.

  “I was only going to fuck her ass. Hardly counts,” the older man said, loosening his grip but still holding onto me.

  “Let her go right now or I’ll smash your fucking face into pieces,” Elias said, his voice cold and dangerous.

  There was a heavy silence for a moment. Then the other man let out a derisive sniff. He let me go, zipped his pants up, and strode back inside.

  I fell to my knees in front of Elias, sobbing grateful tears. “Thank you,” I said between gasps and sniffles. “He was going to—”

  He cut me off. “Did I say you could fucking speak, slut?”

  I recoiled and stared up at him, my eyes wide. What was going on? Last night, he looked like he might actually believe me when I told him I hadn’t sold myself here, but now he was acting like we never had that conversation. Like I was still nothing but a slave to him.

  “Elias, I….” I trailed off and shook my head. “What’s going on?”

  He dragged me to my feet and slammed me up against the wall. “You don’t learn, do you? You can’t even follow simple fucking instructions.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “Please, tell me why you’re being like this.”

  He leaned down, hot mouth only inches from my left ear. “I know you lied to me. That’s all you are. A filthy little liar.”

  My brows shot up. “No, I’ve never lied to you! Everything I said the other day is true!”

  “Christ, you just can’t help yourself, can you?” he said, his eyes lit with savagery. “You need to be fucking punished. I should’ve done it sooner.”

  “Why?” I choked out.

  He didn’t reply. He grabbed my right arm and roughly dragged me inside, across the ballroom and out into the hall beyond. I wailed as he pulled me down the hallway, begging him to let me go, but he stayed silent, his fingers bruising my arm.

  A red door opened, and he pushed me into a dim room with crimson walls and no windows. There was an X-shaped frame on my left and a wooden beam suspended from the ceiling directly ahead of me. On the right was a table with ropes, chains and other objects I didn’t recognize. Above it was a thin black rack with whips hanging from it.

  However he intended to punish me for my so-called lies, it was going to hurt.

  “I’m going to give you exactly what you deserve tonight,” Elias hissed in my ear, fingers twisting in my hair. He dragged me kicking and screaming to the beam, and he tied me onto it with my arms high above my head, my back exposed and vulnerable.

  “Please don’t hurt me!” I cried as he stepped around to look at my face. A knife had appeared in his hand, presumably from his pocket.

  “Don’t try to struggle, unless you want to make it worse for yourself,” he said, eyes blazing. He moved so close I could feel his warm breath on my cheeks as he sliced my beautiful gown down t
he side. I sobbed as the fabric fell away, leaving me naked aside from my torn panties and jewelry. It was cold in this room, and goosebumps cropped up all over my bare skin as I shivered in place.

  “I’ve waited a long time for this,” Elias continued. “I wish I hadn’t. I wish I’d done this the night they brought you here.”

  His eyes coasted over my semi-nude figure. My nipples turned stiff and pointed. I told myself it was just from the frigid temperature in the room, but deep down, I knew there was more to it than that. It was the same as last night’s incident in my cell. Despite all his nasty words and cruelty, I was intensely attracted to Elias.

  I hated myself for it.

  He walked over to the rack and selected a black tasseled whip from it. With a cruel smirk, he headed back over to me and stepped behind me, running his free hand over my back. “I’m the only one who will ever touch you,” he growled. “Either here or at the Lodge. I’m going to be the first and only man inside you, and I’m going to break you down like the nasty little whore you are until you’re begging for more punishment.”

  He trailed the tassels of the whip across my skin as he spoke. My back automatically arched against the sensation, wanton and desperate. I cursed myself inwardly, still hating how much I responded to his cruelty.

  Elias chuckled. His hand moved around to my front, pinching my left nipple until I whimpered. Then his hand moved lower, fingertips stroking between my legs. I bit my lip, knowing what he would find there.

  “You’re soaked,” he muttered. “I knew you would be.”

  I let out a humiliated sob. He was right. Somehow, all the fear and shame was making me wet and tingly. The closeness of this sinfully-gorgeous man, the stark hatred in his voice, the fact he could do absolutely anything to me right now and make me take it all… it was all twisting into a cocktail of wicked delight, sinful pleasure brewing deep in my core.

  There was something seriously wrong with me.

  “You really are a little slut, aren’t you?” Elias went on, his lips hovering over my left ear. “Or maybe you’re just wet because you know this is exactly what you deserve.”

  “I don’t deserve to be hurt,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “You don’t have to do this. I never lied to you. I swear, Elias.”

  “You did. Just like you lied about Ben Wellington,” he said in an angry hiss. “And it’s Master to you. You don’t get to call me by my name anymore.”

  I bit back a strangled moan as Ben Wellington’s name echoed in my mind. Shit. Elias knew all about my past. He knew what I did.

  I closed my eyes as rolling waves of guilt and shame hit me all over again. “No…”

  “Oh, yes. I know all about that, you little bitch. He wasn’t just my second cousin. He was also one of my best friends. Until you murdered him.”

  “I didn’t!” I cried out, struggling against my restraints. “I’m not a murderer!”

  “Yes, you fucking are!” He suddenly hit me with the whip. Sharp, red-hot pain slashed at the sensitive skin of my upper back. I shrieked, and he did it again, hitting me slightly lower this time.

  “Please!” I screamed. “It was an accident. I didn’t lie!”

  “I’ll get the truth out of you one way or another,” Elias said, raining down another two strokes on my back. “And I’ll make you feel what you’ve done.”

  “No,” I mumbled. Tears rolled down my face and into my mouth, so many I thought I might choke.

  How had I never known Ben Wellington was distantly related to the Kings? Why didn’t Elias say anything to me for so long? It wasn’t like he didn’t have the opportunity to do so before now.

  He partially answered my second question a moment later, without me even having to ask.

  “I’ve waited so long to tell you who I am, just so I could finally do this and draw it out. Savor it,” he said in a low voice, stepping around to my front again. He lashed at one of my breasts, and I yelped. “I’ve dreamed about you tied up and sobbing, exactly like this, and I’ve fantasized about seeing the agony in your eyes as I force you to think about all the fucking pain you inflicted that night. It used to be enough. But not anymore.”

  “That night… it was an accident,” I whispered, lowering my eyes.

  “Bullshit.” He pushed my chin up with his free hand, forcing me to look at him. “I’ve seen the evidence myself. You’re guilty, and you know it,” he snarled.

  He slashed the whip over my other breast. I whimpered. I wanted to close my eyes and disappear into my mind in an attempt to ignore the physical pain he was causing me, but right now, my mind was a far worse place to be than this torture chamber. Thinking only made things worse, and my lips trembled as all the awful memories rushed back in, pouring through me in torrents of shame.

  A year and a half ago—March 17th, 2017—I’d been invited to a party by a school friend of mine, Katie Gagne. She came from a lower middle class family like me, but her mother worked for several wealthy people, so she’d managed to make friends with some of their kids who were around the same age as us. Katie had always been cool like that, easily able to transcend social boundaries like they didn’t exist. The rich kids all liked her, so they’d often invite her to their social events and let her bring friends if she wanted.

  This particular party was somewhere near East Haven at an enormous mansion on an estate that ran along the coast. While Katie and I were there, I met a guy—an older college student named Ben Wellington. He was cute, smart and funny, and he seemed to think the same about me. He told me he wanted to go for a walk with me and get to know me better.

  I went outside with him. I was young and stupid, barely seventeen. I actually thought he wanted to talk to me and nothing else, like he promised, and I thought all my teenage fantasies would be fulfilled. I thought I’d get my first kiss, right there under the stars, and he’d ask me to be his girlfriend.

  So stupid. So naïve.

  Ben wasn’t what he seemed at all. He put something in my drink, something that started to hit me as he led me along a dark path that ran through the back of the estate, high above the ocean. I didn’t notice until it was far too late.

  The coastline on our right was jagged, fingers of dark rock sticking out with no discernible pattern above inlets of silvery water. Thick trees and bushes lined the other side of the path.

  “It’s great out here, isn’t it?” Ben said as we stumbled farther along the wide path. I was beginning to feel unsteady and lightheaded, but I wanted to seem cool. I wanted to be perfect girlfriend material. So I agreed. I said it was amazing where we were, with all the fresh air and pretty clifftop views.

  A second later, I spied a private beach below one part of the cliff, and I stopped and told him I wanted to go down to it. I wanted to feel the sand between my toes, wanted to dip my feet in the moonlit ocean.

  Ben didn’t let me. He pushed me back against a thick bush on the other side of the stony path and muttered in my ear. “You know what else could be great out here?”

  He grabbed at one of my breasts, and I frowned. “What are you doing?”

  “C’mon,” he said, chuckling and nipping at my neck. “You know what this is.”

  “I thought you just wanted to talk,” I said in a small voice. I could feel my innocent fantasy slipping away, shattering into tiny pieces on the horizon. He hadn’t even tried to kiss me. He was just going straight for my body.

  He laughed again, a sharp, cruel bark. “Bullshit. I know you want my cock, and lucky for you, I don’t mind slumming it.” As he spoke, he managed to push me down to the ground and rip my skirt.

  I struggled under his weight as he sucked at my neck and tried to get one hand down my panties. Most of my strength had been sapped by whatever he slipped in my drink, but I managed to jam one knee into his balls as he held me down. Then I slid out from under him and ran away as he grunted with pain.

  He chased me down the path. I tried to hide behind one of the bushes, hoping he would lose sight of me in t
he darkness, but before I could slip behind the foliage, he caught up and grabbed me. I screamed and whirled around, pushing him as hard as I could.

  He lost his grip on me, stumbling back over the path and tripping on several stones. He tried to regain his footing, but he didn’t realize how far back he was stepping, and only seconds later, he was teetering on the cliff’s edge.

  Arms flailing, he begged me to help, begged me to pull him forward before it was too late. I was in complete and utter shock over what was happening, and my reflexes were slowed by the drugs he put in my drink. So I didn’t reach for him. I stood there blankly instead. Within the next ten seconds, he was gone, plunging into the darkness.

  Only seconds later, I passed out right there on the stony path.

  Someone had been walking on the beach below that night, and they saw Ben plummet over the cliff’s edge. They called 911. Within half an hour, I was found sprawled on the path above.

  I was taken to hospital, and the police came to talk to me when I was awake. They told me Ben was dead and asked me for my side of the story. Apparently his wealthy, influential parents were insisting charges be laid against me. They were saying I pushed their son on purpose, and it must’ve been because he rejected me. After all, he was so far above me… why would he ever want me? I was nothing but a scorned little girl, angry and hell-bent on revenge.

  That was the narrative they tried to spin, but I was lucky. The police were on my side, because my skirt had clearly been ripped by someone and there were drugs in my bloodstream—something called GHB which could be taken as a party drug but also used as a date-rape drug. My story added up with the evidence they were given, even though it was blurry with several gaps in it from when the GHB started to hit me hard.

  The case went to trial anyway, even though it seemed clear I was innocent. Ben’s parents were devastated over his death, understandably, and they wanted someone to pay for it.

  I spent several months worrying myself to death, but a judge ended up dismissing the case entirely once she reviewed the evidence. Apparently, there were wildlife cameras along the path Ben and I had been walking along, and while the footage was grainy and didn’t show the fall, it showed Ben on top of me on the ground farther up the trail, which matched my story of him attempting to assault me several minutes before he fell.