Whimsy (9 page)

 
Whimsy
ached. She could barely sleep. Tears of frustration ran onto her pillow. She
clenched her hands into fists. She wanted,
needed
him so desperately. She still couldn’t understand it. She’d never felt anything
in
Serri’s
presence, or any other man’s for that
matter, but with
Gaedrian
she was fighting to control
herself. She had been so close to giving in to him and begging him to take her.
She shivered as she recalled the feel of his cock between her legs.

 
Her only
hope was that
Serri
would rescue her. She needed to
believe that he would come for her. It was from that thought that she drew
enough strength to resist
Gaedrian
.

 
It was
almost dawn when he climbed into bed with her, his body cold and wet from the
water. He was still for a moment. Suddenly he groaned and grabbed her from
behind.
 
He pulled her into his arms. His
cock was hard and thick against her bottom. He kissed her neck and she
stiffened. She didn’t have it in her to resist him again tonight. “Relax,” he
whispered. “I only want to hold you.”

    
  
****

 
Ambrosia
sighed and rested her head on his chest.
Serri
tried
to get comfortable. He would have to leave soon. If he wasn’t home in a few
days, his mother would be suspicious. He had already stayed longer than he had
intended.

 
Ambrosia
ran her fingers over his pectorals, toying with the hair there. “The woman in
the market knew your name. Are you sure you did not know her?”

 
“I’m
sure. She was being dragged away by guards. I don’t know any criminals.”

 
Ambrosia’s
smooth white brow wrinkled. “I doubt she was a criminal. She wore the Torque of
Honor and was dressed in a gown of giving.”

 
Serri
tried to hide his irritation. He had no idea what a
Torque of Honor was or a gown of giving. She forgot that he didn’t know their
ways. “What does any of that mean?”

 
“She has
been greatly honored by being one of the chosen women who have given of their
bodies to appease our King
Gaedrian
. He is on a fate
quest to select his bride.”

 
Serri
felt anger overtake him. “Do you mean she let him
fuck her?”

 
Ambrosia
flinched at his tone.
“W-why yes.
It is a great
honor.”

 
Serri
looked at her in disgust. She was nothing more than a
stupid whore. He supposed she would consider it an honor. Now his bride, his
princess, was also a whore. It would be better to let her family think she had
died than to inform them of her disgrace. The shame would kill them.

Chapter Nine

 
The next
morning the servants who had prepped her for her first visit with
Gaedrian
came to give her a bath. Whimsy thought they would
leave and go to the same bathing area that she had used in the past. However,
they led her to the pool
Gaedrian
used.
 
Gaedrian
watched as
she was lowered into the water, his eyes hot with desire. She was so focused on
him that she didn’t protest as they assisted her with her bath.

 
They
bathed her with brisk movements. Whimsy thought nothing of it until she heard
one of the women moan. She turned her head to catch the all of the women
staring at
Gaedrian
with varying expressions of
rapture. Whimsy shot him a glare, but he didn’t even seem to notice the women’s
reactions to him. He only had eyes for her. At the moment his attention was
targeted on her nipples. Pure
devilry made her run her hands
up
her ribcage in a pretense of bathing herself, ending by cupping her
breasts as though she were offering them to him.

 
Gaedrian
wet his lips and groaned. But he didn’t stop
there. He stood and left his position on the bench in front of the windows. At
the edge of the pool, he spared a glance for the servants. “Get out,” he
ordered. They immediately retreated. The door had barely closed behind the last
woman before he was dropping his robe and slipping into the water with her.

 
Whimsy
retreated and floundered in the water. He caught her easily before she could go
under. “
Gaedrian
, don’t.”

 
“You
wanted this.”

 
“I
didn’t.”

 
He
growled. “Do not push me too far, Dessert.
 
I would taste your chocolate.” He bent his head and captured a nipple.

 
She
moaned and speared his hair with her fingers. His hot mouth tugging her nipple
was a torment that at once satisfied the ache in her breasts but increased the
clenching in her womb. She didn’t even try to stop him when he moved to her
other breast, wrapping his tongue around her nipple before settling in to
suckle. He slipped his hand between her thighs to cup her mound. He had just
touched her clit when a knock sounded at the door.

 
Gaedrian
growled and cursed against her breast. His arms
closed around her convulsively. He released her slowly and climbed out of the
pool. His hard body glistened with water as he tugged on his robe.

 
She
should have been glad of the interruption. Perversely, she wasn’t. Her body was
keyed up with sexual energy. She climbed out of the bathing pool and dried
herself with jerky movements before putting on the fresh gown the servants had
left for her. Once she was dressed,
Gaedrian
opened
the door. His greeting to his friend
Chaldor
was a
mere grunt.

 
Chaldor’s
gaze flew to her. His look was nothing short of
accusatory. Whimsy stiffened but held her head high. She was no one’s whore.
She liked
Chaldor
as he was one of the few people to
show her any kindness since this entire ordeal began. It was ironic that he was
the one who responsible for her immediate situation. She supposed it could have
been worse. She could have been bought by a man who thought nothing of taking
her against her will.
 

 
“Perhaps
we should speak outside?”
Chaldor
asked with a
pointed look in her direction.

 
Gaedrian
waved a hand.
 
“It matters not.”

 
“There
are continuing problems with Merrill and his men,” he finally said to
Gaedrian
.

 
“Again?”
Gaedrian
sat on the bed,
his brooding gaze still on Whimsy. “Talks did not go well?”

 
“They
will accept nothing but the land or war.”

 
Gaedrian
sighed as though very tired. “Dark,” he said at
last.
 

 
The boy
stepped out of the shadows when his name was called. Whimsy gasped and nearly
fell off her bench. She had wondered how he had gotten into the chamber before
without her noticing him. There was only one entrance. She had surreptitiously
searched the room for possible exits and found none. Now she knew: The boy was
magic.

 
 
Dark spared her a quick glance before turning
to
Gaedrian
. “You requested my presence?”

 
Chaldor’s
eyes widened. “You cannot be serious.”

 
“Why can
I not? We have tried talks, bargaining, and punishment. Merrill will not be
happy until there is war and I will not have it. Too many would die.”

 
“
Gaedrian
, do you not fear that this would cause more
trouble with his relatives, friends, and sympathizers?”

 
Gaedrian
arched a brow. “Are there any of those after all
he has done?” he asked with a note of doubt. “I think not. Dark, handle it.”

 
Dark gave
a brisk nod, took one step backwards and disappeared.

 
“What is
he?” Whimsy gasped.

 
“He is a
prince of Dark Sphere,”
Gaedrian
answered casually.

 
“D-Dark
Sphere,” she stuttered. “But that planet and all its inhabitants were
destroyed.”

 
“Not
destroyed,”
Gaedrian
said absently. “It disappeared.”

 
If Dark
was a prince of Dark Sphere, then surely she was
very
far from home. “W-what colony is this?”

 
“C21,”
Gaedrian
answered. “Unlike many colonies, we are fortunate
enough that we are an actual planet. We have natural soil with which to grow
our crops and an actual star to light our days.”

 
C21.
She’d expected to find she was far from home, yet it was still disconcerting to
have her suspicions confirmed. Myrna, her people rarely ventured this deep into
space. Earth was now a barren planet, struggling to overcome centuries of human
abuse. The colonies, most manmade satellites like her own, were created to
sustain life.
Everyone knew the
farther you were from Earth, or the colony of origin, the more barbaric the
peoples. She asked the first question that popped into her mind. “Y-you’re not
cannibals, are you?”
Gaedrian
and
Chaldor
roared with laughter. She glared at them. “Well, that’s the rumor.”

 
Gaedrian
finally simmered down to a sexy grin. “Oh, I want
to eat you, as you well know. You seemed to enjoy it.
As did
I.”

 
Her face
flushed.

 
“Well, at
least there has been some progress between the two of you.”

 
Gaedrian
gave him an annoyed look. “We would progress much
fairer without so many interruptions.”

 
Blond
brows rose.
“Point taken.”
He gave Whimsy a nod before
exiting.

 
Gaedrian
started for her. She backed away and put her hands
up. “Wait. I have some questions. I’ve been in the dark too long. I’d like to
know what’s going on around here. Why was I brought here? I mean, surely there
are enough women here to satisfy your, um, appetites.”

 
“Dessert,
you know that I disapprove of the way you came to me. I was not consulted.” He
mouth twisted in displeasure. “It is my understanding that there were no more
volunteers.”

 
She made
a frustrated sound. “I know that much. What I want to know is why are women
offering up their bodies to you? Is this the custom of your people?”

 
“Forgive
me. It is easy to forget that you are not familiar with our ways.” He seated
himself on the bed. “Our land has long known unrest. To mitigate this, we have
needed strong rulers with a united family. In the past, rulers in unhappy
unions soon saw their kingdoms crumble around them. And then
fate
was discovered.”

 
“You’ve
mentioned fate before. What does it have to do with this?”

 
“
Fate
is a root. It was originally called
by another name but then it was discovered that the use of its essence in an
injection had miraculous effects. It causes the pheromones of males to become
potent so that any woman in his presence is incapable of resisting him.” His
eyes flickered over her face.
“Usually.”

 
Her mouth
fell open. Finally she understood why she had been so unnaturally wanton in his
presence. She recalled his words, saying that he had been drugged. But the drug
had affected her also. “You mean I’m not really attracted to you.”

 
His lips
curved into a sinful smile. “No. Fate can only enhance my pheromones. It cannot
create desire where there is none. You want me, my Dessert, as much as I want
you.”

 
She
longed to ask him more but before she could there was a knock at the door. Servants
brought in breakfast after
Gaedrian
gave them
permission to enter.
Editha
followed. She smiled at
Gaedrian
. “I decided to share the morning meal with you
today, my son.”

 
“Son,”
Whimsy gasped. “You’re his mother!”

 
Editha
gave her a disapproving glare. Her lips flattened to
a hard line, making her mouth a mere slash of red in an otherwise pale face.
“You are still here.” There was no surprise in her voice. Her words were a
threat, a reminder to Whimsy of punishment to come.