Page 74 of Caroline the Cruel
Before he had the chance to respond, she disappeared.
“What do you want?” Caroline hissed as she entered Emmaline’s apartments in the East Tower to find her half-sister peeling an orange and feeding it to a lover who was wrapped in a sheet beneath her. The man’s well-muscled stomach flexed as he sat up. Emmy shrugged as he got up to leave them, but not before giving her a long, languid kiss.
“How much of the crown’s money are we spending on him?” Caroline asked. Because the man was too good looking, too perfectly manicured, not to have a price.
Giggling, Emmy grabbed her crumpled shift off the floor, and slipped it on, having to tug it to get it over her full peach breasts. “Not much.”
“I expected you to be decent since you’d requested to see me.” Caroline plucked another orange off the table, dug her nail into it breaking the skin, and began to peel.
“I’ve been thinking,” Emmy said. “Since you’ve become,” she gestured up and down at Caroline, “whatever you are, that you could free me. Let go of the past.”
Caroline raised two incredulous eyebrows as she marinated on the thought. “And what will you do?”
Emmy shrugged, eating another piece of orange. “I don’t know.” Wistfully, she stared out the window. “Maybe I’ll go visit that vineyard you’re always talking about. Or I’ll go sailing. I’ve always wanted to take a trip out to the islands.”
“Let me get this straight. You want to travel the world, while I stay here and run this kingdom?”
“Kingdoms,” Emmy corrected. “You like it, and even if it were to come out that I was alive, I don’t think it would matter. You are clearly in charge.”
Caroline snorted. “And when you aren’t gallivanting around with gorgeous paid bedfellows, spending my coin, where do you imagine you’d live?”
Spreading out her hands, gesturing to her lush surroundings, Emmy said, “Well, here, of course. Technically, it was all supposed to go to me, so this request is only a small thing.” Her voice was hesitant, testing.
“I see.” Caroline got up, picking up one of the many oversized pillows her sister collected and buried her fingers in it, squeezing. Was this her fate, to have these pleas and demands put upon her by these people on a nearly daily basis?
“What?” Emmy asked, blinking up at her.
“My patience is being tested and I don’t like it. Everyone thinks I will just give and give. It’s getting terribly tiresome.”
Emmy sagged back into her day bed. “So that’s a no, then?”
She’d asked Caroline before. It seemed like she came up with some new excuse every year. This was the first time she’d had a valid argument, however.
“I’ll think about it, okay?”
Before she stepped away, Emmy bounced up and was bounding toward Caroline, her shift barely covering her thick backside which jiggled with each step. Then she was in her sister’s arms, and though she hadn’t done anything yet, Emmy said, “Oh, thank you, Caroline. Thank you!”
Chapter 15
Herhusbandhadn’tbeenback but a week before Caroline summoned him to her chamber.
“You wanted to see me?” he asked, leaning up against the doorframe to her room. He was wearing one of the fitted black suits she’d had the tailor sew for him. The collar was unbuttoned so the top of his muscled chest poked out. He stood with his arms folded over his chest and his ankles crossed casually.
Just looking at him aroused her, and it was the same for him. The month he’d been gone had been too long, the memory of what they’d done not nearly enough to sate her. And she was growing tired of him resisting her. They hadn’t fooled around since he’d come back from his visit to Veetula, and it almost seemed like he was avoiding her. She understood being busy. She had weeks of work to do and twice as many petitioners as usual to see since she’d been back in residence at Roskide. At least they’d been able to share the burden between the kingdoms.
Caroline yawned and stretched out across the bed, letting her satin nightgown slide up her thighs. She arched her back and wiggled her ass a little, knowing that was sure to draw him in.
Breicher shoved off the doorframe and narrowed his eyes at her, widening his stance. He cleared his throat, waiting. “Not tonight, Caroline. I have some things I need to take care of.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. The bulge in his pants was begging to be taken out and played with. “You sure about that, Your Highness?” Rolling over, she traced her fingertips down her neck and across her chest, flicking her nipples as she went. She felt them harden and draw his gaze.
“Come play with me, Breicher. I know you want to,” she said, practically purring as she stroked the silky black bedding.
His jaw clamped. He was going to leave. That’s what usually happened when the Veetula loyal side of his mind worked.
“Sorry, wife. Another time.”
When the door closed, Caroline chucked a pillow at it. “Stupid man,” she yelled, which was followed by a low chuckle from the other side of the door.
