Page 75 of Caroline the Cruel
That perked her up. The outside door of the sitting room clicked shut as the idea struck her. Caroline sprung from bed, threw open her armoire and flung on her onyx traveling cape. She darted through her sitting room, then snuck out the door, closing it quietly so no one would hear.
He wanted her. He just needed a little extra motivation. She could help with whatever he was doing, and he’d get distracted along the way and finally take her. Flipping the hood up over her head, she caught up with him. The soft footfalls of her bare feet didn’t make a sound, and the faint swishing of her cape was eclipsed by the sound of his boots stomping down the hallway.
As they neared his room, her trailing silently behind him, her pulse began vibrating rapidly in anticipation. She was determined it was going to be tonight. His desire was a palpable thing humming through the air.
Instead of opening the door to his suite of rooms, he breezed past them and continued hastily down the hallway. Where was he going? In the evenings, he usually preferred to work at the stately desk she’d gifted him after their wedding ceremony.
Her breath caught as she followed him down several winding staircases to the lower levels of the castle where the attendants and guards’ dormitories were. Perhaps he was going to visit an old friend from his time in the service. Even though he’d been a traitor, he’d still actually done the service. Probably formed bonds with the men.
Breicher eventually stopped at a door, not in the men’s wing. He tapped three times, and she heard a female voice beckon him in from the other side. An icy chill swept through her veins, and she cinched the cloak more tightly around her. When Breicher had slipped inside and secured the door behind him, she hurried down the hallway and pressed an ear to the door. Caroline struggled to keep her breathing even as she listened.
He shouldn’t be visiting her again. Breicher feared she’d think they were in a relationship, but Kelsey was discreet. She didn’t mind if he was quick and never asked any questions afterward. It was just sex, straightforward, easy.
“How do you want it, handsome?” she purred. Kelsey wasn’t the beauty Caroline was—she was… pretty. Her honey locks tumbled down across her slim shoulders, meeting the tips of her small breasts. She was over a foot shorter, with a plump ass. Her cheeks were rosy on the apples which sat below her bulbus blue doll-like eyes.
Breicher made a spin around gesture with his finger in the air and unbuttoned his pants, pulling his swollen cock from them.
“You always want it like that,” she whined. “Can’t we try something different?”
“Next time, Kelsey.” Technically, this was only his fifth visit, and only the second since they’d been formally attached. The first since they’d been married and pleasured each other.
Each time, though, he swore he wouldn’t see the girl again, but Caroline had gotten him so escalated tonight, it was either Kelsey, or he’d cave and sleep with his wife. His hand, or hers, wasn’t cutting it tonight. He needed to be inside the hot depth of a woman. And he had the feeling if he consummated his marriage, he’d fall for her. Hard. Then she would win, and he’d never live down the shame of it.
He’d probably be admonished if his family knew he’d fooled around with her a few times. His brother’s words flashed through his mind, and he grimaced.It will be a betrayal of your family and your Kingdom.He would be an Ivanslohe in name, but his family would deny his existence, loathing him on the same level they loathed her. He wouldn’t allow that to happen, so here he was with the pretty blonde again.
“You’re distracted,” Kelsey said. “Let me help.” She slipped out of her sheer nightgown and draped herself over the little table in the room that was shared by four women, none of which were expected back anytime soon.
Not that it mattered. He’d be quick, do what he needed, and be gone.
The woman gave her ass a little wiggle, reminding him of Caroline earlier sprawled across her gargantuan bed and his cock twitched. It would be better if Kelsey did it for him, but it was always thoughts of the queen that set his blood afire.
He angled his cock and entered the woman without fanfare, getting to work. Kelsey moaned an approval. “Harder.”
Obliging, he picked up the intensity, but even as aroused as he was, there was something missing. Determined, he ground in deeper. He looked up to place his hand on her nape and froze.
A single white rose in full bloom was poking out of a delicate glass vase on the nightstand between the two beds in front of him.
“What are you doing?” Kelsey breathed. “Baby, don’t stop.”
He grabbed a handful of her hair, wrapping the other around her waist, yanking her up so her back was against his. “Is that some type of joke?” he snarled, directing her head in the flower’s direction. Her inner walls clenched tight, and he groaned at the movement.
”Is this some type of game you’d like to play, Your Highness?” she purred. “If so, I like it.”
“The rose. Just answer the question.” Hot dread sluiced through him, but his pivoting hips seemed to have a mind of their own.
“All the castle workers are clipping them and keeping them in their rooms. It’s kind of a superstitious thing.”
“Explain,” he hissed, the fear mixing with the pleasure in an oddly seductive way.
“Well, see the roses are thought to show if the queen is nearby. It’s like a warning system. You know, since she turns them all…” Kelsey trailed off and whipped her gaze to him, her big eyes widening further. “It was red before you got here.”
Her whole body tensed, and he couldn’t hold back any longer. As the pleasure ripped through him, so did the dread. It was the most haunting moment of his life. “Shit.”
Caroline put a shaking hand to her mouth as tears beaded on her eyelids. She’d known he’d hated her once.Pull yourself together.
She wanted to slam the door open and rage. She let Felix off easy. Breicher had been there to see it. Did he think she was a simpering fool for him? Perhaps she had become one. What type of idiot marries the man who tried to assassinate them?
A million thoughts flashed through her mind, and she had to put a hand to the wall to steady herself. She had to get out of here so she could think. She’d learned it was never a wise idea to deliver a punishment in a state of rage. Caroline spun and started sprinting down the hallway toward her wing. In the distance, a door creaked open, and she thought footsteps sounded, but she wasn’t sure. Focus on your breathing. Put one foot in front of the other. She flew up the stairs, not even getting winded, and flung the door to her sitting room open. Grunting, she slammed it behind her, but a veiny hand caught the door before it smacked into its owner’s face.
