Chastity

An arched eyebrow was the only reply. From where she sat on the window seat, Kinlee watched him stalk across her chamber to the assortment of bottles and brushes on the vanity. She wore a pale violet shift beneath a white silk coat trimmed with feathers. Violet slippers peaked out the bottom. For the first time in over a week she felt a close resemblance to her old self. She would have chosen her most elaborate gown in order to boost her confidence, however without several maids, there was no getting into any of her gowns.

She watched as he picked up the bottle of perfume made especially for her. Tanned fingers lifted the glass stopper and sniffed the soft vanilla blossom scent.

"Garbin has relented."

What! Wait, tell me it didn't involve torture.

"It didn't involve torture." Rats, did she say that aloud?

"But how, why? No, tell me later. Let's just get the darn thing off."

Already she was standing upright and slipping the silk coat from her shoulders. His impenetrable gaze met hers in the mirror. Slowly he turned to look at her fully.

Kinlee stood there, the sleeves of the coat caught about her wrists. The silence stretched as their eyes locked. Slowly she closed her eyes. He knows.

"Garbin will release your chastity belt if I promise to marry the daughter of his choice within sixty days."

Her eyes flew open in shock. "You didn't agree, did you?"

Again silence.

"You can't agree. Why, his daughters -- they are horrible. Not people you want to marry! Your sons would be born with defunct personalities -"

"Jealous, Kinlee? I have met the eldest, and she is very pleasing. Her charms are ample for a man of my simple tastes."

Kinlee almost choked. Stupid man! If he agreed to the rat's deal, then he sealed both their fates. Kinlee didn't want to marry, to have some overbearing sod tell her what to do and wear and say and have endless heirs while he's off enjoying mistresses. And of course her sister's charms were ample, but Elly deserved better than him!

"It would be an easy solution to the situation here, Kinlee. I marry one of the King's daughters and the King is exiled. Transition of authority goes peacefully, without civil unrest." He walked slowly toward her. She shrugged off her coat, letting it fall to the ground and crossed her arms.

"But, you can't. It would be like waving a flag to your enemies. You have bowed to his original terms. Surely pride..." He kept coming toward her, and she backed up a step, two. "I won't let you do it."

"Garbin warned me you would oppose this course of action. I wonder why? A servant would have no illusions about marrying a Prince, so it is not the marriage itself."

"Why I oppose it? Because it's a preposterous idea. You should be free to choose the wife of your choice. You may even choose never to marry, for all I know."

"No, how he knew you, a servant, would personally react to his proposal."

Ah. She pressed against the wall, and two muscular arms planted themselves on either side of her shoulders.

"No answer?" he murmured, head dipping. His teeth caught her earlobe, making her squeak. "Kinleanne."

Kinlee froze, feeling like a cornered rabbit. "It's not what you think," she pleaded, squeezing her eyes shut. Visions of the dungeon floated through her mind.

"Then tell me what it is I should think."

"When you refused to marry Ella, he planned to force you by honour. If you get one of his daughters with child, honour would dictate you marry her. You knew what Ella looked like, so we thought to trick you by dressing me up as a maid."

"Why did you do it?" his mouth pressed along the line of her neck.

"I have worn this chastity belt for five long years!"

"What if you father's plan had succeeded, and you got with child?"

"I took a brew to prevent it." Damn.

"What if even now you carry my child?"

"It was only once, and very quick." She saw his look. "I mean, it was a very good 'quick'. You're not going to put me in the dungeon now, are you?"

"Perhaps. You are a prisoner of war."

"But I helped you escape!"

Draven looked unconvinced.

"You used my hairpins that I deliberately left behind."

"You, Princess Kinleanne, are a shocking liar."

"Huh. I'm quite good at it." She poked him in the chest, and he caught her hand, bringing it to his lips.

"I'm referring to the extent of lies, not the quality."

"In that case, just whip off my chastity belt and have at it. Your compliments are making me weak with lust."

"That's what all the girls say."

Kinlee tossed her head and glared at him. "I won't do it. Even if you tell him yes."

Draven smiled, and tugged something from his pocket. Her eyes widened at the gleam of gold, and she swiped at it. His fingers closed around the ring, and she pried at his fingers to get at it.

"Give it to me!" she grumbled, struggling to open his hand up. Would it be un-princess- like to bite his hand to make him release it? She glared up at him, only to discover he was perving down the top of her shift.

"It seems the key, the chastity belt, and you, are all mine."

"I would rather be locked up in the dungeon!" she declared hotly. "I'm not marrying you."

"It would also seem that the only way to have your chastity belt removed is to marry me."

She gasped. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she rested her hands on hips. "Well, it seems you forgot one thing."

"And what would that be?"

"I would rather wear this chastity belt than have quick...frolicks with you for the rest of my life!"

"So be it. Send for me when you have changed your mind."

~*~

Beast. Rat. Toad. Agghh. The man was impossible.

She shifted on the rough bed linen, imagining the lice and flees crawling about her person. The air was dank, the cell dark. All that nonsense he had told her about "it's the only place I know I will find you where I leave you" was mere poop. Already, the gene that turned men into possessive and controlling husbands had emerged.

Her father had had the gall to chuckle when she was lead past his cell. It was outrageous that her father, even locked up in a cell after having his palace stormed by an angry Prince bent on revenge, still managed to control her life. She had merely glared at him as she was pushed past by Prince Draven's personal guard.

Laying there in her violet shift, her uncomfortable chastity belt, and a few rats for company, she knew she would cave in to Prince Draven's demands fairly soon. A princess wasn't raised to survive living the rest of her life chaste and cooped up in dungeon. She only prayed that her pretty sister faired better than she did right then.

~*~

She woke to the tap of metal against metal. She blinked, her eyes quickly adjusting to the shadowy darkness. Draven stood casually, both hands gripping the bars of her cell. His naked chest gleamed, the wiry curls damp. Leather breeches hung low on his hips. A long sword hung from a thick belt. His hair was sweaty and disheveled. Damn it, why did he have to be so ... manly and appealing?

"I have an excuse for not bathing. What's yours?" she muttered cattily.

"My men and I have been sparring. Practice makes it easier to conquer palaces with lazy guards."

Huh. She wished Vargos were here to hear that. She sat up, fingers tugging at the straw tangled in her mane.

"Is there something in particular that you want?"

"You. In my bed with your legs spread and riding me."

"Hmmm..." she pretended to consider the shocking image that popped into her mind. "No."

"Then I will just have to make do with all the pretty servants. There was a particular young widow that caught my eye."

To hide her anger, Kinlee stretched. Green eyes dropped to the silk and lace concoction drawn tightly across her breasts. Ah ha, Kinlee thought as she rose on graceful limbs. As she strode the two steps to the iron bars, she drew off her shift. Goosebumps dusted her skin as she stood before him, bare except for the golden contraption binding her sex.

"Perhaps a guard would be so kind as to deliver me a fresh gown," she murmured, placing her wrist through the bars and dropping the silk at his feet.

Prince Draven stood frozen, his eyes feasting on her pale flesh. After what seemed hours, he murmured "turn around."

Kinlee swallowed hard at the look in those eyes, and did his bidding. She bit back a gasp when a hand scooped up her mane and slid it over one shoulder.

A finger lightly traced down her spine, coming to a halt where the golden belt drew across her hips. Another hand came to rest on her belly, drawing her back against the bars. She shivered, her nipples pinching into hard peaks as the hand slid up possessively to rest just below her breast, his calloused thumb stroking the underside.

"Why do you fight me, Kinlee? You had to have known when you came to my chamber dressed as a servant, that when I discovered who you were, pregnant or not, I would marry you. I do not despoil virgin princesses."

"Had I really been a servant, would you have felt honour bound to marry?"

"Had you really been a servant, you wouldn't have come to me a virgin."

His thumb brushed casually back and forth across her aching nipple as he spoke. His other hand grabbed the flesh of her bottom, molding it in his grip.

"It's your choice when we take this further, Kinlee. Now, tomorrow, next week. But it will happen. Your body craves mine too much to pretend it won't."

She felt bereft when he left. Slowly she slid down to kneel on the ground, hands on her splayed knees. Her body was swollen and demanding, pleading for release.

~*~

Three days later Kinlee found herself before a priest, muttering those eternal words "I take thee to be my husband". Three long days without clothing and nothing to dwell upon except the memory of him caressing her. The only distraction had been his short visits to bring her food. When she had finally relinquished, he had stroked and kissed her breasts and worked her into a frenzy. Then calmly told her he would not remove the chastity belt until after the marriage ceremony. The pig.

She sat through the hastily prepared marriage feast as though in a daze, conscious of his muscular leg pressed against hers. Damn it, if only he would remove the damn thing. She would see to her own needs if she had to!

When finally he carried her up the marble steps to the cheer of all those present, she clung to him in relief. He smiled down at her, a smug male pride of possession. Oooh, she hated him. Absolutely, without question. And she would tell him so, once he removed the blasted chastity belt and saw to her immediate needs.

He took her to her father's chamber. Gone where all the relics of her childhood, to be replaced with an austere manliness. The bedding was in browns and greens, armor and weapons lay neatly arranged against the far wall, polished and gleaming. She remembered the Queen's chambers lay through an archway, and between was a bathing chamber.

She was eased to her feet, his hands encircling her waist. Her nipples were hot and sensitive where they thrust against the stiff, jewel encrusted bodice of her gown. Between her thighs, the flesh throbbed insistently. Yet now that the moment was upon them, she couldn't get rid of this silly shyness.

"Kinlee," he murmured.

"Mmm..." she fiddled with a silver button on his vest.

"Look at me."

"Why?" she mumbled. The button was perfectly interesting. It matched the ice blue vest shot with silver thread.

"I want to know if you have forgiven me for locking you in the dungeon."

"Well, of course not."

"Of course not?" he repeated softly.

"It tends to make princesses think that every time they disagree with their husbands, they'll get locked up."

"I can't promise you I won't put you in the dungeon again, Kinlee. But if I do, it will be for safety reasons only."

Her lashes raised, and she met serious green eyes. "I don't like having my choices taken away from me."

"Neither do I. But you sealed both out fates the moment you offered yourself to me."

"Are you angry with me?"

"Some."

"Oh."

"But I know it was curiosity that brought you to me, and not trickery or desire for things I could buy you."

His hands slid up over her breasts to lightly tug down the puffed sleeves of her gown. Her creamy breasts with their budding crowns were exposed to his intent gaze, and his lips parted.

"I have dreamed of you every night since you first came to me, my wanton princess. It pleases me to know that you have not enjoyed the touch of another."

His fingers lightly caressed her eager mounds, toying with her. Her hands came up to cover his, molding them to her breasts. But he withdrew from her, and hands about her tiny waist, spun her about. Drawing the curtain of her hair over her shoulder, he pressed a kiss just below her ear. His fingers easily unlaced the ribbons of her bodice, until the gown pooled at their feet. In her haste to frolic, she had forgone any underclothes, and his sharp indrawn breath reminded her.

She wiggled her bottom against his groin, and was relieved to feel the hardness through the leather breeches. "Take it off," she pleaded. Kinlee wanted nothing more than to feel his warm heaviness pressing deep inside of her. "I want you inside of me, now."

"Ah, Kinlee, you enchant me with your eagerness."

"Toad. You have no intention of taking it off, do you? This is how you intend punishing me for the rest of my life, driving me mad with desire?"

"Am I? Driving you mad with desire?"

Draven didn't wait for an answer. He lifted her, carrying her over to the bed and placing her on it none to gently. He caught her wrists, dragging them above her head. She lay unprotesting as he tied her wrists to the headboard with a silk scarf, curious as to what his intention was. When he withdrew a gold chain from around his neck, a precious key dangling from its length, she smiled in delight. She gave no thought then to the sense of permanency of its place, on a chain next to his heart. He rolled her partly over, and inserted the key in the back of the chastity belt. The sound of the belt opening was like music to her ears. He eased it down her legs, and she wiggled on the bed as she eagerly sought to help, giving no thought to the peep show she was giving him.

He placed the golden contraption on the bed near her head. If her hands weren't tied, she would have thrown it out the nearest window. His hands on her hips eased her onto her back. She gazed up at him from beneath lowered lashes, a blush tinting her skin as she slid her legs wide for him with no hesitation.

He knelt above her her, hair tousled, eyes intent. He tugged off his vest and tunic and threw them across the chamber. Her fingers itched to trace the golden skin and lose themselves in the triangle of black hair across his chest.

Her delight faded slightly when he tied matching scarves around each ankle, binding them to the bed. "Your Highness," she started tremously, wishing she knew more about what went on between married men and women behind closed doors. She didn't know quite how to phrase what it was she wanted to know.

He gazed up at her from the foot of the bed, and her belly quivered. "This time, we'll go slow."

Kinlee was distracted from pouting when his mouth trailed hot kisses from her hip to toes and back again. When his tongue flicked at her belly button, she had to bite her lip to keep from moaning. Truly, she would expire if he did not hurry.

She squirmed when he nibbled leisurely on a pink nipple. "Be done with it," she begged, struggling with her bonds. He chuckled, before sliding both hands to firmly cup her bottom. His warm breath fanning her nether regions made her whimper.

Her head rolled from side to side as his mouth opened over her. It felt so different from the tender ministrations of her maids. Never had she felt she was going to be swallowed whole. Panting, her thighs trembling, his tongue had barely grazed her throbbing jewel before lightened flashed behind her squeezed eyelids. Kinlee lay melting on the bed, pleasured, but not satiated.

When his mouth continued to explore her, she moaned from the sheer torture of it. She wanted him inside of her, now, but he seemed to have no intention of fulfilling her greatest wish. "I want an annulment." She tugged on her bonds, wiggling on the bed.

He slapped her thigh. "Impatient minx."

"Huh. It is not I that has failed to perform their spousal duty."

"I have half a mind to leave you bound and gagged until morn."

Kinlee gasped as two fingers slid up inside of her. "Isn't there some law that if a husband hasn't taken his wife by morning, they are no longer wed?"

"No." Her hips arched beneath his seeking fingers and sucking mouth.

"T-then there should be."

Kinlee couldn't lay still, her soft moans filling the chamber. Her body weeped around the thrusting fingers stretching her silken heat as his teeth and tongue tormented her throbbing nub. The quick flashes of her first orgasm were long forgotten as a powerful need built between her thighs. If Draven didn't do something soon, she thought she would either pass out or scream.

Then he stopped. Her body shuddered, oh so close. Tears beaded her lashes. I hate him, I hate him, she chanted silently. When he came to lay beside her, his hand sliding along her jaw to tangle in her golden mane at her nape, she tried to turn away. The strength of his grip brought her face back to his, intent green eyes meeting her mutinous ones. An age seemed to pass before his lips descended to hers. Kinlee grumbled under her breath before kissing him back, her tongue tangling with his.

What followed was unending torment. He explored her bared flesh, caressing, nibbling and sucking until she was unpleasantly frustrated, before stroking her to the brink of ecstasy. Then leaving her writhing, begging, pleading for him. Over and over it went, until she could have happily scratched his eyes out.

When finally he rose above her, his muscled thighs sinking between her smooth ones, her heart drummed in her ears. She lay completely still beneath him, not wanting to give him any reason to stop.

She was lost to everything but the feel of him, there. He pushed against her dewy opening, stretching her around his invading flesh. It was a long, slow glide to hell, she soon discovered. She whimpered and moaned, the pleasure almost unbearable. Her hips arched off the bed as her silken flesh yielded, her body swallowing his weapon whole. She panted, sweat beading her brow as she felt he would surely split her in two.

"Did you have to be so big?" Kinlee wiggled on his wide girth, trying to ease the stretching fullness. It didn't really feel so bad, just different. Draven merely kissed her baby frown before gazing down into her feverish golden eyes.

When he eased out of her, the tug on her tender flesh drew a choking gasp and a rush of heat. He groaned against her throat, pressing kisses against her damp flesh. His thrust home was more forceful, less controlled.

His weight on her, the full feeling of him inside of her, his manly scent wrapping around her; the intimacy of the moment made her shiver and feel incredibly feminine and vulnerable.

With slow, measured strokes he rode her tight, wet heat, his gaze intent on her expressive face. She melted and shuddered around him as she lay bound and stretched beneath his golden masculinity. His wet mouth found her pouting nipples, his large hands caressing her pale skin. She arched, oh so close. Her tight channel clenched about him tightly, not wanting him to leave.

She groaned when he paused, shaking her head from side to side at this unexpected torture. Then relief flooded through her when he reached back to free her ankles and draw them up high over his shoulders. His renewed thrusts pierced her deep, shuddering against her womb, making her cry out as ribbons of ecstasy streamed through her.