by Diana Ames
Inside the room, she glanced around, and she was delighted to find the room airy and clean. The room was pale yellow with a flowery quilt spread across the bed that matched beautifully. Two paintings, one of a meadow and one of a stream, hung on the walls. It appeared to be the perfect country bedroom.
“I should have warned you,” James said, coming into the room behind her with her bags. “I didn’t expect Lynn to be ready for bed though. She’s usually all covered up. Truthfully, I just didn’t think about it.”
“What happened to her?” Alondra asked, the reporter in her wanting the full story.
“She’s never said, and I’ve never asked,” James said. “Whatever it was, it was bad. Those scars go all the way from her neck to her ankles.”
“Oh my God,” Alondra whispered. Even with her vivid imagination, she couldn’t come up with anything that would leave someone so damaged.
A sharp knock stopped their conversation. James answered the door to find Lynn standing there with a tray of food and the rollaway beside her.
“I thought you both could use something to eat,” she said softly. “I don’t know how long you’ve been traveling.” She paused. “But she looks like she’s had a rough day,” she said, lowering her voice.
“A rough week is more like it,” Alondra replied with a small smile. “In fact, if it weren’t for James, I’m not sure where I would be right now. He was kind enough to give me a ride from the dock.”
James’s eyes shifted guiltily, and he turned a little red.
“I thought you were going to stay away from that place, James,” Lynn chastised. “You know nothing but trouble is waiting for you there.”
“What did you bring to eat?” James asked, taking the tray from Lynn.
“Just some sandwich fixings and fruit,” Lynn answered. “Don’t think you’ve escaped the scolding you’ve got coming, James. We’ll discuss this later.”
“Is there a shower I could use?” Alondra asked before Lynn could make it out the door. “I feel so grimy right now. I wouldn’t want to sit on any of your furniture, let alone climb into that beautiful bed.”
“Of course,” Lynn said with a soft smile. “I haven’t cleaned the community bathing chamber yet this evening though. If you’ll grab your bag, you can use my personal one.”
“Oh, I don’t want to be any trouble,” Alondra told her. “With as dirty as I am right now, I’m sure the community bathing…uh…chamber will be just fine.”
“Nonsense. Follow me,” Lynn said, not leaving room for another argument.
***
Mellissandra was breathing hard. She was lying across Damian’s chest with his cock still deep inside her. They’d just spent the last hour loving each other, and from the way it felt, Damian wasn’t done.
“Can you take me again?” Damian asked, lifting her head by her hair to look in her eyes.
He didn’t want to cause her any pain, but it had been nearly a week since they made love, and he wanted her again. He was conscious of the fact that she’d been more sensitive since she gave birth and was still nursing.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “I can take everything you can give me.” It was obvious from the twinkle in her eyes that he wasn’t the only one who had suffered during their weeklong abstinence.
Damian flipped her over and pulled out of her. Rising from the bed to get a washcloth, he smiled at her hearty protest. Returning from the bathing chamber with a wet washcloth, he swept it between her thighs. He knew the warm water would soothe any minor discomfort she might be feeling.
Finished with his task, Damian didn’t waste any time in planting his face between her thighs. Her red curls tickled his cheeks, and he inhaled her scent. His cock sprang to attention as his tongue slipped between her swollen folds. Their simultaneous moans filled the room as he lapped at the juices flowing from her.
Damian wanted to tease her, to make her beg for her orgasm, but his own need and her deliciousness tested his control. His tongue slid from her sweet pink hole to her clit and pushed gently. It wasn’t long before she was exploding and coming all over his face.
Rising to his knees, he urged her to her stomach and onto her knees as well. It wasn’t a position they used often because Damian loved looking into her eyes while their bodies were joined. But he had ulterior motives. He was going to start preparing her virgin ass for anal sex. They hadn’t discussed it, but he knew instinctually that she would be open to it and enjoy it.
Damian slipped between her parted knees, and with one thrust, he was balls deep in her pussy. He paused for a moment, hearing her groan, and hoped he hadn’t hurt her in his haste. When she wiggled against him, he knew it had been a groan of pleasure, not pain.
He began to move slowly inside her, the position allowing for deeper penetration. One hand gripped her hip and aided her in the slow grind. His other hand rested on the small of her back, and he tentatively trailed his fingers down between her ass cheeks. Before she realized what he was doing, his thumb pressed against her tight sphincter. Her surprised gasp caused him to hesitate.
“Just relax, my love,” he murmured. “Relax, and let me in.” He picked up the pace of his thrusts, and the distraction worked. His thumb pushed past her barrier and was sucked into her ass. He gently stroked the tight hole, matching his motions to the pumping of his cock.
Her whimpers of pleasure urged him on, and a minute later, they were both overcome by orgasm. They collapsed onto the bed, sweaty and satisfied. Damian shifted his weight so not to crush her.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but his arms tightened around her when she tried to move away from him.
“I have to shower,” she whispered, leaning over to kiss his lips. “The babies will be getting up soon for a feeding.”
“Stay,” he said huskily. “I need to hold you.”
“I’ll be back,” she whispered, untangling herself from his arms.
She smiled as he groaned with displeasure, but she didn’t hesitate to head for the bathing chamber. Damian had heard her reasoning before, even though it sounded ridiculous to him. Mellissandra said that she wasn’t going to tend to her children sweaty and smelling like sex.
Damian rolled onto his back, fully awake now. He was a little resentful that she’d left their bed after making love. He loved his children and wouldn’t deny them anything; but he couldn’t help but wonder if it was too much to ask to make love to his wife and then bask in the afterglow of great sex.
Damian tucked his arms beneath his head and sighed. He was going to do something about this situation first thing in the morning.
CHAPTER 3
Alondra thanked Lynn for her hospitality. James had been correct about Lynn not taking any money. When Alondra pulled out her wallet, Lynn actually looked offended.
“Honey, James is a dear friend,” Lynn said. “Any friend of his is a friend of mine.”
“Since my flight out of New York, I think you two are the first people I’ve met who have actually shown me any kindness or courtesy at all,” Alondra told her, pulling her into a hug. “If there are more people like you, maybe this place isn’t so bad.” Then, Alondra was filled with doubt again as she felt the ridges of Lynn’s scars through her blouse.
“There are good and bad people here,” Lynn said, a shadow falling over her eyes. “It’s like anywhere else I’d imagine. Just remember, you’ve always got a friend in me.”
Getting into the truck and waving good-bye, Alondra hoped she wouldn’t have to call on this newly made friendship anytime soon. Alondra disliked feeling indebted to anyone.
As a born and bred New Yorker, Alondra was skeptical about anyone who did something for someone else without a visible reward in return. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in the good in people. She did, but she knew people seldom slowed down long enough to let the good shine through.
If she hadn’t been so run-down and desperate yesterday, she would have been less trusting of the man she was currently sitting beside. Ho
wever, he’d been nothing but a gentleman yesterday, last night, and today so far. He’d had plenty of opportunities to rob her and leave her alongside the road or rape and murder her. She would have fought, but truthfully, he was an athletic-looking man, and the only exercise she usually got was once a week when her boss forced everyone into the gym for company bonding.
“You’re thinking hard over there,” James said. “I can almost see the smoke rising from your head.”
“Sorry,” she said, blushing a little. “I get caught up in my own mind a lot.”
“No problem.” He laughed. “Just thought you might like to know we’re only about an hour from the village where you wanted to go.”
“Oh, that’s fantastic,” she said, a grin lighting up her face. Her brow furrowed slightly though when she thought of finding a place to stay.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “One minute, you’re lit up like a Christmas tree and shining like an angel, and the next, you’re frowning like someone told you Santa Claus died.”
“I’m just wondering about accommodations in the village,” she said. “I tried to call and make reservations before I left New York, but apparently, the only phone in the village is actually in the prison.”
“That’s not surprising,” he said. “We’re a little behind the times, technologically speaking. There’s probably only five hundred vehicles on the entire island,” he told her. “We do have a satellite system for television, but it only seems to work about a third of the time. If they’re lucky, each village might have four or five telephones. Usually, the phones are in public places, so anyone can use them. It’s expensive to call the mainland though, so the only time someone does is when a child is gone for an education or some major event happens.”
“How do they get the vehicles here?” Alondra asked, going into reporter mode.
“Every couple of years, the castle orders new vehicles. Those get shipped in via boat, and then the ones they’re replacing are given to the different villages.”
“The dock where I arrived didn’t appear large enough to handle that kind of shipment,” Alondra remarked. Memories of the tugboat and the dingy dock she’d been dumped on caused a frown to mar her features.
“There’s a bigger shipping port on the opposite side of the island. It’s more easily accessible, but you have to travel around the island to get to it,” he told her. “The dock you arrived at is only used for quick trips to the mainland.”
“That was a quick trip?” Alondra’s eyes widened in horror.
James laughed. “The only thing faster is to fly into the airfield, but flights around here take time and money to arrange.” He gave Alondra a sideways glance. “It’s pretty unusual for people to leave the island unless they’re going elsewhere for schooling. It’s even more unusual to get visitors from the United States.”
“So, this truck once belonged to the prince?” Alondra asked abruptly. She wouldn’t lie if he asked why she was here. She had a cover story ready, but she would do her best to avoid the topic if she could.
“Most likely, it was used by one of the servants to get supplies or something like that,” James answered. “Before you ask, I purchased it from the lottery winner for a hundred dollars and two weeks of service during harvest.”
“Lottery winner?” Alondra was relieved that James accepted her deviation away from visitors so easily.
“Each village is allotted so many of the used vehicles. From there, everyone who wants to be considered has to put their name in a lottery. The winners each get a vehicle.” He sighed. “But a lot of people don’t stop to think about maintenance and fuel when they sign up. Most of the vehicles end up rotting out because they can’t run from lack of upkeep or because the people can’t afford to put gas in them.”
“Are there gas stations or garages?”
“No. A supply boat delivers everything we can’t make or grow, and it brings five-gallon containers of gasoline. They’re available for anyone to buy, but it’s expensive. Some of the general stores will stock the stuff, but there’s an upcharge.” He shook his head and sighed. “Last year, the prince talked about bringing the country into this century, but so far, we haven’t seen any changes.”
“Progress can take time, I suppose,” Alondra said.
Inside, she was seething with rage. Without a doubt, she knew the prince wasn’t suffering from the lack of modern conveniences, yet he let the people of this country be virtually cut off from the outside world.
The rest of the ride was spent in silence. Alondra lost herself in thought, already drafting an article about the conditions of this island. As soon as she could find a place to stay, she would need to get on her laptop and get this information down before she forgot anything. She wished she’d had her tape recorder out when James was speaking, but she didn’t want to alienate him by asking if she could record their conversation.
“We’re coming into the village,” James told her. “The prison is just ahead on the left.”
Her eyes followed his finger and widened on what they called a prison. A large stone structure with four high exterior walls loomed ahead of them. She could see a few smaller buildings behind the walls. She didn’t see bars on the windows or a fence with barbed wire on the top. In fact, if James hadn’t told her it was a prison, she’d have thought it was a small castle.
“Don’t let the outside fool you,” James said. “It takes a lot to get sent here. And once you’re here, rarely do you come out.” His voice was grim.
Alondra’s curiosity was piqued. “How do you know so much about it, James?” she asked almost hesitantly.
“My father worked there for most of his life,” he explained. “He expected me to follow in his footsteps.” He sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck. “I made it two years before I couldn’t handle it anymore.”
“What do you do now?”
“I still work for the prison,” he said. “I handle transport from the villages and castle when someone has been sentenced. I’m not very busy because our crime rate is so low. Even when I do work, I don’t have to go farther than the second gate.”
“Wait,” Alondra snapped, latching on to what he’d just said. “You transport the convicted criminals?”
“Yeah,” he said, giving her a sideways look.
“So, you know Gillian Portsmith?” Alondra questioned excitedly.
“I guess everyone knows about that wacko, huh?” he asked. “I wouldn’t say that I know her, but I made this drive with her last year.” He shook his head. “That is one messed-up lady.”
“How so?” Alondra asked, trying to stifle her enthusiasm for the information.
“She kept claiming that it was all a mistake, that she did it for the prince.” He scoffed. “She even claimed that she helped Prince Anton kill his mother.”
***
Damian had already tried Anton’s apartment and his office, and he was now left wondering where Anton was hiding. He couldn’t remember Anton mentioning the need to leave the castle, but there weren’t too many places where he liked to spend time.
Damian headed to the intercom outside Anton’s office door and buzzed security. He didn’t have all day to track down his brother. He needed to get on the road.
“Security,” the voice sounded out through the intercom.
“Damian, security code five-three-four-A,” Damian said.
The codes had been put in place after Gilly snapped. Each member of the royal family had two codes—one that meant, All is good, and one that meant, I’m in trouble.
“Confirmed. What can we do for you, Master Damian?” the voice asked.
“For one thing, quit calling me Master. If my wife hears you, I’ll be sleeping on the couch for the next month. I gave all that up, remember?” Damian said with exasperation.
“Sorry, Prince Damian,” the voice mocked.
“Gleason, quit being a smart-ass,” Damian ordered. “I need to know where Anton is at the present moment.”
“Have you tried your apartment?” Gleason, the security officer on duty, asked. “Usually, he spends breakfast and lunch with your family.”
“He wasn’t there when I left ten minutes ago,” Damian snapped impatiently. “Check the damn monitors. I don’t have all day.”
“He’s in the gym,” Gleason said a few minutes later, all business now.
It wasn’t often that Damian was short-tempered with any staff, but when he was, it was best to get out of his way.
Damian didn’t bother to thank Gleason before stalking away to find Anton. It was already getting late, and if he didn’t get on the road soon, there was no way he would make it back by tonight.
The glass doors of the gym gave him a view of Anton furiously lifting weights. Damian hadn’t realized how strong his brother was, but a little mental calculation showed Anton was lifting over three hundred pounds. Damian frowned as he realized there was no spotter near Anton or anywhere in the gym.
“Are you an idiot?” Damian demanded, stalking over to stand at Anton’s head. “What if this slipped?”
He grabbed the bar and pushed down as Anton pushed up. Damian’s position above allowed him the advantage, and he pinned Anton down with the heavy bar.
“What if it did?” Anton bit out through clenched teeth. “A couple of cracked ribs? No big deal.”
Anton shoved hard, taking Damian by surprise.
Anton set the bar back in place and sat up quickly. “Besides, it never slips.”
“Whatever,” Damian said, irritated. “Look, I need a favor.” He began pacing, clasping and unclasping his hands.
“Calm down, brother mine,” Anton said, rising to his feet and putting a hand on Damian’s arm. “Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.”
“No, it’s not bad. I’m just anxious to get moving,” Damian told him. “If I’m not home by dark, I need you to spend the night in my apartment. I don’t like the idea of Sandra and the babies being on their own that long and—”