No Rest for the Prince's Virgin

by Morgan King

  “And my room isn’t a new hiding place?” Katrine asked.

  This time it was Helen shaking her head. “Serena hid here in the first round. Sarah was nearly in tears because she couldn’t find her. We were all helping, and in the end we gave up and called out for Serena to come out. A castle is maybe not the best place to play this game.” Helen smiled wryly. “I’d better get looking, or someone will miss lunch if they don’t give themselves up.” Her smile widened, making her look truly beautiful. “Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

  Returning the smile, Katrine said “If you give me a minute to throw some water on my face I’ll help you look, although we’d better stick together or I’ll get lost.”

  “That would be great, thanks.”

  Together they went to search for the other ladies, Katrine privately thinking that if they hadn’t found them all before lunch, so be it.

  ****

  The men all returned weary to the castle, and lunch was a quick, subdued affair. There was none of the fanfare associated with the evening banquets, with their many courses. The guests were still served, but it was from a limited selection of cold meats and salads. The ladies were all seated and served by the time the men had cleaned up in the courtyard, so Wilhelm was unable to sit beside Katrine as he might have liked.

  Although maybe it was for the best, as he didn’t want to overwhelm her and scare her off. He knew he could be forceful when there was something he wanted. Not unlike the Lady Serena. Wilhelm looked around to see if he could see her. He hated it when she snuck up on him as she was wont to do. There was no sign of her—she normally wore striking clothes and was easy to spot—which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on where she was. A headache perhaps?

  While they ate it started to rain, dashes of water decorating the window panes. It couldn’t be heard falling. The wind was quiet, and there was no chill in the air. Wilhelm didn’t worry about the storm returning. It would just make their work harder that afternoon.

  His father already looked tired. Turning to him, the prince said, “Why don’t you help Mother in the castle this afternoon? There is sure to be plenty to organise. Guests won’t be able to return home for another couple of days, and it will take at least another day to repair the main road. I can handle the men outside.”

  “I won’t say no.” His father rubbed his hand against his beard. “Anything to spend more time with your mother.” His subsequent sigh told Wilhelm there was also an element of relief. Usually they were all so absorbed in the day-to-day that Wilhelm didn’t notice that his parents were getting older. Significantly older really, hence their interest in him settling down. They had wanted him settled before he turned thirty, giving him time to enjoy a happy marriage and for them to witness it. He hoped he would be able to give them pleasure on that score soon, as for whatever reason the ingredients seemed to be suddenly coming together.

  He looked across to Katrine. She was constantly in his thoughts as no other woman had ever been. When all the other guests left he would encourage Katrine to stay, since as far as she knew there was no easy way for her to return home. With some uninterrupted time to court her he was confident he could make her his. Surely it was meant to be.

  Perhaps tonight after dinner he could dance with her, hold her, and before they retired for the night maybe he could even steal a kiss.

  Chapter Four

  “Are you all right?”

  Katrine heard the voice in her room and blinked her eyes sleepily as she tried to work out the meaning of what had had been said.

  “I heard you cry out in alarm.”

  Had she? Katrine couldn’t remember. She’d gone to sleep reliving the memory of being held in the prince’s arms. She’d start with him taking her hand and pulling her to her feet, leading her to the dance floor, not asking if she wanted to dance, giving her no opportunity to internally debate the matter or potentially refuse him again. Then she’d remember the way he had pulled her close telling her she would be less likely to misstep if she gave all control of her body’s movement up to him, relied on him to lead her. When he spoke to her in his sexy rumble of a voice she had no will to deny him anything. The feeling of the press of his body was most vivid. She’d felt like there was a sheet of fire where their bodies met, melding them together as the heat caused her body to turn liquid. She hardly recalled them moving, but she guessed they must have done. In her mind they whirled around for an eternity before the happiness this evoked would prompt her to start back at the beginning, her hand in his.

  Katrine was ready to relive it all again, but then it registered. There was someone in her room. Wilhelm, himself, the man who preoccupied her sleeping and waking dreams. Perhaps she had been dreaming of him when she cried out.

  “I’m sorry I must have been dreaming,” she said. Then to reassure him “I’m all right. I’m just not sleeping well at the moment. It is probably being so far from home.”

  Her eyes were adjusting to the dark, but she heard rather than saw the prince come closer. His footsteps didn’t cease until she felt his presence beside the bed. Without saying another word he sat down and pulled her into his arms. She didn’t protest. It felt good to be held and comforted.

  “May I kiss you?”

  The question seemed slightly incongruous given that they were sat together in her bed. But until that point their touch had been innocent.

  She savoured being asked and wondered if she were still dreaming. What harm could there be? She followed her instinct, made clear by the rapid beating of her heart. “Yes … please.”

  His lips came to meet hers, their pressure butterfly soft and equally fleeting.

  “Again?”

  She answered as she had before “Yes ... please.”

  This time she felt the touch of his tongue, and she opened to receive him. He groaned his gratitude.

  He didn’t stop and ask again if she wanted more. They were enmeshed together, and there was no desire for words that might pull them apart.

  Wilhelm gripped her head in his hands, caressing her scalp with his fingertips in between sifting them through the strands of her hair. Katrine wasn’t sure what to do with her own hands, so she let them go where they wanted, to rest upon Wilhelm’s chest.

  He must sleep in just his trousers, for his chest was naked save for the trail of fine hairs that skimmed beneath his collarbone, over the upper swells of his chest and in a narrow line down the centre. His skin felt surprisingly smooth, the hair not coarse. Katrine let her hands rove. This gift of being allowed to touch another was so decadent. Addictive.

  She came across the bump of a nipple. She’d never thought about the fact that men must have nipples before. She wondered if it were sensitive, as she’d discovered her own to be. Experimenting, she teased it between her fingertips. It hardened further. Suddenly she found herself on her back, the weight of the prince pushing her down into the giving mattress. Kisses were being peppered all over her face. She guessed they were sensitive. Now their lips were no longer locked together Wilhelm was uttering sweet somethings in between kisses.

  “So lovely … you taste so good … need to see your breasts.”

  Every one gave her heart a little kick start.

  He kissed his way down her neck, moving his hands to untie the laces at the top of her night gown, but when he pulled apart the material he didn’t stop to look. Rather, he continued kissing. He kissed all around the swells of her breasts, dancing his lips around but not letting them alight on her nipples.

  He was a tease.

  His mouth hovered over one nipple while one hand reached to caress the other breast, and then he dabbed with flattened tongue before proceeding to lick. Next he nibbled using the merest edge of his teeth.

  Katrine panted for breath. This was better than any feeling she had been able to make for herself. Revelling in the multitude of new sensations she dimly registered one of Wilhelm’s hands travelling south down her body. He was going to find her wet for hi
m. She could feel the slickness leaking out.

  “So wet,” he whispered reverently.

  When she touched herself the pleasure was quick to come and quick to go. This felt more intense, with frustration barely held at bay by anticipation. It made her a little edgy, nervous. “Is this how you make all of your guests comfortable?”

  He stopped.

  Katrine’s mouth froze open. Her brain caught up, coming to a crashing halt behind it. What on earth had made her say such a thing! She hadn’t meant for him to stop. There was no going back in her mind. She wanted him to make love to her.

  She could only guess that the words came from her sense of insecurity and the fact that their being together was so special to her. She desperately wanted it to be special to him, too.

  She had no experience of other men, but she assumed he would have experience of plenty of other women. The knowledge prompted a jealousy that was ridiculous given she had no claim on him and could never have had a prior one.

  “Would you believe me if I said no?” Wilhelm asked, holding himself above her, maintaining the cocoon of intimacy and adding sincerity to his words.

  “Can we be honest with each other?” she asked, resting her hand against the firm muscle of his chest, as if pledging her own honour. “I’d rather know the truth. If you agreed to be honest, then told me no, then yes I would believe you.”

  Wrapped together in the darkness it felt like they were as close as two people could be regardless of skin meeting skin. More than anything she hoped honesty would enable trust to keep them together, for this night, maybe more. Katrine feared reality would wake them and break them before too long.

  “I will never lie to you. Lying serves no purpose. No, I do not normally fuck our guests.”

  Wilhelm’s words were slow and measured. At first he spoke her thoughts. The second thing he said was more severe.

  She responded instinctively. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you angry.”

  She could see him taking a deep breath.

  “Not angry, just frustrated and a little sad. I thought we were both feeling the same things. I got carried away in the moment assuming you wanted me as much as I wanted you.”

  “I did, I do. I’m just not very good at this.” He must be able to tell she was new at this. Couldn’t he?

  “Are you a virgin?”

  She nodded, suddenly embarrassed. Could he see the movement of her head?

  “Wait a minute. We need to see one another in order to continue this conversation. You either nodded or shook your head just then, and it makes a significant difference which.”

  She smiled as he rolled to the side, fumbling for a match on the bedside table to light a candle. When it was lit he climbed off the bed and walked over to the fireplace to set a fire in the hearth. With his body gone from her Katrine did indeed notice the cold for the first time. Pulling the covers around her she waited for him to rejoin her.

  “So?” He knelt in front of her, leaving no room for evasion should she have desired it. His tone of voice and eyes gentle. Coaxing a response from her..

  She nodded her head again.

  He smiled, then grimaced. “We’ll wait.”

  “Wait?”

  “‘Til after we’re married. It’ll have to be a quick wedding though. I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want you.”

  The proposed delay explained the grimace, but it was a huge assumption that they would marry. Wasn’t it?

  Surely he couldn’t marry her—a nobody! And even if he could, didn’t she still deserve to be asked? Did he see her as so meek and mild that her acquiescence didn’t even need to be spoken?

  And, wait a minute, why had it not occurred to him that she would be a virgin? If he intended to marry her surely the prospect of a virgin bride must have crossed his mind.

  “Did you assume I had already given myself to another?”

  “No, I just … you’re so beautiful … so sensual. I thought you must have indulged in physical pleasure before now. I thought maybe with a young boy your own age, as you’re still shy. I thought it might just be me being a prince that intimidated you.” Wilhelm spoke quickly, barely pausing for breath. “It wouldn’t have been wrong, although I am pleased I’ll be your first.”

  He seemed keen to reassure her of whatever she might want to hear.

  His next words were more in keeping with his self-assurance. “You’ll be all mine.”

  The proprietary tone had Katrine scrambling a little further back against the headboard of the bed.

  “You haven’t even asked me to marry you. We don’t really know each other.”

  She wasn’t really protesting against marrying him. He was the prince of her dreams. The problem was how could she possibly deserve him? She wasn’t from royalty. He could have any women he chose, and she worried he would regret choosing her come morning.

  “Let us get to know one another, then. Stay here ‘til you are ready to say yes to marrying me. I will not change my mind.”

  Katrine’s heart was ready to say yes to him right now. It was her head that was causing her to hesitate. Katrine didn’t want to fight destiny. She just wanted to be in control of it, and she knew come morning she didn’t want either of them to have regrets.

  Regrets that they were tied together.

  Regrets that they had never come together.

  Katrine couldn’t say yes to marriage, but she also couldn’t send him away now. Instinctively she knew that would cause her the greatest disappointment. She wanted the night, a night of passion. She just didn’t want him beholden to her.

  She had also heard some say that once a man has a woman’s body he would lose interest. She didn’t want to amplify the prince’s desire for her by withholding access to her body.

  “Maybe we could become acquainted by day, and by night. I will stay a few more days and endeavour to find a way home. Then I can leave and give you time to think.”

  If they were to make love and he were to change his mind she would let him go.

  “You still wish me to come to your bed? Before we marry? You will let me make love to you?” Wilhelm clearly wanted to be certain he had understood her right.

  “Yes, I want to know what being loved by you feels like, as long as you will not assume it means we must marry.”

  “Not that we must marry because of what others might think, but I assure you I will still want you for my wife, my princess. If I share your bed I will have no intention of ever leaving it. I will use every skill in my power to convince you to marry me. Your virginity may not be your heart, but I will treasure it the same.” He looked her in the eye, asking permission to take her virginity with more than just words.

  His features were still flushed with desire, his eyes dark with passion. He was irresistible.

  “Yes, I want to experience making love. I don’t want this magic to end.” Katrine hadn’t deliberately held onto her virginity. She had just never been in love before, or cared enough to risk sharing her heart and body with another. Right now she very much wanted to give her virginity to the prince, along with everything else that meant for her.

  ****

  Determination propelled Wilhelm to act. Every act of his over the next few days would be important. Making this, their first night together, special was his first quest. Even while led by his own desire, he would have to remain in charge of it!

  Making a swift decision he took Katrine by the hand and pulled her up, leading her off the bed to stand in front of the fire. Their feet sank into the thick fur rug that would make a perfect cushion when he laid her down and thrust himself inside her. Its dark colours would hide any evidence of her virginity that she might be embarrassed to have others see.

  The dancing flames provided encouraging warmth and erotic lighting. He wanted to be able to see all of her. So thinking, he reached to trace the neckline of her nightgown, nudging it bit by bit towards her shoulders. When she continued to hold his gaze he used both hands to slide the
material over the rounded curve of each shoulder.

  After a brief pause he let it go, his eyes following the revelation of her body as the nightgown pooled around her feet.

  She was so beautiful to him. The tips of her breasts pointed in his direction. He imagined they were beckoning him closer.

  A little in awe at being permitted such a pleasure he reached out to cup the firm flesh of both breasts and stroked her nipples with the pads of his thumbs. His hands were not quite steady.

  “Do you like me touching your breasts?” He was following the cues of her body, the speed of her breaths, the contractions of her sensitive skin, but he also wanted her to confirm what she liked so he could respond appropriately.

  “Yes, it makes me feel achy deep inside.”

  Wilhelm smiled and dropped to his knees. The curls of her pussy held delicate dew. He wanted a taste. He wanted to overwhelm her with new and decadent acts. He eased her thighs apart and kissed her there, licking and sucking her sensitive flesh with his tongue and lips.

  “Oh.” She gasped, and Wilhelm felt her hands come to rest on his shoulders as she steadied herself. He looked up to see her staring into space, mouth parted, as if her mind had conceded all control to her body.

  Her body, his will.

  She tasted delicious. He licked his lips, catching some of her essence that had clung to the hair of his moustache, then dove back for more. He flicked her bud with the tip of his tongue loving how she canted her hips to get closer to his mouth. Maybe he should make her climax like this! If she was relaxed from orgasm that first penetration would be easier. With renewed determination he adored her pussy with his mouth.

  “Let yourself go, darling. I want to feel you reaching your peak.” He knew her body was already familiar with orgasm. He’d already seen her in the throes of climax once before and was desperate to see it again, from a closer perspective.

  He slid one finger inside her, testing the feel of her. She was tight, so tight, and he could feel her walls pulsating around his digit. He squeezed another finger in beside the first and pumped them both in and out. “You’re close, so close. Can you feel it?”