by Rosette Lex
Crystal paced the bedroom and waited. When the door creaked open, though, it was not Gerralt, but Mellia. The princess peered in anxiously.
“Are you okay?” she asked, wringing her gloved hands together, the door propped open by her shoulder.
“More or less,” Crystal reply. “You know what happened?”
Mellia nodded, a quick, jerky movement. “I…might have given him a piece of my mind,” she admitted. “Possibly with mild violence. He was…startled, to say the least.”
Crystal couldn’t help but to laugh. “I’m pretty sure he was already startled after I slapped him and scampered.”
“Well he deserved it,” Mellia groused, openly pouting. “Are you going to talk to him tonight?”
Crystal shrugged helplessly. “Hopefully. I’ve been trying to think of how to do it, but I think I’m just going to have to wing it.”
Mellia sighed and peered over her shoulder, and Crystal could hear Gerralt coming down the corridor.
“Well, Kelso and I are right down the hall if you need us,” the princess said, before she ducked out of the doorway and hurried on her way.
To Crystal’s surprise, she heard Gerralt hesitate outside the door before he pushed it open and stepped inside. Once he was in the room, though, she gave him no time to say anything.
“Someone tried to kill you,” she stated. “Or…something to that effect. And you panicked. But why did a near death experience lead to that?”
Gerralt heaved a sigh and ran a hand over his hair. “My kingdom is everything to me,” he said after a moment. “And given the current situation, if there was to be a change in power, it could destabilize the kingdom. It could lose us the war. If the throne leaves my family, at least. And if I die without an heir, there will have to be a change in power.”
Crystal arched an eyebrow. “How does dying with an heir prevent that?”
His brows rose. “Well, presumably if I have an heir, I have a mate to raise that heir and lead in my absence. Even without a mate, though, while Mellia does not want the throne, she would take it until my heir was old enough. But she cannot have an heir of her own; Kelso is sterile.” He glanced away from her.
“I panicked, as you said. I want to make sure that my kingdom is as stable as it can be, even when nothing is stable.”
“You could have stopped me from leaving,” Crystal pointed out. “Why didn’t you?”
“I…came back to my senses, so to speak, when you pointed out that I was not exactly endearing myself to you,” he replied.
“You are to be my mate. The idea of you hating me—the idea of doing something to make you hate me—is not a pleasant idea to ponder.”
Crystal stared down at her hands for a moment, picking at a hangnail as they pondered everything she had learned that day.
“I can forgive you,” she finally decided. “I haven’t yet,” she added, “but I can. Eventually.”
Gerralt offered her a crooked smile. “I can live with that.”
Chapter Six
Crystal had needs. She was a fairly normal woman, after all. Back home, she had taken care of her needs herself—it had been a while since she had last had a boyfriend—but ever since arriving at Castle Trevelyan, she had been a bit too preoccupied to handle them.
Until she woke up one morning, sweating and panting, her panties damp, because she had been dreaming about Gerralt. Of his hands on her skin and his lips against hers. Of bare skin against bare skin, heat and sweat and heaving breath. She supposed it couldn’t be helped. Not when Gerralt looked as good as he did. Still, it served as a reminder of just how long it had been.
The room was empty save for her when she woke up, so she took advantage of it. She moved from the chaise to the bed so she would have room to stretch out, and she kicked off her sleep pants and her panties. She lied back on the bed and shifted to get comfortable, though it didn’t take much; the bed really was a dream all by itself.
Once she was comfortable, she cast her mind back to the dream, recalling as many of the fuzzy details as she could. As the details, hazy though they were, filled her mind, she trailed one hand across her chest, circling her fingers around one nipple through the thin material of her shirt. The nipple stiffened and hardened into a bud quickly, and she trailed her hand over to the other breast.
Her other hand slowly drifted downwards, fingers skating lightly against the shirt before reaching the bottom of it. She hiked the edge of it up slightly, revealing her belly button and getting rid of the last, minimal barrier between her fingers and her sex.
She started slowly, stroking two fingers back and forth across the lips of her vagina, before she parted them and began to stroke her clit. She started with light, delicate motions, but gradually began going faster and harder.
As her pussy got wetter, her hips lifted up off of the mattress in short, jerky movements, and small, near silent gasps of breath escaped her lips.
Still rubbing her clit, she brought her other hand down to probe at her entrance with two fingers before she slowly pushed them in. She moaned, slow and drawn out, until her fingers were pressed into her as deeply as she could get them, and her eyes slipped closed.
Her moans became louder and longer as she thrust her fingers and stroked her clit, the fingers of one hand pistoning in and out and the fingers of the other hand moving in hurried, sloppy circular motions. Her sleep shirt was growing damp with sweat and beginning to stick to her slightly, but she was too distracted to register the mild discomfort.
With a final, drawn out moan that she did nothing to hide, her hips lifted away from the bed and she came. She let her fingers slip out, but continued stroking her clit until she had well and truly worked her way through her orgasm.
She draped limply on the bed as she caught her breath, her hands at her sides. She opened her eyes slowly, and only then did she realize she had an audience. Gerralt stood by the doorway, the door closed behind him, his eyes focused on her with rapt attention.
“I would apologize for spying,” he began once it was clear that she had finally spotted him, “but I have to say, I’m not actually sorry.”
Crystal smiled slowly and sat up. “It’s okay,” she replied, and she curled her fingers around the bottom edge of the shirt and slowly pulled it off. She dropped it, letting it fall to the floor by the side of the bed.
“I was thinking about you, after all,” she admitted, as she eyed the rather obvious tent in the front of his pants.
“Looks like you’re thinking about me, too,” she observed, her smile turning into a smirk.
What the Hell? Really, honestly, why the fuck not? It’s not like she was going anywhere.
Crystal lifted one hand to gesture him closer and she lied back on the bed again, her arms limp at her sides and her legs parted in blatant invitation.
By the time Gerralt made it to the bed, his pants were already gone, and he was pulling his shirt off before he tossed it aside. He curled his hands behind Crystal’s knees to lift her legs, and he settled them around his hips as he knelt on the edge of the bed.
He leaned down and captured Crystal’s lips in a kiss, the tip of his tongue tracing the seam of her lips until they parted. Their tongues stroked together, and Crystal lifted her arms, one hand wrapping around the back of Gerralt’s neck and the other hand threading into his hair.
Gerralt broke the kiss with a final nip to Crystal’s lower lip, and he began trailing kisses down her neck. He bit lightly at the skin where her neck and left shoulder met, and he dragged his tongue over the spot to sooth it. All the while, Crystal’s hands explored the muscles of Gerralt’s back and shoulders.
He cupped her breasts, kneading them for a few moments before he began circling his fingers around her nipples. He pinched them between his thumbs and forefingers, twisting and pulling lightly, until he released one to instead wrap his lips around it.
He circled the tip of his tongue around it and tugged gently with his teeth, before he switched sides to give the sa
me attention to the other one. Beneath him, Crystal squirmed impatiently.
Gerralt trailed his hands up and down Crystal’s sides, his fingertips skating down her back and over the top of her ass. He kissed her again, brief and hurried that time, as Crystal pointedly lifted her hips away from the mattress.
He took his cock in one hand, pre-cum weeping from the tip. He lined himself up and pressed into her entrance slowly, until just the head of his member was wrapped in damp heat. He grabbed her hips with both hands and tugged her down the bed, fully sheathing himself in her in one quick moment. They moaned as one, voices twining together.
For a few seconds, there was stillness, as Crystal adjusted to being so utterly filled. Gerralt’s head was bowed slightly as he kept himself under control, kept himself from pounding into her like a he would die if he didn’t.
The moment Crystal rocked against him, though, her body moving like a wave, Gerralt burst into motion. (Crystal noted dimly, with distant amusement, that the bed was actually too large to move with them.)
He kept his hold on Crystal’s hips, using his grip to pull her in close to meet each thrust. Crystal’s hands clenched in the blankets, and she moaned openly, the pitch and volume changing as she wriggled to adjust the angle as Gerralt thrust into her, each thrust long and quick.
“Oooh, yes!” she gasped abruptly, as she shifted the angle of her hips minutely.
“Yes, yes!” she repeated with the next thrust, and Gerralt grinned.
He wrapped one arm around her back and bowed over her, holding steady at that angle. The pace changed as his posture changed, each thrust shallower but faster and harder, as if he wanted to see if he could shake both of them apart into their component parts.
He kissed her once more, their teeth clicking together clumsily before they fit their lips together properly, tongues stroking together, Crystal’s voice falling quiet. The kiss was a sloppy affair, though, and broke quickly, once again filling the bedroom with her music.
Crystal wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, pulling him close, and she buried her face against the side of his neck, muffling her voice.
Gerralt leaned away, though, and when he spoke the words were slightly slower than usual, lest they be broken midway through by a groan.
“None of that,” he scolded lightly. “I want to hear you.”
Crystal moaned and arched against him, her nails biting into his shoulder blades before trailing down his back.
Each thrust was like an earthquake, a building volcanic eruption, a distant tsunami, like some sort of natural disaster that would eventually need to explode. Crystal moaned and gasped with each thrust, as if each one would send her spiraling out of control.
She met each one, though, like a well-beloved duty. Heat built and grew in her belly, roiling and building like a caged creature readying to escape. She clung to Gerralt fitfully with her arms and her legs, her limbs feeling too fuzzy for her to manage a proper hold, and her nails left miniscule crescent moon shapes against his skin as she clung to him for dear life.
When at last Crystal came for the second time—and that first, lonely orgasm paled in comparison—it was with a moan that may well have been a sob or a shout, and her back arched what seemed to be near to breaking as her muscles tightened.
Gerralt didn’t slow or stop, and even as she sprawled bonelessly, Crystal continued to gasp quietly with each thrust that sent her jostling further up the bed. Finally, though, the rhythm was slipping, as Gerralt got nearer and nearer to completion, until at least, he stuttered through three final thrusts and came, his pelvis pressed close to Crystal’s so that he was still fully sheathed within her.
Slowly, still catching his breath, he pulled out and rolled to the side, so that he lied on the mattress beside her, propped up on one side to look at her. Crystal blinked sluggishly a few times before she dragged her attention back to him.
“Not that I’m complaining,” she started, speaking slowly as her mind finished catch up to the situation as a whole, “but what are you doing here?” she asked. She pushed herself up on her elbows. “Usually once you leave in the morning, you’re gone for most of the day.”
Gerralt cleared his throat. “I forgot a folder of files that I’ll need,” he replied, with maybe just a hint of embarrassment.
“You proved to be more compelling than the missing files.”
“I would certainly hope so,” Crystal scoffed, before she hummed thoughtfully.
“I can distract a king just by touching myself,” she mused to herself. “I have an amazing amount of power.”
“Not to burst your bubble,” he replied, amusement dancing lightly through his words, “but I’m reasonably sure you would have distracted just about anyone.”
“Probably not quite so thoroughly,” she shot back, refusing to concede the point. She sighed, though, and flopped back onto the bed.
“But I suppose it doesn’t matter at the moment. You need to go do…king…things. Whatever it is kings do.”
Gerralt snorted. “True enough,” he acknowledged, as he reluctantly stood up and began gathering his clothing. He dressed quickly, grabbed the folder from where it sat on the vanity, and left with a quick, “I will see you tonight.”
Crystal watched him go, and once the door closed behind him, she heaved a sigh and stared up at the ceiling.
That had been unexpected. Not unpleasant—not at all—but unexpected nonetheless. ‘What now?’ she wondered to herself.
She sat up slowly, and her nose wrinkled as she very quickly recalled that sex was not exactly the cleanest of activities, and she felt more than a little like she was in need of a nice, long soak and a good scrub.
Maybe a bath would help her think. As it was, the royal bathroom was most of her dreams come true, so she wasn’t going to complain if she had an excuse to use it, especially if it helped her clear her thoughts, as they swirled together like muddy water.
Crystal gathered up a clean outfit for the day and breezed into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her.
Chapter Seven
Crystal luxuriated in the tub until her fingers pruned and every last ounce of tension flowed out of her body. Only when the water was beginning to get uncomfortably cool, bordering on cold, did she heave a sigh and reluctantly decide it was time to get out.
She shivered slightly, gooseflesh rising over her skin as she rose out of the water and stepped over the edge of the tub, onto the mat on the floor. She stretched her arms up, over her head, and rolled her shoulders as her arms dropped back to her sides. For a moment, she simply stood there, relishing in the feeling of being utterly at ease for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.
At last, slowly, she picked up a towel and began drying herself off, dragging the soft fabric over her skin. Eventually, she wrapped her hair up on top of her head and began to dress, pulling on the loose, lightweight, sheer clothing that she had grown accustomed to surprisingly quickly.
Dressed and with her hair still drying, Crystal stepped back out into the bedroom. She strolled over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it in silence. Eventually, she unwound the towel from her hair and dropped it to the floor, and officially ran out of things to do. It left her with little choice but to think about what had just happened.
She didn’t want to have a baby. Maybe eventually, but she certainly didn’t want to be pregnant right then. She wasn’t even sure of how she felt about Gerralt. Adding a child to the mix wasn’t going to make anything anymore stable. Sure, the odds of it happening on the first try were slim, and she didn’t even know if it would be possible between them, considering Gerralt was an entirely different species from her, but she had to assume he had at least known a little about how it would work when he first mentioned an heir. And it wasn’t as if they had gone ahead and decided that they wanted a child right at that moment. So maybe, just maybe, she could head it off at the pass.
Her gaze darted to her purse, still sitting abandoned on the van
ity. It had slipped her mind before, what with the whole ‘getting dragged off to a new world’ thing, but of course thinking about the possibility of getting pregnant dragged her mind back to her birth control. She was pretty sure it was in her purse.
Crystal pushed herself to her feet and walked the short distance to the vanity, where she began to rummage through her purse. Coming up empty handed, she instead simply picked the handbag up and upended it over the vanity.
Pens and pencils, a notepad from work, a dead cellphone, a wallet, and an assortment of hard candies fell out. And then, sticking in the mouth of the purse for a second before it too fell out, came an envelope.
Crystal’s heart sank as she stared at it. It looked innocent enough, but she knew what the contents were. She had meant to open it after that last night of work, but…well, things had gotten a bit out of hand since then, and it had slipped her mind, like so many other things.
She ran one finger along the edge of the envelope, looking down at it, her doctor’s address staring back at her. Finally, with a deep breath in, she slid a finger beneath the tongue of the envelope and ripped it open. Carefully, she pulled out the folded paper and unfolded it.
It had started with the occasional headache. It wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary. But when the headaches began to turn into the occasional blinding migraine, she decided that asking her doctor about it might be a good idea. To her horror, her doctor had suggested they scan her for a brain tumor.
Crystal skimmed over the majority of the page. She didn’t need to see it. All she needed to see were the big, bold words ‘confirmed,’ ‘terminal,’ ‘inoperable,’ and ‘six months.’ Those few words told her everything she needed to know.
Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she leaned over to bury her face in her hands. Stubbornly, she clenched her jaw as she struggled to keep quiet. She didn’t need to start bawling and bring every servant in the corridor running.