“I think she wants you to leave her alone, isn’t that right, my dear?”
The man was handsome, but something about his words made her skin crawl. He smiled at her, and the dimples in his pale cheeks should have softened his face, but his eyes were cold. He glanced from Vitoria to Antonio and then Matilda. His smile turning to a smirk.
“You were supposed to be escorted back to the border,” Antonio said.
The male stood completely still, hands behind his back.
“A few steps towards me and you’re over the border,” he pointed out. “Solviso, my name is Lord Marello. I’m from the neighbouring monarchdom of Kiiessa. I heard earlier of your terrible misfortune and I wanted to offer my assistance.”
Lord Marello held one hand out towards her and bowed slightly.
Although his outstretched hand was nowhere near her, and Antonio and Matilda stood between her and Lord Marello, she shrunk back further against the car. Antonio and Matilda stepped forward. Vitoria’s mind reeled. Who was this man and why would he want to help her?
“We already told you that she is not for sale,” Matilda said.
“You don’t own her,” Lord Marello replied. “Is it not her decision?”
Vitoria shivered. Selling her services to Mira, something she did of her own free will, with clearly defined terms, was one thing. But this stranger? What did he want with her?
“Vitoria, get in the car please,” Antonio said.
Vitoria only hesitated for a moment before climbing into the car. She didn’t like Lord Marello. She didn’t like the way he looked at her or the way he called her Solviso, as though she was nothing more than an object. Matilda climbed into the backseat with her, forcing Vitoria to shuffle up against the box to make space for her. Matilda put her arm across the back of the seat and Vitoria resisted the urge to lean into her warmth.
“You’re freezing, kitten.”
Vitoria didn’t respond. She was a Solviso and it was a cold night, of course she was freezing. Vitoria shivered and her teeth chattered. Matilda pulled the blanket up around her and shifted closer. Heat radiated from her, and Vitoria told herself that was the reason she inched closer until her arm was pressed against Matilda’s, her leg against Matilda’s leg. She was just borrowing her body heat, nothing more.
Antonio pushed the driver’s seat back and climbed into it. A moment later they were on the move.
“I don’t understand,” Vitoria said.
“Solviso are valuable around here,” Matilda told her. “He offered earlier to pay your debt in return for you. He is not the kind of man who accepts no for an answer. Not with someone as valuable as you are.”
“Valuable…?” She clutched the edge of the blanket, holding it up to her chest.
“Your blood, precious one. It heals.”
Vitoria knew that but how did they know? It was supposed to be a secret. The Book of Lencura, the religious text that most people lived by, hinted at it, but even most Solviso had no idea how powerful their blood was. She only knew because one of the residents at the tavern traded in the black market, selling blood or arranging contracts between Solviso and other designations. He’d told her all about it one night when he’d been drunk and she’d been lonely. He was the same acquaintance she’d gone to when someone had tried to break into her van and she’d decided it would be safer to enter a contract with someone from another designation than remain in Calibrai, especially as she no longer had a job. She’d assumed it was as unknown on the rest of the continent as it was in her own region. At least that explained why Matilda and Antonio seemed so interested in her. Perhaps they’d never intended her to pay her debt in money.
She turned away from Matilda and leaned against the box. When she was back in her hospital room she could cry as much as she wanted, but right now she needed to at least retain some dignity.
“Don’t worry,” Matilda said. “We’ll protect you, kitten.”
Protect her? Because she was valuable. Not because they cared. She was just a Solviso who had wandered onto their land and presented a fortunate opportunity. Perhaps she should just offer them a few vials of her blood in return for an escort to meet Mira. At least then she would get there safely. At least there she would be selling her blood on her own terms.
She didn’t say anything as they drove back to the city. Antonio parked the vehicle in the little parking lot outside of the city walls and she let Matilda help her out of the car, but only because she was sore. The ground was uneven, the lot little more than a fenced off field that was more dirt and stones than grass. At least it was dry so her crutches wouldn’t sink into the ground. She limped alongside Matilda, shrugging off her hand when Matilda placed it on Vitoria’s elbow. Matilda sighed but let go of her arm.
They approached the entrance to the city in silence, one monarch on each side of her. Matilda and Antonio glanced around quickly, appearing to be on high alert. Did they think Lord Marello had followed them? The guards lowered the bridge and opened the gate and the monarchs ushered her ahead.
“We have the wheelchair you requested, Your Majesties,” one guard said.
Another guard wheeled the chair to where Vitoria stood, put the brakes on and returned to his position.
“Thank you,” Antonio replied. “Vitoria, would you like to do the rest of the journey in your wheelchair?”
The pain in her ankle was unbearable and the joints in her hands ached from using her crutches. She nodded and sat down on the chair.
When they reached the palace, Vitoria climbed out of the chair and limped towards the hospital wing without a word.
“You’re not going back there,” Matilda said. “If you’re well enough to drive, you’re well enough to be out of there. Your new room is upstairs.”
They walked slowly up the stairs, Antonio holding one of her sticks so that she could lean against the banister. She followed them down a corridor to a door flanked by two guards. Once inside she looked around. The hallway was wide with several doors leading from it. Fresh flowers sat atop a pretty white cabinet, the sweet scent filling the room.
“This is our apartment,” Matilda explained. She picked up a sarong from a hook on the wall and wrapped it around her waist. Antonio did the same. The third hook was already empty. Vitoria slipped her shoes off. What was she doing in their apartment? Surely, they had a guest wing.
“Your room is through here.”
She followed Matilda into a large living area. She glanced around the room, taking in her sumptuous surroundings. A three-seat sofa faced a wide screen, wall-mounted television. A wooden coffee table sat between the sofa and the wall with candles atop. They were decorative, not the kind of candles she had used in Calibrai when she couldn’t afford electric light. Behind the sofa was a dining table and three chairs. Paintings hung on the walls, silk curtains covered the windows, and when she glanced up the ceiling lamps were decorated with jewels. There was more wealth in that room than she had earned in her lifetime. She’d been naive to think they wanted her debt paid in money.
Everything was in threes, she realised. The middle seat of the sofa, the third chair at their table, the empty hook on the wall, were all there for their future mate. It was a bitter reminder that someone else belonged in this apartment.
Matilda walked to one of the doors and opened it.
“This is your room. Our room,” she turned and pointed to a third door. “Is over there.”
Vitoria followed Matilda into the room she would be sleeping in. It was large, with a huge four poster bed in the middle. She placed her bag on the dresser and absently brushed her hand across the cool, smooth wood. Her eyelids felt heavy and her body ached. Her gaze settled on Matilda. It was difficult to focus on anything else when she was in the room, but the sight of her made Vitoria’s heart ache, and she half wanted to hide under the plush duvet until she had gone, and half wanted to throw herself at the Queen and beg her to stay with her, to hold her, to kiss away her pain.
Matilda went into
the en-suite bathroom and returned a moment later with a glass of water and tablets.
“Pain relief tablets,” she said, handing them to her along with the water.
Vitoria swallowed them down quickly. “Thank you.”
Matilda moved passed her, her bare arm brushing against Vitoria’s and sending a jolt of electricity through her. Vitoria’s breath caught and Matilda went to the window and closed the drapes, seemingly unaffected by their touch.
“I’ll leave you to settle,” she said. “There are more pain relief tablets in your bathroom. If you need anything, please come to our room. The door will be open.”
When Matilda left Vitoria looked around the plush room. It was even bigger than her hospital room and far less clinical. The curtains hid a large window seat, an entire wall was lined with wardrobes, a dressing table sat next to the entrance to her bathroom, and a bookshelf filled with books sat in one corner. There was more storage space than she could fill in a lifetime. In other circumstances, she might enjoy staying in a room like that, she might take time to admire the beautiful paintings or sit in the window and pretend that she belonged there in the palace. In other circumstances, she might lose herself in the fantasy of living in a beautiful building and make-believe that she were a queen.
She put her hand to her mouth to cover a yawn. She was too tired to do any of those things, too heartbroken to take pleasure in it even if she could keep her eyes open long enough. At least she would be more comfortable than in the car. She pulled back the duvet and sat down on the soft feather mattress. Her eyes felt heavy as she pulled the duvet up around her.
One more night.
Chapter Seven
Vitoria woke to the sound of birdsong, showered, dressed and then lingered at the closed door of her room for a ridiculous amount of time.
She took a deep breath and raised her hand to open the door before dropping it. She could hear Matilda and Antonio moving around out there and she wasn’t sure she was ready to face them. She ran a hand through her damp hair. Surely, they would go out soon. They had a monarchdom to run after all, and they couldn’t exactly do that from their living room.
Maybe they didn’t want to leave her alone in their apartment. Maybe they would wait out there until she joined them.
It was ridiculous. She couldn’t stand around waiting for them to leave. If nothing else, her joints were sore and she was hungry. She took another breath and pushed the door open, striding out before she could change her mind.
Antonio sat at the table, staring forlornly at the plate of pastries that sat in the middle while Matilda leaned against the wall, gazing out of the window. When they noticed her Matilda turned and Antonio stood, as though they had been waiting for her.
Antonio smiled but he looked uncertain. “Good morning. Will you join us for your first meal?”
Was that smile because he didn’t want her to join them but had to ask in order to be polite? Or did he want her to join them and was worried that she would say no? Part of her wanted to decline the invitation. She didn’t know what she was going to say to them. Perhaps they would make polite small talk as though nothing was wrong, and that would hurt. Perhaps they would discuss why she had left and the reasons why they had brought her back, and that would hurt too. Either way, it seemed like sharing a meal with them was a bad idea.
But she was hungry, and there was still that ridiculous part of her that hoped she was more than just an injured Solviso in need of help. The same part of her that had dreamed about being their mate and imagined growing old with them in Kiilasalia.
“Thank you,” she said.
Matilda walked to the table and pulled out a chair.
“Please. Take a seat.”
Vitoria sat and they followed suit. Matilda poured tea from the pot into each of their cups and offered her a pastry. Vitoria took a chocolate one and placed it on her plate.
“Did you sleep well?” Antonio asked.
It all felt so formal and awkward. Like she was a stranger they had to entertain and not someone they had been intimate with.
“Yes,” she responded honestly. She couldn’t remember ever sleeping so well. The room had been the perfect temperature, the bed the right firmness, and the curtains hadn’t let even a sliver of light into the room. “Thank you.”
She wanted to make polite conversation but the words wouldn’t come to her. Was she supposed to just pretend that everything was okay? That they hadn’t broken her heart?
“Good,” Antonio said. “Matilda and I actually wanted to talk to you.”
Her stomach knotted and she put down the pastry she’d been about to take a bite out of.
“Matilda and I would like to do things differently now.”
Her mouth had gone dry and she took a sip of her tea.
“We need to keep you safe,” Matilda said. “We can protect you from Lord Marello but to do so we need to know that you aren’t going to run off again. You aren’t a prisoner here and of course you can leave any time you want to.” Matilda paused and swallowed hard. “If you want to leave we will make sure you get safely to our border, but outside of our borders we have no power. If you are here we will protect you and we’ll do everything we can to make you comfortable.”
Vitoria stared down into her cup and watched the few leaves of tea that had escaped from the pot float around in the dark liquid. Matilda’s words stirred an unwelcome bit of hope inside her. Which undoubtedly would only lead to more pain in the long run.
“What we would like,” Antonio continued where Matilda left off. “Is for you to stay here with us, in our apartment, and live by our rules while we work out what to do about Lord Marello. It’s illegal in Kiilasalia to acquire blood directly from a Solviso but it is not so in Kiiessa, or some of our other neighbouring monarchdoms. We think this would be a safe place for you to remain and that you will be comfortable here in our apartment. In return, we would expect a level of obedience.”
She raised her gaze and her eyebrows at him. “Obedience?”
“Yes,” Matilda said firmly. “Obedience. It’s a thing where someone tells you what to do and you do it.”
Vitoria rolled her eyes but her lips curved up into a smile.
“I’m aware of the definition.”
“Just less familiar with the application?” Antonio said with a smile.
“You expect me to just do what you tell me when you tell me?”
“There will always be a choice,” Matilda said. “We would tell you to do something, if you don’t want to we can talk about it. If you disobey without discussion we punish you and if you obey we reward you.”
Matilda spoke as though what she said was perfectly reasonable, and perhaps in Kiilasalia it was.
“Punish me how?”
Antonio’s smile was wicked and it made her knees weak.
“To start with,” his voice was low, seductive. “I’d strip off those trousers of yours, put you over my knee and spank your bare bottom until it was red and sore.”
She gasped. She knew she should be horrified by his words but her pussy throbbed with unexpected arousal.
“If that’s my punishment, what would be my reward?”
Antonio’s smile widened and he leaned closer.
“What would you like your reward to be?”
She knew exactly what she wanted. She’d been thinking about Matilda eating her pussy, and eating Matilda’s pussy for almost as long as she’d known them, but the words froze on her tongue, her cheeks burning at the thought of even speaking them out loud. She ducked her head down. Matilda placed a hand over hers on the table.
“You would have a safe word,” Matilda assured her. “And we would respect it. But we want to keep you safe and the best way we know how to do that is to take complete control.”
“Whatever decision you make,” Antonio added. “You can change at any time.”
She nodded. She didn’t even need to think about it. She knew what her answer would be.
“Oka
y,” she agreed. Not because she wanted their protection and this was the best way for them to provide it, but because she wanted to submit to them. She wanted to feel, just for a little while, what it would be like to be their submissive. Even if she was just holding a place for their actual mate.
*
Vitoria wasn't sure what she was doing sitting at a desk in their office. She had expected them to leave her in their apartment, with guards at the door and an order that she take them with her should she want to wander around the city. Instead, she found herself sat at a small, dainty desk, between Matilda and Antonio’s much larger workspaces. It hadn't been there before, so she guessed that it usually lived somewhere else. They had provided her with books to read. Not romance novels like the ones she’d been enjoying from their library, but huge, leather-bound volumes on the history of the country. Antonio had said it was a good way to occupy her time. She could think of ways she would rather have spent it, books she would rather be reading. One volume was just a list of monarchs and their offspring. Was she expected to memorise them or something?
“We will be having a gathering at the week’s end,” Matilda said.
Vitoria looked up from the volume she was reading. Matilda was looking down at a piece of parchment on the table. She signed it with the quill and then looked up.
“We will be inviting many of the submissives within the monarchdom. You will be there. It will be good for you to meet people, make friends.”
She didn't know why that would be good. She didn't intend to stay longer than she had to. She intended to get a message to Mira as soon as she could, beg her to wait for her. She couldn't give up the opportunity she had for the uncertain future she faced here in Kiilasalia. When she had paid her debt and Lord Marello was no longer a threat, no doubt she would be gone from the royal household, homeless and alone again. Perhaps she could explain the situation with Mira and they would release her into Mira’s protection, and she would give them enough blood to extend their lives. It would hurt to have them let her go, but not as much as it would hurt to stick around and watch them find their mate.
Bound to the Monarchs Page 6