by Tee, Marian
She jerked.
“You want me, and you can try denying it, but your body knows the truth.”
“No.”
The prince shook his head, purring, “Again with the lies.”
He pulled back, and suddenly she was free. Fawn hastily moved away from him again, but this time the prince didn’t come after her. Instead, he said quietly, “We both know I can seduce you to be my lover, parthena mou.”
Jerk.
God, he was a jerk.
But the jerk wasn’t lying, and Fawn furiously blinked back her tears. Oh God, how could she face Grant now?
When Fawn’s light brown eyes met his, the prince clenched his fists at the despair in her gaze.
He had always thought himself heartless, but seeing the girl in front of him struggle with her guilt, the prince came to realize that he was not as emotionally immune as he wished he could be.
He had planned to seduce the girl so he would have a chance to fuck her out of his system.
But when she was looking at him like that—-
You lucky son of a bitch, Grant Bennett.
“You don’t need to worry,” he heard himself say.
Wariness crossed her face, but even so, the despair didn’t completely fade.
“I can seduce you, but I won’t.”
“W-why not?”
His lips twisted. “Temporary insanity probably.”
“O-oh?”
“If you think I’m still going to try seducing you, you’ll feel you have no choice but to leave this job. If you do leave, you’re unlikely to find something that pays as well as this job does, which would force you to either quit college or swallow your pride and borrow money from your fiancé, which is even more distasteful.”
The last words had her swallowing back a nervous laugh. “B-borrowing money from Grant is more distasteful than me quitting college?”
“Everything about Grant Bennett,” the prince said succinctly, “is distasteful.”
She almost choked, but even so she could feel her tension easing, and even she knew the prince was saying such words also so she could relax. Without looking up, she mumbled, “Thank you for liking me. I think it’s weird that you do—-”
The prince stared stonily at the girl mumbling in front of him. Weird, was he?
“But I also think you’re being so awfully sweet to promise not to seduce me—-”
His teeth began to gnash. In the prince’s vocabulary, ‘awfully sweet’ was synonymous to being a weak ass.
“I mean, it’s so crazy that you can want me so much even when I don’t—-” She stopped speaking, realizing too late she had ended up babbling her thoughts out loud.
Slowly, she raised her gaze to the prince, and the sight of his extremely nice smile had her paling. The prince scowling at her was normal. But the prince smiling at her?
Nope.
She began walking backwards towards the door. “I s-should probably go now, right?”
“Probably,” he agreed very pleasantly, “before I forget how awfully sweet I am, and make you feel this weird thing called dying—-”
“G-going now, prince.” She quickly stepped out of the door and turned to him, saying, “But I mean it. Thank you for being so kind and understanding—-”
The prince took a furious step towards her.
Right. All nice words were definitely off-limits.
“Shutting up now, prince.” And this time, Fawn broke into a run lest the prince changed his mind about liking her—-
She tripped on her feet as the thought sank in, really sank in.
Oh my God, the prince liked her that way.
Unbelievable.
But true.
A MILITANT GLEAM SHONE in Fawn’s eyes as she came marching back to work the next day. Literally marching, which had Noah scratching his head from his post at the watchtower.
Rumor had it that the prince and his fawn had a lover’s quarrel but then they made up yesterday. So why was she acting like the driveway was their version of The Green Mile?
As Fawn hiked her way to the main house, a conversation between her emotional and practical sides began to take place.
The Prince of Darkness is a good and trustworthy man, Fawn. He helps girls in need, even though his methods aren’t exactly by the book. If he says he won’t try to seduce you, he won’t.
But he is the Prince of Darkness. There’s a possibility he wouldn’t be able to help himself when he sees you—-
Can you hear yourself? You’re making it sound like you’re a fawn fatale. Haha! Get it? Fawn fatale, femme fatale—-
Fawn stopped walking.
She was seriously going crazy, and this was the prince’s fault.
She took a deep breath. There was no point worrying about the unknown. All she had to do was just get to work and see how things played out.
Nodding, she continued down the road and when she reached the end, the first thing she heard was splashes coming from the pool area.
That was strange, Fawn thought. The only time she saw people using the pool was when the prince had an aquatic theme for one of his parties, which was really nice, but it was also quite tiring since water all around made everything messier.
Curious, Fawn climbed the steps leading to the infinity pool, and the splashes became a firm, sharp sound, like someone slicing through the water in swift, decisive strokes. Fawn reached the top of the steps just as the sounds abruptly died, and that was when she saw the prince coming out of the pool, wearing nothing but a pair of tight-fitting black shorts.
Holy sweet Jesus, where could she look?
No, wait, the truth was, she knew where she shouldn’t look, but the problem was that was what she only wanted to look at.
Water made the sculpted muscles of the prince’s body glisten, and God, dear sweet God, how could someone look so perfect? Sure, Grant worked out, too, but it just felt like the prince was still...sexier. Rougher. Tougher.
Her mouth began to dry as she continued to stare at him, unable to believe that this kind of man could actually want someone like her.
It was crazy...right?
She had seen the kind of women he took to bed, and all of them were a hundred times prettier and sexier than she could even dream of being. Maybe yesterday was a prank—-
The prince suddenly turned toward Fawn, his emerald green gaze unerringly finding hers.
Holy. Crap.
She was caught.
“H-hi.” Then she added weakly, “Prince.”
His lips curved. “Hi there.” He paused. “Also, you’re drooling.”
She gasped, and Fawn automatically reached for her lips.
The prince smirked. “I was lying.”
“Prince!” She didn’t know whether to punch him or run away in humiliation.
“But I guess if you thought I was telling you the truth, then you must have enjoyed watching me that much.”
“No!”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
And oh my God, why was she only able to speak with exclamation marks right now!
“Stop it! Okay!”
And oh my God, she was! Still! Doing! It!
“Alright, parthena mou, I’ll stop.” The mocking gleam in his gaze was in contrast to his soothing tone.
As he reached for the towel and began rubbing himself dry, she knew she really had to go now.
But she couldn’t.
Her legs just didn’t want to move.
She watched him finish drying himself and toss the towel back on the table.
Please pick up the robe next, she thought. Please, please pick up the robe and cover yourself—-
The prince started walking towards her, sans the robe.
—-and she was dead.
So dead.
When he reached her, his tall, powerful frame filling her vision, she blurted out accusingly, “You promised you w-wouldn’t seduce me.”
A laugh escaped the prince. “I’m not.”
She could see that he wasn’t lying, and she almost cringed. Oh my God, if this wasn’t him seducing her, then how much better – no, worse - would it be when he did?
Theo. The way she was staring made the prince grit his teeth at the urge to haul her back into his arms so she would know exactly how it was when he really put his mind into seducing her.
That was what he wanted to do, what his body was dying to do.
But he couldn’t.
Because he had promised, and that damn diamond winking from her left hand was an undeniable reminder of how breaking his word would also end up breaking her.
“I better go,” she said finally and almost winced right after the breathless note in her voice. When the prince only nodded, it was then she realized in shock that a part of her had expected – and wanted – him to stop her from leaving.
Her stomach curled at the realization, and Fawn hastily turned away to race down the stairs, feeling all the while she was trying to fool herself into thinking that she was running away from her problems.
The prince watched her go with a tight jaw.
How the mighty have fallen, he thought with self-disgust.
She was only supposed to be a novelty, a challenge, because of the way she found Grant Bennett so damn attractive, the same way she had seemed to be so damn oblivious to him.
Then, he hadn’t given a damn about ruining her relationship with Grant, didn’t give a damn that betraying her fiancé could destroy her for good.
But now.
He did.
And it effectively kept his hands tied.
He could never make a move on her until she broke things off on her own with Grant Bennett.
TIME PASSED, AND AN unspoken agreement came to be between the prince and his fawn. He no longer spoke to her, and she no longer looked at him. But even so, there were things that they could not deny.
Things that made him seek cold showers every night, and things that made her toss and turn in her bed—-
Things that would make him pleasure himself when the ache was impossible to ignore, and it was a brown-eyed fawn that he would imagine in his mind, riding him, her long, silky blonde hair streaming down her slender back.
And lastly, things that would make her cling even more desperately to Grant, but her silent cry for attention was ignored as the man she had first loved became increasingly distant.
I love you.
I miss you.
Are you still mad with me?
Fawn had already lost count of the number of messages she had sent him, the number of calls that had remained unanswered. But even so, Fawn didn’t allow herself to lose hope.
Things would be okay again.
This might just be karma at work, might just be the fates punishing her for being attracted to another man.
But surely one day she would be forgiven?
Surely one day she would have Grant back again?
Surely one day she could look at the prince and not have her heart beating fast?
It was on Fawn’s fourth month of working in the prince’s employ that these things changed once again. It was the weekend, and Fawn had once again taken the opportunity to work overtime, not because she needed money but mostly because it allowed her to escape reality.
Moving down the hallway, which was the last area to be swept, she took a hold of the mop and was about to push it forward when she heard it.
Fawn whitened.
Not again.
She had to be dreaming this. Maybe she was too tired, maybe she was too depressed, but she couldn’t possibly—-
Another cackle.
Oh my God, this place was haunted!
When she heard it for the third time, this time Fawn knew it was coming from the wall right in front of her, which was even more proof that she was hearing a ghost. Heart thundering hard against her chest, she took a step forward.
“H-hello?” Her voice echoed in the living room.
She touched the wall.
And gasped.
Because instead of a ghost, she had found a hidden entrance, with the wall swinging open to reveal a flight of stairs.
I really shouldn’t go there. All the horror movies I’ve watched tell me that it’s suicidal to go there.
I’m glad you know that.
But I need to know about the sound.
Fawn!
I’m sorry!
Mind made up, she finished her internal conversation and closed her eyes.
God, keep me safe.
Her descent was slow and made arduous and nerve-wracking by the dark. With every second that passed, she expected her to lose her footing and tumble to God knew where. But somehow, Fawn was able to reach the end of the steps.
She felt for the ground before taking a cautious step forward.
More darkness awaited her, but the cackling also grew louder.
Curiosity killed the cat, Fawn!
But what if there was another girl hurt like the last time? What if the prince hadn’t been able to catch all the bad guys during his parties? What if this was a ghost seeking justice?
She continued walking blindly.
Another cackle.
Oh God, that really, really made her want to flee in terror.
“H-hello?”
The lights switched open, and she found herself staring at a woman with scars crisscrossing her once-beautiful face, grinning at her from behind a cell with steel bars.
Fawn screamed.
DÉJÀ VU, Fawn thought as she found herself once again huddled in the chair in front of the prince’s desk, shivering in fear, and the prince silently commanding her to drink brandy. This time, she didn’t even think of refusing.
She downed it in one shot, and because she hadn’t learned from the past, she ended up choking even more.
“Serves you right,” the prince said unsympathetically. “You were supposed to sip it, parthena mou.”
“You were nicer before,” she mumbled.
“I beg your pardon?”
“My first shock,” she told him tremulously as she handed the empty glass back to him. “You were much nicer.”
“Ah.” The prince took his usual place, too, perching himself on the edge of his desk. “That was because I gave you the benefit of the doubt.”
“For what?”
“For having brains.” He shot her an unimpressed look. “But clearly you don’t.”
She glared up at him. “Are you really blaming me?”
“Yes, I’m blaming you,” he snarled. Even now, his heartbeat hadn’t gone back to normal and he still couldn’t get the sound of her terrified scream out of his mind.
Fawn was incredulous. “How is it my fault?”
“Because this wouldn’t have happened,” he hissed, “if you hadn’t let curiosity get the better of you in the first place.”
“Are you serious?” she gasped. “You have it the other way around! This wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t have so many stupid secrets to keep in the first place! Seriously!” She counted them with her fingers. “One: you have a dungeon – a dungeon, oh my God – for a basement. Even worse, two: you have a woman imprisoned in your dungeon. And worst of all, three: that woman is batshit crazy and she tried to strangle me!”
Her voice cracked.
They stared at each other, and when her lips started to tremble, the prince bit back a curse. How the hell he could stay angry – even when he knew he had a right to – when she looked like that?
He said quietly, “I’m sorry.”
The apology took her by surprise, and before she knew it, she was already crying, the tears gradually relieving her of her terror. Taking the seat across her, the prince forcibly scooped Fawn into his lap and, ignoring her flimsy struggles, pushed her head firmly on his chest.
“I’m sorry.”
The words had her forgetting about struggling, and she found herself crying even harder. “I was s-so scared.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
The harshness of his tone penetrated her shock, and Fawn fought for control, sniffing back her tears as she lifted her gaze to his. “I’m sorry, too. I know it wasn’t your fault.”
“It was.”
“It was not.”
“Will we never agree on anything?”
The prince’s tone was sardonic, but his gaze was gentle, and it was this that had her lips trembling anew. Eyes bright with tears she struggled to keep at bay, Fawn said with a bewitchingly tremulous smile, “P-probably.”
Ah.
Did she know how she looked right now? Any man would be forgiven for kissing her, and he was tempted.
And God, he was tempted.
Damn tempted.
Drawing a deep breath, the prince forced himself to lift her off his lap and place Fawn back on her seat.
They stared at each other, her gaze full of questions.
When the prince finally spoke, it was in a carefully neutral voice. “Before you ask anything, you must know that the more questions you ask of me, the more secrets you will have to keep.”
Oh. Fawn could feel her fear gradually ebbing as she stared at the prince. Her heart started to squeeze, tighter and tighter until she realized that she was hurting...for him.
And that was crazy, wasn’t it?
He was the Prince of Darkness, and he had the world on its knees, begging, craving, and crying for his attention.
So why was it that she felt he was suffering more than those women she would from time to time see sobbing about having their hearts broken? Why was it that when she listened to him talk about secrets he didn’t want to burden her with—-
Why was it that she felt he was already breaking, bit by bit, by the weight of them all—-
And she was the only one who could see it?
She heard herself say, “Tell me. Please.”
And so he did.
In a voice devoid completely of expression, the prince told her about the dungeon hidden under the house and how it could be accessed from inside and outside of the house. People held in his custody weren’t good in the conventional sense of the word, but neither had they completely gone off the deep end either.
It was, the prince said, his job to persuade them to turn over a new leaf.
Gulping, Fawn asked, “Persuade...how?” When the prince’s gaze bored through her, she could only shake her head, and her heart started squeezing again. “Why?”