by V Vee
Augustus looked back over at Helen and at the sight of her coke-bottle frame, lovingly wrapped in a lavender sheath dress, his heart thundered wildly. She was the only woman he’d known in his entire life that had caused such a reaction in him. He wasn’t sure what it was about her. If it was her beauty, her independence, her intelligence, or her innocence, but there was something about her that drew him in every time. He was hooked. Sprung.
Addicted.
Shaking himself free of his lustful stupor, Augustus nodded. “Right.”
Algerone sighed, a look of disappointment passing over his face. “Then… stay away. I may not be as close to Helen as I am to you, but she matters to Val, so she matters to me.”
With that, and another pat to his shoulder, Algerone walked away, leaving Augustus to think over their exchange.
He knew what he’d told Algerone, but he didn’t really mean it. Being with Helen would not be a mistake, and the idea of marriage, kids, the whole happily-ever-after thing didn’t sound so bad as long as it was with her.
The reality of that truth had Augustus draining his own glass before he strode quickly out of the room.
Helen watched Augustus walk out of the sitting room and felt disappointment knife through her middle. She knew what she’d said to him, even what she’d said to her friends about her feelings—or non-feelings—for him, but they’d all been a lie. She thought about him all the time. She wanted him. Desperately wanted to feel him kiss her and wrap her in his strong arms.
She ached for him.
“I know that look,” Laeticia said with a laugh. “Girl, if you want that man, go get him.”
Helen looked back over at her friends to find them both watching her with twin looks of curiosity and amusement. She shook her head, then accepted a fresh glass of champagne from a passing server. These royals love to drink, she thought, not unkindly.
Shaking her head, Helen then took a sip. “No can do. Even if I wanted to, that’s something that will never be able to happen.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re saving it for marriage?” Her friends asked simultaneously.
Helen sighed and glanced around the room. There were too many people around them, too many inquisitive ears who could overhear her secrets.
“No. That’s not the only reason,” she told them.
Valerie lowered her brows into a frown before nodding. She gripped Helen’s wrist in a gentle hold then tugged her behind her.
“Okay, you can’t talk to us here. Let’s go somewhere you can,” she stated.
Helen followed behind the older woman dutifully, Laeticia bringing up the rear. Helen’s eyes took in the opulent surroundings of the palace as they walked down the tiled hallway. The oil paintings on the wall of past and present royals, the expensive statues and artwork that should have made their passage to their destination congested, but instead provided them with appealing visuals. The sound of a male voice, deep, sounding frustrated and in pain came from behind one of the closed doors.
“Tiri, please understand. I am doing all I can… I know you don’t, but…” As if the person speaking realized he could be overheard, he began speaking in a language Helen had never heard of before. “Praera nul'd raiya if ul na. I fsunaira I en nuailr err I sel du caaf irrui rella. I wairr fa dhasa er ruul er furraifra du raa irrui eln uis neirhdas. Tu neca irrui fsarleld waidh nirr rul. Tu deca irrui ail nirr esnr eln cairr irrui ferraiuledarirr. Tu llisc irrui ru hesn irrui llusrad wa heya ayas faal efesd. Bid, I laan daina. Taina du rad sain ull dha nelras irruis saeffaeselsa ail Taffsirrrai wuirn seira. I heya lud efelnulan irrui. I layas wuirn. I ruya irrui. I erweirrr heya. I erweirrr wairr. Yui esa naila eln dhed wairr layas shelra. Du irrui ilnasrdeln?”
Helen glanced over at Valerie who’d paused them outside the door to listen.
“Who is that and what is he saying?” she asked.
Valerie shrugged. “It’s Andreas,” she said. “I don’t know what he’s saying or even what language he’s speaking. I would love to know who he’s talking to though.”
Helen nodded, then squeaked when the door to the office jerked open and Andreas, Augustus’s younger brother stood in the doorway, his face a hard, implacable mask. His dark eyes trailed over the three of them and Helen shivered at the darkness, the hardness, the danger she saw resting in his gaze. He nodded at them, then turned and marched off down the hall without a word or a backward glance.
“Holy. Fuck.” Laeticia breathed. “He don’t say much, but he doesn’t have to. I don’t know if I’m scared or turned on by that look he just gave us!” She shivered playfully and Helen snorted.
Valerie shook her head. “Of all my brothers-in-law, Andreas is the one I steer clear of. Even with Chikere being so… drawn to him.” She looked at them seriously. “I advise you to do the same. I don’t know what’s up with him, but Andreas is dangerous.”
Laeticia held up her hands. “Girl, you ain’t gotta tell me twice.”
Helen nodded her agreement.
Valerie sighed and inclined her head. “Good now, let’s go talk. I want to know what’s going on with you,” she said, pointing directly at Helen.
Helen sighed and followed Valerie into the now empty office. It was now or never. Time to tell her girls what was going on and reveal everything she’d been keeping hidden as a result of her parents’ secrets and lies.
Here goes nothing.
Helen stared down at the sheet of paper she’d discovered in her father’s office while looking for the man’s file filled with her childhood home’s property tax information. She shook her head at the information neatly typed on it. What she was looking at couldn’t be real. Could it?
“Len? Where are you gal? It doesn’t take a person that long to find one little sheet of…” her father’s voice trailed off when he stepped into his office and saw what she was looking at. “Helen, I can explain…”
Helen lifted eyes burning and flooded with tears to the man she’d always considered her father and shook her head.
“Daddy? What is this?” she asked, lifting the legal document in the air. She glanced back at it, to be sure it still said what she’d just read. “Adoption papers? For me?” She shook her head. “Daddy?” she inquired when he remained silent. The guilt stamped on his face was all the confirmation. She sank down into the large, dark-brown, leather office chair with a soft cry.
“I’m a-adopted? And…” she stared at the paper again. “From some country called Tepprysi?” she shook her head. “And…” she pointed at the paper with her other hand. “I was born with HIV?Daddy? What the hell?”
At that her father snapped out of his stupor and pointed an angry finger at her. “You watch your language, young lady!”
Helen shook her head. “No, Daddy! Or… Mr. Warren, since you’re not my real father! I want to know what is going on. And I want to know now!”
The silence in the room had Helen looking up from her hands that were clasped tightly in her lap.
“Whoa. Holy hell, Helen,” Laeticia breathed. “How long have you known?”
Helen shook her head. “Six months or so.”
Valerie came over to sit next to her, taking one of Helen’s hands with her own, as Laeticia sat on the other side, holding onto her other. “Why didn’t you tell us when you first found out?”
Helen sighed and rose quickly from the sofa. She paced across the floor, twisting the strands of her dark hair in her fingers. Finally she stopped with her back to the other two women. She spun around and shrugged.
“Would it have made a difference?” She shook her head and pointed at Valerie. “You had your own… stuff to deal with. And you,” she gestured at Laeticia. “I’m not sure what’s going on with you, but you’re dealing with something that you’re not sharing with us. Why would I burden the both of you with this? There’s nothing to be done about it. It happened. It’s over!”
Valerie shook her head then rose to walk over to Helen, she cupped the younger woman’s cheeks in h
er hands. “It would have made a difference, Helen. You’ve been dealing with this all on your own. And why? There was no need for it. We could have been there to offer comfort, support… something.”
“Fuck right we could have,” Laeticia said firmly as she stood and strode over to them. “We’re your girls. Your sisters. You know we hold each other down.” She placed her head on Helen’s shoulder. “You’re always comforting us, lifting us up, all the time. Even when we don’t ask for it, or don’t think we need it. Let us do the same for you.”
Helen nodded and the three women stood in the middle of the office, holding onto each other, silent, drawing comfort from each other for long moments.
Just as queens did.
Chapter Ten
Augustus was waiting for Helen to make an appearance. He’d been waiting all day to see her face, and yet she’d evaded his pursuit. If he didn’t know better, Augustus would have sworn that everyone around him was attempting to keep the two of them apart.
But he would not be deterred.
Something was going on with Helen, Augustus could tell. After she’d gone off with Valerie and Laeticia to talk, the three women had returned, and Augustus could tell that three of them had been crying. So could Algerone and Alfie. The both of them rushed over to their respective “women” to comfort them, while Augustus had stood frozen in the center of the room, his eyes trained on Helen. Desperately wishing he could go over and take her in his arms. Offer her support. Comfort. Whatever she needed. Instead, he felt as if he were merely standing with his dick in his hand like some helpless idiot.
But after a few days of being avoided and misguided by his family, Augustus had decided to take matters in his own hands. He was going to find Helen, talk to her, find out what the fuck was going on, then claim her for his own.
Augustus was jerked out of his inner musings by the sound of a door opening down the hallway. Peering around the corner of wall he’d been resting against, Augustus grinned at the sight of Helen—dressed in a pair of black, spandex, workout capris clinging to her round ass, a black tank top barely covering her full, heavy breasts, her hair pulled up into a ponytail at the top of her head, and an iPod© in her hands. Fuck. She was beautiful.
He waited until she was about to pass him on her way to the elevator that would take her down to the gym he and his brothers used, before reaching out to grasp her wrist. He tugged her to him, his hand coming up to cover her mouth which was open and poised to let out a scream. He stared down into her wide eyes, the slowly dawning awareness of who had essentially “snatched” her, slowly coming to her. After she stopped struggling, August lowered his hand from her mouth, though he still slid his arm around her waist, tugging her into his body.
Helen was stiff for a moment, before she—no doubt unintentionally—sank into his embrace. Augustus felt his chest swell with happiness and pride, and not a little bit of relief, when he felt her relax into his hold. He wrapped his arms more fully around her and inhaled her scent. She smelled like coconut and honey, two of his favorite things. He was content to simply have her in his arms for a long time before he would ask her to join him for a meal, or a walk, or… something.
Dammit, Gus, you were supposed to know where you wanted to take her before you opened your big, fat mouth to ask her, he chastised himself. His self-flagellation not complete until he’d spent a good thirty seconds cursing his own stupidity. However, his mental whipping came to a halt when he heard the tiny sniffle coming from Helen. He looked down and noticed the silent tears tracking down her face. Alarm raced through him and he lifted her chin up, insistent when she tried to prevent him from doing so.
When her eyes collided with his, Augustus felt fear and panic slam into his chest at the sight of despair, anguish, loneliness, and fright in her gaze.
What. The. Fuck is going on?
“Helen? Can you tell me what’s wrong, miora ruĝa?” he asked her.
Helen’s gorgeous face scrunched up in confusion at his use of the Malvidencian term of endearment. He wouldn’t explain what it meant. Not just yet. They weren’t there yet. She wasn’t ready to hear that from him, hell, he wasn’t ready to tell it. Instead, he distracted her by caressing her cheeks with his thumbs, wiping away her tears.
“You can trust me,” he told her. He smiled softly when Helen snorted and moved to step away.
“I don’t even know you, Augustus, and yet you want me to believe I can trust you?” She shook her head. Augustus watched as she lifted a hand and wiped furiously at the tears that continued to fall down her gorgeous brown cheeks. Augustus felt his heart clench with pain and disappointment, not only because of her words, but because of the obvious emotional turmoil she seemed to be in.
He stepped forward. “Please, trust me, Helen. What do you need me to do to prove to you that I am trustworthy?” He stepped closer to her, advancing until her back pressed against the opposite wall. “Do you want me to get on my knees and beg?” He looked her up and down, his mind filling with licentious thoughts of being on his knees in front of her, directly in front of her mound. Snap out of it, Gus, he reprimanded himself, she’s hurting. This is not the time to be having dirty thoughts about her. Of course, that was easier said than done, since simply looking at, smelling, or even thinking about Helen was enough to harden his cock and send his mind straight into the gutter.
Helen shook her head, so he continued to press, even as he lifted his hands to place them on the wall on either side of her head. Augustus didn’t touch her anywhere else, though he was desperate to. Instead, he simply provided her with what he hoped she saw was a safe haven. A cocoon.
“Let me be your rock. Unbreakable. Unmoving. Strong,” he whispered as he lowered his head and pressed his forehead against hers.
His heart felt as if it were breaking when Helen released a choked sob and clung to the front of his shirt. Lowering one hand, he cupped her cheek in his large palm. Swiping his thumb across her skin, he wiped away the tears that streaked down her face.
“Y-you won’t feel the same about m-me,” Helen said softly.
Augustus shook his head. “Impossible.” When she looked up at him with disbelief in her gaze, he gave her a soft smile. “You still don’t get it do you?” He sighed and nudged her nose with the tip of his. “You belong to me, just as I belong to you. No matter how long we’ve known each other. No matter our past. You are mine and I am yours.”
“H-how can you still feel that way? You barely know me, and you don’t know my secret.” She looked away and released a shuddering breath, full of unexpressed emotion. “Once you know, you’ll turn away from me. Be disgusted with me.”
Augustus pulled away slightly and stared down at Helen with confusion colliding with exasperation and anger in his blood. He wasn’t sure what was going on with Helen, what secret she had, or who she’d shared it with, but whomever it was, he wanted to have a personal conversation with them. No one was allowed to make her feel the way she did. No one had the right to tell her or treat her as anything less than the beautiful, sweet princess she was.
“What makes you think that, Helen?” he asked, gritting his teeth against the rage roiling through him.
He was startled by the shove Helen gave him, though it wasn’t enough to move him from his position in front of her.
“Because it’s how I feel about myself!” she practically yelled, her light brown eyes filled with disgust and sadness. There was a desperation when she shoved him again, and yet, instead of allowing her to run from him, Augustus dropped his hands to her hips and tugged her close to him. He pressed one hand to the back of her head, the other against the small of her back. The first silent sob, the one that made her shoulders jerk, and tears to soak his dark-blue t-shirt caused his heart to clench. The second sob wasn’t silent, it was harsh, and it ripped his heart in two. The third shattered the broken pieces, and the fourth tore the ashes from his body.
Before he was even aware of it, Augustus felt his own tears join Helen’s.
/> Whatever was going on, whatever had happened, he would do everything in his power to solve it.
Chapter Eleven
He watched them from the secret room, pleasure at the pain that they suffered slithering its way through his veins, like a snake. Without conscious thought, he licked his lips as he imagined shoving one long sword through the both of them. He pressed a hand against his thick erection when the image of their blood covering his hands filled his mind.
He couldn’t wait.
It was only a matter of time before the couple were torn apart, not only by secrets he’d planted and lies he’d influenced, but by the seeds planted so long ago.
Princess Aa’Leyah would be showing up any moment, and when she did, he could not only amplify the attacks, but move up the timeline.
Before he killed her too.
Look, Kutíbābā, he thought to himself, I’m fulfilling your legacy. Not too long now and we will finally be where we belong.
Home.
Chapter Twelve
Helen stood outside of Augustus’s suite, her palms sweaty, her heart pounding, her stomach tied up in knots. She looked up and down the hallway, checking for any curious eyes or stares. Realizing she was alone, she took a deep breath then lifted her hand to knock on the gorgeous man’s door.
She knew that if Laeticia or Valerie saw her right then they would be surprised. Helen had been adamant about saving her virginity for her husband. She’d been a virgin for so long that for a while she’d been certain she was asexual, no sexual attraction to anyone. Then he had appeared.
Augustus Smythe.
And suddenly it was as if she were having to change her panties once or twice a day due to how soaked they got whenever he was near. Sometimes when all she’d done was think about him. She’d been certain he would turn away from her after she’d spent over an hour sobbing against him three days earlier, however, if anything, he’d been even more attentive. Oftentimes sneaking her away so that they could take a drive, walk the gardens, go to the art museum, or even simply to have a meal together.