Sinderella (7 page)

He wrapped his arms around me, squishing
me and possibly Gus
. “Oh God’s light. You are real. I am not mad. You were there! You existed. Oh, thank you. Thank you for being real.” He took deep breaths of my hair, gripping it tightly as well as my waist. “You scared me in the peasant’s clothing. I could never have married you, had you been a peasant.”

His words were the dagger in my chest. I started to sob harder as I pushed against his chest. “Please, let me leave. I must get as far away as I can before they come looking for me.”

He laughed, pulling me into his lap. He kissed my cheek. “You have disguised yourself as a servant girl and run away from your family’s choice in a husband. I knew you were different. I love you, Ella.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but he turned my face and kissed me forcefully. His mouth prying mine open so his tongue might explore, caressing mine and sucking.

I moaned into the kiss. He banged on the wall and the carriage door closed and we started to move. I ignored it. I had one carriage ride to enjoy him before it was all over. I had no time to worry about the choice I was making.

I placed my sack on the seat across from us and climbed onto his legs. I sat on his knees, wrapping my legs around his waist. His hands roamed my back, lifting my dress. My fingers moved, as if they were possessed, up and down his chest, undoing buttons and tugging at his clothes. His mouth trailed down my neck, licking and kissing. When my dress was on the other seat with his shirt, I pressed my bare chest against his, savoring the warmth of him. He wrapped his arms around me. His large hands ran up and down my back, massaging and gripping to my flesh.

I lifted my arms up to his neck, running my hands through his hair, pulling at it slightly. Our mouths moved as if they were taught the same dance.

I could feel the bulge in his pants. I pushed myself back, freeing him from the constricting trousers. I unlaced my knickers and stepped off of him, pulling them off. I climbed back on, taking his massive cock in my hands. It was so smooth and beautiful. I wanted nothing but to have him inside of me. I had been thinking about it for days.

When I placed the tip of it between my legs, I was stunned at how wet I had become. I positioned myself carefully, feeling him already stretching me.

He moaned into my neck as I very gently lowered myself onto him. It took several attempts to get it all the way in, but once he was there we sat frozen, gripping to each other. Our breath matched, it was hitched on the feeling of being one again.

He had filled me up and made me feel whole.

His hands dropped to my hips, moving them slowly. I lifted slightly, gyrating and rotating my hips with his guidance. He thrust as I lowered, making me cry out. He was freer than the last
time,
the booze had loosened up his body. He cupped my butt cheeks, massaging them and moving me to his liking.

There was no tension as there had been the last time. I was no longer a maiden and he was no longer afraid of ruining another man’s bride.

The carriage drove on, making it harder and easier to thrust into each other, depending on the bump.

His mouth lowered to my breasts as I leaned back, arching my back slightly. His fingers rolled one nipple while his mouth suckled at the other. I cried out into the dark air of the bumping carriage. I reached up and grabbed at the railings above me, using them to ride him faster as my body wanted.

He was setting me on fire again. I fell forward, gripping to him tightly. It was frantic the way we made love, clinging to each other like we might never meet again. His hands found themselves in my hair. I smiled. “Pull it, just at the back, at the base of my head. Pull it there,” I whispered into the air filled with our breathy moans.

He chuckled and tugged at my hair, making my breath grow more ragged.

I clung to him as the mountain of buildup hit its crescendo. My vision blurred and my nails tore into his skin when it peaked. He cried out, possibly from the nails, but I ignored it. I rode him, rubbing my chest against him and my body over his. My mouth made sounds I didn’t know it knew and my
heart’s
beat skipped. I felt myself go limp in his arms, still twitching and shuddering.

He did the same, biting down on my shoulder. His hot breath made a wet spot there as he moaned into me. “You were made for me.”

I nodded, never disputing that. “I was made for you.”

He sighed into me. “Tell me you won’t marry that duke. Promise me, you will be mine.”

I couldn’t look at him when I said it. It was a truth of sorts. I would always be only his.
His and God’s.
“I will always be yours.”

My lip almost trembled. When the carriage stopped, I passed him his shirt. He did up his pants and jumped out before they could open the door. He looked back at me, naked, and smiled. It was lazy and sexy. I wanted to suck his lip and cling to him forever. I smiled through my pain. “Give me a minute.”

He nodded. “I will go and tell my father I have found you.”

I grabbed my bag and my letter. I pulled it from the envelope and smoothed the back of it. I peeked out of the doors to the man there. “I need a quill.”

He smiled and offered me one.

My Sweet Prince,

I must tell you the truth of it all. I am an orphan. My stepmother has never allowed me to be one of her children, so I am a servant in one sense of the word. I have served at Drusilla’s house, instead of being a lady of the house, which was my birthright. I was born to a lord, a friend of your father’s in fact. Lord Angleton was my father’s name. You were at his funeral. I recall you now if I think hard enough on it. It is why you know his name.

But my parents are long dead and neither my station nor my stars will change without them. The Duke of Grey Castle wishes to marry me for my dowry and to torture me for fun. So I am running away.

I am sorry I lied to you. I am sorry I deceived you. I am sorry I have sentenced us both to heartache.

Forever yours and only yours,

Ella Angleton

The pain in my chest was unbearable. But I pulled on my dress, leaving my crystal shoe there with my note. I grabbed my sack and slipped out of the other door. No one was on that side of the carriage and the walking gates to the side gardens were right there. I took a deep breath and ran for the gates. When I was safe in the forest, I heard them. The guards were shouting for me, but I ran fast and hid behind an old log.

I pulled Gus out. He looked scared. I stroked his back and sat in the dark. We were there only moments when I heard his screams.

“ELLLAAAAAAAA!”

The prince screaming my name made me shake, but I never moved. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to live without him either, but death was a far worse fate. At least if I were a nun, I could find joy again. I didn’t need love to find that.

“ELLLLAAAAA! DON’T LEAVE ME!”

He was screaming frantically. I was about to stand when I heard another voice in the woods. “She is a servant. She is not worthy of you, Charmant. You must let her go. At least she ran away, one of you has sense enough. She is a peasant. That is all.”

“You want to see who she is, I will show you!” The prince sounded angry in a way I never imagined possible.

I stayed with my back pressed against the logs and my heart aching.

When I could no longer hear them, I stood and walked towards the river I knew led to the small convent. Everyone knew. It was where girls who had dishonored their families went. It sat upon a hill, perfectly between our kingdom and the next.

I walked for what felt like an eternity, but it was less than a full night’s walk. The sun was rising when I arrived at the massive set of stairs. The convent sat at the top of them, looking humble. I sat at the bottom of the stairs and stroked Gus’ back. He had been nibbling the bread Abbi had given me in the bag.

I leaned against the stairs and let the morning sun brush warmth upon me. If I imagined hard enough, I could feel his lips in the heat, planting soft kisses along my nape.

It was never going to be enough.

It was then I made a decision that sealed my fate forever.

I sat in the room they had given me and pondered my fate. Had I been a smart girl, I might have stayed at the convent. But clever girls didn’t sneak into balls and seduce princes. I wished then and there, I might have been able to stay at the convent.

But the idea of swearing my life to God, after already swearing it to someone else, felt fraudulent. I had already mastered fraudulent. It hadn’t worked very well.

I looked out the small window at the field below and sighed.

A man knocked at the door and spoke softly. “Miss, are you wanting food?”

“No. Thank you.” When I heard his footsteps leave, I curled up into my bed and waited for my plan for the rest of my empty life to form. After I had reached the convent and realized I could not stay, I fled for the next city, in the kingdom next to ours. I had more than enough coin, so I had gotten a room. That was as far as I had planned.

My brain refused to do anything but see his face. The prince and I had hardly spoken. We knew nothing of each other. Yet somehow, I loved him. At least, I imagined I did.

It was strange but my heart knew him, my prince.

Prince Charming, that’s what we had always called him. He wasn’t all that charming, really.
At least not with me.
He had been desperate and frantic and excited.
But not nearly as charming as I had imagined him to be.

I missed him. Lying there, watching Gus eat breadcrumbs, I missed him. My heart ached and my stomach burned.

I knew I couldn’t ever go back. There was nothing I could do. I was stuck and I always would be. Stuck in limbo, waiting to be freed from my miserable little life by death. Not that it would be a release either. Death would part us just as life had. For everyone knew royalty had a special place in heaven, and I was a fraudulent sinner, guilty of crimes I would never repent.

I could never repent.

For they were attached to my innermost truth.
I loved him.

I closed my eyes and sleep took me.

My guard mouse wasn’t very good at his job. A loud banging on my door awakened me.

“WAKE UP!”

I looked around the room, wondering if it was
me
they searched for.
Surely not.
No one knew of me.

“Open up!”

I got up and looked down on Gus. He was still passed out in his puddle of crumbs. I opened the door, peeking my face through the crack. A man with a huge grin shoved his way into my room. He scooped me up. “You’re coming with us. The king wishes to see you.”

“I’ve done nothing. I paid for my room. Please, leave me be.” I fought but he held me tightly to his chest, pinning my arms.

I swallowed
hard,
imagining the king from my kingdom had sent word of my betrayal. There must have been a price placed on my head. I gave the man a look. “I will do anything you ask if you let me go.”

He smiled wider, laughing boldly in my face. “Got us a live one, boys.”

I hadn’t noticed the other men in the hallway. My lips started to tremble but he shook his head. “As much as I can imagine what a spitfire like you would do to a man like me, I cannot. My orders are to bring you in, unscathed.”

I started to cry. “Please, sir. Please. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

He shrugged. “My hands are tied, lass. You’ve done something. Now gather your things and come gently or we’ll tie and gag you.”

I shook my head. “I will come peacefully. I just need to get my pet.”

He scoffed at my sleeping mouse. I gathered my bag and Gus and followed him out into the hallway. I laid him gently in the sack. When I was in the crowd of men, a hand slipped across my butt. It patted, harder than I would have liked. I jumped forward, they all laughed. I was dwarfed by them all, child sized compared to them. Another hand brushed the front of my dress. I struggled in the sea of groping hands. Unscathed apparently didn’t mean to them what it meant to me.

The big man, who had come into my room, gripped my arm and led me to the carriage. Everyone in the streets gave me a disapproving look. I was a common criminal to them.

I bowed my head in shame and let myself be shoved into a carriage.

I sat in there with two men. The big man watched out the window but the other man sat next to me, watching me. He reached over, thumbing across my breast. I sat, frozen and scared of the fate I faced.

He smiled, making me shudder. “Too bad the ride isn’t longer, I might get a wank in, hey Tom?”

The other man lifted his face. He nodded. “She can give us a wank.”

My stomach dropped into the pit of my belly until Tom finished his thought. “When the king says it’s all right. I’ll put a special request in for ya.”

The other man moaned into my hair. “I am gonna fuck you so hard. You a virgin?”

I pulled back, feeling my face blush. He shrugged. “I don’t like virgins.”

Tom scoffed. “Speak for yourself. I like an untouched cunny.” His eyes narrowed when he looked at me. “Though, I’d say someone has been there already on this one. She has that look about her.”

I looked down, praying the king would take pity on me when I explained my story. The man thumbed my nipple several more times. “Aye, you’re right. She ain’t
no
virgin.”

The carriage halted suddenly. Tom got out but the man grabbed my hand and placed it on his trousers where his rigid cock was. “You feel how thick that is, you’re getting it, tonight.”

I pulled back just as Tom reached into the carriage and dragged me from it. He pulled me up the long stairs and through the doors. A man, not much older than me, stood in the hall. Tom dropped to his knees, dragging me with him. “Your Grace, the girl you wished for.”

“Leave us.” His deep voice was cold.

Tom stood and walked away. He turned on his way out. “Sire, if it’s all the same to you, we would like to have her in the guard room later if she is to be put to death.”

The king laughed, snapping his fingers. A woman brought me to my feet. The king walked to me, I was surprised at the look of him. He lifted my chin with one of his thick fingers. “No. It is not all the same to me. I have plans for her.” He nodded and the room was emptied, apart from the woman holding my arm. He tilted his head. “You have a choice, obey me or entertain the guards.”

I bowed. “I will do as you say, Your Grace.”

He chuckled. “I knew you would.” He snapped his fingers again and the woman led me from the room. The hallway where we went was wide but not well lit. I could barely see where we were going.

She opened a large wooden door to a room that took my breath away. It was lit and beautiful. The bed was large and the room had huge windows. I had never actually seen a room as exquisite or spacious. It was finery to a level one would assume a king would be given. I froze and looked at the lady. “Is this the king’s room?”

Her cheeks blushed. “These are his quarters, for . . . uhm . . .”

I put a hand on her shoulder. “I understand.” I hung my head low and entered the room.

“Bathe, and ready yourself for him.”

All of the possibilities of being free, ever, had been sucked from my spirit. I didn’t have anything left inside of me. The near miss of being assaulted in the carriage had been one thing to frighten me, but this was a whole other predicament. This was a king. I gulped when I thought about my fate. Clearly he had heard of the prince’s whore who was visiting his lands.

The room stretched out to the left. There was a massive room made of marble.
In the middle was a large white washbasin
,
it was huge
. Steam lifted from the water where rose petals floated.

I slowly, dejectedly, stripped my gown from me and stepped into the piping-hot water. I lowered myself, noting how tender my sex was from the prince.

My prince.

That feeling was so far removed suddenly. Would I ever see him again?

How had the king heard of me?

Had my prince betrayed me to the king of this land? Had he told him of my carnal prowess?
Or my ease with strangers?
Of course, they were kin.

I looked up at the ceiling. “Forgive me, Father.” I had been so gullible and easily fooled by the pixie that appeared to be my mother.

God, I was so ashamed.

I should have stayed at the convent. I was a fool and I deserved every bit of the shame I felt.

I relaxed into the water more, letting it soothe the aches and pains of my long journey. The water smelled lovely. It was the only soothing part of the whole experience.

I lowered until my head was in the water. I laid there for a while, holding my breath and peering at the ceiling above me. Suddenly there was a figure, a dark figure. I lifted, covering my exposed breasts to see the handsome king staring down on me. There was obvious lust in his eyes as he glanced over my entire body.

He smiled like he marveled about something, and then took a seat on the bench across the room. “I have heard many rumors about you. One of which was that you are responsible for the decline of my cousin, Prince Charmant.”

My brow knit. “I am, Your Highness.”

He nodded. “You are apparently quite the magical girl.”

I shook my head.

He chuckled, stroking his
leather riding
boot. “Hmmmm. The accounts I have so far are so confusing. Perhaps you will clear them up for me?”

I nodded.

“Excellent. Are you a whore?”

I shook my head.

“A servant?”

I furrowed my brow. “Might I be permitted to explain that one?”

He folded his thick arms. “I beseech you, explain away.”

I cleared my throat. “I was born Lady Ellsinore Angleton. My parents always called me Ella. My mother died when I was but a small girl. I recall her but I was young. My father remarried a woman with two children. She was a widow, apparently. My father, the lord, died when I was ten.” Slow tears started to stream down my face. “Drusilla, my stepmother, hated me. She calls me Cinder Ella, because I sleep in the ash of the hearth—most times I have no blankets. She forced me to become a servant in my own home. So yes, I am a servant but I am lady born.”

He smiled. “I knew your father. He was a remarkable man. My uncle, the king of your lands, was dearly fond of him. As was my own father.”

I nodded. “The king gave him a royal funeral.”

“I know. I was there. I recall you. I was fourteen at the time. You sobbed silently, I could see the fireworks from the flames in the reflection of your tears.” He got up and walked to the tub, kneeling beside it and wiping my tears from my cheeks. “How did you end up here?”

“Your men dragged me here, touching me inappropriately.”

His eyes narrowed. “What? I meant the kingdom, but the touching will be dealt with, milady. They had strict instructions, though I can see why they would have been tempted.” He ran his hands over my cheeks. “No, why are you in my kingdom?”

“Drusilla knew I had a dowry, a large one, that she had no access to. So she made an agreement with her brother, the Duke of Grey Castle. He is very old and not married. He agreed to marry me and give her a portion of the riches. But he forced abuses upon me, no lady should suffer.”

“Did he touch you before your marriage?”

I nodded. He looked distant, like he was contemplating my bizarre story.

“So I came here.”

A slow smile crossed his lips, lighting his bright-blue eyes on fire. I could see the mischief in them. “You are missing a very key part of that tale.”

I looked down, ashamed of this part of the story. “Before I escaped, I went to a ball and met the prince. We . . . instantly . . . seemed to share something. There was a look . . .” My cheeks lit on fire as I recalled the night. “When I got the chance, I fled, not before running into the prince. Again, there was something between him . . . and myself.” My words had turned to a whisper as I smiled softly and remembered the carriage. “His father made it perfectly clear I was a slave and not a wife. I ran for a convent, but I knew I couldn’t be true to my vows there. My heart would never belong to God.”

“I don’t care about hearts, Ella.” He tilted my chin again. “I want you to be mine. I have no wife and no children. Because you are not from here, I cannot marry you. We have a rule the queen must be chosen from our lands. But I wish for you to be my mistress—mistress to the king. I have no other. One day I will be forced to marry, but that day is a long ways off. Until then, I wish to share my life here with you.”

“You don’t even know me.”

He smiled. “I see what I need to know.”

I sat there, stunned. I didn’t have a response. My body and heart belonged to his very own cousin, yet he didn’t care. He saw something someone else wanted and decided to take it. I asked quietly, “Do I have an option?”

His smile deepened. “Do you feel as though you have a choice?”

I swallowed hard and shook my head.

“Clean and ready yourself. I am off to deal with the men of the guard for touching what is mine.” He sounded frightening when he said it.