~Ian~
How exactly did I end up in this situation? I thought I was a cold, heartless bastard. If every story had two sides, I considered myself to be a jerk in both of them.
Since when did I become her savior?
Warm tears streaked down her face, her eyes urging me to not push her away. Those eyes evoke so many feelings inside me. Pushing her away was the last thing on my mind when she ran into my arms.
What is it about her?
The very sight of Damian laying his hands on her made me crazed. I can't allow myself to look so smitten and possessive right now, but I couldn't imagine letting her down or allowing anyone to touch her. When was the last time I was this possessive about someone? Never.
Damian gave me one of his intimidating stares, and I gave one back to him with equal fervor.
"She's mine," I said, afraid of losing her.
What the hell was I doing? All I wanted to do when I first saw her was to feel myself inside he
~Nadia~I woke up to such blissful silence, with just his soft breathing against the crook of my neck. When did we switch positions? His hands were tangled in my hair and his nose nuzzled my neck when I tried to move.The minute I saw his face, my heart quickened, and I stopped breathing. His sleeping face had such innocence written all over it, so carefree. I kept staring at him. If only I could stop the time now and here.My cheeks flushed hard when I saw his hot, half-naked body as it grazed against my boobs. Little by little, I remembered all the details from last night. It felt like a dream, but even in my dreams, I never imagined him to be so sweet. I loved all those butterfly kisses and hair ruffles I got from him when he thought I was asleep.He was the fantasy of my wet dreams, the reason for my dirty and lusty thoughts all this while. And now, I was really in bed with him!Under his blanket!With his arms around me!!I wante
I didn't like her question at all. Had Bella accompanied Ian yesterday, would they have made love? I did not want to think about it. I was the one who spent the night in his bed, not her. I wanted to be in denial as long as I could."I admire your guts. Are you certain that Ian is going to marry you?"She was doing a poor job of trying to hide her jealousy. It definitely wasn'tjust the displeasure about Bella sleeping with a potential suitor before getting married to him.Well, as a courtesan, I was licensed to sleep with him. But I didn't want to tell her who I was, not yet. She may not answer my questions if I did."And you are?" I asked."I am Madelyn, Lily's sister."Lilianne was Prince Damian's dead wife, or rather, murdered wife."And you, my baby girl. What's your name?"The little one glared at me and crossed her arms. "I am not your baby girl."Ah! So this was Ian's niece, who was allowed to bang on
By the end of this week, she said. But this week only had three days left. She can disown me if she wants. There's no way that I was going to ask him something like that. All I needed right now was a lot of distance from him.It would be wonderful if she disowned me; then I could go live with my grandparents. Grandma will probably find me a wealthy toothless guy who will die before climaxing, and I will inherit a huge country mansion with plenty of space for growing vegetables.As always, Ian didn't return home that night. He never did whenever he went to the Ring because I never had to serve him breakfast the next day. I used to envy the lucky girl who got to spend the night with him. Back then, I was just a secret admirer who had nothing to do with wanting all of him in reality. Dreams and fantasies come true at an enormous price.The only thing I know for certain is that I don't want a man who claims me as his, but I can't do the same back to him.
"Nadia, where are you going?" Lydia whispered in a low voice."To see grandma," I lied."Since when did you wear pearl necklaces to grandma's?""Since today, of course.""Hmm...""Can I borrow your beaded purse, please? It will go perfectly with my pearls and dress.""No. Tell me where you are going first.""On a date. I will be back in a few hours.""REALLY? Nadia!""Shh... This is why I can't share anything with you." I frowned at her and then frowned some more when my eyeliner smudged."Tell me more. Do I know him?""No. And I can't tell you his name. He's really nice, and I don't want him to get in trouble because of me.""He's already in trouble if he agreed to take you out.""Stop scaring me. If our mother looks for me, tell her I slipped in the bathroom and needed to see the doctor immediately.""Sure, she is going to believe it instantly," she smirked.I waited for Noah n
His grey eyes were dark with desire."Come for me, my baby." His voice was gruff with hunger, and it made my body tense with excitement.He moved his deft fingers under my blouse, stroking my nipples. His scorching lips lowered from my mouth, trailing kisses down my bare neck before landing on my breasts. His warm tongue twirled fervently over my swollen peaks, hungrily licking them.I loved to look at him on top of me, so hot and handsome, relentlessly combusting me in a lusty desire.I arched my back shamelessly, moaning and pushing his face against my hard breasts. A familiar knot started building up in my lower abdomen.His aroused member chafed against my pussy, repeatedly rubbing over my sensitive spot."Ian..." I moaned.An orgasm was just around the corner."Not so fast!" His words were almost a command.He deprived my spasming slit of the pleasure of rubbing against his bulge. I wanted to protest, bu
The weather outside turned from perfectly beautiful to stormy and disgusting in a matter of minutes. It was just like my miserable day.Lydia, on the other hand, was in high spirits. Why wouldn't she? It was her last day as an actively serving courtesan. She was twenty-two and considered old by their standards to carry on. Much to my mother and aunt's surprise, she didn't try to hide her delight."Oh, by the way, did you know that one of the field officers is secretly seeing one of us?"The bottle of lotion slipped out of Lydia's hand and fell on the floor."Who? I mean... w-what?"Wow! That reaction was quite unexpected."I can't tell you his name. He said he was willing to wait until she turned useless here.""Did he say useless?""Hmm... No, he didn't. Princess Ivy wants to sleep with him though.""Oh, that b--" She laughed nervously, "I meant to say, surprising, that's surprising. Isn't it?""He misses t
I caught a whiff of delicate wild rose scent the minute I entered my bedroom. There was still time to get ready for the stupid party, but it looked like Lydia was dressed up already, and she sprayed a little too much perfume all over for sure.Where was she though? Making sure that she wasn't nearby, I carefully hid the cyanide bottle until I figured out a way to use it.I showered to get all the mud off of me and went downstairs to the kitchen to help with dinner preparations. I was shaky all along, ever since I touched the poison vial. How was I going to make the intended person drink it without harming anyone else?I had lesser and lesser faith in this idea by the minute."Nadia! You tossed all the leaves and saved the stalks? Get out of here if you can't focus," Marley scowled."What?" I looked into the bag meant for composting.I want to leave but can't. I want money to pay back those twenty-one quids, and I also have to return the rest
Mistress? Everyone was talking at once, and my mother laid a thick bunch of papers on the dresser for me. Wait, what?"MISTRESS?!" I finally realized what happened.So that was when I tried to poison Ian; when he went to tell his brother to buzz off. I needed to see Ian right away. I would have lost him forever today because of my foolishness.Even after tossing the apples away with no harm done, I still couldn't feel better about how disastrous things could have turned. Nothing mattered, as long as Ian was safe."Will you all come back later? Please?"I needed to look better for Ian. My makeup wasn't up to the mark, and I should probably do my hair differently too."Oh, this is not the time for alone time and pondering. Here, I have read these documents already, and Ian has signed them. You sign them now too so that these lovely ladies can pack your stuff and move you to your own private chamber."I looked toward the door
Nine months later (Mountbatten, September 30, 1836) ~Nadia~ "Sorry, I can't help being rough with you today," he said, gripping my hips tighter. "Me neither!" I bit into the skin near his collarbone and sucked on the side of his neck. We were dying to be alone and as loud as we wanted for almost a week now. He pushed me up against the wall, capturing my lips in a passionate kiss and moving his hands under my blouse. A sharp, angry cry resonated throughout the entire home. "Oh, that little brat!!" Ian made a sulky face as he went to check on Leo, and I followed him laughing. Leo stopped crying as soon as I rubbed his chin with my finger. Just like Ian, he wanted me to brush his hair with my fingers. Ian admired his sleeping little daughter. Oh yes, we had twins, Mabel and Leo. "Look at my angel, sleeping so peacefully, allowing us some quality time. Such a sweet darling." He moved the tiny r
~Nadia~"Do you have any idea the kind of hell you put Seb through?"What was she talking about? She had a wedding ring on and a baby bump, probably in her second trimester."You can write such articulate letters to strangers with pen names but don't have the guts to confront the father of your child? So what if he rejects you? At least you would have tried. You deprived him of seeing the baby grow inside you and the satisfaction of being there for you. You made all decisions for the three of you.""I saw him with you at the ball. You were all over him as always." I couldn't remove the bitterness out of my voice."I love him, and there was no sign of you anywhere for months. You can't expect me to be a saint and sacrifice him for you. You should have confronted him, fought with him, and claimed him back if you really wanted him that bad. You ran like a little kid, making him dig into the entire Prussian spy network and operations."I w
~Ian~I reached Ivaris Central in no time, and the first thing I noticed was a large group of people surrounding something and a lot of commotion. I pushed my way through to find that Andrew was beaten to a pulp and my men were in a heated argument with a handful of commoners."What's going on here?" I helped Andrew off the floor and asked him."That woman in the barracks, she's Noah's accomplice.""Which woman?""She's pregnant now. She ran after him while we were chasing him. I tried to stop her, but she concocted some cock and bull story and got me beaten.""Where is she now? Did you hurt her?""She ran after him, that way." He pointed to the tracks."I saw her get into the train that left just twenty minutes back." Another one of my men told me.I went to the ticket counter to ask which train she might have taken. Only two trains left in the last thirty minutes, one going to Arcadia and the other to Krems
~Nadia~I needed to go as far away from Ian as possible. I feel disgusted by him to the core. Once a playboy, always a playboy. Such a fool I was to wait for him, hoping he would come one day.Where was the map that grandpa uses? I needed to get out of Ivaris and go somewhere up north. I changed into more comfortable clothes and packed some food and clothes as quickly as possible.Poor Andreas, I wrote an apology note for him as well and another note for grandparents and Giselle. I left part of my earnings along with the letter, hoping that Andreas continues to send them my allowance, at least for Giselle's sake.I ripped the letter meant for Ian into a thousand pieces and left home. The train station was in Ivaris Central, which was only a mile away by the shortcut grandpa showed me. There was a long line of people at the ticket station because of the rush hour.As I stood in the line and marveled at the granite facades lit with giant lanter
~Ian~"Seb, did you like it?"I forgot what Caty wanted me to try. She put her hand on my back."It's good," I lied."I knew it!"Every time she laid even a finger on me, I could hear Nadia yelling at me. I can't forget that night she got drunk and ran onto the street because I hurt her. Even though she left me, I still felt loyal to her.I gently slid Caty's hand off of me, but she wrapped her other arm around me."Won't you dance with me?" She whispered in my ear."Maybe after we eat dinner. I'm not in the mood right now."I turned around to eat one more of what Nadia loved. I would give everything I had to get that night back when she was in my room, talking about baking and why she loved plum jam turnovers so much.Those large brown eyes staring into mine every time she lifted her head up after burying her face into my chest. Knowing enough about her now, I know why she did that back then. She was feelin
~Nadia~Putting Giselle to sleep was a daunting task today. Her snuffles didn't stop long after she closed her eyes. I pushed all thoughts of Noah away until she was off to bed, but now that I was the only one awake in the house, I went into Noah's room and burned those two letters addressed to Johann Barnekow.Was that really Noah under the streetlight today? Did he escape from the prison and come to see Giselle? Why would he not come home unless he was a fugitive on the run?I don't want to side with a spy, no matter how good he is to me. Do I want to deprive Giselle of her papa though? Certainly not. I have to do my part so he's able to come back to Giselle one day, sooner than later.I guess he would have talked to me and his daughter today if Andreas wasn't with us. He was always there when I was low. Why couldn't he be the simple, honest man I thought he was?What if Ian never came for me because of Noah? If he was in the prison as some Barne
~Nadia~"Oh, wow! What kind of sorcery is this?" I was staring at the model of an automobile with my mouth wide open. Andreas told me it was an electric carriage made by someone from Scotland.Giselle wanted to sit inside the model because it looked like a perfect toy on wheels.Ivaris was holding a three-day fair as part of the first harvest festival of the year. Arcadia fairs never had all these engineered models on display. Here, people could watch science in progress, touch prototypes of future inventions, and even volunteer to take part in some of these ventures where developers were conducting surveys and handing us forms to fill."Do you like it?" Andreas asked Giselle as if he was gifting her one. He was really excited about these model designs and talked about random facts nonstop."Inventors are trying to make one powered by an internal combustion engine. So we can go to the beaches in Colchis, take a trip to the Macaby caves and sp
~Ian~After visiting Ivaris for a second time, I met their Crown Prince and went hunting with him. Ivaris was one of the best hunting places I have known with lots of freshwater, feeding spots, and some kind of game breeding throughout the year. The last time I was with Andreas was in February when I couldn't stop thinking about Nadia. It was the first time I thought about someone who was not Caty.On one such day eight years ago, Andreas and I met Caty when we were up north in his kingdom, hunting for some Alpine Ibex. Visiting Ivaris always brought back memories of her, and the good times we spent together. Just a few kisses from Nadia made me forget Caty, who was on my mind for many years. I wanted to stay mad at Nadia for pushing me away for some nonexistent future husband. I left without telling her because it really hurt my ego. Little did I know it was Noah she wanted to save herself for. Months later, I still can't stop thinking about
~Nadia~ As I entered the second trimester of my pregnancy, mood swings became extreme and so did my food cravings. I hardly ate two meals a day ever since I left the palace. Until recently, despite trying my best to take care of myself, my appetite refused to return to how it used to be. But now, I had the opposite problem. I felt hungry all the time. After eating an early dinner, I got hungry within an hour and wanted more. Snacking on cheese and crackers had become a routine habit at midnight. Noah's grandparents were at times afraid to talk to me because of how badly I snapped at them. Only Giselle could handle my tantrums, despite being so little. The coffee shop was overly busy because the Prince sent everyone this way. It exhausted me to death by the end of the day, but the pay before leaving kept increasing day by day, and it was the end of the second week already. Today was a good day for a change because I got done early with work and