Page 122
Story: Princes of Chaos
“Wait, you get time off on your period?” Her eyebrows shoot up her forehead. “God, my men love a bloodbath. I think it makes them hornier.”
She balls up the paper towels and I grab some more, wetting them and handing them to her. “It’s in the covenants. Trust me, they’re not happy about it. Especially Wicker.”
She snorts. “I bet. The fuckboys always take it the worst.” Her eyes land on my stomach. “Shit. I guess that means you’re not pregnant.”
“Unfortunately, no.” I gesture to the paper towels. “You need another one?”
“Just to dry off.” I pull them out and give her a couple. “You sound disappointed you’re not pregnant already.”
Sighing, I fold my arms, glad to have someone else to talk to. Family dinner isn’t for two more days. “It means I have another month of scheduled sex, at least. It’s just so exhausting. Andfrustrating. These last few days have been the first restful nights I’ve had yet.”
She dries off and smooths her skirt down. “Lack of sleep definitely makes everything worse. Killian Payne hasn’t given me a solid night’s rest in over a year. Now I’m ready for it, like I take naps and stuff, but at the beginning…” She looks at me a bit too closely, and I wonder if she’s seeing how worn down I am. How I’m losing control. “Verity, I know it’s not easy. Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
I weigh my words. I’ve signed a contract that forbids me to talk about what happens in the Palace. I’m also not allowed to speak to any other frats, especially women. But I’m struggling. Mentally and physically and if something doesn’t give, I’m not sure I’ll survive the next month.
“When I agreed to this, the thought of not getting pregnant was a pretty bright prospect. Now that I’m in the house, acting as Princess…” I bite my lip, wondering if I’m going to sound crazy. “This place–or maybe the Royalty, I don’t know–it all has this way of blinding you, doesn’t it? Like even though the last thing I want to do is bring another life into this fucked up world, day-to-day, it’s all I can think about. I can’t tell if I want it or if I just need to want it, in order to get by.”
She watches me with a pensive frown. “Get by? Are they that bad?”
“Yes,” I answer, unequivocally.
Her head tilts curiously. “I thought Princes were… you know. Sweet.”
Propping a hand on my hip, I reply, “Yeah, well, arsenic can be sweet if you put it into a milkshake.”
Her eyes darken, and she steps forward, pinning me with a serious look. “If we need to pull you out of there, we can. You’re not pregnant yet. They might come for you, but not for long.”
I stop her before she begins scheming. “I don’t want to quit, Story.” Looking her in the eye, I raise my chin. “I want to win.”
After a moment of assessing me, she snorts. “Wow, you really are West End, aren’t you?”
“I saw you out there,” I finally say, embarrassed to admit it. “With your Lord.”
She grimaces. “Shit. Sorry. Tris… he’s super into the public stuff. It makes it worse when his father pays for all the buildings and he thinks he owns them. I figured no one would be in the heirloom seed corner of the horticulture section.”
Wringing my hands, I begin, “I didn’t mean to—I was looking for a book and, well, you were just there, and…”
“And what?” she asks, facing the mirror and running her fingers through her hair.
“Is it always like that for you?” I swallow, feeling my cheeks burn. “Like… do they always get you off?”
“Like it’s their job.” Her forehead creases. “Your Princes don’t?”
I slide my eyes to the door. “Not really.”
She looks stumped. “Why the hell not?”
“There’s nothing in the covenants about my pleasure,” I explain, eyes rolling. “And if it’s not in the covenants…”
“Do you want them to,” she asks. “Get you off?”
Leveling her with a look, I repeat, “Day-to-day, Lady. You told him you love him. How? How do you love a man who did that to you?” I nod at her chest.
She follows my gaze, a shadow falling over her features. “I don’t love them because of this, and I don’t love them in spite of it, either.” Her fingertips brush over the scar between her breasts. K. One of her Lords’ initials. “I love them because this changed us. All of us. It’s really complicated.”
“I’m not judging, I just–” I rub my forehead, trying to find the words. “They hurt you, and they put that leash on you.” I point to her wrist cuff. “How do you get past that? How do you get to the point where you’re fucking in a library and he’s giving you amazing orgasms?”
Her head snaps back in surprise. “Is that what you want? For your Princes to love you?”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213