Page 81 of Bred

Tenderly he dragged the wet fabric over my bruised and swollen flesh to clean away the sweat of lust and pleasure we had just shared.

I quivered and moaned as he washed my most intimate parts, and shuddered with pleasure as he traced his finger gently along my swollen folds.

“We cannot waste a single drop,” he murmured as he pushed his fingers inside me to trap his cum there. “When your belly is round with my child, I can think back fondly on how it was conceived, with sweat and willing desire instead of duty.”

Would that mean more to him? Did I mean more to him? I was afraid to ask.

He stared down at my body and traced his hand over my breasts and belly before he tugged on the jeweled chain around my hips. “I can scarcely believe that I can have you anytime I want you.”

“Anytime, Majesty,” I breathed.

CHAPTER SIX

Iwouldbelyingif I said I wasn’t enjoying my trysts with the king. He was handsome and commanding, and he set my body alight with things I had never thought possible. I was eager for his visits and didn’t want to think about what would happen when they stopped.

They would stop, one way or another.

The jeweled chain would fall from my waist to confirm my pregnancy, or I would be turned out into the street—worthless again.

I had done as Artin demanded, and the potions and powders she’d given me were gradually diminished as the days slipped by.

My official examination would be carried out at the end of the thirty days, but I’d hoped to be pregnant before then to secure not only the king’s favor, but my own safety.

The king’s visits were more frequent than I’d expected, and I wondered if the pregnancy he sought was more important than I was. No one had ever answered my question about what happened to surrogates after their pregnancy was confirmed and the child quickened.

My suspicions were difficult to push aside, but even when the king spent more time in my presence and even stayed the full night in my bed, I couldn’t bring myself to ask him.

As winter approached and the threat of heavy snows hovered on the horizon, I started to count the days that remained. Every morning I tugged at the sapphire chain, hoping that it would fall away from my hips and clatter to the stone floor, but it held firm.

It was frustrating… I should have been pregnant already. The herbs, tea, potions, and powders should have seen to it.

Unless what Artin had given me was meant to keep me from becoming pregnant at all. That one thought set everything alight in my mind. Artin would suffer nothing if I failed to give the king a child. His Majesty would choose another young woman from a wealthy family and she would be richly rewarded for her continued support of the Jeweled Throne.

But I, the upstart servant girl from no bloodline of any importance, would be cast back to where I belonged. Artin would have her dominance once more, and I would be punished for daring to rise above the position that had been chosen for me by whatever celestial gods watched over us.

Suspicion dominated my thoughts, and I decided to ignore the instructions Artin had given me.

Three days passed and the strangeness I’d felt began to fade away, only to be replaced with something else.

One morning, as I stood in the marble basin that had been brought for my baths, the jeweled chain around my hips broke free and fell into the water.

As I bent to retrieve it from the water, one servant ran from the room. I stared at the chain, marveling at the richness of the rectangular jewels, while I tried to process what it meant for the clasp to release.

I was pregnant.

“You should be moved to another suite in this building, but his Majesty has commanded that you be taken somewhere more… private.”

“Private?”

Artin’s expression was hard and unreadable as she paced the stone floor. I sat on the bed and stared down at my hands. The rich velvet dress I wore hugged every curve of my body as though it had been sewn directly onto my frame. The jeweled chain that had confined me had been re-worked into a necklace and was now hung with a large moonstone that dropped between my breasts. A symbol of the change in my status.

I could not help but feel a small stab of victory, as Artin seemed to struggle with her emotions. I had bested her.

“To the citadel,” she said. “It is most unusual. When a surrogate is confirmed, she is moved to a quiet location so the pregnancy can be monitored properly to ensure that nothing goes awry. The king will then be able to return to his duties without the added burden of attending to the young woman that he chose. But if you are in the citadel—”

“Burden—”

Venali had never treated me like a burden, or our coupling like a chore, and I refused to believe that he considered me a duty.