After Their First Time

Gwen was washed over by numbness after Rainier left.

She was not chained anymore and could move already, but she lay silently in bed as if she was already dead.

She sat up from the bed, and walked to the bathroom, needing to wash off the feel of him all over her. It hurt so much to walk since he wasn't being gentle at all.

She felt the pain all the way to the bathroom. She used hot, scalding water to shower, once, twice, then thrice, desperate to feel clean again.

Walking out of the bathroom in a bathrobe, she saw the four-poster bed again, then her sobs broke. She collapsed on the floor, her cries choking her.

Rainier took everything from her that night. Her pride, her strength, and her spirit.

What will happen to me? Can I ever escape? Should I live forever with an evil king?

She dressed up in the ridiculous silk nightgown and robe, then slept on the couch, unable to touch the bed where he forcefully claimed her earlier.

***************************************************

Rainier checked on her in the early morning and found her sleeping on the couch, curling in a fetal position like a child. She looked like an injured nightingale.

He knew it was his doing. He should've had the patience to woo her respectably, like how she deserved it. But he couldn't wait anymore the previous night and had to have her.

He carried her back to the bed and untied the curtains around it.

**************************************************

She woke up with a sense of panic.

The memory of what happened the previous night with Rainier brought fresh anger and frustration in her heart.

She remembered she fell asleep on the couch. Why was she back on the bed now?

And it's dark because the curtains were all down around the bed.

"I've postponed the trip with the prince and the vice president until tomorrow. See which ministers can give their reports early, I'll do my schedule for tomorrow."

"Yes, Sir, I'll call the ministers," she heard Mark, the king's secretary replying.

Gwen had to go to the bathroom, but there seemed to be several men in the room, while she's wearing her nightgown.

Finally, she just left the bed, pushed the curtain aside, and marched to the bathroom, holding her silk robe to herself.

Once she was back, before she reached the bed again and could hide there, Rainier called, "Gwen, come here and have breakfast."

She turned and looked at him then.

He could see her anger flaming behind her eyes. However, Mark, Jake, Sally, and Jeremy were there. She didn't want to cause a scene. And she was starving.

Wordlessly, she sat in front of him.

"Leave us," he ordered to everyone. They all bowed, and soon, she was alone with him again.

The silence between them was deafening.

"...if you want to use those knife and fork on me, this is the right time. We're alone."

Without realizing it, she looked down at her hands. She was gripping at her knife and fork so tightly as if she wanted to stab him with those.

"If I hurt you, or kill you, your guards will barge in afterward, and kill me."

"Will it be worth it?"

She looked at him, and she felt like laughing hysterically. But she swallowed it.

"I don't want to die young," she stated. "I'm not sure about many things now, but I'm sure I don't want to die young."

"I'll be with you until you're old."

She looked sharply at him.

"Did you think I would feel flattered, hearing that?"

"No, it's merely a statement."

She glared at him, and he stared right back.

Gwen had thought that she might not wake up again from her sleep, for she was so heartbroken and helpless the previous night. But she woke up. She's still alive. She was raped by an evil king, and a lot of things didn't make sense anymore, yet she was alive and breathing.

Her heart didn't stop nor did her brain stop functioning despite how much she was suffering.

"Eat something. Nothing good will ever come out from starving yourself."

She wondered whether she'd have enough strength to starve herself to death. Her stomach rumbled though, and she reached for the sandwich.

Rainier just sat there and watched her eat. She's obviously starving.

She's wearing a black, silk nightgown, a contrast to her fair skin. She tied her hair, and his eyes roamed down to her smooth neck.

Truthfully, Rainier still felt drunk. Not from drinking, but from taking her. After knowing how she tasted and felt, he felt like he needed to be near her to breathe properly.

She's so beautiful, with her long, black hair and slender figure.

He knew he'd dream of how she felt, sounded, and looked, naked in bed beneath him, for days, until he couldn't stand it anymore and had to take her again.

No one else felt as good as Gwen Hamilton. He needed her to think straight.

She's ignoring him and eating a lot.

Would she ever stop hating him?

However, he knew he'd never be able to find anyone better than her.

"We'll go around the city with the Prince, the vice president, and their wives tomorrow. Just rest today."

She pretended she didn't hear him.

"Are you going to the library later?"

She banged her knife and fork on her plate.

"Don't play husband and wife with me!!! That's disgusting!!!"

"That's who we are, Gwen."

"I'm not your wife! I'm only your prisoner and whore!"

What was it she saw in his eyes? A flash of pain?

"Whores usually service their master often, My Queen. Be careful of what you're saying."

She couldn't take it. She gripped the knife she was holding and rushed to him, wanting to stab him.

He's faster than her, though, catching her hand, pulling the knife away, and throwing it to the floor. It fell with a clang on the floor. Then he pulled her onto his lap, and she crashed on him, despite trying to jump off and pushed him away.

Breathless and furious, she ended up caged on his lap, his hands holding her strongly.

"You tried to kill the king. You must be punished."

With that, he embraced her, and kissed her hard, his tongue probing into her as she screamed in anger.

She tried to push him away, but he only kissed her deeper, reaching upward to the warm heat of her mouth.

Once he pulled away, he murmured as she struggled to breathe.

"You feel so good. So much better than my imagination," he said, holding her close, his face merely inches away.

She pushed his chest, but he grabbed her butt and pushed her into him.

"No one else felt better than you. I'm going to need you often, Gwen."

"Find someone else to fuck, you psychopath!!!"

"Never. It's only going to be you from now on."

She stopped pushing him away. It's useless.

"I'm going to let you rest, and work. But you need to know, that I'm going to relive last night in my head, again and again. Maybe I'm going crazy, and it's all because of you."

She didn't answer. What could she say?

"I'll see you again tonight."

"There's no need!"

"I need it," he said with finality, before pecking her lips once, then leaving the room.