He’d jerked her back to her feet, noting her dilated pupils and flushed cheeks. She’d been aroused too. He’d sent to her to her room where she’d been locked for the night and next morning with nothing other than water.
Word had spread that the princess had been sternly punished by the king’s high advisor, and the matter had died down. The woman withdrew the grievance once it was known that it had been handled.
Brande was nearly twenty now, and her wild bouts of mischief seemed to be behind her. She would make someone a stunning wife. She might on occasion though need firm discipline. Evston envied the man who would have the responsibility. He had never forgotten the way she squirmed over his knees or the way her eyes flashed when she was challenged. The combination was exciting.
Evston suspected he could become her husband if he made an offer. He was certain that she’d been infatuated with him for several years. But that was because she didn’t truly know what he was like. He had dark urges. She was wholly innocent and also used to getting her every wish.
He needed a wife with a strong sexual appetite and one who was worldly and secure enough to tolerate the Calex tradition of keeping human pets. It was illegal for a female member of the royal family to even be introduced to anyone’s pet, prostitute, or mistress, let alone to have one in the household.
Marriage or any sort of relationship with the beautiful princess was impossible, which was why Evston had cancelled his trip to Alorn. He hoped she would marry soon, so she would be less of a temptation.
Chapter One
Brandese sat in theglider carriage that would take her to the most secret and scandalous location in all the Kingsrealm. It was there that she would hide, satisfying her erotic curiosities and planning the next phase of her life.
Outside the slopes of the sand dunes cascaded by, occasionally interrupted by forested land. Villages became farther and farther apart. Remote was just what a runaway princess needed.
She touched her newly close-cropped pixie hair that had been darkened from her own auburn to a very dark brown. It was strange to feel air on her neck, but the nakedness of it was exciting and tantalizing. She’d also had two facial treatments that would further disguise her. A plumping gel had been added to her cheeks and lips. She looked quite pouty and apple-cheeked. With her simple gown and altered appearance, she was certain she would not be recognized by casual observers.
She glanced out the window at the shimmering sand forming soft slopes of beige and gold under the fading light. It was a beautiful start for her adventure.
She’d left a message for Lana that would hopefully mislead the palace into thinking she’d gone to research their maternal grandmother’s roots. Not much was known about the woman, and Brande had expressed interest before.
No one would suspect that she was headed to the Submissive Assessment Center, which she’d just learned about. Her friend, Piplar, always had the best gossip and information, which she got from slyly eavesdropping on her older brother who had loose lips when drunk.
Brandese had known there were such things as prostitutes, which were women and men who were paid to have sex with a person for an individual or series of encounters. Brande had not known however that there were some women or men who could be acquired to act as sexual submissives and who were paid in the form of a trust account held for them during the term of their service. The function of acting as a human pet had once been filled by slaves, but that practice had of course been abolished with slavery. Now there were some very old and powerful families who maintained the tradition by contracting the services. Apparently, Lord Evston Calex’s family was one of them. She’d been completely shocked to learn of it, but then that lingering memory surfaced. The time she’d been in trouble and he tossed her over his lap, flipped up her dress, and spanked her bottom through her thin underclothes. It had been humiliating, but also titillating. And it had fueled most of her erotic fantasies.
Their use of sexual submissives as pets also explained why the girl with Rocurt Calex, whose body was adorned with nipple rings, had seemed so sincere when she’d reassured Brandese that she hadn’t been abducted or forced into anything. She’d clearly been hired to play a role.
As soon as she’d grasped Pip’s explanation, Brande had felt quite jealous of the commander’s girl. Here was someone who lived in the Calex castle and was privy to all the private goings-on of the most enigmatic and fascinating brothers on the planet. Here was someone who was free to play sex games with a handsome partner outside of marriage. Brande had once been lured into a barn and kissed by a local boy, and he’d been imprisoned for an entire season. As a princess, she’d never been able to experiment because any games she played would have dire consequences for both her and her partner.
Lana had been furious with her and the boy. She’d told Brande that the boy, who was older, was mostly at fault but that she must be more careful. If certain things had happened, the boy might have been sentenced to death.To death.
Brande had been outraged and frustrated. She’d deduced that many young men enjoyed trysts. None of their female conquests were murdered for it. That apparently was different because, according to Lana, boys were predatory. Brande had not admitted that it was one of the things she rather liked about them.
Brandese had concluded that the only way to learn about and try things would be to marry someone handsome and clever. Lord Evston had been her first choice. Of all the men she’d ever met, he was her favorite.
