Chapter 26

SABINA

I shrank under Aboloft’s intense gaze. His dark eyes seemed to cast a shadow of fear over my thoughts.

I was oblivious to the hundreds of onlookers, their eyes filled with pity and dread. All I could focus on was Aboloft and the power he was about to exert over me.

“Strip, Bluebell,” Aboloft commanded. His words cut through me, reaching deep into my soul.

Instead of obeying, I clenched the silk of my dress, my nails digging into the smooth fabric.

He was going to shame me in front of everyone. He was going to repeat what those men did to me years ago.

I couldn’t show my face in town after that, and I was certain I wouldn’t be able to show my face in this castle if Aboloft carried out his punishment.

“Aboloft, please don’t do this,” I begged.

“Bina, I gave you an order. Will you strip, or should I have someone else do it?” The king addressing me was a monster. He was devoid of compassion. He was inhuman.

~“Let’s rip her clothes off, she doesn’t deserve them.”~

~“I agree.” The next sound I heard was the tearing of my dress, as two of the brutes stripped me of my only shield against their vile intentions.~

~“Let’s take it all off, women like her don’t deserve clothes. They deserve to be beaten.”~

~One of them laughed. I was numb. I didn’t care who spoke or who did what.~

~They were going to kill me, and I didn’t care if death came for me. At least I would be free from all the things and people that made it hard for me to breathe.~

~My only regret was Aboloft and how I hurt him. But he was going to be a king soon. He would fall in love and marry the woman he loved. He would be happy even if I wasn’t in this world.~

~Maybe it was better if I died. Everyone would be happy.~

“Please Aboloft, I’ll do anything, be anything you want. Please. Don’t do this to me, don’t be like those men. I beg you.”

Tentatively, I clutched Aboloft’s robes, pleading with my eyes for him to spare me this.

I didn’t care that I was begging him. His words stirred up my dark past, reviving those horrific images, forcing me to relive the pain.

My clothes were my only shield against the men’s cruel stares. That night, it was my clothes the men ripped apart, exposing me to their predatory gazes.

And now, Aboloft was asking me to remove my only defense against this world, and I just couldn’t do it.

I was ready to beg, ready to be anything Aboloft wanted, as long as he didn’t take my clothes from me. They were all I had.

Aboloft didn’t need to punish me. His words were enough to make me surrender completely. This was enough.

I’d had enough.

The change in his obsidian gaze was immediate. His hard gaze softened, and something like regret and fear flickered in his eyes before his expression closed off.

But I had seen it, and I knew I wasn’t mistaken. He was the man I loved. I couldn’t believe he would hurt me like this.

“Everyone out! I want everyone to leave! Now!” Aboloft’s command echoed through the harem, and everyone obeyed without question.

Sooner than I expected, the harem was empty, except for Aboloft and me.

Tears streamed down my face and sobs wracked my body as I realized I was alone with Aboloft. There was no one to witness my tears or fears. No one to shame me and make my life unbearable.

I nearly screamed when Aboloft wrapped his strong arms around me. I tried to fight him off, but he was too strong, and I was too emotionally drained to resist.

“My beautiful goddess, I’m not like those monsters,” Aboloft whispered, stroking my hair, trying to comfort me.

“My clothes. Please don’t take my clothes. Please, not my clothes, Aboloft,” I sobbed. I’d beg him enough so he would never ask me to strip in front of people again.

He had to understand how important clothes were to me.

“I won’t, my sweet. Calm down.” Aboloft kissed my forehead, but I couldn’t stop crying.

“Don’t be like them, please, don’t be a monster. My clothes are all I have. They’re the only things that can protect me. Please don’t take them from me, I don’t have anything else,” I pleaded.

“I won’t, Bluebell. My beautiful girl, I won’t do that to you,” he assured me, sincerity in every word.

“You were going to. Aboloft, I can’t…I can’t let you take my clothes. They’re all the protection I have. People can’t see me without clothes, they can’t see how ugly I am.

“They would know, Aboloft. They would know everything.” More tears fell as my fears played out in my mind.

I could already hear the hateful words people would hurl at me if they ever saw my bare body. No, no, they couldn’t see. They could never know.

“I’ll protect you, my beautiful goddess. You’re not ugly, not at all. You’re beautiful, and you’re all mine.”

Aboloft gently pushed me down onto the soft bed until I was lying flat, my head resting on the red pillow, looking up at him.

“No, don’t lie to me. I know what I am. I can’t let people see me. They always pity me, and I don’t want their pity. If they don’t pity me, then they hate me, and I don’t want that either.

“So, I can’t let people see me, Aboloft. I can’t let anyone see what’s under these clothes,” I said, my voice trembling with fear that he might call those people back and force me to undress.

“I don’t lie, sweetheart. You might not show the crowd what’s under those clothes, but you’ll show me,” he declared, before yanking at my dress, ripping it open from the front.

“Aboloft!” I shrieked, instinctively trying to cover myself, but Aboloft brushed my hands away and tore the dress completely, leaving me bare beneath him.

“You won’t hide from me. Nothing can keep you from me. Especially not these clothes,” he murmured, before his mouth found my breasts.

My back arched off the bed as Aboloft kissed and suckled my breasts, showing no mercy. His hands explored my naked body, igniting pleasure deep within me.

He kissed and licked one breast before moving to the other. He was gentle, but not overly so.

“My protection. Th-these clothes were my protection.”

As Aboloft continued to kiss my breasts, it was getting harder to focus on anything else. Once he was done, his lips moved lower, touching every inch of my skin.

“No, only I can and will protect you. I won’t let anyone else have that privilege, Bina. Understand this. You’re mine to protect.” He bit my belly, just a little to the side of my belly button.

“You can’t protect me. You have too many responsibilities. And you want to hurt me and punish me. You can’t protect me.”

It was a miracle how I managed to form coherent sentences even as my mind was clouded with unfamiliar sensations and emotions.

“I want you to understand who holds the power here. I’m the king, and you should respect me as such. I don’t appreciate it when you argue with me over things that don’t require your input,” Aboloft retorted.

“You never liked it when I argued before, either, but you never did anything like this. You never tried to humiliate me in front of so many people,” I countered.

“That was the past, and we were too young. And I wanted to hurt you, but I believe I’ve punished you enough for you to never repeat this action,” he replied.

“What do you want from me, Aboloft? Sometimes you’re happy to see me stubborn and arguing with you, other times you’re punishing me for the exact same thing. I don’t know what to do,” I confessed, exhausted by his unpredictable behavior.

“I want you to keep me happy,” he stated simply.

“When are you ever happy?” I questioned.

Aboloft stopped kissing my belly button and looked up at me. The desire swirling in his dark eyes made me bite my lower lip.

This man was so beautiful, and he was kissing my body like it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Why did he do that? Didn’t he see how the past eight years had changed me, both mentally and physically?

“I’m happy when you’re with me. When you sleep in my bed, in my arms. When you smile because of me. When I see you happy, it makes me happy,” Aboloft confessed, lying down next to me.

He pulled me to his side so that we were facing each other.

“I hardly ever do any of the things you just mentioned.” I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to say that or not. The fog of lust hadn’t cleared from my mind yet.

“You’re living in my castle, sleeping in my bed, in my arms. And you’re with me now, and you will be forever, so that makes me happy. But do you know what will make me really happy?”

“What?” I asked, too curious to know his answer. Ever since I could remember, all I ever wanted was to make Aboloft happy.

Yes, I was selfish and went to meet him for my own happiness as well, but I loved seeing the smile on his handsome face and knowing that I put it there.

Aboloft’s happiness gave me a strange kind of peace, one I never experienced in his absence. He truly was one of a kind.

“When you become my queen, that’s when I’ll be the happiest man alive,” Aboloft answered, a beautiful smile on his face.

Dread settled in my heart like a pile of rocks. Aboloft never had reasonable demands. He always wanted things that were either too difficult to achieve or were impossible.

It was never easy to give him what he wished for. It was so difficult for me when it was his birthday, I never knew what to give him. But he was so sweet, he never asked me for anything.

“That’s not possible, Aboloft. You and I both know that it’s not acceptable, so please don’t ask me for something I can’t give you,” I told him. My mind slowly started to clear the fog, making it easier for me to think.

“It is possible. And when I say I want something, you know I’ll do whatever it takes to get it. And I do want something specific from you, on a specific day,” he said, a happy gleam in his eyes.

On a specific day? What was he talking about? Aboloft was an expert at confusing me and making me wonder, and right now, he was doing exactly that.

But this was much better than him punishing me in front of his people.

“What do you want? And on what day?” I asked, searching his eyes for answers but finding none. How was it that he could read me so easily and I couldn’t, despite searching for the answers?

Aboloft frowned, a clear sign that he was upset. “You don’t remember, Bina?”

“Remember what?” I furrowed my eyebrows as I tried to recall a special day in Aboloft’s life.

“You forgot. You never forgot. You don’t see me for eight years, and you forget.” Now he was getting angry, resembling the man I had seen only moments earlier when he told me to remove my clothes.

“I’m sorry, Aboloft, but I don’t understand what you’re referring to. Please, enlighten me,” I pleaded.

“My birthday. You forgot my birthday,” Aboloft replied, disapproval evident on his handsome features.

My eyes popped open as the realization hit me like a punch to the gut. Oh my God, Aboloft’s birthday. It was June 11. How could I have let it slip my mind?

No, I hadn’t forgotten. It was just that it had been so long since we’d marked his birthday that the date had slipped from my immediate memory.

“What’s today’s date?” I asked, trying to sit up. But Aboloft gently pushed me back down. At this moment, my lack of clothing was the least of my concerns. All that mattered was Aboloft’s birthday.

I just prayed I wasn’t too late. Ever since I’d arrived at his castle, I’d lost track of time. I had no idea what day or month it was. All I knew was that several weeks had passed since I’d been brought here.

“Why don’t you tell me?” Aboloft’s voice held a note of hurt.

“Aboloft, I promise I didn’t forget your birthday. It’s just that it’s been so long since we celebrated it…” My voice trailed off, hoping he’d understand what I was trying to convey.

“You would have forgotten me eventually. If my men hadn’t brought you here, you would’ve let me slip from your memory,” he accused.

“That’s not true. I could never forget you. You’re always in my heart, Aboloft. Always. I could never forget you,” I insisted.

I was speaking the truth. Every time I tried to push Aboloft from my mind, a sharp pain in my heart would remind me why I could never forget him.

“I’m in your heart?” Aboloft echoed my words, making it sound like a question.

“Yes. No matter what you do to me, no matter how much you hurt me, you’re always in my heart,” I confirmed, looking away from him.

“If I’m in your heart, then you’ll give me whatever I want, right?” Aboloft’s fingers traced a path over my skin. It was odd how at ease I felt under his touch.

“Is there something you want?” I knew there was. I just wasn’t sure what it was.

“Yes. For my birthday, I want something from you. Something significant,” he said.

“What is it? Tell me.”

His next words left me reeling.

“I want you to give me a child.”