Usually, when I was finished, my body calmed down for several hours. But this time, almost as soon as I left her to sleep, my cock was hard again.
And I knew I had to give her time to recover before I claimed her a second time. The second time would be better. The healing stone would soothe her and keep her stretched and ready for me, if I could just wait.
Damn it all.
It was going to be a long night.
Chapter Four
I’ve never slept alone, I realized. One of my sisters was always there.
But before I knew it, I obviously had slept, because he was waking me up, pulling the stone out of me none too gently. “I’ve waited too long,” he said, as he replaced it with himself. I was barely awake and his warm body was overwhelming mine in the dark. For a moment I said nothing, still half asleep as his cock invaded me, bringing a mixture of pain and pleasure that made me instantly warm and fogged my thoughts. My body didn’t feel like my own; I had the strange feeling that it belonged to him now, and I couldn’t imagine it would ever be mine again.
I was even more flushed when I thought of that. But I could not lose focus.
“Waited too long?” I asked. “This is some sort of curse, isn’t it?”
He said nothing, but of course, curses usually came in with a built-in clause that one couldn’t talk about it.
“What are you the king of?” I asked. “Where are your subjects?”
“They are in the caverns,” he said.
“Can I see them?”
“No. Stop talking. I’m tired of raising my hopes for silly money-grubbing little girls.”
“You’re trying to push me away.”
“I’m trying to fuck you.”
He sounded so ferocious that I finally went quiet and let him finish, but this time, after he sprang to his feet and slid the stone back inside of me, I said, “I’m going to figure out what cursed you. I’m not a silly money-grubbing girl.”
“You are not the one to save me,” he said. “You’ve already failed the first test. You’re no better than any other girl; just like the rest of them, you’re a careless little fool who takes whatever she can get. And time is running short.”
I huffed. “Take what I can get? Foolish?” Then I forced myself to stop. This was what he wanted, to goad me into anger. “Test?”
I knew he wouldn’t answer. But he had given me a clue, hadn’t he?
And as if to emphasize the point, the walls shook once again, and one of the little crystals that formed the constellations fell to ground and rolled past his feet.
He woke me twice more, using me for the fourth time before the sun rose—I knew this, because I realized there was a small skylight in the ceiling of my room, where I could see the sky lightening.
This was the bargain, of course, that he would have me as many times as he liked before morning, but by this time I was feeling quite exhausted and irritated with it all.
When I let out the slightest little grumpy sound, he looked triumphant. “Yes, there it is,” he said.
“What?”
“Tired of me already. It’s easy enough to make your noble declarations the first time or two.”
Then he held out a gold coin.
“O courageous one,” he said, sarcastically, “Will you remain here for another day and night, and allow to fuck you tonight as many times as I like?”
“Yes,” I said, looking right into his eyes. “You won’t get rid of me that easily.”
“Very well.” He gave me the coin. “Then, I will see you tonight.”
“Where are you going now?”
“To my much-needed rest.” He bowed slightly and I watched his sturdy boots depart.
Breakfast was already waiting for me on the small table on one side of the room, while a warm bath awaited on the other. Both appeared to be staying warm by magic, so I could choose either. I ate first, a magnificent spread of oatcakes with butter, sausages and fresh milk.
I thought I saw something flutter behind me.
“Hello?” I called.
It was very quiet. Did the goblin king have any pets? Or was this one of the mysterious subjects of the goblin kingdom? I got up and looked around the room, even checking under the bed clothes, but I was quite alone.
I kept feeling as if something was watching me.
After eating, I sank into the bath. I scrubbed all of last night’s sweat and…other things. It felt more embarrassing by day.
As I soaked, I looked at the coin I had earned. A lot of money for a poor family—perhaps a week’s wages for a strong laborer. Not all that much compared to what my family was accustomed to. My father used to make several gold coins in a poor week. I would have to give myself to the goblin king every night for the rest of my life for my family to enjoy the splendor they had known, and I knew that couldn’t happen. He would not keep me for long. They would buy themselves some time if they were smart, but I feared they would squander the money instead.
Damn them, why aren’t they doing anything for themselves?
The thought was unfamiliar to me. All my life, I had never wanted for anything, and no one expected anything of me, so I never resented how spoiled they were. Of my sisters, I was the one who dreamed—of becoming an explorer or a novelist or a scholar. And yet, here I was, stuck selling my body for the sake of the rest of them, just because I had always been intrigued by the puzzle of the goblin king.
Clara was probably at home sewing embroidery or writing letters to her friends. I wouldn’t be surprised if she hardly thought of me while I was gone.
But what could I do? I wasn’t heartless enough to let them be turned out on the street, even if they were heartless enough to ask this of me.
Time is running short, he said. That must be why girls never remained here for long. There was a time limit on the bargain—the enchantment. There was an enchantment, I was sure of that by now. He didn’t want to invite me to his bed; he was compelled to.
I opened the wardrobe. Voluminous skirts popped out at me, barely contained by the heavy doors. There were dozens of dresses stuffed into the wardrobe, some of them quite fine, but since I planned to explore the caverns even more thoroughly today, I chose one of the plainest ones: a forest green dress with a laced bodice, over a simple linen shift. And for good measure, I tied on my own apron.
I was tempted to return to the library and spend the whole day reading, but if time was indeed short, I had to figure out as much as I could about the king’s situation.