The door creaked open gently, and a young girl, not more than eighteen, stepped inside. Her deep-set green eyes carried a quiet intensity, and something in her demeanor—a calm, unassuming grace—that reminded him of Anna. A soft smile curved his lips as he gestured for her to enter, his voice warm despite the weight of his thoughts. "Come in," he said, his tone inviting, though his mind reeled with questions about the stranger before him.
This was the fifth woman that week, Rachel came once a week ensuring the rest of the week was filled with other women she arranged. Though they were all very beautiful women yet none had left an impression quite like this one. William studied her for a moment longer, the calm resolve in her green eyes stirring something within him. He made up his mind then and there—this particular young woman would become a regular.
William's smile deepened as he took in her petite yet graceful figure, the way she moved so effortlessly reminding him of Anna. The resemblance was not just in her appearance but in her quiet demeanor, as if she carried a gentle strength beneath her shyness. She walked steadily toward his bed, her steps light and deliberate, her green eyes glancing up at him before she offered a shy, almost tentative smile. For a moment, the room seemed to grow warmer, or so William imagined.
Climbing onto the bed , she straddled him, her movements bold yet filled with a restrained passion. Without hesitation, she claimed his lips hungrily, the weight of her longing pouring into the kiss. king or no king, paralysed or not she had always dreamt of this moment—of being close to him, of tasting the man who had occupied her thoughts for so long. It was like a dream come true for her—a yearning she had harboured in silence from a very young age.
'And here he was thinking her innocent,' William thought as she held his hand placing it on breast. She moaned loudly as his hand touched her nipples, only this contact brought unimaginable pleasure to her.
William did not need any further invitation. The women who visited his chambers kept strictly to his rules; no lingering, no attachments, no conversations beyond what was necessary—he took what he needed and they got out of his room.
He caressed her nipples watching her melt in his touches, her head bent backwards with her eyes closed moaning uncontrollably.
She brought her lips close to his. Claiming his lips, biting and tasting, giving and taking.
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Anna was unaware of William activities. She did not know what was going on; that William was entertaining women in his chambers.
Alfred was not happy with his master's new charade, but it was not his place to bring the lady's attention to it. His loyalty to William ran deep, but so did his sense of duty, and he could not shake the feeling that this particular arrangement might complicate matters further.
They had all gone for the doctor's appointment as usual and had stayed their separate ways, not interfering in each other affair, speaking only when it was necessary and unavoidable. 'It was for the best after all,' Anna thought.
No one would get hurt that way. Anna stretched on her bed a book in her hand, she could not remember when she had this much time to spare in any leisure activity. But the problem was that she could not concentrate; William, she could not get him from her thoughts.
Unknown to Anna, the man was busy having fun, having the best time of his life with a girl he concluded look so much like Anna.
William had never made such love before, so young and she was so good, she was everything he needed right now.
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"It is good of you to get here before me, it shows that you're a good listener," Richard said closing the door gently behind him.
"You sent for me, I had told you that it is not safe for us to see," the man replied obviously furious even if he was trying really hard to hide his anger.
"You do not give me orders, my dear friend. When I want you I will call you and when I send for you—you will do well to report to me. Since you cannot find out as well what they are up to in William's manor, you have a new task."
Richard took a letter out of his coat pocket. "I want you to make sure she gets this letter, I do not care how you do but make sure she gets it," Richard said handing the man the enclosed letter, "and again do not snoop into it. Trust me I will know if you do. It's time we get rid of her, don't you think? She is slowing down my plans, she has to go—do not forget your task and do not forget you owe me."
The man took the letter walking out angrily, he will beat him in his games soon, he just had to be patient and wait for the right time, 'you do not rush these things,' he thought, 'the protector had to go—what did the man have in mind,' he wondered.
One way or the other he had to find out what was in the letter, should he believe his bluff that he would know if he read it?
The man was confused but he could not let Richard hurt the lady, 'it was not time for that,' he told himself thinking of a solution to all these.
He delivered the letter as he was asked after two days, he did not risk opening, for an odd reason he feared Richard—knew he would be capable of doing anything to get back at him if he dared double cross him. He had not only himself to think about, he would keep a close watch on the lady once he sends the letter to her.
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Anna was in William's study when a letter came for her, she was surprised as she was not expecting any letter from anyone. The servant handed the letter, bowing lightly and walking away. She hoped it was nothing important as Vivianne had eyes everywhere.
She tore the letter out, reading through in a few seconds. 'Who had sent this?' she wondered.
The person had written to her telling her he had the antidote to all her mystery and could help her solve her case, all he needed was a little token he could use to run faraway from Azurethra as the person involved in all this was highly dangerous.
The letter also told her she should expect a second letter, to tell her where they could meet and discuss secretly. Anna folded the paper and stood up immediately, pacing around the office.
She had the study all to herself lately, William hardly came in now. 'What should she do,' she thought.
Could she trust this person, this person could be a hoax or even someone who wanted to hurt her, wanted to get rid of her. What was she to do?
It bothered her mind for days, 'if her papa was in this shoes what would he had done,' she wondered, 'would he had risked himself and care about nothing else but the mission at hand and see the unknown person?' She was so confused. Should she tell Tony? She trusted no one lately.
She did not think it right to just leave without telling anyone, what if something bad happened to her—no one would know about it or know even about her whereabouts. 'She would tell someone,' she thought. She would wait for the second letter to come before she decided on who she would be telling this to, she had to be careful.
Anna waited for days before the letter finally came and during this time she had made up her mind to go and had made up her mind on who to confide in. She must ignore the risk and think about the issue on her ground, even if her gut was warning her something was fishy somewhere—if something happened to her there would be no one to protect William, she knew this well.
This was the only lead she had right now and she needed to risk her life for it. It was not a matter of choice now, it was a matter necessity. Anna had concluded her investigation on Nicholas and was now convinced that he had nothing to do with the accident. He did not even frequent Vivianne's chamber anymore. Vivianne was that kind of woman, Anna thought, 'a woman who could get tired of a man when it pleases her—when she believed she has had enough of him and also could easily get a new one whenever it pleases her. She was a beautiful woman after all, Anna would not deny that—beautifully shaped with the right curves in the right places.
'Her mind had been made up,'she thought as she read the second letter. First she had to put things in place, take precautions. She needed to draft a letter to her butler giving him instructions if any thing should happen to her. He was the only one she could trust to carry out her order as she wished, down to the letter not ignoring any small details.
'No,' she thought firmly, her resolve hardening with each passing moment. She would go there herself. This was not a message to be entrusted to a courier or delayed by formality. He needed to see the urgency in her eyes, to read the gravity of the situation through her expression, to understand the weight of the matter at hand.
She penned the letter, sealed it and began to dress up for the journey back to her estate. It would be nice to see it one last time peradventure anything happened to her.