Her Unwanted Mate On The Throne

Chapter 18

#Chapter 18 You stay here

William didn’t say a word or move an inch. Doris raised her gaze to find him staring at her quietly. Goosebumps lined her skin as the moment stretched, she nervously clenched the cake box in her hand but felt too afraid to move. She hadn’t done anything wrong, only helped someone clean up—that was all.

After what felt like hours, he snorted. “You seem to be quite popular with men, aren’t you?”

Doris was too stunned to respond for a beat, by the time she found her words again—he was already gone. It wasn’t like anything she said would’ve mattered to him, he didn’t care anyway. Doris had the feeling that she would never be good enough in his eyes, so why would he care to begin with?

After dinner, Doris laid out Melody’s nightgown and began to prepare her for bed. As she untied her hair bun, Prince William’s footman knocked on the door.

“Evening, Lady Melody.” He bowed when Doris opened the door wider for him.

“What is it?” Melody asked, running her fingers through her long blonde curls.

“Prince William has requested you accompany him tonight.” He clasped his hands behind his back. “In his bedroom.”

Melody beamed and rushed forward to tip the man. It’d been days since she’d spent the night with him. Sometimes he came to have dinner with her, but never stayed. Doris could tell it was starting to weigh on her emotions again, but now it seemed he wanted her to be in his bed tonight.

“My lady, I don’t mean to rush you but Prince William did ask to see you as soon as possible.”

“Of course! One moment please,” She closed the door and turned to glare at Doris. “What are you just standing there for! Come help me,”

Doris silently sighed and moved to help Melody with her makeup. How would she possibly get out of this one?

She’d mostly avoided Prince William since that horrible dinner incident—the last thing she wanted to do was sit outside their room all night while they had sex again. She still had nightmares about the last time she was forced to listen throughout the night.

Doris’s hands became a little shaky. There was no way she’d find another maid to take her place tonight. It was already much too late and she wasn’t even sure if she would be able to find one before—

“You’ll come with me tonight.” Melody demanded, silencing her frantic thoughts. Melody stood and gestured for Doris to hurry up.

“Yes, my lady.” Doris bowed her head and followed her out the door.

They arrived to Prince William’s chamber much sooner than she expected. She wiped her sweaty hands on her apron and tried to stay out of sight until Melody disappeared behind the door with nothing more than a satisfied smirk on her lips.

Well, here goes another sleepless night.

Doris sat as far away from his door as she could manage, but it wasn’t far enough to muffle their noises. She clasped her hands to her ears when she heard the first moan and pressed as hard as she could. She knew by now it was no use, but at least it wasn’t as loud. There was no one else in the hallway, their sounds echoed off the walls and always found their way back to her despite how mush she didn’t want to hear it.

A few moments later, they silenced. Doris slowly removed her ears but kept them cupped in case it started up again—but it didn’t.

“My prince?” Said a sweet voice. A sweet, confused voice.

“You may go back now.” His voice sounded a little rough, Doris straightened a little as she listened.

“I—Did you not want to continue my prince?” Melody’s voice sounded small, embarrassed. It dawned on Doris that they must not have had sex yet—it would be extremely humiliating for Melody to be sent away now. The other ladies would never let her hear the end of it, and they would easily find out if they saw her walk back to her own room at this time of night.

“I want to be alone tonight.” He said, annoyed. “Just leave.”

After a long silence, Doris heard a bit of clothes rustling and small, frustrated grunts. “Ask your maid to help you.” Prince William said, he’d almost sounded bored by the whole encounter.

Melody opened the door a crack, Doris sprang up from where she was seated. “Get in here!” Melody glared at her, but tried her hardest to keep her voice somewhat sweet around the prince. Doris almost rolled her eyes, she could practically feel the rage coming from Melody and of course it was only aimed at Doris. Everything was her fault in Melody’s eyes.

Doris pushed open the door and saw the prince leaning back against his headboard, half naked. He didn’t open his eyes as she entered, she wondered how he could possibly fall asleep so quickly or if he was just pretending so he didn’t have to look at either of them. The sight angered her, she turned her gaze away before he saw it written on her face.

Melody stood close to the bed with her back to Doris. Her bodice’s lacing had knotted a bit as if it was almost torn. Doris carefully unlaced the delicate string before redoing it. The whole time Doris worked, Melody kept turning her head to look back at the prince. It was obvious how much she wished he would

say something to her, anything. She probably hoped he would change his mind before she left. But he didn’t.

“I’ll be on my way then, my prince.” Melody said. her voice a little nervous.

Prince William nodded, but didn’t bother to open his eyes.

As they headed to the door, they both froze at his voice. “Tea, please.”

Doris quickly glanced around the room but she knew there was no other servant around. She glanced back to see a furious Melody already leaving. “Go on! Get Prince William some tea.” She demanded over her shoulder before closing the door behind her.

If it wasn’t the prince’s room, Doris bet she would have slammed the door so hard it would have splintered. But she didn’t, the door clicked closed normally and the sound rang through Doris. They were completely alone now.

She took a deep breath and moved to pour some tea in a cup. Her shaky hands managed to bring it to him without spilling a drop. “Here you are, your majesty.” Doris said quietly, her voice just as shaky as her hands.

He watched her for a moment before he took the cup from her. “It’s you.”

Doris felt her heart speed up as she met his eyes. They were the color of a stormy sea, it was hard to admit how lovely they were when they weren’t filled with hate. His hair was a mess, her fingers itched to run her fingers through it just to fix it. Part of her liked how unkept he looked in this moment. It bloomed a bit of heat inside her when she realized how intimate it all was. His muscled chest was on full display, but she was careful not to let her eyes stray from his own.

Doris felt her cheeks heat up, she lowered her head a little at his words. What exactly did he mean by that? She was too afraid to ask. Did he know she was the one he marked? Had he always known?

He swallowed his tea in two large gulps and handed her the cup, her blood spiked when their hands brushed.

After she cleaned up the mess, she opened the door to leave for the night but froze when he spoke to her back.

“You stay here.”