Love Comes Second Ch. 03

"You must go get cleaned up, you look horrible." he remarks, crushing my spirits even more than he has already. Crying softly, I walk out of our room then the short distance to Mary's room to get her to help clean me up. I knock on her door politely and wait for her to open it.

"Oh, princess! I didn't think you'd be coming to my room-" she stops mid sentence when she looks at the state I'm in. "Jade, oh, honey. Come in." she ushers me inside and sits me down on her bed. I immediately cry again as soon as my sore ass hits the mattress. "It's horrible Mary. I can't do this anymore. I just want to go home." I sob, leaning into her. She pulls me in to her shoulder and lets me cry for a few minutes. I try to tell her what happened, but nothing I say makes any sense.

"Shh, it's alright. You're okay." she sits up, pulling me to stand with her. "Let's get you cleaned up and then dressed again, yeah?" I just nod and allow her to guide me to the small chair she has in her room. "Do you mind if I use my brush on your hair? It's not quite as nice as yours, but I don't really want to send you back into your room." she says, picking up the brush on the nearby table. "I don't mind." I say.

I feel Douglas's cum start to drip onto her chair. When I tell Mary this, she insists she doesn't care as long as I'm as comfortable as I could possibly be, despite the situation. I don't know what I'd do without her.

She hums softly as she brushes through my hair, which is very calming. "You have very beautiful hair, princess." she says, thinking out loud. I smile at the compliment, but then am reminded of Douglas' demoralizing comment on how awful I looked. Forcing myself to stop thinking about it, I let Mary tug me towards the bathroom. She grabs a small rag and wets it to wipe my face and legs with. She then hands the towel to me so I can clean up my nether regions. "Thank you Mary. You've been a real friend to me." I say sincerely, looking her in the eyes.

"It's my pleasure, princess." she replies.

About thirty minutes after I left my room, Mary walks me back into it. Once she sees that there's no one else inside she walks me to where my clothes are next to the giant bed. "I hope they haven't wrinkled." she mutters under her breath. She slips the dress back on me and ties it up. "You really do look gorgeous in this Jade." she remarks. I think she can tell that my self-esteem has been very badly damaged.

After I'm ready Mary brings me down to the library to wait for Douglas. I sit in the chair, immediately uncomfortable with the dull ache between my legs and the stinging pain on my ass. In an attempt to ignore the pain, I reach to grab the book I'm currently reading from the table next to the chair. Mary sits next to me and caresses my hair as I read about a woman named Julie who is strong and independent. She has never married and does things for herself. I found myself in envy of this woman; she doesn't have to listen to any rules of man, only those of nature.

I think again about Douglas and his cruel treatment towards me. At least I know I have a few hours until we're alone again.

—~~~—

Douglas

Jade pulls her face out from the pillow, gasping. I smile to myself, loving that I have the power to do that to her. I feel the bed shift when she sits up. Her breathing hitches slightly, probably from the pain she's experiencing from me fucking her so roughly. She grabs a robe and is walking to the door when I open my eyes.

"Jade, where do you think you're going?" I question, waiting for her to look at me and answer. "I was just going to clean up since we will need to leave in a little while." she looks at me through a few pieces of hair. I sit up on my elbows and stare at her. "Come here." I tell her. She walks up to the bed, but stops a couple feet away from it. "I said, come here. When I say 'come here' I mean you better get your ass right next to me." my tone drops an octave lower from the disappointment I feel from her actions. If I had more time, I'd punish her.

"Douglas, we need to get ready now." she replies, almost whispering. I grab her hand and pull her close to me. I reach my hand to her cheek, which makes her flinch, and caress it before pulling her face closer to mine. I press my lips against hers softly.

"I'm so glad it's you I married. I don't think I'd be able to do this to- I mean with- anyone else. You relax me, I can be who I am around you and do what I want to you." I smile at her, but she doesn't smile back. I'm about to say something about it when I hear a knock on our door.

I hear Luke say, "Your highnesses, I'm here to tell you that you must be at the carriage in about one hour." I look Jade up and down and see that I've made her look disgusting. I push her away.

"You must go get cleaned up, you look horrible." I say. I see her face drop to look even more sad than before. She quickly turns away and walks out of the door.

Not too long after Jade's left to go get cleaned up, Luke knocks on the door again. "Come on in, Luke." I say. He immediately opens the door, "Hello, I've come to get you ready. I saw the princess leaving your room and I thought you might like some help cleaning up." he says cheerfully.

"That would be wonderful, Luke. Perhaps I should take a bath? I'm a little sweaty." I chuckle softly.

"Yes, of course. I'll go start you one right away." he replies. He turns and leaves the room to head towards my bathroom. I stay sitting on my bed for a few minutes to rest a little and then get up to follow after him.

"Is the bath ready?" I ask. He jumps a little at my voice, obviously not expecting me to come in.

"Yes, it is my lord. I was just about to come get you." he replies. I smile when he looks at me and I climb into the bath. I let him wash my hair as I talk about how lovely it is to have a wife.

"Are you courting anyone?" I ask him. He smiles slightly.

"Trying to." he giggles.

"Who's the lucky girl? The stables woman from a few nights ago?" I look at him.

"Oh, um... no. Not her." his face turns red, "But I don't think this woman would want me to reveal who she is." he says quietly.

"Well then, how about you tell me when she won't mind others knowing. I'm assuming this means that it's complicated, huh?"

"Yes, I guess you could call it that." he replies. The room is silent for the next few minutes until I decide to get out of the bath.

Luke helps me dry off and we head back to my room. When I open the door I see that Jade's clothes aren't on the floor where I left them. She must've already come back and gotten dressed. Luke grabs my clothes from the floor and sets them on a chair nicely. I walk over to where he laid them down and put them back on while he's fixing up the bed so the covers aren't messed up.

"I'm curious about this girl, you know." I say to him.

"Are you, my lord?"

"Yes, very. I do wish you'd tell me. I can keep a secret, you know this." I say, remembering a big secret I've kept for him.

He used to steal things from my mother when he was a teenager. Not expensive things, but... delicate things. I had caught him walking out of my parent's room with a very guilty look on his face. He wouldn't tell me why he was in there at first, until I threatened to tell my father. He quickly told me. I followed him to his room and he showed me a collection of underpants he had stolen from women in the castle. It's been years, and I still haven't told a soul.

"That is very true... but my lady made it clear she doesn't want anyone to know yet." he replies, looking worried.

"Is it that woman from the stables?"

"No, the woman from the stables isn't my type. But I guess I'm her type. I just wanted sex, honestly." We both laugh from his confession.

"Now that I'm dressed, I should probably join my lady." Luke walks beside me while we make our way to library, where I'm to meet Jade to go into town.