Over the last few days, there's been so much going on that there's no chance to just stop and look about. But now, she can. Now, Victoria almost has too much time. Her mind won't stop spinning. There's no ring on her finger, not yet, at least.

 

Matt insists there will be. Soon, he says; soon there will be.

 

It won't be large. Matt can't afford the grand thing that rests on Queen Gabriella's finger. But it will be special all the same, and the thought makes her heart flutter. It makes her stomach twist pleasurably.

 

Dinner had been an uncomfortable affair. No one spoke, few even traded glances. The meal had tasted like ashes, and first chance she was given, Victoria swept off here, to the hallway.

 

“Victoria?” Matt's arms wrap around her from behind. “Are you okay?”

 

“Oh, yes. I'm fine. I was just looking,” says Victoria.

 

Matt smiles. He rests his chin against her shoulder, presses a kiss against the side of her neck. “You've been looking at that for a while now. Don't tell me someone just recently paid to have that ugly ass thing painted?”

 

“No,” says Victoria with a soft laugh. “This is my Uncle Bernard. We've had it hanging here for a very long time.”

 

“Why're you staring at it like this, then?”

 

“Well, he passed away last year. I suppose I'm only now realizing how supportive he was of me.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Yes,” says Victoria, lips twisting up into a small smile. “He loved looking at my drawings.”

 

“You draw?”

 

“Some. Not things like this.”

 

Matt presses another kiss to the side of Victoria's face. “Then what do you draw?”

 

“Clothing,” says Victoria. “I've always loved to draw clothing. I like to design it. My uncle, he used to tell me I could go places. That I could form a path of my own.”

 

“You still can,” says Matt.

 

Victoria rolls her eyes, twisting around to slap her fiancé on the shoulder. “Matt, I just don't have the patience for this right now. You know what I mean, and you're just being a pain.”

 

“How am I being a pain?”

 

“You just are,” huffs Victoria.

 

Matt chuckles. “I think you're just stressed.”

 

“Of course I'm stressed!”

 

“Stress isn't good for the baby,” he reminds lightly. His hands slide down, resting lightly on Victoria's protruding stomach.

 

He hums, leans down and catches the young woman in a kiss. It's not sexual, just a physical desire to be close, to touch, to feel. It's just lips against lips, tender and sweet. When they part, Victoria gives a little laugh.

 

She's nervous, but being so close to Matt just further cements her decision. She asks, “Can I show you something?”

 

“I don't know,” says Matt lightly. “Are you going to leave me in the dining room again with your parents?”

 

Victoria laughs. “No! I'm sorry I did that. I just couldn't bear being down there anymore. But no, I wanted to show you something upstairs. In my room.”

 

Matt blinks, and then his smile gets a little bit lighter and his grip slides down to rest on Victoria's hips. The fingers go tight. “In your room, huh? Well, in that case, I'm certainly interested in whatever you have to show me. Just lead the way, my little princess.”

 

Victoria unfurls herself from Matt's grip. She grabs him by the hand and leads him down the hall. It's a big thing, a dangerous thing. A grand spiral staircase leads to the second floor, which has been host to Victoria's room since she was just a young thing. It's the place where she stays whenever they come to this manor.

 

They finally make it into Victoria's bedroom. It's a large room, furnished with an oak vanity and a dark wooden bed. There are fairy lights strung up along the ceiling and silver candles sitting on the top of the dresser. Posters are peeling off the walls, and the whole room makes Victoria feel like she's a teenager again.

 

“Okay,” says Victoria, taking a deep breath. She walks over to the dresser and pulls open the top drawer. There's a small box inside—dark blue and tied shut with a red ribbon.

 

Matt asks, “Okay?”

 

“Okay,” repeats Victoria. “I have something for you. This is going to be a little strange because it's not actually for you. It's for you to give back to me.”

 

Matt laughs. “Okay. Why do I need to give it back to you?”

 

“Because that's just how this works. And you have to be honest with me, Matt. If you don't like it, just say so. It's not going to hurt my feelings,” says Victoria, but the lie lays heavy on her tongue. The truth is, it might crush her.

 

She continues, “You said something the other day, and it got me thinking. I love you. And if you want to always be mine, I want to always be yours.”

 

It was an impulse buy, not Victoria's first. It's still hard to wrap her mind around the fact that she isn't rich now. And yet, she doesn't regret this. She knows this is the right moment for the box to trade hands.

 

All the same, Victoria can't bring herself to look at his face. Instead, she stares firmly at the ribbon while it's being untied, at the lid of the box when it's pulled off and tossed onto the bed. She says, “Thank you for everything, Matt. Thank you for coming out here with me, and thank you for caring about me in the first place.”

 

“Of course I care about you,” snorts Matt. “I fucking love you, Tori.”

 

Then he glances down at the box. There's a moment of complete silence. It's stifling, crushing. Victoria feels like her heart is about to break out of her chest, like her skin is about to burst into flames. She's blushing so hard that the bridge of her nose is red, and the color bleeds out across her cheekbones and creeps down the sides of her neck.

 

Matt asks, “What is this?”

 

“It's for you to give back to me,” answers Victoria. “If you want to, I mean.”

 

Matt picks up the jewelry, holding it up so the silver chain links can catch on the light. It's simple enough, a silver chain with a hoop on one side, the only spark being the cursive his that's been carved into the hoop.

 

Her fiancé’s cheeks are burning. Matt's tongue runs over his bottom lips. For a moment, he just stands there looking at the anklet, not saying anything.

 

Time stretches out in a horrible sort of way. It seems to pass and stay stuck, all at once. Victoria asks, “Is that okay?”

 

“Is it okay? Victoria, this is…” Matt cuts himself off, not sure what word to go with. “This is something. Yeah. Shit, this is totally something.”

 

“Something good,” asks Victoria, “or something bad?”

 

“Something good,” answers Matt with a sharp nod of his head. “Something really, really good. This is…you want me to give it back to you?”

 

Victoria nods. She gives Matt a small, hesitant smile. “You could put it on me now, if you want.”

 

“You’re sure about this?”

 

“I am.”

 

“Fuck, Tori. This is a real fine piece of jewelry,” says Matt. “And damn, I love the thought of this. It's so true. You are totally mine.”

 

“Of course I'm yours,” says Victoria, and the words quell the pounding of her heart but only a little bit. “So, are you going to put it on me?”

 

“While we're at your parents?”

 

“Trust me, they aren't going to be looking that closely. Besides, we should be heading home in a few hours. We want time to ourselves, right?”

 

Matt laughs. The sound is loud and heady. “Wow, yeah. Yeah, that's right.”

 

“So,” prompts Victoria when nothing happens. “Are you going to put it on me?”

 

He's still laughing when he kneels down in front of Victoria, fingers stumbling and staggering over the latch of the anklet. Matt isn't used to handling something so delicate. It's strange, watching him try to get the latch and eye hooked together.

 

“Fuck,” says Matt. “This is going to look so great on you.”

 

“I look great on me,” says Victoria. “And I look great on you.”

 

The metal is cold against her bare ankle. Matt's fingers are warm, and the contrast is very noticeable. He presses a kiss to Victoria's knee, even though the fabric of her skirt is hanging down over it. “That's true. You know, I have to say, this is a pretty attractive view right now.”

 

He has to lean back a little bit to look Victoria in the eye. Her stomach isn't overly large—she's still only in her first term. It's noticeable, though, and Victoria flushes at the comment.

 

She says, “You don't mean that.”

 

“I do. You're so damn beautiful.”

 

She rests her hands on Matt's shoulders, painted red nails running lightly over the fabric of his black button down. It's the nicest thing that he owns, and Victoria is honored that he was willing to put it on for something like this.

 

Matt slides a hand up, under Victoria's skirt. His palm runs over the back of her calf, fingers ghosting up to brush against the hem of her pale blue panties. “Being here's shit, but I'm glad to spend the time with you.”

 

“Thank you for coming here,” says Victoria. “I didn't realize how much I needed to be here, to finish this off. Putting it to bed, it's a huge load off my chest.”

 

“I know,” says Matt. He palms Victoria's toned ass. Back when her parents ruled her life, she spent at least four hours a week doing yoga and other fitness exercises, for a fat princess was considered to be a bad princess.

 

Victoria's breath hitches in her throat. She glances over her shoulder, but the door is most certainly closed. “Mother would have a fit if she knew we did something like this up here.”

 

“Isn't that even more reason to do it?”

 

“Of course it is! I mean, if you wanted to?”

 

Matt laughs. “Baby, I always want to fuck you.”

 

Victoria's blush grows darker. She's still not used to things like this. The way Matt talks when they get busy—it sends electric jolts down her spine; it makes things feel dark, feel vibrant.

 

Victoria's fingers run over the back of Matt's neck and tangle in his perpetually messy hair. “Really?”

 

Matt looks up at her, grinning. “Really, Tori. All I have to do is look at those tits of yours, and I'm ready to go. Getting a chance to do something like this…Hell, I'd turn you over and fuck you in the park, if you'd let me.”

 

“The park?” Victoria squeaks. “There would be so many people around!”

 

“And everyone would get to see me bend you over the bench and pound that sweet pussy of yours. They'd get to see every last bit of you, and they would have to deal with the fact that they couldn't touch you.” Matt gives her ass another squeeze, rougher this time. His fingers tug at the leg of her panties, like he's debating on pulling them down right then and there.

 

Victoria smiles, but the tension is still wound tight in her muscles. The nerves are still biting at her fingers and digging into her heart. This is what she wants, utterly and completely. But she still can't shake the feeling that she's being watched. There's a part of Victoria that still considers her parents as the ultimate rulers, that still feels as though it's wrong to do something so outright disapproving of her parents here under their roof.

 

Thankfully, Matt doesn't have any such reservations. He laughs and pulls the panties down—not all the way, just enough so he can palm her bare ass. “Sweet cheeks, the things that I would do to you if only you'd let me.”

 

“I think I'd be willing to try almost anything,” says Victoria softly. “At least, anything that was with you.”

 

“You're just saying that. If you knew half the things I thought about...” Matt trails off, but he punctuates the ending of his comment with a sharp smack to Victoria's ass.

 

The Princess yelps. She takes a halting step forward but finds that there's nowhere to go. Matt is too close to her; he's too close for her to do much of anything.

 

The Princess is a sheltered soul. What she knows about sex has been learnt from Matt himself and from the videos posted on the internet. Truthfully, Victoria finds some of it is a little out there; it's a little bit daunting. But some of it, Victoria has watched with wide eyes and parted lips, wondering if that could one day be her, if it should one day be her.

 

And so, to hear that Matt has thought of such debauched things makes Victoria's heart flutter in the best sort of way, yet that's another story entirely, and something Victoria isn't quite certain she wants to bring up just now. Instead, she tugs at Matt's hair, trying to pull him closer to her. “Don't leave me hanging.”

 

“Pushy, aren't you?” Matt tugs and kneads at Victoria's ass cheeks and the backs of her thighs. He slips a finger between her crack, pressing lightly against her tight asshole. It's just for a moment, though, and then his hand goes farther, curving around to rub lightly at her clit.

 

Victoria moans, this low, breathy thing. She rakes her nails over the back of Matt's neck when he pinches at her swollen hood, tugging lightly at the sensitive skin. It's not painful, but it could be, and that's what makes this so thrilling.

 

Everything Matt does makes her heart pound harder and her blood race faster. Her lips part, breath coming in heavy pants. Matt circles her clit a few times, then slips the tip of his finger into her pussy; it's almost shamefully wet, and all she can think about is getting back home, getting somewhere in a space that’s totally their own.

 

“I can't wait to get out of here,” says Matt, voice rough with arousal. “I love you, Victoria. You're my everything. It's good to know I'm your everything, too.”

 

A second finger brushes against her wet cunt. Victoria spreads her legs a little farther, wondering if there's any chance of this actually happening. Wonders, hopes—such a strange thing, to hope without fear and to hope without worry of the ensuing fall.

 

“Back up,” orders Matt, slipping his hands away. “Up against the dresser.”

 

“Is it okay to do this right now?”

 

“Because of your parents, or because you're pregnant?”

 

“Either?” Victoria listens all the same, backing up so she's almost leaning against the dresser. The wood is cold against her bare ass.

 

Matt shuffles forward on his knees, and then he shoves his face between Victoria's thighs and gets to work.

 

It's not something the two have ever done before. To be honest, it's not something Matt's done with a lot of women. He sleeps around because it's fun and because he wants to. But those women, they're just bodies, just faces; they're tits and cunts and open holes, a way to get his kicks, to get a bit of stress relief.

 

Victoria's different.

 

She's the only one that has ever been this different.

 

She's the only one Matt doesn't just want but needs—craves like another hit, like the next drag, or like a drug that will never fade from his system. And so he does the only thing that comes to mind, and he spells the words I love you with his tongue.