Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 117: Sip of Ale

William was doing a fairly good job of holding on to his self control, so he thought. He was trying his best to breathe evenly through the overwhelming sensations caused by Camilla’s delicate hands as she touched and stroked him, despite feeling like he was surrounded by rising flames. Her hesitance and genuine innocence while trying so hard to please him were driving him mad.

But he was managing to hold on. His back pressed against the chamber’s oak door, he kept his eyes shut to better enjoy the exquisite touches and the feel of her lips on his throat.

That all changed when he felt something wet and hot against his bare flesh. Eyes popping open, he couldn’t see Camilla’s face in front of him any more. He looked down and was utterly shocked at the sight of his beautiful, ladylike, naive young betrothed, the subject of all his darkest fantasies for the past year, on her knees and licking him languidly from base to tip.

He didn’t even recognise the sound that tore from his throat as his legs threatened to completely give way under him. He had to be dreaming, he told himself desperately.

William felt her warm tongue slowly, slowly move upwards and heard her hum sweetly, "You must tell me if I’m doing this wrong, won’t you?"

Dear lord, was she actually serious? How could she think she was doing anything wrong when he felt like weeping from lust and fire? He gasped again and again.

"Holy fuck, yes, yes. Do that...oh yes!" William could hear himself babbling incoherently as he fisted her hair with both hands.

"So this is good?"

What an understatement. "Yes. This is...so, so incredibly good." He started to wheeze again, pulling at her loose hair.

Screwing his eyes shut again as he shuddered uncontrollably, William started to panic a little. If he didn’t stop her soon - very, very soon - then things were going to get somewhat messy. She probably wouldn’t know that, though.

He reached down to cup her face and gently pull her away with great reluctance, when she suddenly took the tip of him into her mouth and began to suck.

It was too much for him to hold on any longer. He actually yelled as her touch threw him over the edge of the cliff. He yelled from the shock and unrelenting pleasure as her mouth continued to draw him in and he saw flashing spots behind his closed eyes for what felt like an eternity.

William slumped against the door, the back of his head hitting so hard he almost knocked himself out cold. He couldn’t have cared less. Taking in great gulps of air, he quickly let go of her hair, hoping he hadn’t pulled out entire handfuls.

He looked down and saw Camilla still on her knees and staring back up at him, hair spilling all around her shoulders and eyes wide open with surprise. Her throat bobbed with the effort of swallowing and then she whispered with a question in her voice, "Perhaps I didn’t do that correctly." Her face was twisted slightly in confusion.

William started to laugh as he pulled her to her feet. Not for the first time, he found her innocence alluring. "No, you did it correctly. Trust me." His voice was hoarse as he quickly relaced his trousers with shaking hands and fastened his belt.

"Are you sure? You’re not just saying that to spare my feelings, are you?"

"For fuck’s sake, no. That was unbelievable. You’ll be the death of me." Still hoarse, William leaned forward to put his hands on his knees and tried to breathe in slowly. After a few moments, he pulled Camilla against him for a kiss, then thought better of it.

"Wait here." His gaze scanned the dimly lit presence chamber and fell upon a pitcher of ale near the couch. He moved quickly to pour a cup and then handed it to her. Camilla’s face was still scrunched up against what was obviously a peculiar taste in her mouth. "Drink." he told her.

Staring down at her as she took several sips of ale, William couldn’t resist asking any longer. "Who the hell told you...how did you know..."

"Bess told me." Camilla murmured, blushing pink.

"Bess? You mean Lady Taunsen?" William stared at her in disbelief. "Is this what you noble ladies spend your time talking about? I thought you just spoke about embroidery and other boring shit."

Camilla scowled at him, adorably flustered. "Of course we don’t sit around talking about these things! Bess just told me about this because, well, she’s my only married lady." She took another sip of ale and then admitted shyly, "Bess says that whenever she does...that, Archibald seems to agree with whatever suggestion she makes. So I thought I should try it."

William laughed and groaned in discomfort at the same time. "I may struggle to look Lord Taunsen in the eye next time our paths cross." He made a mental note to never underestimate a lady in future, since they were clearly a far more cunning species than he’d ever thought.

Camilla frowned. "I’m very aware that I don’t know how to do, well, anything really. But I want to be a good wife to you, so I asked Bess." The self doubt in her eyes made his heart hurt a little.

Those words finally allowed William to understand the doubts she carried. She was betrothed to someone with a reputation as a notorious womaniser and felt like she had no real control over whether he strayed or not. No wonder she was unsure around him.

"You will be the best of wives, but I don’t ever want you to do anything you don’t want to do, understand?" He pulled her to him and ran a finger down her cheek. "I’ll love you regardless. No other woman can hold a candle to you, not now and not ever."

She nodded and finally smiled, so he kissed her. After a few more kisses, he whispered good night and slipped out the doors.

Feeling overly relaxed and drowsy, William strolled to his own apartments, whistling a cheerful tune.

- - -

The next morning, he almost leapt out of bed with boundless energy. When his head page informed him that King Edward wished to speak to him urgently about some missives that needed preparing to several foreign courts, William was disappointed but knew he couldn’t shirk his responsibilities. Instead, he sent a young page to Camilla’s room with a bowl of fresh blackberries and the message that he’d see her before dinner.

Later that morning, William found himself at the archery butts with a few others. Prince Thomas eventually lumbered over, unshaven and with tired eyes.

"Ugh. What the hell happened to you, brother?" William asked, peering at him dubiously. "You look like a vagrant." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Shut up. I didn’t sleep well." Tom growled in reply. "Had an almighty quarrel with Eleanor last night. She accused me of whoring."

William sniggered as he lined up his next arrow, then released it. "Well, isn’t that the truth of what you do?"

Tom looked taken aback. "Yes, but she has no right to call me out about it, does she?" He sighed as he picked up a bow and started tightening the string.

"Still, perhaps it’s wise to be a bit less obvious about it? Try and keep the peace more." William suggested. "The two of you have a great many years left together. It would be good if not all of them were spent at each other’s throats, don’t you think?"

"I don’t know. Maybe." shrugged Tom as he yawned loudly. "I swear this marriage business is not for the faint of heart, Will. There’s very little reward in it."

William chuckled and shook his head.

Tom gave him a long look from the corner of his eye. "And why are you walking around looking so merry? Last I heard, Father had forbidden you from laying with your future wife before your wedding night."

William nodded agreeably and picked up another arrow. "Indeed he has. And I’m not lying with her." That was more or less the truth, wasn’t it?

"You never join us when we visit the bathhouses any more either. So what are you doing? Shouldn’t you be a suffering man these days?"

William laughed shortly at the description, his mind flicking to the previous night. "I can manage alright, Tom. There’s no need to worry about me."

"Well, I hate to disappoint you but there’s probably no point in pinning too many hopes on the wedding night either. Your bride is lovely to look at and all, but these noble girls know nothing. And I mean literally nothing about how to please a man between the sheets." Tom grumbled. "They’re far more trouble than they’re worth."

"I shall keep your words in mind then, brother." William murmured as he lined up another shot. Tom watched him with suspicion but said nothing more.