Page 24 of The King's Maiden
Unexpected event number two.
“The Round Tableau?”
He puffed up his chest proudly. “Our version of the Round Table.”
Having figured that much, I waited for him to tell me more.
He noticed my raised eyebrow and gave the same answer Kingston had. “You’ll see.”
Before I could press for more information, we reached a heavy wooden door flanked by two lit torches. A plaque with a gold rose adorned it. My escort pushed it open, standing aside to let me into the room.
Glancing behind me, I felt like Alice before she fell down the rabbit hole. On the other side of the door, a strange world waited. The golden and white room, alive with activity, sparkled against the empty and dimly lit corridor behind me.
Going through that door meant no turning back.
But the time for second thoughts had passed, so I crossed the threshold and went inside.
Eleven heads turned in my direction. The commotion in the room quieted. Everyone paused, their collective gaze passing over me.
And a second later, having assessed me as thoroughly as they needed, the noise and activity resumed. As if someone had pressed the play button on a remote control, their world spun on while I remained rooted in place. A blip in their regularly scheduled programming.
“You should get dressed.” My escort, with his eyes on the floor, nodded in the general direction of an empty vanity and quickly left the room.
I walked over to the mirror marked with my name, running my hand over the garment bags on the rack beside it. They were labeled with cards likeMaiden Luncheon, First Party,andKnights’ Quorum.I found the one labeledRound Tableauand pulled it free, hanging it beside the mirror to unzip it.
Unexpected event number three.
“Oh, you’vegotto be kidding me.”
The girl beside me laughed, propping her perfectly polished foot on the chair in front of her station. “What? You expected a nun’s habit or something?” She pulled a sheer stocking up her leg, settling the lace trim around her upper thigh. “A college guy owns us for thirty days. Skimpy lingerie is part of the deal, right?”
“Right.” I fingered the black bralette, rubbing the nylon meant to cover my nipple with the pad of my thumb. “Guess I figured they’d ease us into it.”
“I fucking hope not.” Fastening the strap of her black heels over stockinged foot, she stood at her full height and fluffed her blonde hair. Warm brown eyes met mine in the mirror. “Have you seen these guys? If I don’t end this night with at least three orgasms, I’ll be shocked.”
She threw in a lascivious wink, adjusting her cleavage in her black bustier.
I chuckled, finding it hard to disagree with her logic after the two run-ins I’d had so far. They hadn’t ended with orgasms, but they’d hardly been anticlimactic.
And my Knighthadchosen me.
If our chemistry was as instantaneous as with those two strangers, maybe I’d walk away after thirty days with my debt clearedandmy lady spank bank chock-full of spicy memories. That’d be ideal, attached as I was to the idea of avoiding committed relationships like the plague.
Assuming he wasn’t Landon Scott, the guy who’d done a good deed in the King’s name but sounded like a total dick, then it could be a sexual awakening to keep me satisfied for years to come.
A girl could dream, right?
I vowed to go into tonight with an open mind.
Glancing around, I removed the lingerie from its hanger. Confident no one was paying attention, I slipped my dress to my waist and turned my left side away from the room. I put on the bralette quickly and tugged it down.
The scar on my side was still red and angry, despite my doctor claiming the incision healed well. Maybe it always would be. I still felt raw and furious over the cause. It seemed only right that my scar would be, too.
Having to explain the required bits of my trauma that came with my scar to my Knight was one thing. A room full of perfectly unblemished females in sexy lingerie? No, thanks.
After swapping out my simple black thong for the lacy and very cheeky bikini panties included in the set, I covered myself with a black silk robe. Pulling on the sheer thigh high stockings next was easy, but the final piece, I wasn’t sure what to do with it.
As I flipped it over and around, searching for a tag or some kind of instruction manual, the Maiden beside me took pity on me.
