Page 12 of Captive Bride

He does it so that I look like the Capulet princess that I am.

Thelma comes over to me and takes a seat. She can see that I’m slightly drunk.

“Baby, you need to be careful. You’re drinking too much and not eating enough. You don’t want your father to see you acting sloppy, do you?”

I defiantly look her in the eyes and take a deliberate drink of my champagne.

“I don’t care what he thinks anymore, Thelma. He’s married me away to another man, a monster. That man’s my new jail keeper, not him.”

She pushes a piece of cake towards me and says, “Eat. You need to have something in your stomach.”

I reluctantly take the fork and dig into my own engagement party cake. It has a thick layer of icing, and I can’t say it’s a bad thing. Then, she pushes some strawberries towards me because she knows I like to eat those with my champagne.

I have a look around the room.

“So, have you met anybody interesting tonight, Thelma?”

“You know me, I have my eye on several men,” she says pointing to a couple of guys across the room.

Everyone loves Thelma. She has a social attitude and a way of making people feel at ease. That and she also loves to have sex...like a lot.

She’s not in captivity like I am, so she goes out almost every night.

Like I said, I have to live vicariously through her life.

“They’re cute, kind of,” I say honestly.

“You know I don’t care about cute. I want a man, a real man,” she says laughing.

I push the cake around on my plate and eat a strawberry. It helps. My mind is starting to steady a little bit.

A big pair of hands slides over my shoulders.

I spin around to see who it is and to my total dismay, I realize it’s him.

“Isobel, my soon-to-be bride, my fiancé—are you having a good time at the party?” he says to me.

I shy away from his touch and say, “Yes, of course. Everything’s just fine.”

He leans down and kisses my cheek. I smell the alcohol and cigars on his breath.

Every part of my body is saying run away, just get out of here.

He leans in close and whispers in my ear, “I’m extremely excited to make you my wife. Mostly because the wedding night will be mine, my time to deflower that virgin pussy of yours. And let me just tell you—you better be a fucking virgin.”

He says the words, and I feel like crying.

Yes, I’m a fucking virgin. But I didn’t save it this long for a guy like him.

Again, the image of my fantasy guy, the man I’ve been dreaming about since I was young, flashes across my mind. I think I’ll never get to see him or know him.

It’s all just in my head. The reality of having to marry the Governor is smashing down on my shoulders.

Thelma is looking at me like she’s concerned. She realizes that I’m in deep trouble with this guy. He’s mean, and if he turns out to be meaner than my father, I don’t know what I’ll do.

All I can hope is that I’m allowed to have Thelma come with me.

If she doesn’t move with me to the Governor’s mansion, I’ll truly be lost.

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