The Sultan's Bride (7 page)

It did not take much longer
for the Sultan to notice too. ‘You’re looking lovely today,’ he would say to her
whenever he saw her and watch for the blush to spread across her white skin,
grinning at the affect he could have on a teenage girl.

He would laugh to himself,
she was far too young for him to be interested in but as the years passed his
attentions became more focussed and she would catch him sometimes gazing at
her, his eyes roaming her body that made her as uncomfortable as she was
flattered.

All the while she teased
Arif
, and by the age of sixteen would use her body to tempt
him while refusing to sleep with him.

‘Don’t tease me Catherine,’
he would say, pouting. 

‘Your mother told me I must
be a virgin on our wedding night. I dare not give myself to you yet,’ she would
say. 

His father would not commit
to their marriage. ‘I always said one day you two would be wed, I will decide
the right time
Arif
, now is not the time.’

‘When will be the right time
Father?’
Arif
would ask but never receive an answer.

When
Arif
discovered the hidden corridor that led to her room she was not sure how to
feel and when he came to her room one night she laughed when he touched
her.  ‘Do you not take me seriously?’ he asked.

 ‘I love you touching
me,’ she said, ‘We just need to be so very careful, I love you
Arif
, I do not want to ruin everything.’

‘And I love you,’ he said.

 ‘If you were found here
we would both be in so much trouble,’ she said. Then he kissed her and it was
not like any of the other kisses they had shared.  As his lips trailed
down her neck, his hands roamed her body, pinching her nipples through her thin
nightgown before his lips brushed them.

She sighed. ‘
Arif
you must stop.  We must not go too far’

‘We will not make love but
the servant girl I have been spending time with has been teaching me how to
give pleasure to a woman, I would like to do the same to you.’

Catherine sat upright. 
‘You have been with a servant girl?’ she asked. 

‘Only so she could teach me
my love, my father called it a lesson I needed to learn if I am to keep my
future wives happy.’

‘Wives?’ she asked, tears
welling in her eyes. 

‘I will need a harem once I
am Sultan, you will be my Sultana though, my first and will have the same
freedoms my mother has.’  Catherine pouted and
Arif
ran one finger up her thigh making her gasp.

‘
Arif
you cannot do this, I do not want you to see this servant girl anymore,’ she
said, ‘No other wives but me either.’

‘If it is what makes you
happy my love,’ he said grinning, his hands growing bolder, pushing her shift
up her thighs.

‘I mean it
Arif
,’ she said pushing him away. ‘If you continue with this
servant girl then you cannot be near me.’

‘Catherine,’ he said with a
whine, ‘My father expects me to, it is to gain experience with women as he says
by the time I become Sultan I must be a good lover, someone the harem women
wish to share a bed with.’

Not since she was eight had
Catherine thought of
Arif
having a harem of his
own.  At the thought of sharing him her heart ached and she pulled her
shift back over her legs.  ‘Go away
Arif
, I am
not in the mood for you now.  I don’t want to share.’

‘Soon you will be mine and
have no choice.  When I am Sultan I will have many wives and you will just
be one of them.’  He took her hand in his and yanked hard, pulling her
towards him and causing her to cry out in pain.

‘I will have you Catherine
and any time I want, you will be at my beck and call and you will do whatever I
tell you to do.’

Shaking her head in defiance
she pulled her hand away.  ‘Get out
Arif
before
I call for help and alert someone to your presence. ‘

Knowing his father would
discipline him for being in her bedroom
Arif
left,
looking over his shoulder as he closed the door at the angry young woman
sitting on the bed.

Swinging her legs over the
side of the bed, Catherine pushed her feet into the silken slippers on the
floor beside.  Still angry at her confrontation with
Arif
she was determined to speak to the Sultan about his behaviour.

‘I can’t marry him if he is
to keep a harem,’ she said to herself trying to steel herself for a face to
face meeting with a man who could be so sweet and gentle and yet order
residents of the palace to be punished. 

‘He will understand. 
Perhaps he will tell
Arif
there will be no harem and
that he should be contented with me,’ she whispered as she walked along the
corridor to the Sultan’s rooms.

The guards paid no attention
as she went down the hallway.  
Arif
and
Catherine had sneaked out after bedtime for several years now going where they
wanted within the palace and as they usually got what they wanted it was less
painful to ignore them than get into trouble for denying them.

A gentle knock on the
Sultan’s door yielded no answer and Catherine took a deep breath before turning
the handle on the door and pushing.

On the far side of the room
she saw the Sultan, completely oblivious to her entrance and a woman from the
harem.  She was dressed in a translucent shift, the curves of her body
visible through the fabric and the Sultan was slowly lifting the shift from her
body, relishing the sight of her, a look of pure lust on his face.

The woman was beautiful, she
had long brown hair not entirely dissimilar to Catherine’s but her skin was
bronzed as if it had been kissed by the sun from head to toe.  Beneath the
shift she wore nothing and Catherine could not help but stare at her small but
perfect breasts, nipples facing up as if to greet the Sultan.

Briefly she wondered if her
own body was as beautiful, her eyes not shifting from the perfect body in front
of her, the Sultan completely mesmerised by it.  ‘Most beautiful Eve, you are
most enchanting.’

Eve looked down at her feet
and the Sultan touched her breasts, caressing them before bending to take a
nipple in his mouth.  Catherine moved behind a pillar, terrified of being
seen but not wanting to leave.

He moved his mouth, his
tongue across her breasts as she threw her head back in surrender to the
feeling.  His hand moving between her legs, he pried them open before
pushing his fingers into her.

‘Oh my Eve you are so wet
already, so ready for me.’  Bending her over the bed Catherine could see
him stroking Eve, murmuring endearments, before removing his robe.

Catherine clamped her hand
across her mouth to stop herself from gasping at the sight of the Sultan, erect
and ready for Eve.  He ran his hand up and down his cock before turning to
Eve and pushing into her.

He thrust in and out and
Catherine felt a dull throb between her legs she had not ever felt before
finding herself wondering what it felt like to have the Sultan deep
inside.  Slowly she backed out of the room, opening the door as quietly as
she could before slipping back into the corridor.

Rushing back to her room she
locked the door and climbed back into bed.  The throbbing was not
relenting and all she could think about was the sight of the Sultan, naked,
erect, and ready.

Guilt washed over her as she
thought of
Arif
but the Sultan was in her head. 
Her hand reached between her legs and she found herself wet.  Remembering
the Sultan’s words to Eve she whispered to the empty room, ‘I’m ready for you
my Lord, I’m ready.’

Stroking herself she soon
found what felt good and closed her eyes, picturing the Sultan and his
experienced hands touching her and bringing her to climax.  Her eyes flew
open and she groaned loudly as her first orgasm hit her, the throb between her
legs turning into a tightening of her stomach.

Panting she pulled her shift
down and closed her eyes again, drowsy and ready to sleep.  Dreaming of
the day when she shared the bed of the man she loved.

In the evenings she would
dine with the Sultan,
Arif
and Irina.  Although
Catherine thought of her parents often, this was now her family.  The
Sultan spoiled Catherine as if she was his own daughter.  Nothing was ever
refused her and she had her choice of clothes from the beautiful fabrics his
people made.

She was now more aware of the
Sultan paying attention to her, sometimes she could feel his gaze on her,
looking up to find he was talking to Irina and she felt sure she was imagining
things.

Inevitably the conversation would
turn to the betrothal of Catherine and
Arif
which the
Sultan continued to delay.

‘Be patient,’ the Sultan
would say, ‘
The
pair of you are young enough that you
can wait a while longer.  There is no rush.’

They had enjoyed many
conversations in recent years.  The Sultan’s love of books was exceeded
only by Catherine’s and they had shared much time together going through new
additions to the library as the Sultan had new reading material sent from
England and other countries.

As comfortable as she had
always been in the palace, after seeing the Sultan with Eve there was now
something about the Sultan that made her heart beat faster. 
Arif
was fun to be around, the responsibility of the palace
was years away for him but the Sultan was always in charge and never let anyone
forget it.

While they shared their sense
of humour her intellect impressed him the most and they would debate all kinds
of things in his chambers, often to the bemusement of
Arif
who just wanted the girl who would be his to find fun things to do.  The
Sultan would often joke that when
Arif
became Sultan
it would be Catherine who would rule and while he found that funny it usually
resulted in
Arif
sulking.

All too soon it was her
eighteenth birthday.  The day itself was lovely.  She had been given
jewellery and books and had lunch with the Sultan, Irina and
Arif
as a family.  Wistfully she thought of her
parents and hoped they were proud of the woman she had become.

The Sultan had been promising
a big surprise for her birthday so being summoned in the evening to the
Sultan’s private rooms came as no shock.  Catherine thought that this
would be the evening that her betrothal to
Arif
would
be announced and she was happy as she walked the corridor leading to his room.

The guard smiled as she
walked past before lowering his eyes again.  Entering the room she
immediately realised there was no one there.  Puzzled, she looked
around.  ‘Hello?’ she said softly.

‘Catherine,’ a voice said as
the Sultan revealed himself, ‘I am glad you are here.’  He walked towards
her until he was standing right in front of her.  She shivered a little;
the Sultan was a very impressive man.  The memory of seeing him naked
brought a blush to her
cheeks,
it always did in his
presence.

 ‘My Lord,’ she said,
dropping to her knees as was the custom.  He put his hand under her chin,
a look in his eye she had not seen before. 

‘Beloved, please stand. 
It is time to discuss your future amongst other things.’

Excited she stood keeping her
eyes lowered.  ‘Have you any new books for the library My Lord?’ she
asked, ‘I do look forward to our discussions.’

Raising her chin in his hand
so his eyes looked into hers he smiled at her.  ‘I have decided my love
that tonight you will share my bed, tomorrow we will be wed and you will join
my harem.’

She looked at him blankly and
he continued, answering the question that would have been considered
impertinent to ask.  ‘I know you and
Arif
are
close and thought that you would perhaps wed in the future but I am in need of
more children to ensure I have an heir, more boys and I believe that you were
sent to me for just this purpose.’

Catherine wanted to shrink
back, away from him but knew if she did she would be punished.  She wanted
to scream, ‘I wasn’t sent, you brought me here for
Arif
,’
but knew it would be no good.  Accepting her fate would be hard, there was
no choice in the matter and she would never be able to be with
Arif
now.

She had dreamed of the Sultan
bedding her after that night she had seen him with Eve but now it was going to
happen and her head spun at the thought.

All thoughts of how handsome
the Sultan was went from her head, a wave of nausea gripped her but she fought
it back.  As fascinated as she had been at the thought of being bedded by
the Sultan the future she had planned for was gone.  The dreams she had
previously had about him all ran through her mind and she wondered briefly if
she was being punished by some unseen being for thinking of her future father
in law that way.