Eugene glowered at the half-consumed candle on the nightstand and turned to face the darkness again. The idea of sneaking out was quashed before it was even fully formed. He would not abandon Rapunzel.
After the introduction, Rapunzel and Eugene had been escorted into a sitting room. Rapunzel's parents rejoiced in their daughter's return, assailing her with hugs and questions. Occasionally they would break to effusively thank their daughter's 'friend' for rescuing her.
The difference in status hadn't been so jarring until the King and Queen uttered that word - 'friend'. Of course - to them the poor commoner Eugene Fitzherbert must have been nothing more than a former thief who nearly hung at the gallows before having the good fortune to rescue the lost princess.
Rapunzel must have noted it, too, but said nothing. She had been all smiles until it became clear that her parents had no idea of Eugene as a match for their daughter.
He'd be an honored guest the castle, he'd be officially pardoned for his crimes and there was even a passing mention of granting him a title, but marry the princess? He'd been a fool.
Now he lay in bed, feeling impotent, his brooding interrupted by the sound of the door opening. He sat up in alarm but relaxed upon seeing Rapunzel enter.
Rapunzel muted the click of the handle with her hands. Rapunzel's nightdress fluttered behind her as her bare feet tiptoed across the room. She stopped by the nightstand, seemingly hesitant to intrude on Eugene.
Eugene did not have night clothes and the night air was so warm that sleeping dressed had seemed pointless. A thin sheet was now the only thing that covered his nakedness. Eugene admonished himself for his state of undress and for his wanton admiration of Rapunzel's silhouette against the light.
Eugene shifted his eyes down to his hands as Rapunzel perched herself on the edge of the bed, 'Hi'.
'Hello'.
'Eugene,' she began after a pause, 'I'm so sorry I said nothing about us to my parents.'
'Oh, Rap-'
'No, I should have said something. Come morning, I will tell them. I'm glad to have found them, but I will not be their heir if they refuse to accept us being together.'
'Rapunzel, you can't possibly know what you're saying. Take it from me, being a commoner isn't always easy. You can't give up your birthright just for me.'
'I told you before, you are my new dream. Without you it would be like exchanging one tower for another. I won't - not ever again.'
Rapunzel planted a kiss on his lips before Eugene could contradict her again.
Their kiss in the tower had been chaste and experimental, but the insistence with which Rapunzel pressed her mouth into Eugene's made his heartbeat quicken in spite of his history. Rapunzel's lips conveyed not her innocence nor naiveté, but her refusal to be denied a life again. The intoxicating taste and heat of Rapunzel's mouth fogged over Eugene's every argument until his consciousness could concentrate only on drinking her essence.
Rapunzel pulled out of the kiss and settled next to him, wrapping her arms about his shoulders and nuzzling her face into his neck. Eugene laid his hand on her hip, kneading at her flesh, almost hissing when he realized she was wearing nothing beneath the thin nightdress.
He felt his stomach lurch as he realized his manhood was beginning to harden. In a most counter-intuitive move, he lifted Rapunzel's face up to kiss her again, telling himself that it would distract her from noticing the sheet over his groin bulging up.
Self-indulgent impulse convinced him into thinking a slow, deliberate kiss was the answer to controlling his increasing lust. Eugene dragged his tongue on her lips, coaxing them to part, memorizing every crevice. He lapped at her lips once more before using the slickness to slip his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss.
Rapunzel gasped but clamped her arms around his neck that much harder.
Eugene pulled back to take a breath. His eyes opened and were awarded with the sight of Rapunzel's flushed face still angled up, expectant to resume their kiss - eyes closed, lips rosy and wet. Rapunzel let out a shuddering sigh in anticipation. The breath felt cool against the layer of sweat gathering on Eugene's skin, interrupting his reverie. Equally anxious to continue, he dove back into Rapunzel's lips, checking his need to quicken the kiss by increasing the pressure.
To Eugene's chagrin (though not to his surprise), delaying his ministrations was not enough to stave off his arousal. His erection was throbbing and now prodding at his stomach. He was in agony, his breathing becoming increasingly ragged.
Absorbed in the kiss, Rapunzel began to run her hands up and down Eugene's chest. A low groan escaped Eugene and he seized Rapunzel's wrist.
Rapunzel's mouth separated from Eugene's with a wet smack. Brow furrowed, Rapunzel turned to look at her wrist in his hand and back to his face, the last thing he needed.
Eugene wondered whether it was his perverse imagination projecting his lust onto her face. He'd never seen her look so savage; her brown locks were mussed (fault of his roving hands), her pupils were dark with mischief and she was panting. Her chest swelled in sync with each intake of breath, making it all the more noticeable the way the fabric of the nightdress clung to the perspiration on her skin, outlining her breasts.
Eugene undulated his hips in an almost involuntary motion to find some release. The movement caught Rapunzel's attention. Eugene shut his eyes as if it would keep Rapunzel from seeing his shame.
He wasn't sure what to expect, already forming profuse apologies in his head. Instead of having ask forgiveness, he was shocked to feel Rapunzel free her hand from his grasp, find the hem of the sheet and fold it down and expose him.
His eyes snapped open, just in time to see his cock twitch and leave a streak of fluid on his abdomen.
Eugene flinched in embarrassment, but looked back to see Rapunzel bite her lower lip and meet his gaze. She turned to Eugene's crotch again and dropped her hand to play with the tendrils of hair at his groin.
With her other hand, Rapunzel reached for one of Eugene's, who now realized he had been gripping the bed sheets. Rapunzel lowered Eugene's hand to his cock and whispered, 'Show me.'
Eugene could hardly believe his own daring when he actually rubbed his palm on the tip to spread the fluid, then gripped and began to tug at his member.
Rapunzel looked on in rapt fascination, all the while caressing his thigh, feeling his muscles flex with each movement.
Eugene threw his head back and moaned through gritted teeth. He shifted his unfocused gaze upon Rapunzel, 'Kiss me.'
Rapunzel obliged, taking his face into her hands and bestowing him with the fervent kiss that he'd been depriving from himself moments ago. Eugene plunged one hand into Rapunzel's hair and began pumping into the other in earnest.
The kiss became clumsier with Eugene's writhing. Rapunzel's open-mouthed kisses landed on Eugene's mouth as well as his unshaven jaw, but she found pleasure even in his moaning against her mouth and the scrape of his stubble.
Rapunzel heard the beating of his fist growing faster. She was finally forced to separate from him and settle for watching as the intensity of his orgasm shook through him.
The hand that had been in Rapunzel's hair moved to massage his own chest. Eugene's head and shoulders dug into the pillows, his back arched and his buttocks rose from the mattress. His seed shot into the air before landing on his chest and face as he relaxed back to a reclining position.
Rapunzel watched the creamy, white rivulets trickle down Eugene's heaving chest, catching at the hair. The heat in her belly compelled her to reach for him again. She turned his face to the side and darted her tongue out to taste at the droplets that had landed there.
'It's salty,' she murmured against his skin. Eugene chuckled, since regardless Rapunzel continued to suckle his face clean while rubbing at the liquid on his chest, mixing it with his sweat.
Eugene seized her lips again. The taste of himself in her mouth was enough to send another jolt of desire down to his loins.
Rapunzel kissed her way down his neck to his chest, lapping at the salty, drying residue, clamping down on Eugene's nipple.
Rapunzel's tongue felt silky and the heat of it pierced his chest right through to his heart. Eugene moaned. His eyes were heavy, the candle was burning low.
He slid lower down the bed and heard Rapunzel giggle, 'It's fine, sleep. We'll be together, I promise.' She leaned down to kiss him, 'And I never break my promises.'
Eugene could only smile, too tired to protest as he heard her slip out of the room.
Eugene's windows faced east. His eyes opened and beheld the light of the sunrise illuminating the room.
He must have slept only for a few hours, but he felt well-rested. He nearly believed it a dream, but he felt the dry tightness of the crust from the night's exertions as he stretched. Eugene touched his chest, grinned and huffed.
Eugene rose and went to the table across the room and poured some water from a pitcher into a basin. He washed his face and moistened a towel to wipe his chest and crotch clean.
As he dressed, he could not help but wonder whether Rapunzel would actually be able to convince her parents to allow her to marry a thief. He walked across to the window, which overlooked the palace gardens, thinking only of the stark contrast of the magnificence and his own commonplace appearance.
He spied three figures walking below, surprised to see Rapunzel with her parents out already. Rapunzel seemed to be imploring something of them, but she was hushed by a gesture of her mother. He felt darkness sink on him; he could only imagine the Queen shushing Rapunzel meant refusal. The Queen embraced her daughter, to comfort her, Eugene assumed.
But upon being released from her mother's arms, Rapunzel laughed - the joy in her face was unmistakable - and in turn embraced both her parents.
Rapunzel turned towards Eugene's window and smiled rapturously. Certain she could see him, he could only smile back.
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