The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 56
A/N: I have another original chapter for you all. This is set in normal time, so not like the interlude. Enjoy some Nine/Rhea action with bits and pieces of smut throughout :)
Replies to Reviews:
DoctorWho9: I know, it was quite the emotional chapter :( Poor Doctor and poor Rhea.
beulah2013: Hopefully you like the oneshot! This is kind of heavy, but it will be heavy for awhile until we get to the big climax where the Doctor and Rhea finally get together :( I didn't leave Lee out purposely, I usually only write the scenes with the Doctor or the companions. But, yeah, he existed. As to when Rhea taught River, it would have to be sometime after Let's Kill Hitler. She was very young and she was just getting used to not thinking of the Doctor and Rhea as enemies and she admired Rhea's fighting skills and Rhea offered to teach her. I may write a oneshot based on that, actually.
TimeladyAlly: I have sworn to never divulge what River said to Rhea at least until it comes up in a chapter.
Rockout101: Rose will be sometime soon after I do Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords, which will be coming up very soon.
grapejuice101: I'm a master at that (no pun intended) :) I'm glad you liked the ending.
NicoleR85: Happy New Year! Yeah, not for awhile, actually it'll put Rhea back on the defensive for awhile. Everything for their relationship is quite topsy-turvy. She'll sleep with him before she starts to let him in, unfortunately. All of that normal relationship stuff comes after they have sex for the first time.
DRWfangirl: He met her somewhere on Gallifrey. Pre-Classic Who. I don't know if I'll get to Classic Who because New Who's still going strong and there's so much of that left. We'll have to see. As for what River whispered into Rhea's ear, she has killed before, but I won't confirm whether that's what River whispered or not. Happy New Year!
Ain'tEasyBeingBreezy: Hope you like this chapter! I might write that interlude soon.
Guest: Thank you so much!
Guest 2: That's totally fine! Happy New Year! I'm so glad you like Rhea so much. She's definitely my baby and I can't wait to do The Doctor's Wife, a lot of flirting and sexual innuendo between the three. The perfect threesome ;) I love Amy too and I want her back, but the next episode with 11 is a Clara episode, unfortunately :( But soon, I promise.
Serendipity898: Yeah, she's spent the last six years being like a wall of stone and then there's this woman who's so obviously in love with her that she's willing to die for her and it breaks her heart because she didn't think she didn't deserve that kind of sacrifice and she treated her so badly on her last day in the universe. I'm glad you like Rhea so much, I was kind of unsure whether people would sympathise with her or not, but I'm glad you do. I haven't actually watched any of Classic Who, so I would have to watch all of it and then write it. That's why I think it'll be a long time, if I even end up doing it. I may only do some of the more important episodes in Classic Who if I ever end up getting to it. Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords will be coming soon and I have an interesting relationship planned for the Master and Rhea, I suspect they'll be like bickering siblings with the occasional torture, because we can't have a nice Master and a sweet Rhea. I'm so glad you like the story so much and hope you like this update :)
LookAliveSunshine03: Yep, you can't beat it. It's such a Doctor/Rhea thing to do. I'm so glad you liked it. Ever since I had this story in mind and I watched Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, I've imagined Rhea threatening River :) If there is one thing I am sure about in this story, or at least 95% sure is that I don't have any plans for Rhea to be pregnant as for all of the episodes until the end of season 8. If I get an opportunity in the future episodes to make her pregnant, I might, but there's some twists in her backstory that prevent her from getting pregnant easily.
Marmalade1512: Oh, don't worry, honey. Take your time. I rejoice in every single review I receive. I don't really care when I get 'em. I updated during the holidays because it was a sort of anniversary for the story and I'm Hindu, so we don't really do anything for Christmas and stuff, so I really had nothing much to do. I know, the best part is the suspense, I'm dreading the chapter where I finish filling in all of the blanks because then there's nothing left :(
Audrie-13: Thank you so much! I really did like writing the ending!
XBloodMageRikaX: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like my characterisation of the DW characters and Rhea's development. I know, she can be a bit annoying with the way she goes about the Doctor's feelings for her, but that's the kind of person she is. She masks her emotions under those shallow innuendos and flirting because she's not willing to put herself out there and get hurt again. When you find out exactly what happened to her in her past, I think (at least, I hope) you'll understand why she does some of the things she does to the Doctor. She's not trying to hurt him on purpose, she just doesn't know what else to do without getting hurt. I'm so glad you liked the story so far and it's great I've made you like it so much :) Hopefully, you like this chapter too!
Warnings: Swearing, sexual language, misogyny, sexual imagery.
Wife of Brimstone and Steel
The Doctor walked back over to Rhea, who was standing in the middle of a large crowd, sipping from a goblet of wine, as the young teenage prince chatted her up. The Doctor's face darkened and he stormed over, pushing past the throngs of people until he was able to wrap an arm around Rhea's waist and pull her into his side.
"Okay?" He muttered into her hair, his hand resting, possessively, on her side.
"Get me out of here." Rhea said through gritted teeth and fake, teeth baring smile.
A smirk played on the Doctor's lips. "I thought you were enjoying yourself?"
Rhea was not impressed and her face showed it. "So now he's a funny alien?" She muttered under her breath, making her grin down at her. "The kid's like fifteen. That's just wrong. I'd be a freaking paedophile. Or a cougar." She grimaced. "Can we leave yet?" She asked, urgently.
"It would be rude." The Doctor pointed out. "This party's in our honour."
Rhea stared at him. "You're screwing with me, aren't you?" She said, flatly.
"Yep." The Doctor grinned. "But we'll have to wait until the queen shows up. Then, we can leave."
Rhea huffed, but said no more. They stood around, awkwardly, as the people milled around them, tossing up all sorts of irrelevant and trivial questions to the couple who had successfully managed to subdue the rebellion and save their kingdom form the brink of revolution.
Suddenly, there was a blaring of music, much louder than before, and the crowd parted, revealing a tall thin woman with a pinched face and noticeable wrinkles. She wore a heavy gown, studded with jewels, and a large diamond choker around her thin, stick-like neck. The Doctor tightened his grip around Rhea's waist and both of them pasted identical, fake smiles on their face. But the Doctor's eyes betrayed his trepidation. The history of this planet named a selfish race and an even more selfish royalty, with only care for how to gain more power. The fate of the whole of Temarin rested in the decisions of a queen who had driven three husbands to suicide or prison and was busy looking for a fourth, and a prince who was busy making lustful eyes to a woman who was a good decade older than her.
The queen stopped once she stood in front of them. She smiled at them, sickly. "I am very pleased to see you at this ball. It is in your honour for everything you have done for us." She said.
The Doctor nodded. "We are very honoured that you chose to repay us in this manner." He mustered as much cheer as possible.
"And there is a further honour I have yet to bestow on you. In particular, you, Sunehri." The queen's smile turned sly as she turned her head to look at Rhea, who tensed. "I have decided to make you my daughter-in-law. My son will be very blessed and shall be a great king upon my death if he has you as his wife." She sighed.
Rhea's and the Doctor's eyes widened. Rhea turned to look at the Doctor, terror and worry etched across her face, making her look much younger than she really was. The Doctor tightened his hands on Rhea, his gaze turning possessive and warning as they searched and found the prince, who was standing at his mother's side, his face proud and triumphant and his eyes raking up and down Rhea's lithe body. The Doctor cursed under his breath. He knew he should have made sure that she wore something that covered her – delicious – body.
He resisted the urge to growl, when the prince's eyes settled in the vicinity of Rhea's chest.
"Oh, this is so not funny." Rhea snapped when she saw a smile crack on the Doctor's face.
The Doctor had to admit that there was something extraordinarily beautiful about Rhea when she was angry. Her green eyes seemed to darken and flash and her mouth… No, if I start thinking about her mouth, I'm gonna have other problems.
"It's a little bit, you have to admit." The Doctor said, smirking. "I bet you thought you had gone past the prepubescent boys panting after you."
Rhea groaned, her head falling back onto the wall. "I'm twenty-seven. The prince has gotta be around fifteen. If I marry him, I'll probably be registered as a sex offender." She pouted.
The Doctor shook his head. This wasn't exactly her fault. Even he had to admit that, as much as he didn't want to. Rhea never set out to seduce people unless she thought it would benefit her in some way. And she hadn't done it recently. She was beautiful and it was obvious to people. She was just unconcerned about her beauty. It was there, it didn't affect her in the least, she was utterly indifferent to it.
But what surprised him the most was that she assumed that she would have to get herself out of this mess. Didn't Rhea realise that I'd move heaven and earth to protect her? Sunehri Adwani belongs to me, not some hormone crazed teenager wanting to dip his wick into a real woman.
"Can you get me out of here or not?" Rhea raised an eyebrow.
The Doctor snorted. "You mean you don't want to be the queen of Temarin?" He looked around at the lavishly decorated bedchamber that the queen had stuffed them into. It was the most luxurious jail cell that the Doctor or Rhea had been placed inside. The prince wasn't interested in forcing Rhea into marriage. He was just trying to get the point across that she didn't have another choice.
Rhea's shoulders slumped. "How can you even ask me that? Oh, dear, what am I going to do?" She said, huffily. The Doctor opened his mouth and Rhea cut him off, knowing what he was about to say. "I was not flirting." She growled. "I don't care what you say. I don't lead people on, at least, I try my hardest. And I did not do it this time."
The Doctor tucked a wayward curl behind her ear, affectionately, one of his fingers stroking down her cheek. "The queen wanted to reward us for saving them from war and she noticed how the prince seemed to eye you like a piece of meet. She put two and two together and came up with fifty-five." He said, dryly.
"So, why don't you marry him?" Rhea asked, triumphantly.
The Doctor snorted. "He's not my type." He paused, a sinking feeling in his stomach twisting his intestines, painfully. "Are you sure you don't want to consider? He's young. You could lead him around by his dick and he'd be none the wiser. You'd have every one of your whims catered to, every one of your desires attended to. Clothes, jewellery, food, everything." He asked, hesitantly.
"Are you suggesting I use my feminine wiles and sexual prowess to some untoward purpose?" Rhea asked, seductively. The strength and seemed to be captured inside her bright and fiery eyes.
"I think you should be able to get what you want for once in your life." The Doctor said, quietly.
Rhea pushed herself off the wall and stepped into his personal space, her hands dragging down his chest, as she tipped her head back, her lips parting and her eyes burning.
"I'm pretty sure you have a more intimate knowledge of what I want than just that, Doctor." She purred, her hands sliding up his chest until she curled them around the back of his neck.
The Doctor swallowed hard when he heard Rhea's panicking voice dropping into its normal seductive range, full of wicked promise and warm lust. He was suddenly very much aware of her. Her eyes were bright green and blazed, wildly. Her hair seemed to shine and curl, gently, around her face. Her lips were full and painted with deep red lipstick, contrasting nicely against her sun-kissed skin. Her arms and legs were toned and slender and looked silky-smooth against his leather jacket. He could smell the jasmine from her hair and the traces of musk and rose from her skin.
"And that would mean leaving you and I have no intention to do anything like that just yet." Rhea continued, blithely, brushing back her hair.
The Doctor's hearts spluttered, simultaneously, the beats increasing to a unnerving rhythm of thumping, practically leaping out of his throat. Her hands fell to her hips and he felt that all-consuming wave of pride he always felt for her hit him, sending him reeling.
"Now, make this stop. Make them stop right now." Rhea said, dangerously.
The Doctor cracked a smile. "You are one scary lady."
Rhea smirked. "You got that right, biker boy." She crooned, looking very pleased with him and herself.
The Doctor nodded, sighing. "All right. I'll figure something out. But we have to be very delicate about this. Turning down a crown prince and a queen who were just seconds away from waging war on a group of dissidents can be very dangerous."
Rhea growled low in her throat. "He's a child compared to me. They can't have thought I'd say yes."
"He's a spoilt little brat who's been given everything he wants by his mother. And, right now, he wants you. That means his mother will give you to him by any means necessary." The Doctor said, darkly.
Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Well, I don't want him." She said, flatly, her voice brooking no argument. She crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't care what it takes. I have to get out of it. Whatever it takes. Find a way!"
The Doctor sighed. "As you wish. But-"
Rhea held a hand up to stop him from saying anything else. "I'm not going to give you up for anyone or anything. I'm not ready yet. You're still my alien boy… for the time being."
The Doctor smiled at her, his hands falling to her waist as if it were the most natural of actions.
Rhea bit her lower lip, the slightest bit of terror showing in her eyes. "That boy is a sadist, Doctor. He's like that blonde boy… Joffrey on Game of Thrones. You saw what he did to that one member of the resistance. Imagine what he'd do to me if he got me into his bed. I know what men like that are capable of. I've been there." Her entire body shook. "I can't be that girl anymore. I just can't. Please, help me." She looked up at him, her eyes wide and green and he was gone, a familiar burning protectiveness thawing him from the inside out.
"I'll find a way." The Doctor promised, his voice vowing her protection no matter what.
She threw herself into his arms, unashamed of her own outburst of emotion and affection. The Doctor took advantage of the hug, holding her against him, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she burrowed against her chest.
"You told them what?" Rhea shrieked.
"That we were betrothed. Why?" The Doctor asked, giving her a strange look. He rolled his eyes. "It was the only way of getting you out of the marriage. They can't very well marry their prince off to someone whose already engaged, can they?" The Doctor looked immensely proud of himself.
"What, and you couldn't have told them that we were already married or that I had some nameless husband far, far away?" Rhea snarled.
"I couldn't have said were married to someone else because women in this quadrant of the galaxy are not allowed to travel without a family member, fiancé or husband as a chaperone. They didn't believe I was your brother and they would have demanded proof that I was your husband and what proof would we have given them?" The Doctor asked, pointedly.
Rhea cross her arms over her chest. "So, why did they believe you when you told them that we were engaged?" She growled.
The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck and looked everywhere else but Rhea in the eye. "He, well… he's asking us to prove it."
Rhea pursed her lips – a universal sign of danger. She narrowed her eyes. "Prove it how?" She asked, dangerously.
"We have to get married tonight." The Doctor finished, reluctantly.
Rhea paled. "What?" She whispered.
"The queen is demanding proof. And there's nothing that'll prove our engagement like a wedding. So… they'll let us leave tomorrow morning if we get married tonight."
"I have to get married… to you?"
The Doctor scowled. "Well, don't get too excited." He said, sarcastically. "It won't be binding. I'm not gonna hold you to it. It'll be just some words on some medieval little backwoods planet. But it'll stop you from marrying the prince and you said to do whatever it takes. Remember?"
Rhea's shoulders slumped and her face turned tortured. "I remember." She grumbled.
"Okay, then." The Doctor growled. "Now don't look like that. You're the blushing bride, remember?"
Rhea's mouth turned up at the corners and she beamed up at him, a fake smile plastered on her face, just slightly tremulous.
"That's better." He said, pleasantly.
The servant girls and handmaidens stormed inside her bedchamber, carrying bucketfuls of bubbly, scented water, dumping it in the large, marble bath in the corner. They scattered rose petals into the water and spun on their feet, looking at her, expectantly. She stammered and took a step back, wary at their beady eyes. But, despite her protests, she was stripped and ushered into the bathtub and then bathed. She had tried to protest that she could bathe herself, but they wouldn't have anything of it. This was how wedding rituals were done in Temarin and the queen would have their heads if they deviated from the customs. She finally sighed and gave in, displeased, her face showing it.
It was only after she was dressed and adorned and she stared at herself in the mirror that she took a step back. The woman in the reflection couldn't be her. It wasn't her. She hadn't even looked like this during her first wedding. But that hadn't exactly been a momentous occasion. It was done in front of hundreds of people in a church that she didn't even belong to, wearing a lacy, chiffon number that made her feel like her guts were being ripped from the inside.
She had the fleeting thought that, in this get-up, she might actually be worthy of the Doctor. That was a notion she was quick to dissuade herself of. You… good enough for the Doctor? Give me a break. You're a soldier with no soul left inside. And the Doctor's the Doctor. However, she had to wonder what the Doctor would think of her choice in dress. Would he be pleasantly surprised or would he think that she thought that this wasn't for show? Of course this was for show. This is something she might have dreamt of if this had happened to a much younger Rhea. It were times like this that Rhea felt sorry for the Doctor. He got stuck with this emotionally stunted bitch when he would have had so much more fun with a younger version. None of this mattered, anyway. She had no intention of marrying again. Be it to the Doctor or some horny young prince.
She was attracted to the Doctor. She wasn't stupid enough to deny those sorts of feelings. But her attraction was a far cry from promising to love, honour and cherish, or whatever the hell they would ask her vow on this planet. This would set them back on the process of recovery she had been trying to push. Although, I kinda suck at it. I throw myself at him every chance I get. She glared at the reflection, as if it were all her fault she was having these thoughts.
She sighed. She smoothed down the fabric of the dress she had on, making sure no pleats or anything tucked in came out. She pursed her lips, feeling the smoothness of the lipstick they had painted on her lips. She squared her shoulders and followed one of the handmaids that had been sent to escort her for the ceremony.
We can get through this. She tried to reassure herself. All we have to do is get through this sham of a wedding and then we can laugh about it later.
The Doctor was shuffling, uncomfortably, at the dais, looking around, nervously. He wanted to shove his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, but he remembered that the queen had forced him into this doublet and he growled under his breath. He turned around to see the queen and the prince sitting in the front, identical smirks tugging up the corner of their mouths.
Suddenly, the doors at the end of the temple hall swung open. Slow, instrumental music began to hum through the temple and the entire court turned their heads in succession to catch a look at the beautiful bride. The woman in question stood in the doorway, completely alone, her hands fidgeting at her side, her face betraying absolutely no emotion. Her eyes were fixed on the Doctor's, bright and warm and sweet. She swallowed hard and stepped onto the blue silk that lined the aisle towards the altar.
When the Doctor finally caught sight of her standing in the doorway, it was as if all breath had left his body. She wore a dark blue sari with a large golden border and a dark pink blouse under it. It curved around her slender body in all the right ways, making a series of emotions, completely unidentifiable, wash over his eyes. The arrangement of the blue silk left half of her stomach exposed and much of collarbone. Her hair was in a long braid down her back, adorned by a single wreath of jasmine, one end of the garland falling in front of her shoulder. She didn't have much jewellery on, just a simple gold chain that hung low on her neck.
She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.
Rhea thought she must have looked terrified, because a sweet, steady smile slipped onto the Doctor's face, comforting her immediately. She took a deep, icy breath and began her slow walk down the aisle, her bare feet stepping onto soft silk, her eyes never leaving his. When she finally made it to the end of the aisle without throwing up or shooting the queen and the prince in the head, the Doctor visibly relaxed, thinking that they had won one battle.
She studied him for a moment. She had never seen this Doctor in anything but his leather jacket, sweater and jeans combo. He wore something that looked like a makeshift tuxedo. Over his torso form-fitting black blazer and shirt with something that looked like a dark brown, patterned tie or scarf hanging around his neck. His trousers were simple and black and looked almost as soft as the silk she was walking on, and his long legs ended in ordinary black dress shoes.
Wow, for a guy who wears the exact same thing every single day, he sure looks good in suit.
When her gaze travelled back to his face again, the look in his eyes made her bite her lip in dismay. She could see sadness and longing and pride and awe, but the expression disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place. She made sure every bit of sari was in place before she hurried up the last few steps down the aisle, falling to the Doctor's side, the butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
"You're beautiful." The Doctor murmured, as they both kneeled on the dais, their knees turned towards each other.
Rhea flushed at the blind praise and the hidden desire. No one had ever said that she was beautiful before. Of course, people had said that she looked beautiful. But no one had ever said that she was beautiful. That insignificant word choice made all the difference to her and their hands reached for each other's at the exact same time.
"You don't look so bad yourself." She said, shyly, winking up at him.
Their hands settled over each others against the juncture between their knees, just as the Archbishop began to speak.
The wedding was much like the ones on Earth. It was like marriage was a pattern that didn't change. The Archbishop droned on and on, but it seemed like the guests were the only ones listening to him. Rhea and the Doctor preferred to keep their eyes on each other, making sure to say their words whenever the Archbishop prompted them. When the Archbishop called for Rhea to swear her obedience to her husband, Rhea's instincts kicked in and she looked at the Doctor, horrified. Sham marriage or not, she could not promise her obedience to anyone, let alone the Doctor.
The Doctor smiled, wryly, and leaned in to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. "My fiancé always does as she pleases. Why would she start listening to me now?"
The guests cheered in reply, many of the older couples looking at each other, fondly. The Doctor nodded at the Archbishop to continue, making sure that Rhea didn't have to agree to something she thought was wrong in principle and action. He was surprised to see, far too surprised, much to Rhea's annoyance, that she was amiable to promising the other vows. He knew he would be able to promise them with no trouble. In fact, when the Doctor promised to bind his body, mind and soul to hers, he did it easily. And the way that Rhea looked at him during that particular vow made him think that she knew he would. And for once, that didn't frighten her.
The only thing that pleased Rhea about the predicament she found herself in, other than the striking figure that the Doctor cut in his suit and the pseudo-Indian bride she had been turned into, was that she was not forced to profess her undying love for the Doctor. Something she realised with a sigh of relief. She didn't know what she would have done if she had been forced to admit to all of those feelings she had been shoving down ever since the moment she had met the Doctor. She might have ripped her hair out from their roots.
The prince and the queen, who sat in the front pews, looked disgruntled, hoping to catch the happy couple out on one of the vows.
"I want her to die choking on her own blood… please." Rhea muttered under her breath while the Archbishop droned on and on.
The Doctor smirked, but said nothing more.
The Archbishop finally brought the ceremony to an end by asking them to tie simple bands of silver that the Doctor had, by chance, found in his bigger-on-the-inside pockets around each other's wrists. Once they had finished this, the Archbishop gestured to them both.
"In the eyes of our most beloved Creator, you have been joined as husband and wife. For all of eternity, you will be as one." He turned to the Doctor. "You may now kiss your bride."
The Doctor and Rhea stared at each other, like deer caught in headlights. They had both conveniently forgotten that aspect of weddings, both having assumed that it wouldn't be a part of the Temarin marriage traditions. Rhea had noticed many couples of the courts standing a comfortable distance from each other and assumed that arranged marriages were a craze on this planet.
"We, uh, should make this convincing, yeah?" The Doctor muttered.
Rhea smiled, tremulously. "I don't think we'll have much problem with that." She whispered.
"Good point." The smile grew on the Doctor's lips.
Rhea licked her lips, an action that drew the Doctor's dark eyes immediately. "No problem with it." She bared her teeth in a smile. "Have at it." She purred.
"Oh, I will." The Doctor vowed.
And he took a step closer to her. She stilled. His hands fell to her waist, one of them splaying against the small of her back and pulling her against him. He leaned down and slanted his mouth over hers, his lips coming down on hers hard. He arched her back into his body, bearing down on her. His lips were cool and sweet and hers were soft and warm. The kiss felt the same as the thousand others they had exchanged, but they both knew that something was different about this one in particular. Perhaps it was the fact that this kiss was precluded by a wedding ceremony that made it different to the others.
She pressed herself and her lips harder against him and she made a tiny noise, undiscernible to everyone but him, who rejoiced, inwardly, at the little mewl that spilled from her. Her hands fisted in his suit jacket, dragging his mouth against hers, pulling him as close as possible, the heat of her body through the silk of her dress burning him. Her hands slid up from his blazer and slid around his neck. She whimpered low in her throat and trembled.
Suddenly, they heard a pointed cough and broke away from each other, both looking ruffled, and in Rhea's case, flushed. Her lips were dark red from the evidence of their union and her hair curled around her face, a little wildly.
"Now that was convincing." She breathed, making the Doctor pleased with the effect he had on her.
The Doctor held his arm out of her and she curled a hand around his bicep, her eyes sightly dazed, and they walked out of the temple hall and out into the dining chamber. The Doctor had a momentary question of whether the flush in Rhea's cheeks continued down her body.
The rest of the night passed in a blissful whir. Rhea was content to remain in the Doctor's arms, her eyes flitting across everyone in the court, but remaining focused on the Doctor. Her eyes didn't roam to any of the single, handsome men throughout the room, she didn't flirt with any of the men or the women, and she didn't even seem to notice the way that some of the people's eyes roved over the beautiful figure she cut in the sari. When he didn't have her pinned against his side, she looked up at him with such brimming adoration in her eyes that it shocked even him. He beamed back down at her and stroked her cheek, reverently.
"You never did tell me why you're wearing a sari?" The Doctor asked, lowly.
Rhea smiled. Her head turned to the side, slightly, so that she could speak to him. "When the handmaidens showed me the dress they wanted me to wear, it looked pretty much identical to a sari, so I thought I'd just wear my own. Seven yards long and three feet wide sheet of blue silk with this border. The blouse was the one I was supposed to wear under the original dress. Voila." She grinned.
"You look beautiful." The Doctor murmured.
"Thank you, honey." She smiled. "You look pretty handsome yourself."
The Doctor's smile turned smug. "I do, don't I?"
Rhea rolled her eyes. "And the arrogance returns."
It took a few hours, but the post-wedding festivities started to die down. People who had milled around them a few moments ago were now stumbling out of the hall, drunk and exhausted.
"Time to return to the world of the living." The Doctor sighed, mournfully, glad for this moment of normalcy between him and Rhea. This was the sort of adventure that he had with a Rhea who knew about them and their relationship. Save the day, a party in their honour, a night in a luxurious bedchamber and back to the TARDIS in the morning.
Rhea's face flashed bitter disappointment before it dissolved into a blank mask. "Yeah, I guess." She muttered.
"Back to the TARDIS?" He asked.
"Yeah, let's go. But I need to change first." Rhea said, pointedly, gesturing down her dress.
The Doctor nodded. "I'll meet you outside your bedchamber."
"Doctor, Sunehri." A voice called out and they turned to see the queen and the prince approaching them. Rhea and the Doctor nodded to them, not willing to give them the respect that was awarded to them due to their status. "You must come this way to sign the marriage records."
"The marriage records?" Rhea's eyes widened and she stared at the queen, startled by this new information.
"Of course. Perhaps they do not have these on your home planet, but on Temarin, every newly married couple must sign the records." The queen smiled, slyly.
The Doctor gritted his teeth, glaring at the woman and the smug boy at her side. He wrapped a sure, steady arm around Rhea's waist and pulled her into his side. "Come on, wife, let's go make this official." He leaned down and pressed a deliberately slow kiss to Rhea's forehead, meaning for the prince to understand his message. Back off, boy, she's mine. He leaned into her. "It's not binding. Don't worry. We're being forced into this."
Once in the archives of the palace, they both signed the contract and had it authorised before someone with the authority. They were given a copy of the agreement and were both offered a drink of wine to calm their nerves for "the night ahead", as the notary smirked, knowingly. Rhea downed hers in a long, deep swig and slammed it on the table, shaking her head.
"Someone's nervous." The queen purred.
Rhea's hands clenched into fists at her side and she resisted the urge to slam her fist into the queen's face and draw blood.
"Okay, Rhea," The Doctor said, soothingly, placing a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from doing anything to the queen. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "We should get our things and be on our way." He said, sharply.
Rhea nodded, stiffly.
"Unfortunately, you cannot leave yet." A slow, dark voice murmured and Prince Sorven came into view. His eyes glinted, violently, like little dark beads catching the light and he stared at Rhea with most utmost of appreciation and lust, his dark eyes roving over her figure. The Doctor growled in warning, but it did nothing to sway the prince. "The bride and groom must first consummate the marriage for it to become legally binding. Anything else can provoke an annulment and that is practically sacrilege in our culture." He said, mockingly, making the Doctor and Rhea tense. "And we will require proof of your… union." He smirked, triumphantly.
Rhea's lips curled into a smirk. "Aren't you a little young for voyeurism?" She purred.
The queen smiled, darkly, at the Doctor and Rhea. "Oh, we won't watch. But we will be given proof. One of the handmaidens will collect your bed linens in the morning and it will be tested for blood."
"Blood?" The Doctor echoed.
"Hymen blood." The queen smirked. "All women on Temarin are pure on their wedding night."
Rhea paled. "You're joking, right?" She snapped. "Do you realise how sick that sounds? What if a girl isn't a virgin on her wedding night?" She growled.
"She is executed. We cannot have that kind of loose women on our planet." The queen said, flatly.
Rhea choked and took a step forward with the intention of doing serious damage to the queen, but the Doctor held his arm out in front of her body to block her.
"If the marriage is not consummated the night of the ceremony, the marriage will break and I may claim Sunehri as my bride." The prince said, slyly.
Rhea swallowed hard, noticing the way that his dark eyes ran over her body continuously. I didn't think I was hot enough to warrant this sort of attention all the fucking time. "Like hell you will." She snapped, fiercely, her eyes burning with fury and disgust.
The prince raised an eyebrow. "You dare speak to me like that, you little-" He started to growl.
"You dare speak to my wife like that?" The Doctor interrupted his moment of blustering, his voice trembling with anger and tinged with darkness, stunning the queen and the prince into silence. "She is not one of your subjects. You should remember that, as easily as we saved your planet, we can reverse our actions and bring war down on your planet. All it would take would be a few whispered words and it would be your downfall. I am sure that there are members of the resistance, who are aching for your executions."
"You would not dare." The prince said, coldly.
"Don't push me, boy." The Doctor snarled, viciously. "Rhea will never be your wife. She is beyond your worth. She is mine and she will stay mine." The Doctor felt Rhea shudder against his side and he stroked down her spine.
Rhea swallowed hard and turned into the Doctor, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Doctor. We can…" She bit her lip, shyly, looking up at the Doctor through her eyelashes. "…Spend the night and leave tomorrow morning. No problem with that."
Prince Sorven smirked. "As long as you bed her."
Rhea smiled, viciously. Her hand slipped from the Doctor's shoulder and down his arm, taking his hand in hers and squeezing gently. "Oh, don't worry, little boy, he will. And he'll do it often and well." She had to smirk at the way the prince's face turned red with embarrassment and rage. Don't screw with me, kid. You won't win.
"A bed chamber has been prepared for you." The queen said, loftily. "Your belongings have been placed there." She gestured to a manservant in the doorway. "The steward will take you there."
The steward took them down a hall and up and flight of stone stairs. He stood in front of the doors to their bedchamber, waiting until they both entered, and he shut the doors behind them, locking it, firmly. The click echoed through the warm chamber, feeling like a chill of dread echoing through their bones. The Doctor flashed his sonic screwdriver at the door, once he heard the steward's footsteps walking away from the door, locking it himself. He didn't trust that psychotic prince not to storm in here and take Rhea by force if he didn't get his way by the end of the night.
The Doctor turned his attention to the bedchamber and Rhea inside it. The room was beautiful, made from a high ceiling as far as the eye could see. Curtains lined the walls and there existed only one window, a sheer drop of ten stories from outside. There was a large bed, adorned in draperies and silk sheets of emerald green, with piles upon piles of pillows scattered across the four-poster bed, the stained mahogany of the pillars decorated with gauzy shawls. The tall pillars rose to a canopy of gossamer fabric of dark green.
Rhea had the fleeting thought that if they had been inside a tent on desert sand, the name of the Mills and Boom novel she had found herself in would have been something as stupid and plebeian as 'The Sheikh's Forced Bride'.
Rhea gestured to the rose petals scattered across the quilts. "Well, if that isn't a sign, I don't know what is." She said, sarcastically.
The Doctor chuckled and observed the bed. It was slightly gaudy for his tastes and he knew it was in Rhea's tastes either, but he supposed it could be construed as a romantic place for a woman to lose her virginity. But that was not why they were here. The Doctor was not some teenage boy aching to have something warm under him. And he would never allow Rhea to be coerced into allowing him into her bed by something like a wedding ceremony under the threat of forced marriage and rape and god-knows-what. The Doctor and Rhea would only share a bed, if and when Rhea was comfortable with the idea of the Doctor making love to her and when she was secure in her feelings for him.
The Doctor strode over to the window and looked out, knowing that they had parked the TARDIS in the icy forests that lined the grounds in which the castle was situated in. It was an hour or two from the castle by foot and he was sure that they would be able to make it, none the wiser. However, when he looked down he saw guards lining the foot of the castle and he knew that they wouldn't be able to sneak past them. Not to mention, the drop of ten stories was far too high for them to jump down. He turned around, hearing the crush of silk, and looked to see Rhea throw herself onto the mattress, back first, her head sinking into the plush.
"So, any plans?" Rhea scuttled backwards, folding her hands behind her head. Her eyes shut. "Oh, this has been a long day. Too tired to think of anything." She muttered.
"Ten story drop. Don't think we'll make it. Plus, there are guards stationed down below. We'd never make it past them." The Doctor explained, leaning back against the wall.
Rhea twisted onto her side, facing him. "We'll have to stay here the night then. But then, won't we rush in problems in the morning. They'll want to verify that we fulfilled our 'marital obligations'." She grimaced. "I mean, can you even?" She observed him, carefully.
"Can I even what?"
"Make love to me?" She groaned under her breath. That came out so wrong. "I mean, do you even have the parts?" Oh, yeah, cause that came out so much better. She thought sarcastically.
The Doctor smirked. "Sunehri, if I wanted to make love to you right this moment, there would be nothing stopping me, I can assure you." He purred, making her flush under the searing gaze he left on her body.
The Doctor sighed. "I guess we'll have to wait until morning to make a break for it." He looked down at himself. "We should get changed."
Rhea smoothed down the train of her sari and allowed it to slip of her shoulder, baring the soft skin beneath. "I guess." She said, mournfully. "But I'm taking this with me."
Rhea made sure the Doctor's attention was focused on the march of the guards outside, before turning her attention to the long sheet she was wearing. She undid the voluminous pleats tucked into the front of her hip and allowed it to pool at her feet. The loose end that was draped over her shoulder slipped down and sank down to the floor, heavily, leaving her in a short-sleeved pink blouse that left her midriff bare and long silk petticoat that end at her feet.
The Doctor could hear every scrape of silk against of skin and closed his eyes in an attempt to block the torture. He heard her slip the drape off her body and heard it pool around her feet. He counted to ten, heavily, imagining everything else but the picture of what she was doing behind his back.
"Doctor, do you mind helping me with these hooks?" Rhea asked, carefully.
Damn, she's trying to kill me. The Doctor grumbled to himself. He turned around and walked over to her.
"Sure." He said, pleasantly.
She turned around, her back facing him, and his hands trembled as his fingers undid the hooks that lined the middle of her back. He was seconds away from touching the exposed skin that he had uncovered when he managed to pull himself together and take a step away from her.
"You might want to wear something a bit more comfortable." The Doctor said, warningly. "We're going to have get out of here pretty quick. You won't have time in the morning."
By chance, after a few minutes, he turned around to see her with her back towards him. She was wearing a matching lingerie set, decked out in black lace, unashamed about her nudity, her long black curls trailing down her back like a sheet of silk. His hands twitched at his side, itching to touch her.
He wanted to smooth her curls over her shoulder, revealing the smooth expanse of back. His hands would trail down from her shoulders to the middle of her back. His fingers would undo the hooks on her bra and slip the straps off her shoulders. His hands would grasp her shoulders and slide down her arms. His hands would fall to her hips and hook two fingers in each side of her panties and pull it down her legs, his hands trailing the soft, sleek skin of her legs.
Then, he would spin her around. His fingers would cup her jaw and tilt her head to look up at him. He would lean down and press his lips to her. She would grab his shoulders and pull him onto the bed, letting his body cover hers, her legs wrapping around her waist.
She knew it was a bad idea. She knew it would only make things worse. She knew she should insist she spend the night on the floor, it wasn't like she hadn't slept on worse, or she should suggest he do it instead. It would only make her exposed and weaker and more at-risk of being hurt again, but she couldn't help herself. Not with him, at least. She patted the space next to her on the bed.
"Come and sleep, biker boy." Rhea offered.
"It's okay." The Doctor said, slowly. "I can take the floor."
Rhea rolled her eyes. "We're both adults, aren't we? And I take offence to the idea that just because I'm a woman, you have to sleep on the floor. Chivalry only goes so far, honey, and I've never been a fan of a knight in shining armour." She, unashamedly, raked her eyes across his body. "I prefer my men to be all rough and forceful. So come and get in bed with me." She smirked, hoping he wouldn't see the vulnerability that was hidden in her words.
The Doctor hesitated, reading what she wanted him to read in that statement, and then crossed the small space between the bathroom door and the bed and crawled in beside Rhea. Rhea shifted, turning to face the Doctor and he made to do the same, but she placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. She knew if he turned to face her, all the stitches that Rhea had carefully sewn all over body would come undone and she would bleed and she couldn't have that. Not now. This had to be enough for them. She pressed herself against his side and rested her head on his shoulder. She threw a hand over his stomach, his hand coming up to cover hers, their fingers slotting together as if they were meant to.
"Goodnight, Rhea." He murmured.
"Goodnight, Doctor." She whispered into his shoulder.
When she woke up in the morning, she had to admit she found herself in an awkward position. She looked down and saw that their legs were entwined, making her question where her legs began and end amongst his. The Doctor's hands were low on her back and her waist, slightly cool against her warm skin. She was half on top him, practically perched on his stomach. Her hands were curled around his shoulders and her face buried in his neck. The Doctor's hands were secured around her body, better than any blanket. She reared back, straddling the Doctor, her knees falling onto either side of his hips, sitting half on his stomach.
Shit. She thought.
Rhea reached down and shook him, haphazardly. "Come on, rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. We don't exactly have time to get the hell out of dodge."
"You're comfy." The Doctor muttered.
Rhea smirked. "I'm sure you've got a nice, comfy bed on the TARDIS. Let's go home and then you can get some sleep." She grabbed onto his limbs and tugged.
"Okay." The Doctor muttered, rising up, and Rhea slid off him, slipping off the bed.
Rhea looked down at the sheets with dismay. "We need blood." She looked around the room and spotted a vase sitting on a table. "That'll do." She muttered, appreciatively. She moved over and grabbed the vase, smashing it against the edge of the table, ceramic spraying everywhere. She grabbed a shard and sliced into her wrist, drawing a steady flow of blood.
"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked, horrified.
"Can I tell you a secret?" Rhea turned to the Doctor with a beaming smile. "My cousin had a… indiscretion… with a guy a couple of years ago and she lost her virginity. A little while before I met you, my cousin came to me and asked me what she should do. She was getting an arranged marriage and it's a stain on any Indian girl's reputation if she screws around before marriage. She had no idea what to do and she wanted to trick her future husband. So, I suggested this." She gestured to her bleeding hand. She let the blood pour onto the sheets until she was satisfied. She leaned down and rubbed it, frantically, onto the sheet, allowing it to stain the pristine white sheet. "I know." She looked at the Doctor. "It sounds horrible. But she's my cousin. Family comes first." She shrugged.
"So…" The Doctor looked down at the sheet with surprise and confusion, his mind working a mile a minute. "They can't stop us from leaving. The marriage is valid." He looked down at her with pride and a little bit of awe. "You're fantastic, do you know that?"
Rhea beamed up at him. "I do know that."
Their feet padded through the two feet of snow, their feet sinking into the ice, as they made their way to the forests just a little ahead of them. Rhea shuddered and wrapped the coat around her tighter.
"So, interesting adventure." Rhea cackled. "We stop them from going to war. We get forced into marriage and we escape. See, this is normality."
"Something should be done about that boy." The Doctor said, shortly, keeping his eyes on what was ahead of him. "Who knows what hell he'll wreak when he becomes king."
Rhea looked at him, strangely, feeling a bit sick inside as she thought of what would have happened to her had the Doctor not thought of marriage as a possible solution to her problem. "I don't understand why he wanted me so much. He was just a kid. Probably just went through puberty a year ago. I'm twenty-seven… it makes me feel like a cradle-robber." She grimaced.
"You're beautiful." The Doctor shrugged. "You're intelligent and strong-willed and a warrior. You have a fighting spirit that is like an aphrodisiac to creatures like them. They see you and they would find it orgasmic to break you." He said, darkly. Rhea flinched and shuddered at the thought of that wannabe psycho putting his hands on her. His fists clenched at his side and one of his hands reached for hers. "He was raised to think he was entitled to whatever he wanted. He wanted you." His fingers stroked her palm, reverently. "He never thought you would refuse him. That you would want another way of life. Another man." He finished, quietly.
Rhea looked up at him, her eyes soft. "I do want our life. I want…" She paled when she realised how that sentence was going to end. You. She bit her lip. "I don't plan on leaving you just yet." She murmured, looking away, shyly.
"Really?" The Doctor asked, softly.
Rhea chewed on her lip, her teeth sinking into the soft, pink flesh, a little numb from the cold. "Ugh, this is so hard. I don't normally do this, yeah?" She looked up at him, her hands digging into the pockets of her coat. She hitched in her breath. "When I thought I would have to marry that kid, I was terrified. Not just because of him. He made my skin crawl. But because I can't get married again. It's not… good for me, that kind of life. I've done it before and when I came out of it, I have never felt more stupid." She reached out and gripped the Doctor's arm, halting him and making him look at her, confused. The vulnerability was etched on her face. "But a part of me was also terrified that I would never see you again, that I would lose you." She swallowed hard. She laughed, harshly. "How stupid does that sound, huh? I mean, I've known you for a couple of months at the most and I've already become so attached to you. It made me realise that I'm exactly where I want to be."
The Doctor beamed down at her confession, heartened by her slowly growing ability to feel comfortable around him. "When we kissed in that ceremony, I didn't want to stop." He confessed. "I didn't really care that it was in front of everyone, that the ceremony was under duress. I just wanted to keep going."
Rhea's hand slid down his arm to his hand and gripped it in hers, feeling him squeeze back in reply. She slid closer to him and leaned her head against his arm, feeling him drag one of his arms, the one that her hand was connected to, to wrap around her shoulders.
"If I felt I had the right to want you, if I felt that I had the right to even ask…" She looked up at him, her green eyes hot and sweet, and held her breath for a moment. "You could have me in any way you wanted, I swear."
The Doctor looked at her with dark eyes and his mouth descended onto hers with such great tenderness that it made her whimper into him, a sign of vulnerability that she wouldn't show to anyone other than him. His hands settled on her curvy hips and pulled her flush against him, sending a flash of heat running through her body despite the chill of the ice surrounding her. She felt sparks shooting through her body through every touch he bestowed on her skin, her nerves tingling.
The snow tumbled around them and his cool fingers slid against the warm skin of her stomach.
A/N: Well, that was a doozy to write. I promise everyone that we're getting very soon to where everything goes down between the Doctor and Rhea. This was just another step forward. I'm trying to make Rhea more and more vulnerable around the Doctor as every chapter goes by. Don't worry, it'll all come to a head soon. I hope you all liked this little adventure between the two. A fake marriage, an almost wedding night, bits and pieces of sexy writing, a jealous Doctor and a heartfelt confession at the end :)
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to leave me a line if you liked it!