A/N: I own nothing. Enjoy! This chapter is slightly spicy.
Annabeth flung herself through the window to safety. She scrambled to close and lock the window in case anyone was pursuing her. To relief, her attackers were now being overwhelmed by other Black Knights. Perhaps the attackers had infiltrated the ranks of the Black Knights?
Now that she was safe, Annabeth could feel her heart calming down. But what was this musky smell?
Annabeth gazed the room she was in. The room was quite large, with a coffee table and sofas for people to sit. A small fire crackled cheerfully, warming the room from the chilly autumn weather. A warm bed was just to her left, inviting her with soft pillows and blankets. She had been so tired from wearing heels and standing for so long at the party. Not to mention her feet were scratched up from fleeing her attackers.
Annabeth wrinkled her nose at a incense-burning candle on a nightstand. She had been given a tour of the mansion with instructions to remember every room, but this room must have been one of the few rooms that she didn't go in. This room was on the fourth floor, so Annabeth deduced it must be Percy's bedroom. No other bedroom in the mansion she had seen was as luxurious as the one she was currently in, with the exception of her own.
She frowned as she saw the candle again on the nightstand. There was such a weird fragrance coming from all the candles in the room. The smell was making her head dizzy and her body was heat up. Maybe that was why the window was open to fumigate the room.
Hauling the window up, she took in gulps of the fresh air which helped clear her head. Wait a minute, was that Percy in the gardens below, fighting off the last of the attackers?
Annabeth walked to the door to get out of the bedroom, but the door was locked. She peered at the doorknob but it twisted easily. It was not that the doorknob was locked, but that there seemed to be something heavy placed right outside the door so it prevented the door from being opened. Unbeknownst to her, Percy had the Stoll brothers place a large dresser in front of the door to prevent anyone from entering his bedroom while the aphrodisiac was being aired out.
She pushed with all her might, but the door didn't even budge an inch. Great, she growled. Now she was sure the smell was doing something that was affecting her body.
Heat grew quickly all over her body, particularly pooling in her lower stomach. She was breathing heavily as she pressed her thighs tightly together. This feeling was not totally foreign, since she had experienced similar feelings in her past life. Was this an aphrodisiac?
People seducing others using aphrodisiacs were not uncommon. Here and then, stories would surface of a noble taking on a new concubine or illegitimate child into the family after a woman or man illegally used aphrodisiacs to tempt their prey. Aphrodisiacs were only legal in Cuora with the consent of both parties, and Annabeth was only aware that aphrodisiacs were in edible or powder form, not in fragrances. Since it was the first time Annabeth had encountered the drug, she had virtually no immunity to the drug's fast effects.
But why were the candles here? She doubted Percy would ever use an aphrodisiac since women would be willing to throw themselves into his bed. Therefore, had someone been trying to seduce Percy? That was a gutsy move.
"Hey! Somebody open this door!"
Annabeth banged on the door as loud as she could, but no one seemed to have heard the sounds. Perhaps they were all distracted by the fight going on in the gardens to be in this part of the house.
Running through the options in her head, Annabeth extinguished every candle in the room first. She berated herself for not cutting off the source of the aphrodisiac as soon as she recognized the drug for what it was. She turned to the windows in hopes of clearing out the drug but someone came in just as she turned to it.
"Annabeth!"
A dark shadow landed through the window. Before she had time to react, the shadow had already pulled her into his arms.
"P-Percy?" Annabeth said.
But her voice came out softer than normal before an embarrassingly soft moan escaped her lips. Percy's embrace had startled her, but it wasn't unwanted by her body. Annabeth found herself quickly curling into his warmth.
Percy cursed himself for placing her in this situation. He had been in such a rush to find Annabeth that he couldn't properly resolve the attempted aphrodisiac seduction attempt. Now he had failed to protect her.
When he had gone through his bedroom window, Percy did not expect to almost fling himself right into her. He managed to catch Annabeth just before she crashed into him. Annabeth whimpered as she pressed herself tighter to him.
"I'm sorry, Annabeth. Are you all right?" Percy asked.
Her eyes were hazy but somehow still managed to meet his gaze.
"I'm not physically hurt but..."
Her gaze drifted to the candles.
It was then he realized that Annabeth had recognized the candles for what they were. For some reason, Percy felt like he had to explain the maid and her seduction attempt.
"Fascination magic?" Annabeth commented after Percy's explanation. "What about the attackers? Did you take care of them? They were from the Black Knights Order, weren't they?"
"Yes, everything's taken care of. They were under fascination magic as well and will be interrogated after the magic wears off."
She squirmed a little in his hug.
"Hmm, perhaps these incidents tonight are connected," Annabeth murmured.
Her words followed his thought process. The defenses of his mansion was high level, and he trusted (with the exception of what happened tonight with the maid and his own soldiers) that his servants were all loyal. Only the guests today could have access to his mansion. What would be the chance of more than one culprit using fascination magic when such mages were extremely rare?
Percy's heart rate picked up when Annabeth burrowed her face into the crook of his shoulder.
All this while, he had been trying not to move. In his mind, he felt it should be no different than his knight training where he had to endure standing underneath a crashing waterfall. But him keeping still was not the problem as Annabeth was the one moving against him. Unconsciously, she was pushing herself closer, rubbing her lower body on his thigh.
Percy stiffened as her chest nuzzled his. Her off-the-shoulder dress had been dazzling at their engagement party, showing off her glowing skin and just a hint of collarbone. Now it lay dangerously close to exposing much more than that. Should Percy pull at the strings behind her bodice, he could easily peel down the upper part of her dress.
"Oh, my. You're not attracted to me right now, are you?" Annabeth asked.
Really, was she teasing him right now? Could she not see the situation she was in? Heated blood was rushing towards the lower part of his body, causing it to grow and harden. Annabeth could no doubt feel what was happening with her curves so temptingly pressed to him.
"Yes, I am." Percy answered honestly. "But if I wasn't even somewhat attracted to you before this, I wouldn't have accepted your proposal."
Annabeth's brows furrowed as if she was in deep thought. Percy had not lied about his words. Truth be told, he really hadn't cared about who would become his wife. In fact, his parents had set their eyes on the only daughter of the wealthy Dare family to take on the position should he not find his own wife in time. Lady Rachel embodied all the proper virtues of a noble lady, with just a streak of rebelliousness hidden underneath that facade.
Percy had gotten along well with Lady Rachel, but he felt no other attraction other than platonic friendship. He would have been satisfied with just that, someone who would not ask for much from him and he not much from her.
But who knew that he would have a chance encounter with a peculiar woman fighting off thieves and then proposing to him? He had been curious why she knew his nickname, which piqued his interest. Whether it was Lady Rachel, Lady Annabeth, or another woman, perhaps they were all the same to him. Yet, Annabeth had seemed to understand him more than the others. He felt he would fit with Annabeth a bit more, which was why he said yes to her proposal.
Besides, it wasn't bad to be attracted to one's future wife, especially when said future wife had impressed him by fighting off his knights and dared to climb up walls to safety. Indeed, the aphrodisiac had failed to affect his body when that maid had tried to seduce him. But a few simple looks and an embrace from his fiancee had served to make him want to drop her into his bed and have his way from her.
"You being like this is quite tempting indeed. What a pity." Percy easily picked her up in bridal style. Her hands came up around his neck to steady herself.
"Don't worry. Despite the once a week term in our contract, I'm not going to force you to do anything, especially not in this state."
He walked towards a tapestry on the right wall of his bedroom. Behind the woven tapestry was a door that led to the shared living room of the Duke and Duchess's chambers. From the living room was another door that led to the Duchess' bedroom. Judging from the expression on Annabeth's face, she had not known about this. The connected rooms of the Duke and Duchess had been deliberately designed so that the Duke and Duchess could easily access each other's bedrooms without having to go through the hall.
"I commend you for being a gentleman." Annabeth said sarcastically. "So why bother even having that condition in the first place?"
"Just in case my judgement of your character is wrong. I still need an heir regardless. But I had a feeling that you would willingly come to my bed or allow me into yours more than what our contract states."
He winked cheekily at her. Even in her condition, Annabeth still had the strength to punch Percy in the shoulder. His pride wouldn't let him make a sound from the sudden pain though. She had quite a nasty punch.
"I take back calling you a gentleman. You're not a gentleman at all."
Percy dropped her onto her bed before kneeling over her on all fours. He chuckled at the bewildered and flushed expression on his fiancee. Her hair had come loose from her fight and escape up the trellis. Seeing her blonde hair sprawled over like gold silk on her pillow was a very fruitful reward for having to deal with all the troubles of tonight.
"You're most definitely right, I'm not a gentleman at all," said Percy.
Evidently, Annabeth got tired of Percy looking at her without doing anything. "But the truth remains that I am still in this state."
That was true. Her body was heaving up and down, and her breaths were getting heavier. Even Percy could feel the heat coming off of her skin.
"Indeed, what to do?" He murmured.
Percy cupped the side of her face. Annabeth turned towards his palm, since he felt cooler than her own skin.
"I want a bath. An ice cold one. My body feels feverish all over."
"No," Percy denied flatly. "It's autumn, and winter will be coming soon. You'll get a cold easily like that."
"Then what else can I do?"
The only cure for an aphrodisiac was to satisfy the desire or suffer in wanton lust until the body got rid of the drug. Unfortunately, that could be hours and hours later.
In front of Percy's very eyes, Annabeth started pulling out the ribbons behind her bodice.
"What...are you trying to do?" His mouth had become dry.
"It's too hot." She complained.
Percy pinned her hands to the bed before any more of her lovely skin was revealed. Already the top portion of the dress had fallen, revealing her lace corset underneath. If her fingers were any quicker, the soft swells of her breasts would be seen and Percy would really be in trouble.
"Are you trying to seduce me, Annabeth?" Percy asked.
"What does it matter, before or after our marriage? You'll get to see me like this eventually."
Percy said nothing at the coquettish look in her eyes. She was holding on better than he had expected, though she had to bite down on her lips in restraint. Oh yes, those sweet, rosy pink lips.
"And I doubt my Duke would let another man cure me of this affliction, will you?"
Percy glared at the teasing look she sent him with her striking grey eyes. To let another man see her like this... The very thought irked him. Especially if that man Luke had seen her like this...
He bent down and captured her soft lips. They were warm and supple, allowing him to take her breath away. Percy unpinned her hands in favor of caressing her waist as he devoured her. When her arms wrapped around him, he allowed himself the small indulgence of letting one wandering hand gently cup her breast. Pity that her corset was a barrier between her skin and his hand.
"Percy," she sighed softly.
His lips left hers before they left a trail of kisses down her jawline. She smelled sweet from the blue roses. And her tender skin on her neck was just ripe enough for him to nip and leave a small rosy mark as evidence that he was there.
As he distracted her, one thumb aimed at a particular acupressure point on the opposite side of her neck. Immediately, Annabeth's arms around his shoulders loosened as she fainted.
"I'm sorry, my Duchess, forgive me." Percy whispered. "May your dreams be sweet tonight."
Percy sighed and flipped onto his back beside her on the bed. It was annoying to stop what they were doing. However, he would not have her like that. He liked that pride of hers, so he would not mar it. It would better to have her join him of her accord and consent.
He looked down at the uncomfortable bulge between his thighs. Perhaps he was the one who needed the ice-cold bath after all.
If the intention behind whoever planned tonight's incident was to push the Duke and the future Duchess away from each other, they had failed miserably.