Take her

Your fingers work the buttons of her bodice with a practiced, predatory grace. As the heavy fabric falls away, exposing her nakedness to the chill morning air, she doesn't shiver. She simply watches you with those knowing eyes; eyes that have seen you at your most **** and your most depraved.

"You realize the scandal this would cause if the gossips saw us now," she whispers, though she makes no move to cover herself. "The 'Promiscuous Prince' and his aging nursemaid. They would call it your greatest sin."

"Let them," you murmur. "My brother, the Crown Prince... he will be given a bride like a prize horse. He will marry for a border treaty or a noble's support. But I? I chose you."

Irmtraud lets out a soft, breathy laugh, her hands resting on your chest. "I am not your wife, Your Highness. I am a servant. A convenience."

"True," you admit, your voice thickening as your gaze drops to her breasts. "You aren't my wife. But I chose you nonetheless. Even if it was only to satisfy this feeling in my loin, the choice is still mine."

You don't waste more words. You lead her back to the rumpled bed and move to mount her. As you enter her, you can’t suppress a sharp, jagged gasp. She is already slick, her body betraying the stoic expression she wears.

"You were ready for me to fuck you," you grow.

She wraps her legs around your bums, pulling you deeper, her fingers digging into the muscles of your back. "I told you... you are selfish. You've made me just as greedy as you."

As you start to move, you kiss her.

Irmtraud is wanton beneath you, her hips rising to meet every thrust, her cries muffled against your shoulder. This is why the affair never ended; why, despite the monastery's lessons, you kept returning to her room night after night that eventually it is easier to have her sleep in yours.

And nature, indifferent to titles or bloodlines, has seen fit to reward that lust. As you drive into her, feeling the wet heat of her body, you are acutely aware of the life nestled deep inside her. A bastard, born of a prince who wanted too much and a maid who couldn't say no, growing stronger with every heartbeat.