ARE YOU GUILTY MA'AM?

MARIA

I wanted to spend the night with her. I wanted so desperately to pull her back onto the bed, to wrap my arms around her warm body and feel her skin against mine until morning. But she insisted on being with Edward.

"He is blind and useless to you now, Maya," I said, my voice cracking, almost begging my own maid to stay with me just so she could give me that wonderful fingering again. "You married him for power... but now I alone can give you the power you seek in this palace."

I was practically groveling at her feet, reduced to a desperate wreck for a girl who had entered this house with nothing. But how could I help it? She is good—unnaturally good. I knew she handled Edward so well in bed, driving him wild every single night. This girl is a complete sex machine, blessed with the most seducing body in the entire world. Just looking at the curve of her hips and the soft glow of her skin makes my pulse race and my core ache with desire.

I sat on the edge of the bed, wiping a tear from my eye, realizing something terrifying. I think I am falling in love with her. I am falling in love with the very woman who took my crown, my husband, and my home.

Maya didn't even answer my plea. She just offered me that soft, maddening smile, turned on her heel, and walked straight over to Edward's master quarters. I followed her like a quiet shadow, unable to pull myself away from her presence.

When she reached Edward, she treated him with unbelievable care. She took his heavy clothes off piece by piece, guided him gently to the private bath, washed his broad shoulders with warm lavender water, and dried him with soft towels. Then she sat him down on the edge of the bed and fed him bowl by bowl, patiently wiping his lips whenever a drop spilled.

She did it all with so much love—a pure, tender devotion that made my blood burn with envy.

"I will make sure you get back your sight, my Alpha," she promised Edward softly, pressing a gentle kiss against his temple as she pulled the heavy silk sheets over his chest. "I will search every corner of the world until your eyes are healed."

I stood right there in the doorway, watching the entire thing, even while she was bathing him. Seeing Edward completely naked meant nothing to me anymore. I have handled his body and his dick for years before Maya ever set foot in this territory, so there was nothing new to see or hide. My eyes weren't on his body; they were glued to Maya's hands as they moved over him.

Suddenly, Maya paused. Without turning around, her voice cut through the quiet room, clear and sharp.

"Do you know why he went blind, Maria?" she asked me, her eyes remaining fixed on Edward's peaceful, sleeping face.

I kept my mouth shut, leaning against the doorframe.

"I just hope you did not make him blind," she added softly, finally turning her head to glance at me over her shoulder.

A small, secret smile crept onto my lips in the dim candle glow, though I kept my face turned away so she couldn't read me completely. I am responsible for his blindness, I thought to myself with a quiet, wicked pride. I was the one who had taken the dark, colorless potion from the seer, slipping it into his morning wine right before he woke up to make love to her.

She thinks she holds all the cards in this palace now, but she had better be careful. If she pushes me too far or tries to cast me out entirely, I won't hesitate to give her a dose of that very same liquid and make her blind too.

Seeing that she was completely settled at his side for the night, I turned around and walked back to my own cold, empty room.

I sat down in front of my vanity mirror, staring at my reflection in the dim light, my mind spinning with unsettling thoughts. Why was the very same seer who prepared the poison that made Edward blind now so terrified of Maya? When I visited his hut, he had cowered at her very name, going mute and declaring her an angry, reincarnated soul. He was powerful enough to strip a royal Alpha of his sight with dark roots, yet he trembled like a frightened child at the thought of facing my maid.

It proved one thing clearly: Maya operates on a spiritual level far above him. Whatever dark, ancient force is backing her soul, my local seer is too weak to stand against it. If I am going to uncover her true identity and destroy her before she takes everything I have left, I must seek the help of a higher, far more dangerous seer from the deep northern mountains.

The palace grew deathly quiet as the hours crept past midnight. I lay alone in my massive, empty bed, staring up at the cold stone ceiling, unable to sleep.

My skin felt hot, and a heavy, restless ache built up between my thighs. Every time I closed my eyes, I didn't see Edward. I remembered Maya. I remembered the feeling of her soft tongue on my nipples, the rhythm of her fingers driving deep inside me, and the way her eyes held total control over my body.

Unable to fight the burning sensation any longer, I slid my hand down into my silk nightgown, parting my thighs in the dark. I began to stroke my clitoris, sliding my fingers into my own wet hole, gasping softly into the quiet room just to find some relief and relax my tense nerves.

I closed my eyes tightly, biting my lip as I brought myself to a fast, shivering climax, fully aware of where she was right now. I was completely sure that while I lay here alone touching myself, that silly, irresistible girl was currently riding Alpha Edward in the master suite, giving his blind body everything he desired.