Somewhere Weaknesses Are Strength

Hayley stepped through the opened doors of the mansion, nodding a dismissal to her butlers. The men bowed in return and closed the double doors of the mansion firmly. Watching them leave their posts for the time being, Hayley sighed, one filled with the exhaustion over taking her body. Her day was done now, most of her maintenance duties taken care of. She had gone to her business building to check that things were still running smoothly and gave orders regarding the portion of the ship cargo that would go to her business. On the way out, she grabbed the finances sheet that she would go over the next day. The man she put in charge while she was sailing did a good job of keeping things calm. She didn't need to go through major rebuilding.

Men weren't completely useless.

The pirate handed her bag to one of the servants at the foot of the staircase. To the other, she handed her unnecessary dress coat. Aside from that, she paid little mind to them, concentrated on making her way up the stairs and back to her room. The servants knew what they needed to do with what she gave them. Hayley wouldn't belittle them by reiterating their duties. She had more important things to worry about.

Like Sebastian.

The princess hadn't left Hayley's mind all day. She was worried about her. Sebastian wouldn't heal for awhile, she knew that. But she wanted the princess to fully relax again. Sure, she had relaxed after kissing Hayley, but Sebastian had a tendency to lose sense of reality when in physical contact with the captain. Since Hayley managed to pull Sebastian from the room under her ship, any romantic or sexual contact would turn Sebastian's mind into goop. A quivering, lust-filled goop. The kiss they shared during the massage was no different. When it wore off, which it always did, Sebastian would go back to being broken.

Hayley never regretted breaking someone so much in her life. She didn't understand it. The ache in her heart over the beaten princess didn't make sense to her. She needed to stop analyzing why Sebastian was so dear to her heart and accept it. There was nothing she could do to change how she felt about Sebastian. The princess was special to her, and she didn't want to lose her.

And the strong emotions scared Hayley.

Hayley walked through the hall where her room was situated, approaching the stiff-backed girl standing at her door. The blonde faced Hayley at the sound of her steps echoing through the hallway. Holly, the sweet handmaid to Sebastian. She had taken it so hard when Hayley told her Sebastian tried to escape. Hayley could remember the tears springing the girl's eyes, the mass amounts of apologies.

She had even taken full responsibility for Sebastian's attempted escape.

Hayley wouldn't have told her if she knew how the girl would react. But she had to. She needed to explain the marks marring Sebastian's body since Holly would be the one dealing with her for the day. She had tried to make the girl relax by telling her she knew that Sebastian would try to escape, but that didn't seem to work.

Poor thing needed to take a break.

Holly bowed when Hayley stopped in front of her. Hayley simply smiled. There was no way to get Holly to relax over the situation. Time would heal her mental state soon enough.

Sebastian, on the other hand, would take more than just time to heal.

"How has she been?" Hayley asked.

"She slept all day," Holly responded.

"I think I may have been too rough on her," Hayley mumbled.

"She's delicate. Any physical punishment would be too rough."

Holly hadn't seen much of the damage. Sebastian remained sleeping on her stomach for the entire time Hayley was gone. But those angry red scabs decorating her body and the ugly bruise on her shoulder were on full display. Occasionally, Sebastian would groan in her sleep, groans Holly associated with pain. Whatever happened in the cellar wasn't pretty and was surely too much for the princess to handle.

Perhaps she deserved it for breaking a rule but Hayley could have handled it differently. Holly knew Hayley had a heart, that she could be gentle when she wanted to be. Hayley didn't have to go about the situation the way she did.

Hayley sighed, "I know."

"But she'll heal," Holly rushed.

"I suppose so. Has she done anything besides sleep all day?"

"No, ma'am. She hasn't even eaten yet."

"She what?"

Sebastian was refusing food? The punishment couldn't have affected her mental state to the point that she decided starvation was the best way to permanently end her situation. Sebastian was smarter than to try that in Hayley's home.

"No one can wake her up. She's been out cold all day, aside from the occasional rouse," Holly said.

A sigh of relief floated past Hayley's lips. At least Sebastian wasn't intentionally starving herself. She was tired. That was all.

"Go tell the chef to make something," Hayley commanded, "I'll wake her up."

"What should I tell him to make?" Holly asked.

"Anything is fine. Get to it."

"Yes, ma'am," Holly bowed and scurried down the hall.

Not dwelling on Holly's need to please her, Hayley pushed the door to her room open. Sebastian's naked bottom was the first thing to meet her eyes. Hayley couldn't hold back her smirk or keep her eyes from grazing the smoothing surface, and she definitely couldn’t keep her mind from filling with dirty images. Sebastian was quite the sight.

Shutting the door quietly behind her, Hayley slipped off her boots. She walked the expanse of the room barefoot and climbed into bed next to Sebastian. In an attempt to gently take Sebastian from her dream world, Hayley ran a hand through the princess' silky, blonde locks. The light action didn't wake the princess.

Hayley leaned down, mouth near Sebastian's ear, and whispered, "Wake up."

She didn't want to shatter the dream world that the princess likely preferred being in. She felt like she shattered the princess' happiness by hurting her and keeping her in the castle.

However, Sebastian didn't wake up to Hayley's melodic voice. She stayed deep in much needed sleep, eyes closed, mouth partially opened, pillow held tight in her arms. Getting no response, Hayley's hand slipped from Sebastian's hair, trailing down her back to her behind. With a mind of their own, her fingers gently drew shapes on the prominent surface.

She knew she shouldn't be touching Sebastian in her sleep while she was still hurting but she couldn't help it. The princess was just so vulnerable in her bed. Not to mention naked. Hayley couldn't contain her hormones, her need to touch Sebastian's bare skin.

If the princess didn't wake up soon and look at her with those pain-filled eyes, Hayley wouldn't be able to stop.

"Come on, sweetheart, wake up," Hayley whispered.

Sebastian groaned and snuggled deeper into the pillow. The groan wasn't one of pain. No, it was one Hayley had heard before while pleasuring the princess. Need flared through her body, stomach igniting at the simple noise. Hayley's hand, acting on hormonal instinct as opposed to Hayley's common sense, dipped between Sebastian's thighs, finger trailing across the princess' slit. Sebastian groaned again.

God, Hayley loved that groan.

Deciding this was the only way to wake the princess up, Hayley let her fingers continue working. They slid up and down Sebastian's slit for a moment before turning their attention to teasing her clit out of hiding. Hayley kissed the sensitive skin behind Sebastian's ear. A low moan rang from the princess' throat.

"Wake up," Hayley cooed.

Sebastian's eyes fluttered open. Hayley smirked at the obvious lust coating them, though deep down she knew she shouldn't have allowed herself to touch Sebastian. She should pull her hand away immediately and allow Sebastian to recover from her now turned on state.

Maybe Hayley was covering up the fear with lust but this was better. No one wanted to wake up scared for their life. This was the only way for Sebastian to wake up without fear.

And Hayley was trying to justify her actions.

Hayley bit Sebastian's ear lobe, her fingers assaulting Sebastian's clit. Sebastian moaned, mind attempting to decipher the situation. Was she awake? She couldn't tell. She had been having quite the vivid dream involving the captain. Prior to that moment, she had been pressed against a door with Hayley's fingers firmly inside of her. Was this simply an extension of that in a different location? Or was this real?

Whatever this was, it felt good.

"You haven't eaten yet," Hayley stated, moving her fingers from Sebastian's clit to her opening.

Her fingers traced over the area. She wanted so badly to dip her fingers into Sebastian, to feel the princess' tight body impaled on her fingers. And she would eventually, but not yet. Sebastian was still wounded, probably aching from the damage Hayley inflicted on her. She didn't need to feel the discomfort of losing her maidenhood yet.

"Not hungry," Sebastian said through labored breathes.

"You have to eat or you'll get sick," Hayley stated.

"Don't care."

"My, your vocabulary is lacking today," Hayley teased, fingers continuing to trail over the princess' personal area.

"Hayley," Sebastian pleaded.

"What?"

Sebastian moaned as response, arching her sore back slightly.

"Are you going to eat?" Hayley asked.

"No."

"Do I have to force feed you?"

Sebastian didn't answer, too caught up in Hayley's busy hand. Screw the food. The pleasure she was receiving was enough.

Hayley did want her to eat, and she knew what she was doing would only make that difficult for the time being. But she couldn't help herself. She needed to take control of herself. It was time for Sebastian to eat, not be molested by her. Plus, Holly could very well walk in on them.

Hayley pulled her hand away from Sebastian, sitting up. Sebastian moaned in protest, causing Hayley to chuckle.

"You need to eat," Hayley reasoned.

"No."

"Well, you're going to eat whether you think you need to or not."

Sebastian pushed herself to her back and crossed her hands over her chest, pouting. Hayley couldn't stop the smile spreading on her face. Though Sebastian's free spirit was only temporary, she was glad she hadn't actually killed her. She couldn't imagine not having Sebastian in her life.