A Line of Soft Princes - Ch. 13 - To Be Expected

For a few weeks, Bartem was altogether too busy snatching every bit of time he could to be with Astor to realize his old lover was having a rather tremendous effect on his waistline.

Part of that was due to Evie’s quick thinking. She had already told her husband’s valet to start ordering new clothes in larger sizes before Bartem could think to request them. She knew Bartem would be so distracted that he was unlikely to notice any of the new garments, or the old ones dropping out of the rotation just as he was outgrowing them.

But much of it was due entirely to the rush of joy he felt at being with Astor again. The heady pleasure of sneaking around the court, clandestine couplings, and all that in between lavish luncheons and balls where they had to do their best not to spend all night making eyes at each other? It was almost too much.

Adding all the extra fucking to his schedule on top of everything else honed Bartem’s appetite to a razor sharp edge. Without realizing, he was eating far more but feeling much less satisfied. He was anxious and horny and unconsciously trying to cool his heels with as much food as he could reach. It seemed everyone at court noticed except Bartem. People commented about how “healthy” he was looking or how well he was filling out his clothes after his months at court. He took these compliments with a smile, but was rolling his eyes internally. He’d gained some weight, certainly, but not enough to warrant such fawning commentary, at least in his mind. Evie found his gentle denial deliciously amusing. She could see his disbelief when this marquess or that duke commented on his weight, the way he so confidently knew he was not significantly larger than a week ago or the week before. His irritated expressions were especially funny when he had a mouthful of food, which seemed to be all the time.

His appetite had been accelerated further by Astor’s love for mixing food and pleasure. Now that the opportunity to fill his belly to the brim was a mere request to a servant away, the freshly-minted noble found every possible excuse to eat–not that he needed any, with sustenance in such abundance throughout the palace. He would claim he needed “a bite to eat” before sex, and would insist afterwards that his tummy was grumbling because it was so empty. (Really, those gurgles were likely just his stomach working tirelessly to digest.) Bartem was happy to humor him.

It was impolite and odd to let Astor eat alone, of course, so Bartem indulged right alongside him. Even though Astor was the slimmer of the two, his appetite was far larger, and so Bartem reassured himself that he wasn’t overdoing it. In reality, he was eating anywhere from four to six full meals each day, not accounting for all the events he still needed to attend. Astor was ballooning rapidly, and Bartem’s lust for all the new rolls and squishiness kept him from realizing how much his weight was increasing.

Honestly, it was hard to think about anything but tupping Astor. Watching the young man glut his soft belly was hypnotic. And that moment when he was finally full, finally sated, and looking like a swollen little pig? Bartem knew no higher pleasure than rolling Astor over onto that plump, stuffed tummy and fucking him while he groaned with pain and pleasure, whimpering about how he’d surely pop. Feeling Astor wobbling beneath him, rocking back and forth over his rounded stomach with each thrust, was transcendent.

Eating after all that hard work was almost as wonderful, especially since Astor liked it when they lay in bed hand-feeding each other as they caught their breath. There was something so erotic about licking crumbs off each others’ fingers, so soft and intimate. Feeding each other seemed eventually to lead to them nuzzling closer, grinding gently until they were both hard again. Astor liked to get on top then. Their bellies would press together, warm and overfull. These couplings were gentler–less urgent. Often, they continued to feed each other, swallowing mouthfuls of meringue and fruit as they made love.

It was all so perfect. Somehow, though, it wasn’t enough to completely satisfy the young prince. He would come to his wife’s rooms late at night, tired and heavy on his feet after a full day of endless eating, fully intending to wrap his arms around Evie, kiss her on the cheek, and fall into a deep sleep. As with all of Bartem’s other assumptions, this one crumbled as soon as Evie started to wake as he crawled into bed. Tired as they both were, most evenings she made time for a long belly rub and massage under the pretense of giving them a moment to catch up with each other. Their talk was usually brief and merely a segue into Evie straddling his face or finding her pleasure on his thigh while he watched and enjoyed a late-night snack.

His life blurred into a hedonistic haze. He was so wrapped up that over a month flew by, and the only reason he realized was because the court had grown even more crowded. The final month of the season had arrived, and with it, so had Bartem’s parents.

They were staying outside the palace in their own summer estate nearby. Like everyone else who had the money and space, they hosted a ball. Bartem and Evie arrived well before the dance in order to pay them a visit, dragging Linden and Emmett along with them.

Both Bartem’s younger brothers had complained that they had no need to visit–“We’ll be back home with them soon enough! And we’ll be seeing them at all the other parties.” Bartem had insisted, knowing they only wanted to skip the whole thing so they could continue to sit on their growing asses and stuff themselves in courtly comfort.

Bartem had been excited to see their parents, too–at first. But as they all piled into an enormously capacious carriage and began to pull away from the palace, he began to feel anxious at the thought of being away from Astor all day. He’d chastised his siblings for not wanting to leave the warm cocoon of the palace, but as they drifted away from it, he felt much the same way. And, heavens–was he hungry? His stomach growled and he felt his face flush. He had just enjoyed one of his usual lavish breakfasts not two hours before. He felt a little ashamed. Was he really so pampered these days? Evie, ever-prepared, pulled a bag filled with chocolates from a compartment in the carriage and plopped it into his hands. He was grateful and began popping them into his mouth without even thinking. (Emmett would later grumble about this to Linden in their rooms. “I wish I had a wife who always had chocolates at the ready.”)

Lord and Lady Burrock were both ecstatic to see their eldest children, eager to hear about their months away from home and whether they had any marriage prospects. “You’ve made sure they’re quite well taken care of, I see,” had been Lady Burrock’s remark upon seeing Linden and Emmett. “I had forgotten how lavish court life can be! It’s even gotten Bartem nice and fat.” She had patted his stomach then. His face had gone blank for some time.

“Nice and fat”? He looked down at himself. Surely not… He had put on some weight–it was to be expected. But fat? No.

Evie had given his hand a squeeze as they sat down together in the drawing room. While everyone else chattered, Bartem was too busy finally seeing and feeling his own body outside of the palace. In the palace, there were men twice his size and larger around for him to compare himself against. Here, his father was the largest person in the room, and about the same size as he’d always been in Bartem’s memory. When Bartem looked down at himself, he realized with trepidation that he was looking far more like his father than he had ever expected. He’d arrived at Evie’s palace in the spring with a small but undeniable paunch. Now, he had a soft, wobbling belly that took up much of his lap and rested heavily upon his thighs. He was aware of how many parts of his body touched now. He could feel his upper arms squishing against his sides, the rolls of fat beneath his shoulder blades, his backside spreading beneath him on the seat. He glanced over at Evie. She looked the same as she had the night he’d met her. It hit him how much larger he was than her now. Come to think of it–hadn’t he had to start lifting up his belly and resting it on her thighs when she rode him? He hadn’t thought anything of it, too caught up to really notice.

It was shocking to him, in no small part because it had almost completely escaped his notice! Some part of him was appalled at his lack of self-control. He was no longer merely chubby or plump, but fat, and well on his way to being larger than his father, who he had always viewed as impractically immense.

He was pulled into the conversation, his thoughts on his body continuing to meander even as he talked and laughed with his family. He told his parents all about the first few months of marriage and all the things that had surprised him at court. He talked about all the people he’d met and foods he’d tried. As he spoke, it became clear to him that he was truly, genuinely happy. He was fatter, yes, and he’d grown perhaps a bit too fond of stuffing himself of late. And he was so happy that he hadn’t even taken the time to get used to his new body.

At the ball later that evening, he noticed himself getting a little winded as he danced. It felt a little foreign to him, but he realized it came with the territory of eating his fill. He was still one of the best dancers on the floor and having an excellent time.

When he got into bed with Evie after the ball, legs sore from all the exercise, he said, “I’ve gotten rather fat, haven’t I?”

Evie had given a small smile, her cheeks reddening. “A bit, yes.”

“Don’t be shy, dear girl,” he’d said as he rolled on top of her, letting the full weight of his stomach rest on her. “Tell me everything you like about it.”

Evie was more than happy to oblige.

***

Thank you all for reading! This is the last chapter of A Line of Soft Princes. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

I'm hoping to revisit many of these characters again in the future, but for now, this is the end of Bartem's story. If you'd like to read more stories in this same setting, check out Arrangement, the prequel series set a few centuries before.