Chapter 1 - caught

The chocolate melted in her mouth.

In her position, she would not ordinarily be allowed to taste such delicacies, but her discovery of the secret pantry had quickly turned indulgence into a weekly tradition.

The small room was in a dark corridor in the west wing of the castle, and seemed to have an endless supply of sweet delights that never dwindled, no matter how much she ate each week.

Closing her eyes, she shoved another handful of chocolates into her mouth. Each one burst with caramel filling, and she smiled at the soothing flavour. This was her happy place.

The first time she found the pantry, she was hesitant, eating a piece of candy or two. However, she found herself returning time and again as she realised that no one noticed anything amiss. Her hesitation started to dwindle, and she would happily eat a handful or two every time she managed to sneak away. That quickly evolved further, and now she was completely bold, making the most of these little breaks by stuffing herself with sweets until she felt nauseous from the sugar.

She threw the now-empty tray of chocolates aside, and opened a little wooden box. This one was filled with a syrup-soaked pastry, thin sheets of dough glued together with a shining, sticky liquid. She made quick work of the baked delight, her stomach starting to feel full.

Debating whether or not she had time for one more treat, she picked for a large square wrapped in baking paper, big enough to carry a tray of dinner plates on. Unwrapping a corner, she found the entire thing was a sickly sweet fudge. She broke off a small corner and chewed, wrapping the block back up and moving to put it on the shelf.

"Finished so soon?"

She turned with a start to see a tall, dark-haired gentleman staring at her with amusement in his eyes.

The prince. Elias was the lord of this estate, and was widely fantasized about by the servant girls, who considered him to be the pinnacle of male attractiveness.

"Annie, is that right?" he asked.

She nodded slowly, though in the moment she wished he had not recognised her. She already felt her cheeks burning in embarrassment at being caught pigging out on the master's treats.

"Well, Annie, I am quite pleased to finally discover who has been raiding my private stores. Though really, by now I should have been able to guess..."

He cast a meaningful glance down at her frame. Annie's face burned even more as she became acutely aware of how strained the buttons of her dress were. She had been pretending very hard that she was not feeling more and more like an overstuffed sausage each time she got dressed after her little excursions, but she could not ignore the fact that the Elias could probably see her underdress peeking through the gap between each button.

"I-I am sorry, my lord. I did not intend to -"

Elias stepped closer and placed one gloved finger on her lip, silencing her mid-sentence.

His green eyes bore into hers, still filled with amusement, as well as a deeper emotion she could not place.

"Do not think that you can escape with a mere apology, Annie. I know that this has been going on for months. I could very easily fire you, you know."

His eyes grew cold for a second, and he paused. Then a sly smile crossed his face instead.

"However, I think I have a better idea. Take this, and go to my chambers at once."

He reached behind her to pick up the block of fudge. Confused, but not particularly inclined to challenge the instructions from the handsome lord, Annie took the fudge and rushed out of the room.

Now alone, Elias turned slowly through the small pantry, and picked out a few more packages off the shelves. He was going to have some fun.

He strolled back to his chambers at a leisurely pace, pausing at the kitchen to pick up another tray as well as a pitcher.

He found Annie standing in the centre of the room, still holding the fudge in one hand while fidgeting nervously with the hem of her skirt with the other.

He placed the items he was carrying down on a little table next to his bed, and walked over to take the fudge from the maid. In the bright light of the room, the straining seams of her uniform were even more evident.

"Did you really think you had been discrete?"

His tone was teasing, not malicious.

"I thought... I thought nobody knew about the pantry." Annie said this with a shy smile, feeling more at ease as it became clear the prince did not seem angry.

"Even if no one new about the pantry, you thought no one would notice this?" He poked a finger in the gap splayed between the top two buttons of her dress.

"Or this?" He lowered his hand and gently cupped her belly. Elias's eyebrows shot up as he encountered flesh sooner than he expected through the skirt. He jiggled it gently, having found a full pot-belly where he had expected perhaps a layer of chub.

"My, my... Someone really has been busy."

Suddenly pulling away, he gestured towards the large armchair next to his bed.

"Nevermind. Sit. You are, as we discovered today, a thief. And thieves must get their punishment."

Confused, frightened, but more than a little aroused, Annie followed the instructions without question.

"Now firstly, you have ruined my block of fudge. How do you expect me to serve this to anyone after a maid has eaten from it with her bare hands?"

Before unwrapping the fudge, Elias quickly pulled off his white gloves, casting them aside. The gesture was strangely attractive.

With his bare, well-manicured hands, he broke off a large chunk of the fudge and turned to Annie.

"It would be a shame for it to go to waste, don't you think?"

Annie's eyes grew wide.

"Surely you don't mean for me to eat it all?"

Elias's eyes glowed with devilish delight. "I have seen what disappears from my pantry. I have no doubt you will eat this and more."

With that, he began feeding it to her, piece by piece.

Annie felt like she was in a dream. The most desired man in the castle was here with her, indulging in her wildest fantasy. She ate enthusiastically at first, chewing piece after piece as quickly as she could.

Two-thirds through the block, her resolve began to waver as the sugar threatened to overwhelm her taste buds.

"Water..." she choked out after a bite.

"I have a better idea," responded Elias, handing her the pitcher he had brought.

"Drink."

Annie took a large sip, surprised to find her mouth filled with a rich, creamy liquid.

"Cream?" she asked, after a mouthful. It was a far thicker drink than she would have asked for, but the moisture was needed.

"Fresh, sweetened cream." Elias confirmed.

Annie drank a few more sips, before Elias took the pitcher away and resumed feeding her fudge.

By the time the fudge was finished, a heavy feeling had settled in her stomach, and Annie was feeling as sated as she had ever been in one of her more private stuffings.

With the fudge gone, she made a move to get up, but a gentle yet firm hand on her shoulder kept her seated.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Annie opened her mouth to respond, but thought better of it.

"My dear, the fudge was only the beginning. I intend to find out exactly how much of a little glutton you are."

The devilish smile split his face again, and he retrieved a box from his table. He opened it to reveal a relatively small but beautifully decorated cake inside.

"Do you like cake, Annie?" he asked.

She nodded, meeting his gaze.

Elias ran his finger across the top of the cake, gathering a little ball of frosting, and held it out to her. Annie leaned forward and s sucked the frosting off his finger, closing her eyes as her tongue moved in circles to ensure that not a drop was missed.

Now truly excited, Elias held the cake out to her.

"You are going to eat this."

Annie looked momentarily intimidated - the cake, while relatively small, was still intended for a party of people rather than an individual.

"Do I get a fork?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"No. Greedy girls like you can eat with their hands."

She dug into the cake, shoving down mouthful after mouthful of rich vanilla. Halfway in, she realised she was starting to feel truly stuffed. Sensing that her capacity was reaching its limits, Elias started rubbing her belly through her dress soothingly.

Even through the layer of fabric, he could feel that her gut was growing taut. However, with his encouragement, she kept eating bit after bite until the cake was entirely gone. A sweat had broken out across her forehead.

Elias kept rubbing her belly, prodding gently to check her capacity.

"You can take more," he declared.

She shook her head half-heartedly. Her stomach felt fuller than it had all her life, and yet.. Part of her was sure she could push it further.

Elias walked back over to the table and retrieved another plate. In this one was simply a sliced cheese, an entire small wheel of gouda cut into thin triangles. Annie looked grateful to see something more savoury.

The prince began feeding her the cheese, the maid chewing desperately fast to choke one slice down before the other came. She sensed that there was no room to slow down.

The cheese disappeared surprisingly fast, and Annie's eyes were starting to become unfocused from the pressure in her belly.

"A last challenge for you, my greedy pet. I need this cream to be finished, since I certainly cannot bring it back to the kitchen."

He held the pitcher up to her mouth, and she obediently drank. The rich liquid settled heavily in her stomach, filling any gaps left between the food.

"I need to... I need to lie down..." Annie struggled to get the words out.

The prince held her hand and pulled her up from the armchair. As she leaned forward, Annie felt the pressure on her chest grow and then suddenly release with a pop, she looked down and realised that the button across her bosom had completely broken off.

She stumbled slightly as she came to her feet, and found herself held close in the embrace of the prince as he caught her. He could feel a hard - and sizable - bulge pressing into her side from between his legs.

He walked her gently to his bed and laid her down, rubbing her belly as she lay there. He was delighted to find that even though she was firm from the stuffing, there was a coat of jiggly flesh which was soft to touch.

His hands moved upward and he undid the remaining buttons of her over-dress, Annie breathing a sigh of relief as the restrictive fabric gave way. He worked her free of the black dress altogether. In the grey undergarment, the outward curve of her belly seemed even more pronounced - he would not have disbelieved someone if they told him she was 5 months with child. Her breasts still seemed barely contained in the grey overdress, softness filling the fabric like an overstuffed pillow.

While the throbbing between Elias's legs implored him to explore her form further, Annie's eyes fluttering shut postponed those plans.

"Til next time, greedy one."

He gave her stomach a final pat, and covered her with a blanket. As she dozed off, Elias left to wander the castle further as he made plans of what they could explore next.