by Kennedy Fox
“My new chapter…”
“At least try it out. If it doesn’t work, then we figure out option two. But regardless, we’ll figure it out together.”
The fire blazed in front of us, and Ethan and I relaxed on the blanket, entangled in each other’s arms. I had my back pressed up against Ethan’s chest, while he traced his fingers along the outer curve of my hip. His warmth wrapped around me tightly, his breathing in time with mine, made me feel safer than I could ever imagine. Ethan reached for my left hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the top of it gently and then intertwining his fingers with mine. Never was a word spoken, never did he say I love you, but I had never felt Ethan’s love as much as I was feeling right now.
“This feels nice,” I purred.
Ethan continued to kiss my hand. Placing a single kiss on each one of my fingers tenderly, pausing slightly to give a second kiss on my ring finger. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to just feel warm, loved, cherished… to feel whole.
Ethan was there.
Ethan was holding me.
Ethan had become my everything.
“Jade. Do you love me?” he asked in the softest of whispers.
“Yes.”
“Do you think I can make you happy?”
“Yes.”
“Would you consider giving Mill Creek and me a chance?” Ethan asked softly again.
“Yes.”
There was no pause, no hesitation. I knew that the only thing I wanted, the only wish I had, was to be with Ethan for the rest of my life.
I loved Mill Creek Resort, but I loved him more.
Ethan placed a gentle kiss on my neck. “Do you mean that? You would stay? On my resort? With me?”
“Yes. Mountain living has grown on me,” I said with a smile.
Ethan repositioned our bodies to a sitting position facing each other. He never released my hand as he slid an antique gold ring onto my finger. He brushed a loose hair behind my ear and softly smiled. He paused to look deep into my eyes. He allowed for the sensual moment of pure love to connect with me. I smiled. I loved. My heart danced.
Ethan paused for a moment. He then wrapped his arms around me and placed the softest kiss to my lips. “I’ll always be the man you need.”
I pulled away from the kiss just enough to whisper, “And I’ll always be the woman you desire.”
He pressed his lips to my neck and gently kissed. I rubbed his back lightly with my fingertips.
“So, when the snow melts...”
He smiled and tenderly placed a hand on each side of my head. His fingers combed along my hair, while his eyes watched the way it looked against his palm.
“When the snow melts… we begin the next chapter.”
About the Author
Alta Hensley is a USA TODAY bestselling author of hot, dark and dirty romance. She is also an Amazon Top 100 bestselling author. Being a multi-published author in the romance genre, Alta is known for her dark, gritty alpha heroes, sometimes sweet love stories, hot eroticism, and engaging tales of the constant struggle between dominance and submission.
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Author’s Note
Stellan and Margot are characters pulled from the pages of The Wicked Prince. You do not have to know anything at all about them to read this little story.
Enjoy!
Chapter One
“It’s nearly Christmas,” I murmur, looking out the window of the chauffeured car. The sky is the cool gray of stainless steel, bright but lined with clouds that will mean more snow. It’s my first Christmas in Copenhagen. My first Christmas married.
My first Christmas as Queen of Denmark.
I’m excited and nervous and a little overwhelmed. After all, I have no warm and fuzzy memories of Christmas from my crummy childhood in New York. How am I supposed to be a cheerful Queen during the holidays here in Denmark?
The limo pulls up to the red brick walls and wrought iron gates surrounding the skating rink. I lean closer to the window, my breath fogging it a little.
An excited crowd stands in front of the entrance gates, waiting for us to arrive. The whole place is decorated with twinkling lights and festive red and white paper hearts, a Danish tradition. Just above the audience's heads is draped a lovely white banner with red lettering. Welcome King Stellan and Queen Margot!
I swallow at that, fidgeting with my dazzling diamond wedding ring. I desperately want not to let anyone down, especially not my new husband.
Stellan clears his throat and I turn from the window, biting my lip as I look at him.
He’s extremely tall and exceedingly handsome, with short dark hair and sparkling blue eyes. He arches a brow at me, a hint of a smirk on his face.
I find myself blushing as I take him in. I’ll be damned if Stellan needs to know that he’s so handsome that just a glance in his direction makes me a little breathless. He literally looks like a caricature of Prince Charming.
That’s the thing. He was my Prince Charming. Now we’re married and we’re living in the happily ever after. The moment after Cinderella marries her Prince and they ride away in the carriage?
That’s me right now.
I bite my lip, trying to suppress a grin. Stellan’s lips twitch. “What?”
I reach out and grab his black coat lapel, drawing him closer. Turning up my mouth as an offering, I pause only a hair’s breadth away from his lips.
He makes a soft sound as he kisses me, a quiet rumble of satisfaction. His mouth is hot and demanding. His hand comes up to cup my cheek as he takes his time to explore my mouth. He only releases me with great reluctance when the car door is opened.
Stellan gives my lips a final kiss and then turns toward the door. I wait as he gets out first, waving to the gathered crowd. Flashes go off as I follow him a few seconds later, putting on my most brilliant smile.
The press is here in full force, shouting questions to Stellan. I have recently learned to ignore them, which hurts the little reporter’s heart beating in my chest. Until I agreed to marry Stellan, I would have been out there with the press, elbowing to get a spot in the front of the crowd.
But it was necessary to adapt to Stellan’s lifestyle to be with him; honestly, ignoring the press is less stressful than some of the other expectations placed on my shoulders.
Shivering against the cold morning air, I raise my hand and wave to the excited crowd.
Stellan takes my hand and we head toward the skating rink, smiling and greeting people that press in from both sides. I cling to his fingers as people call our names and titles out. King Stellan! Queen Margot!
We pass the crowd, the royal bodyguards pushing ahead and clearing a path. Before us is the skating rink, a dozen clusters of people already out moving smoothly around the ice. We stop by a bench and Karl, Stellan’s new secretary, steps up with two pairs of ice skates. “Here you go.” He bobs his blond head to us and we accept the skates. After sitting and lacing them up, I look up at Stellan, biting my lip. He stands, graceful as ever.
He grins and offers me his hands. “Come on. I can’t believe that you’ve never been ice skating before.”
I exhale, my breath leaving me in a clouded puff. I wrinkle my nose, taking his hands and standing. “Be nice to me. Some of us weren’t raised by the royal family here in Copenhagen.”
He wiggles his dark brows, pulling a face. “Ja, ja. I know. I’m rich and snooty. Just remember, you are too now, by extension.”
I glare at him, making him laugh. He pulls me closer, placing a kiss on my lips. “Listen… you are going to be great.”
I shake my head, nervous to even be walking on the cement surrounding the frosty white oval of ice. “I am only sure of one thing: I’m going to slip and fall about a hundred times…”
Stellan winks at me, pulling my body against his. “I’ve got you, skatter. Never doubt that for a moment.”
A slow smile spreads over my face as I stare up at him. My heart beats in double time, reminding me of just how stupidly, blindly, head-over-heels in love with him I am.
In that moment, everything else fades away. The press, the crowd, the glitz and glamour of royal life. It all just vanishes.
It’s just the two of us, Stellan and I, gazing at each other intently. I beam up at him and he squeezes my hand.
I’m a total sucker for my dapper Prince Charming. And knowing that feels good, if not a little self-indulgent.
“Ready?” he says.
I nod, biting my lip. I draw in a breath. “Yes.”
He guides me up to the rim of the rink, stepping down and finding his balance. Then he reaches for me, putting his hands on my waist as I carefully make the first step onto the ice.
“Ahh!” A terrified sound escapes my mouth as I falter. But Stellan is right there, holding me steady. I grip his hands as they rest on my waist.
“Relax,” he says, clearly trying not to laugh.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Don't you dare find amusement in my flailing."
He pulls a face. "I wouldn't dare. I'll hold onto you, no matter what. I promise."
I shake my head a little, rolling my eyes at the predicament we are in. It certainly wasn't my idea to come to this skating rink. Nor was it my idea to invite the press. Of course, the press wouldn't have been Stellan's doing. He would ban the press altogether from the entire country, given the choice.
I suck in a deep breath and try to move a little. Stellan holds me loosely in his grasp, his eye on my form. He frowns.
"Okay, I can see that you will need to shift your posture a little. Put your hands out like this and lean forward a little. Bend your knees…" He lets go of me for just a second to mimic the posture he means. I do my best to follow his instructions.
He takes my waist again. "That's good. Now you're ready to take a few steps and let your body sort of glide across the ice. Ready?"
I glance up at him, feeling his blue eyes upon me. I shove a hand through my hair and nod. "Whenever you are."
He smiles encouragingly but lets me lead the way. I venture out further on to the rink, feeling like a little kid learning to walk. True to his word, Stellan is right there beside me, his hands never leaving my waist. After a few moments of floundering, I find that I'm able to glide just as he instructed me to do.
My eyes are fastened on the ice in front of me, not really looking much ahead. The press has been mostly unintrusive so far, although if I look up into the lenses of the cameras that they hold, the flashes can almost blind me. Stellan moves a little closer, pulling me against his body.
"Just let me move us both," he says, whispering in my ear. "See how freeing it can be?"
My back hits the front of his chest as he glides forward, carrying me with him. And he is exactly right. It is nice, being able to go a little faster. I look up to him with a grin, feeling very silly.
He looks down at me, his expression intense, his hands on my waist tightening even more. "God, you're so beautiful. I can't get over it."
My cheeks flush. I can't help but beam at him. "You are such a flatterer."
He huffs out a little laugh, "Guilty as charged."
I'm so swept up in the moment that we are having that I'm not looking where I'm going. I just let Stellan be my guide, while I stare up at him, wondering exactly what I did to end up married to such a wonderful man.
There is a flurry of motion in front of me that pulls my gaze away from Stellan. I jerked my eyes forward just in time to see a photographer kneeling directly in front of me, zooming his camera lens in on me and Stellan. The photographer doesn't seem concerned with my trajectory right towards him. He seems more concerned with making sure he gets his shot. I freak out, my whole body locking out and I feel myself begin to lose my balance.
In the next second, I tumbled to the left side, not sure where I'm going or what I'm doing except that I don't want to run over the photographer. Stellan is right behind me, trying to manage my fall as best as he can. My knees hit the ice hard, my body hits the ground and the breath is knocked out of my body. It's a minor fall, even I can tell that. But that doesn't seem to matter to Stellan.
As I tumble to the ground, Stellan is already growling at the other man." What are you doing? Are you blind or stupid? Get away from here. I mean it. I don't want to see you again." His mood is black, mercurial as ever. He looks at the photographer with a dead eyed glare. The photographer backs up and holds up his hands, skating away.
"Stellan," I say, pulling on his hand. "Help me up. Come on, don't worry about him."
He helps me gain my feet again, holding onto my hand like a lifeline. Then he turns to the small crowd of press members, pointing at them. "If any of you pull any shit like that again, that will be the end of your press credentials. I'll see to it personally."
I shake my head out at that. "Hey. Stellan. Look at me."
He turns back to me, his expression concerned. "I'm sorry about that."
I repress a sigh. "Don't look at them. Look at all the other people enjoying this beautiful day. Look at that family over there with the kids just learning to skate. Focus on that."
He grimaces but doesn't say anything. I look at the family again, two men with their little boy and girl, the girl probably only three years old. She is blonde and blue eyed, looking exceptionally Scandinavian at the moment. She's wearing a snowsuit with a lot of obvious padding. I elbow Stellan and point her out. "See, that's what I should've worn. I thought I was being fancy by trying to be cute. But I think that family has it right. She could fall and probably not even feel it."
Stellan's lips twitch. "That is pretty cute," he said. He takes in her whole family, pulling me closer and starting to glide across the ice once more. "It feels funny to look at that family and sort of… I don't know, long for what they have, I guess."
My eyes light up. I turned to him, a smile spreading over my face. "Yeah? Are you talking about how they have kids?"
Stellan nods. “Ja. I am. I know that that's kind of silly."
I squeeze his hand. "It's not silly at all. When I think about our future, I definitely see us chasing around a bunch of kids. Most of them look exactly like you, the little devils."
He snorts. "We would make very pretty children."
I glanced down at my feet, trying to make sure that I'm not about to trip. "That's very true. I have to admit, I'm a little bit baby crazy even though we've only been married a short period of time. I don't know why."
His lips lift at the corners. "I didn't realize that you had such strong maternal instincts."
I wrinkle my nose. "I didn't either. I don't know where it comes from. God knows that I didn't exactly have the most stable mother growing up…"
He pulls me close, hugging me around the waist. "I didn't either. But I think that we will make better choices for our children when the time comes. That much I do know."
I shoot him a grin, biting my lip. "Yeah?"
He looks amused. “Ja. I think that you will make an excellent mother. That's just my gut feeling."
I blush. "Let's deal with that when we get to it. One day at a time."
Squeezing me around the waist, he cocks a brow. “Whatever you say, skatter.”
We continue to skate around the ring, me clinging to Stellan's touch. After a while, my legs are like Jell-O and I beg him to let me stop.
"Okay, I have to quit for today. That was a good first experience, though."
He helps me over to the side of the ring and I strip off my skates with glee. I'm ready to leave but Stellan looks up, spotting the bright red cable car, rising into the air on its thin wires. One leaves every ten minutes or so and there are a queue of people waiting to get into one of the heated cars.
He gets a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "How do you feel about resting in one of those?"
I blow out a breath. "You're gonna get tired of hearing me say this, but I've never been in one."
/> He flashes me a devilish grin. "Oh, I think it's beyond time. Come on."
I shove my feet into my shoes and hurry along after Stellan, up the little incline and into the line. Stellan is impatient sending a pair of his bodyguards ahead to check out the little sky bucket that we eventually climb into. It's nice, a little box that is closed around our heads. We can see out but it's difficult to see in. I sit down as the sky tram starts, pulling us up into the sky.
Chapter Two
As soon as we take off, Stellan double checks the lock on the door. In the next second, he’s all over me, kissing my neck. I look at the ground falling away beneath us, biting my lip.
“Stellan,” I murmur. “The king of Denmark can’t be caught fucking the Queen so publicly.”
“Shhh,” he says, sucking at a tender spot on my neck. “Forget our titles. Forget everything. Right now, in this moment, it’s just you and me. Focus on that.”
I close my eyes as he kisses my ear, gently nibbling on the lobe and tracing the shell with his tongue. I draw in a shuddering breath and my eyes roll up in my head. My toes curl. My whole body aches in the sweetest way whenever he does this to me. He puts his tongue inside my ear, making me moan.
God, Stellan makes me weak.
“Fuck,” he mutters, sliding his gaze up to meet my own. “Do you realize how fucking beautiful you are, skatter?”
My cheeks turn pink. He used my nickname again, one that only he could give me. He called me skatter in the dirty underground club in New York. It means my heart. He’s never stopped calling me that and I don’t ever want him to. Under his relentless gaze, I feel so seen, the opposite of invisible.
“No,” I breathe. “I only feel that way when you’re looking at me, my love.”
His look is so direct and frank, so honest. It sears me from the inside out.
When he speaks again, it’s as much a worshipful promise as it is a compliment.
“I do.” He sucks in a ragged breath. “I’ve always thought you were beautiful. From the very start, the first moment I saw you. I think I always knew that I loved you, even though I thought I hated you.”