“Elsa! How long have you known?” His thrusts carry me into another orgasm, rippling and cresting like overlapping waves of pleasure.
“Since you first kissed me. Why would you lie to me?” I pant, fighting to recapture my breath.
He gazes into my eyes and holds my hands behind my head, pinning me down as he lays his claim on me.
“I had to feel you. I needed your love, and this is the only way. I love you, Elsa.” He covers me with his body, lifting my legs and continues his impassioned assault. Working me into another frenzy, he allows me to teeter on the brink until he drives me from one climax into the next. Savoring his love, reveling in his passion, I howl with such uninhibited ecstasy, I fear I may never come down. When we find our release, we find it together.
“I can feel you, my love. I love you so much, I love you, Elsa.”
Lying on the grass under the shady tree, he asks me if I can love him.
“I love you, but I’ve been mad at you. When we met, I was scared and innocent. I never wanted to be your wife or queen and the things we did under that enchantment haunt me. You haunted me but you weren’t around. I wasn’t jealous that you were with your mistress, whether or not that’s true.”
“It isn’t.” He insists.
“But it hurt me that you had no interest in getting to know me.” I turn away from him, but he pulls me into his arms.
“I told you I loved you that night because I felt something deep for you. Yes, we were under a spell, but you drew me into you so easily I knew I’d fall in love with you. I feared my love for you would destroy me the way it destroyed my father. I wanted to get away from you. and I didn’t think you would fall in love with Ivo so soon” He nuzzles his chin on my shoulder and sighs.
“I may never love you as much as I love him, Ivar. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t say that. You don’t know that. I can make things better. I don’t want to be like my father, Elsa. I can’t believe I’ve made the same mistake as him. Please don’t make me pay for it for the rest of my life. I sought my mother’s love all my life and I saw how his unrequited love broke him.”
“I’ll try.” I lean into him and let him kiss my cheek.
“Elsa?” He whispers, kissing my earlobe.
“Yes?”
“I will make you love me more. I promise you.” He croons, nudging his hard shaft against me.
“Perhaps, you will. We have our whole lives to find out.”
Epilogue
IVAR- Four Years Later
“Come here.” I curl my finger and point to the spot in front of me.
“Ivar! The children are coming. Ivo is bringing them.” She tiptoes away, then rushes behind the shady tree.
Chasing her, I press my body against her and slide my hands around her waist. Capturing her lips, she melts as our mouths join and everything around us disappears. Devouring her with passionate kisses, my hands explore her body, lingering on the swells of her breasts as I listen to the sweet sounds of her approval.
She’ll never admit it, but I know she loves me more.
She has a tender spot for Ivo. He and she are closer friends, but when she’s with me, things are different. When our bodies connect, our souls find one another again and for those moments we’re complete. I know she feels it, I can see it in her eyes. My eyes. The eyes from my dreams.
“Tell me you love me.” I whisper, planting soft kisses on the slope of her neck.
“I’ve told you many times today, you conceited man. I love you.” She moans into my collar.
“More than him?” I chuckle, knowing she won’t give me what I want.
“Stop asking me that, Ivar.” She stares at me and pouts. “I love you the same.”
“You’re a liar.” I clasp her hands and hold them tightly over her head. “I know you do, Elsa. And one day you will admit it.”
Narrowing her eyes, she lunges forward and bites my lip. “Fine, but that day is not today. Ivo is coming. I hear him.”
“Fine. Go see to your husband, you trollop.” I swat her behind and spread a blanket for the children.
Our twin sons, Haavek and Hagan, named after our father and grandfather, were born nine months after our wedding. Since then, we’ve had a daughter, Juliet, named after Elsa’s mother. She’s a beautiful little girl with dark hair and green eyes like her mother. And as in all things, Ivo and I continuously argue over who we believe she belongs to. It makes no difference, if she’s Elsa’s, she’s mine.
As happy as I am, I still would prefer to have her to myself. I don’t want this for my sons. We were meant to be with Elsa. I know I was meant to be with her. That cannot be changed. But I’ll make things better for them. If I could have given up my crown to have her to myself, I would have done it without question. We would have left Verdan and never looked back.
I want them to have the same choice.
Epilogue
Ten Years Later
“How do you feel?” Alecto holds my hand as she walks with me in the maze.
“I’m well. I can’t believe I’m having another baby. I thought I was done.” I smooth my dress over my belly and smile.
“You’re still young. You’re only twenty-eight. And you have two virile husband who never give you any peace. I’m surprised you don’t have ten children.” She covers her mouth, embarrassed she’s spoken so crudely.
“Have you grown to love them equally? Does Ivo still rule your heart?”
“I love them equally.” I nod and look away, hoping she doesn’t ask me more.
“Good. I used to think you’d never love Ivar, but then I grew frightened you might love him too much.” She sits on a bench nearby.
“I love them the same.” I repeat.
“You love them anyway you can, Elsa. You never have to explain your love to me, to them, to anyone. It’s not an easy thing splitting your heart in two and it is an impossible task to rule two hearts.”
“Is that what I do? Is that what I rule?” I laugh and sit next to her.
She takes my hand and cradles it lovingly. “I’m sorry I brought you into this. But you were their destiny. I love them like they are my own sons and I would not have entrusted their hearts to just anyone.”
We stand and continue through the maze.
“Ivar is trying to end this. Maybe he will.” I look to her, hoping she has some vision.
“I hope he does, too. Nothing is set in stone. You may be the last of the great queens, Elsa.”
Spotting Ivo and Ivar in the distance, I smile and pick up my pace, eager to reach them. Leaving her behind as I scurry into the arms of my handsome husbands, I call out, “I hope I am!”
She stifles a laugh. “Yes, of course. You look positively miserable.”
THE END
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Writer, wife, dachshund lover, Francophile, history buff, sci-fi junkie- I write steamy romance for nerdy girls-- because that's who I am.
A quick glance at my catalog and you'll find I do not devote myself to any one specific type of romance sub-genre: I like historical, sci-fi, humorous, and just plain romantic.
But no matter what kind of story it is, my smart and funny heroines are always adored and my endings are always happy.
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Also by Matilda Martel
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Queen of Two Hearts Page 6