by Andersen,Kai
“They shall be passed on with immediate effect to his son.”
Giselda started. “But Father --”
“He’s my grandson.” The king’s voice was firm and brooked no arguments. “Surely I’m allowed to give him a welcome gift.”
“Thank you, Father.” She wanted to hug her father, but this was not the time. Why had she ever doubted her family’s support for her? Her arms tightened around Serena. “But there is one thing ...”
“Name it.”
Giselda squared her shoulders. “I know that Rodin had an agreement with Frederick to start a horse ranch after his last security job. But as Rodin is not ... here, I would like to take on that task for him. I want it to be his legacy to his son.”
Serena squeezed her arm, indicating her approval of the suggestion.
“Agreed.” Frederick’s voice was choked. “Princess Giselda shall manage the ranch in her husband’s name, and two hundred and fifty acres shall be given as a gift from the crown prince and princess of Mithirien.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The guests had stayed for the dinner after the aborted wedding, but Giselda found that she couldn’t face the food. After making her apologies to her family, she made it very clear that she needed to be alone for now. She saw the worried glances they sent her way, but much as she wanted to reassure them, she didn’t know how much would be truth.
She made her way to her room, where she took off her dress and unbound her hair, all the while reminiscing about the past twenty or so days with Rodin. She laughed at the funny moments and cried when something touched her heart, but never more so than when she thought of the time when she had “tortured” him by withholding information on how she felt about him. She especially remembered his ashen face when he thought that she regarded him only as a brother. She now wished she could turn back time, that she had told him straight out that she loved --
“All that crying can’t be good for the baby.”
Giselda’s head whirled toward the balcony. That voice, although not with its present weight of tenderness, had haunted all her thoughts and dreams.
The sight of his beloved silhouette brought a fresh onslaught of tears. He was bathed in radiant light, making it hard for her to see his features clearly. But it was him. She would know him, even if she saw only his shadow or a finger on his hand.
“Rodin!” She sobbed. She was halfway across the room when she suddenly stopped. One hand stretched out toward him. “I should not go near to you, right, because you might disappear then,” she whispered, her heart dark with despair. “But it’s all right. It’s enough to be able to see you like this, even to hear your voice.” She burst into tears again. “Oh, Rodin, there are lots of things I want to tell you; I don’t think one night is enough. Promise me you’ll come back tomorrow, please?”
“I’ll do better than that,” he said in an aching whisper, striding toward her with the same tormented expression she was sure was on her face. He grasped her hand, and his arms closed about her. “I’ll hold you in my arms every night.”
She laid her head on his chest in wonder and amazement. He smelled of earth and grass and sky. “How can a ghost be so solid?”
“Maybe because I’m not a ghost?” His voice held a trace of laughter.
She touched his arm and pulled the hair on his chest.
“Ow!”
A wild joy bloomed in her. “You’re alive! You’re really alive!” Incredibly, more tears slid down her cheeks. She hugged him in a tight grip. “I’m not dreaming, am I?”
“As long as I’m in the dream with you, I don’t really care.”
“But how -- how -- I love you. I love you.”
“I know.”
She looked up at him, surprised. “You know? But I never told you.”
“I was in the throne room just now.”
“You were? But you never made a sound ...”
In the moonlight, his eyes were tender as he looked down at her. “I was waiting to hear why my princess could look so beautiful, yet her eyes could be so sad. Why her lips couldn’t smile. I hoped that it was because of ... me.” He smiled. “I never expected her to exact vengeance for me, though.”
“In the end, I couldn’t marry him, not even for the baby, not when I love you so much.”
His hand moved down to cover her abdomen. “My baby.” There was much wonder and awe in his voice.
“Yes.”
“I can’t offer you much, Giselda --”
“You have two hundred and fifty acres of land --”
“Given by your brother. My life, as it is right now, is worth nothing.”
“Don’t say that!” Her voice came out more sharply than she intended. “Your life is worth a great deal to me.”
“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” His voice was rueful with remorse. “I just meant that I don’t have much to offer you. Wait, hear me out. I’m not of royal blood, no title, no prestigious lineage. The little amount of gold that I’ve saved wouldn’t be enough to cover you in furs and jewels. I would have continued employment managing the ranch, but turnaround time won’t be for at least two years or more. Moreover, ranch work is hard, and there will probably be no servants to assist you. Think you can live with me in poverty?”
Although his voice was light, she knew the answer was very important to him. “Rodin,” she began softly, looking into his brilliant green eyes. “It’s true that I had dreamed of being queen one day, and I’m ashamed to say, even schemed and plotted for it. But dreams do change. My dreams changed.” She smiled. “My feelings also changed. Maybe it’s because I’m more grown-up now, able to think about things, and realizing what I do want from my life. Separating the important things from the nonessential ones.”
She drew in a shaky breath. “And I’ve found out that you’re the most important thing in my life. You and the baby both. You’re my savior, my lifeline. If not for you, I would have ended up like Michael, and maybe you could even say that we deserved each other. But because you saw the best in me, I want to be the best person that I can be for you. I want nothing more than to be your wife, living with you and working together with you on the ranch. As to servants ...” She hesitated. “I didn’t always have them, and I believe it’s time for me to learn how to do without them if need be. But I suppose we can afford one or two, can’t we?”
“Yes, we can.” There was a big lump in his throat. It humbled him that Giselda was willing to give up so much, just because she loved him.
Giselda swallowed hard. “Also, have I told you that when my father -- that is, my biological father -- was still alive, we owned a small pasture? Did I tell you about how I would always run barefoot in the meadow? Well, I did and I grew to love the sight of the green grass, the feel of the brown earth underneath my feet, the smell of freedom in the open fields. I missed that when we moved into the castle.”
“I know. You told me you missed the open air.”
“Yes.” She looked deep into his eyes. “But when I look into your eyes, I see it all -- the green grass, the brown earth, the blue sky and freedom. You gave it all back to me, Rodin.”
Her words went straight to his heart. He gave a heartfelt groan and then kissed her, his lips flitting lightly over her lips before settling on them, moving slowly over hers, savoring and relishing the feel of those warm lips. It was a kiss that bespoke of promise and love and so much more.
“I missed you.” His lips moved to her neck.
His fingers were busy at the ribbon of her shift. Need spiraled within her, fierce and sharp and strong. “Me, too. And when I thought that I would never see you again --”
“It’s all right. We’re together now, and nobody can tear us apart again. Ever.”
“But how --” She tore at his shirt. The buttons popped.
“Merry saved me.”
The shift pooled at her feet. “We certainly owe her a lot.”
“Yes, we do.”
He claimed her lips, and it was a long while
before they talked again. It was not the tender kiss he’d given her moments ago. This kiss was fierce and hard, possessing and claiming. He plundered her mouth, tasting her honeyed depths. His hands flew into her hair, shifting through the thick mass.
Giselda loved this side of Rodin. It spoke of a certain desperation. It excited her, made her feel desirable and womanly. She responded eagerly to his advances, plunging her tongue into his mouth.
“It will be hard and fast, Giselda,” he rasped as he carried her to the bed. “I can’t wait anymore.”
“I want it any way you want, Rodin, always.”
Despite his urgency, he laid her down gently and traced her cheek, his mouth somber and unsmiling. Then he tore at his breeches, and his cock was free. He plunged into her in one quick motion.
Giselda sucked in a deep breath. He felt so full and so familiar inside her. He filled her, deeper and fuller because he also touched her heart. Her legs automatically came up to clasp him to her. Tears threatened to overwhelm her; this was the culmination of their love, this physical joining.
“Tears, Giselda?” Rodin asked softly, his lips kissing the tear that had slipped free.
“Of happiness. I didn’t think I would be this happy.”
“It will be even better.” He started to move, thrusting in and out of her. “We can only get better as the years go by.”
Rodin was like a man possessed; he thrust and plunged, quick, shallow stabs that compelled her to lift her hips and meet his movements. His hard body ground against hers in every downward stroke, stimulating the tight bud of her desire.
His action drove her deeper into the bed. His shoulders were bunched, and his neck was corded as he strove to maintain his hard and fast pace. She clutched him by the shoulders, feeling his muscles clench, her fingers digging deep into his flesh as she lifted herself to meet him. She wanted more. She needed more, desperately.
She wanted an affirmation of what they had almost lost ... and regained.
He gave it to her.
She lost herself in the waves of intense pleasure, in the sweet sensations of Rodin’s firm body atop her, his hard length inside her. She dug her heels deeper into his buttocks, as if by sheer force she could keep him within her. Her walls were contracting madly, milking his cock even as he tried to thrust through the ever-narrowing passage. She screamed from the mindless pleasure that rent through her. Her vagina gripped him, gloved him, pushing him to the brink, the rich surge of her cream washing over him, causing him to thrust into her furiously as he finally had his own release, shooting jets of seed into her slick depths.
Their mating was fierce and urgent and frantic, born of desperation and love and need so deep it filled and overflowed their hearts.
He collapsed on top of her, spent. She still pulsed around him, tiny contracting movements that sent aftershocks into their bodies. When he would have moved away from her, she stopped him. “No. Stay.”
He was still inside her, and though his weight was heavy, he felt sweaty and solid and good. He felt like heaven. She gripped him tighter with her arms and legs.
His mouth was muffled against her neck. “I’m too heavy for you.”
“You feel wonderful.”
Rodin raised himself up on his arms and wiped the sweat away from her face. He tucked some tendrils of hair behind her ear. “You are wonderful.”
She smiled mischievously. “Thank you, kind sir.”
He gave her a slow kiss. “I’m only telling the truth.”
“Tell me again.”
“I love you.”
“You can read my mind.”
He laughed. “I guessed.”
“Thank you.” She cupped his cheek with one hand. “For loving me.” Love for him filled her and expanded to flow into every part of her being. “I think our quest ended quite well, don’t you?”
“Absolutely perfect. But I believe there will be more great adventures waiting for us down the road.” Rodin’s big hand was warm against her belly. “Something involving this little one here, for example.”
“I’m looking forward to them.” Giselda smiled. Life with Rodin would be one great adventure. “To each and every one of them.”
# # #