Mutual Desire

by Donna Grant

  Instantly, she was on her feet. “Falcor?”

  His eyes opened slowly and met her gaze. She pressed her lips together as emotion welled within her.

  “I’m. Here,” he said hoarsely.

  She wiped away her tears and brought a cup of water to his lips. He drank a few sips and laid back on the pillow with a groan.

  “Don’t do that to me again,” she chided him. “I thought I had lost you.”

  He swallowed and grimaced. “You nearly did.”

  She smoothed back his hair from his face. “I know. If it wasn’t for Yarrow and Marak, I don’t know what I’d have done.”

  “Ah, so Yarrow got my message. Are they still here?”

  “I’m here, cousin,” Yarrow said and moved beside the bed. “As is Marak.”

  Falcor grinned. “Marak.”

  “Falcor,” Marak said as he stood beside Yarrow. “We’re glad to see you awake. You had Linarra quite worried.”

  “Not my intent.”

  Yarrow snorted. “You always were the dramatic one.”

  Linarra smiled at the exchange and watched the color return to Falcor’s handsome face. She had never been so happy.

  “Were you worried?” Falcor asked her.

  She shrugged nonchalantly. “Not at all.”

  Marak and Yarrow burst out laughing at her lie. Linarra couldn’t stop the smile that pulled at her lips when Falcor gave her a wink.

  “We must leave now,” Yarrow said. “We’ll return in a few days.”

  “Good,” Falcor said. “We’ll have a feast then.”

  Linarra bid farewell to the men of Shadowhall. When the door clicked behind them she licked her lips, desperately wanting to fling her arms around Falcor. “You saved me. Thank you.”

  “I promised you I would. You promised to go to the river.”

  “I couldn’t leave you. I…I’ve come to care greatly for you.”

  He took her hand in his. “You are free now, Linarra. Free to live your life however, and wherever, you like. Though, I had hoped that you would choose to stay here. With me.”

  She laid her head upon his chest. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

  EPILOGUE

  Falcor hated the weakness in his body. It had been nearly a week since he’d woken after sustaining the injuries, a week of pure bliss where he had come to know a great deal about Linarra. He had shared details about himself as well, secrets he had never told another soul.

  He smiled as he remembered how nervous she had become when he mentioned her killing the man who had tried to rape her sister. It had taken a while, but he had finally convinced her he thought she did the right thing.

  It was almost difficult to believe he had finally found the woman to be his queen, and a more perfect woman he couldn’t have asked for. She was everything he wanted in a woman and more. She made him laugh, she made him angry, and she battled him on every front. But it made him a better man. Kellian was fortunate to have her, as was he.

  As he gazed out his window in King’s Tower, Falcor spotted the small band of men making their way to the castle. He had precious little time until they arrived.

  He rose and grabbed the small black bag from a nearby table. “Linarra.”

  “Hmm?” she asked as she raised her head from the book she’d been reading on the bed.

  “I want to give you something.” Falcor lowered himself on the bed. He pushed her onto her side from her stomach and lifted his tunic she wore to reveal her navel where the gold stone still rested.

  “What’s in the bag?” she asked.

  Falcor ignored her. “For many years I looked for you, hoping that one day I would find you, a woman worthy enough to be my queen and rule the Kellians by my side. I knew the moment I saw you roll out of that rug that you were her.” He dumped the bag to reveal dozens of rubies of various cuts and sizes. “I don’t want you to just fill my bed, Linarra. I want you to fill the roll as my wife and queen.”

  He lifted an oval ruby. “Say you’ll be mine.”

  She blinked, her golden eyes full of love and hope. “There’s only one answer I can give you. Aye.”

  Falcor smiled and removed the gold stone from her navel and replaced it with the ruby. “The ruby is the stone and color of the Kellians. All of these are yours to use however you wish.”

  “Mine?” she repeated and smoothed her hand over the stones.

  “Aye. The jungle is full of them.”

  She laughed. “No wonder you didn’t care about selling your wool to other kingdoms. The rubies give you all that you need.”

  “Nay,” he said and pulled her to him. “You give me all that I need.” Their lips met and desire swelled within him. Soon he would be able to claim her body once more.

  “I have one more gift,” he said and pulled her from the bed, tossing her a gown.

  Linarra laughed. “You’ve given me more than enough.”

  “Get dressed. You’ll enjoy this one most of all.”

  After she dressed, they walked from the tower and out of the castle. All the while she asked numerous questions to guess what it was he would give her. Falcor watched her closely as he stopped in the garden. It took her a moment to spot the group of men and the woman with them. The look of shock and delight on Linarra’s face when she spotted her sister filled his heart with happiness.

  The sisters ran to each other, their smiles and tears mixed together. They talked as one, each talking over the other with their questions. Their laughter and their joy was infectious. Falcor nodded to Eldon and Wigar. He would reward all the men who rescued Narune and returned her to Linarra. Kellian was safe, and his heart had been claimed. Soon his kingdom would be celebrating his marriage, and what a grand celebration it would be.

  “How?” Linarra asked him. “How did you ever find her? Usotae told me she was dead.”

  Narune rolled her eyes. “He threatened it every day.”

  “Usotae had hidden her in the dungeons in Aldvale. It took my men some time to find her,” Falcor explained. “Apparently, he anticipated I might send men to get Narune.”

  Linarra walked into his arms, the smile gone from her face. “I have something I need to tell you. I’ve wanted to tell you for some time.”

  “What is that?” He didn’t like the serious look of her eyes or the way her brow furrowed. She should be happy, not worried.

  “I love you.”

  Falcor smiled, his heart swelling with pride for the woman he called his. “I’ve known for some time.”

  “Have you?”

  “Oh, aye.”

  “And?” she prompted.

  Falcor shrugged, trying to hide his grin. “And what?”

  “Don’t you have something to tell me?”

  “You mean, that I love you?”

  She sighed and rested her cheek against his chest. “That’s what I’ve longed to hear.”

  “I’ll make sure you hear it often.”

  “I’ll hold you to that vow, King.”

  He kissed her forehead. “Aye, my queen.”

  ENCHANTED

  1

  Amazon Jungle, April 1864

  Arian de Busso, princess of Tulso, looked over the immense Amazon River from the safety of the bank. It had taken what had felt like an eternity to reach her destination.

  After a year wasted as she convinced her parents to allow her to leave the kingdom, she was finally here. Her parents hadn’t been happy about her decision to travel before she married. But Arian wanted an adventure. She wanted to feel alive before she was shackled to Tulso and her monotonous duties as a wife and royal.

  Arian lifted her face to the sun and let the warmth drench her. A smile pulled at her lips as she thought about her older siblings huddled beneath layers of clothing in the frigid climate of their kingdom.

  Tulso warmed enough during the summer months to allow them to wear a light sleeve, but never did one go with bare arms as Arian did now. Her body was accustomed to the harsh winter weather she ha
d grown up with, so the heat and humidity of the Amazon left her body soaked in sweat.

  But she loved every moment of it.

  She glanced at her pale skin that had already begun to darken after just a few days in the sun. Now that she had a taste of the Amazon, she feared it would be harder to leave than she anticipated.

  Who would want to return to the cold when she could have the splendor of the Amazon? Or even another amazing location. This taste she had of adventure had only whetted her appetite for more. There were so many other countries to see and experience. She might have to take a few detours before she returned to Tulso.

  Her parents might never forgive her, but she would never forgive herself is she didn’t take this chance, her only chance, at having an adventure. She needed as many good memories as she could to look back on in the long years of life at court.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t know how fortunate she was to be a princess. It was told to her nearly every day of her life, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. She didn’t get to choose anything of her own, not even the color of her gowns. There was always someone, whether it was her mother or her father, who usurped whatever power she might have as a royal.

  If anyone knew the truth of what it was like to be a princess of Tulso, they might think twice when they wished they could have her life.

  She would gladly change positions with a commoner. She might be poor then, but at least she could make her own decisions instead of having someone make them for her.

  It was one of the reasons her trip to the Amazon had been so important. It was the first time she had refused to let her parents ignore her. Her siblings kept telling her she would never get to leave Tulso, but Arian hadn’t given up hope.

  And now look where she was.

  Arian bent to look at the dark waters of the river. She glanced across to the opposite bank and guessed it was easily several miles across. The sheer width of the river left her in awe. Nothing had prepared her for the exotic and wild beauty of the Amazon.

  “Princess, be careful!”

  Arian glanced down to see the toe of her boot below the water. She smiled at Vlad, her personal bodyguard who had been with her for several years.

  “It’s just water,” she said and kicked it with her toe as she straightened.

  Thomas, their guide while in the Amazon, stepped toward her. “You might want to heed your man, Your Highness.” Thomas went down on his haunches by the riverbank and held half of a fish out in the water.

  Arian leaned close to Thomas. “You’ve told me the Amazon has some very dangerous creatures. I understand that we must be careful.”

  “Watch, Your Highness,” Thomas said softly.

  No sooner had the words left his mouth than Arian noticed the water began to move. She spotted the fins of fish as they raced toward Thomas and the dead bait.

  Arian stumbled backward when something began to tear at the fish in Thomas’s hand. The water splashed and bubbled with the force of the fish beneath the dark depths. It wasn’t long before there was nothing left of the bait but bones. Thomas released the bones and stood, his brows raised.

  “What are those things?” Arian swallowed and looked at the river. Suddenly, the thought of cooling off in the water didn’t sound like such a good idea.

  “Piranhas, Your Highness.”

  Arian nodded. “Thank you, Thomas. I had no idea such a fish existed.”

  Thomas inclined his head. “The Amazon is so beautiful that many do not heed the warnings of danger. The piranhas are dangerous, but there is much more in the water to be cautious of.”

  Arian took a deep breath and decided she could live with the sweat that was layered on her skin for another day or so. There was no way she was getting in the river now. She shuddered just thinking about the small fish and the damage they had done to the bait in such a short amount of time.

  She turned to the rain forest and let out an excited breath. Inside the canopy of the trees were creatures she had only seen in books and flowers she had only heard about. The Amazon had a beauty that could only be understood and appreciated by someone walking amid it.

  “Come, Your Highness,” Thomas beckoned as she stepped into the tree line. “Come and let me show you the Amazon.”

  Arian glanced at Vlad. His lips compressed and his jaw clenched as his eyes darted about. “All will be well, Vlad. You’ll see.”

  “I don’t know,” he mumbled while his gaze scanned the trees limbs above them. “There is too much that can happen.”

  “Vlad, I have you, Thomas, and a dozen guards. I don’t think another person has ever been so safe in this rain forest. Now come. I’ve dreamt about this too long to wait another moment.”

  Arian didn’t look back to see if Vlad followed; she knew he would. Vlad was always there.

  As soon as she walked into the rain forest, she gasped. There were trees so tall they seemed to touch the clouds. The trees’ broad, dense leaves stretched for miles across the forest, blanketing everything below in shade and shutting out all but tiny rays of the sun that filtered through the crevices.

  For a heartbeat, Arian could almost believe she had stepped into another world. It was so different, so amazing from anything she had ever seen that it couldn’t be her same world.

  Thomas moved to stand beside her. “I know. I had the same reaction my first time, Princess.”

  “It’s…I cannot even describe the sheer beauty of it.”

  He chuckled. “There’s more, Your Highness. Shall we continue?”

  “Yes, please.”

  The many birds and animals were so loud they drowned out her thoughts. Arian closed her eyes to listen to the sounds of the rain forest and soak in the wildness. The adventure she had been dreaming of since she was a little girl awaited her, beckoning her.

  Arian opened her eyes and hurried to follow Thomas. Her skin prickled with excitement. She couldn’t wait to begin her exploration.

  “Your Highness, wait a moment, please,” Vlad said and rushed to her side. “I must stay near you.”

  Arian laughed. “It’s only us and the rain forest. I sincerely doubt you will lose me.”

  “Don’t forget the tribes,” Thomas said over his shoulder.

  Arian’s gaze jerked to the guide. “You told us the tribes would leave us alone as long as we didn’t harm them.”

  “Or venture into their villages,” Vlad added.

  “That is true, Your Highness,” Thomas said. “However, the tribes are like the animals. You never know what they will do.”

  Arian sighed as Vlad laid his hand on the huge knife at his waist. “All will be well, Vlad. I think Thomas just wanted to caution us. Or frighten me into not venturing off alone.”

  “Did it work?”

  “I’ve been warned, Vlad. I won’t be going off alone anywhere in his jungle. I promise.”

  Vlad nodded and held back a limb so she could walk ahead of him.

  “Did Thomas frighten you?” she asked the hulky guard. She didn’t think anything could scare Vlad, but she knew he hadn’t wanted to come to the Amazon. His duty to her had made him, however. Vlad preferred Tulso’s cold climate, not to mention he didn’t like wild animals.

  Vlad sighed loudly. “As much as I hate to admit it, yes, Princess. He succeeded in frightening me.”

  She had an idea that Vlad had been anxious before they ever left Tulso. Her parents had made the tutors show him the dangerous plants and animals that could harm her. After that, Vlad had tried his best to talk her out of going to the Amazon and talk her into picking somewhere safer, instead.

  Arian glanced at the dozen men that accompanied her. She had no doubt they would keep her safe. Vlad stayed by her side as she followed Thomas deeper and deeper into the jungle.

  Anticipation poured through her. She could barely contain herself in her skin she was so restless to begin her great adventure. Yet, the more warnings Thomas called out about poisonous plants and the various treacherous animals, the more Arian
began to doubt herself and the adventure she had craved.

  As it was, she would be lucky to leave the rain forest without some type of bite or scrape that could very well kill her.

  Vlad is with you. He would never let anything happen to you.

  She kept repeating that in her mind to help keep calm. Eventually it worked and she was able to once more enjoy her amazing surroundings.

  As they moved through the forest, birds with vibrant colors swooped down from the limbs above, their calls echoing through the trees. Several times Arian caught sight of animals through the foliage, but they stayed mostly hidden, as if they were watching her.

  Each time she thought to take a closer look, she remembered Thomas’s words about spitting venom and sharp claws and decided against it. Vlad’s raised brows each time told her he knew exactly what she had been about to do.

  Arian threw him a bright smile over her shoulder. “Admit you’re having a grand time, Vlad.”

  “Princess, I’m having a grand time.”

  She chuckled at his dry tone and complete lack of enthusiasm. “Do try to contain yourself, please.”

  “As you wish, Your Highness.”

  Vlad was a powerfully built man. Many feared him because of his size alone, but only Arian knew he had a wonderful sense of humor and loved to play jests on others.

  They traveled for about three hours when Thomas suddenly stopped and looked around.

  “What is it?” Vlad asked.

  Thomas shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Thomas turned to him. “It means exactly what I said. I’m not sure.”

  Vlad fisted his hands at his side. “Then find out.”

  The hairs on the back of Arian’s neck stood on end, as though she were being watched. She let her gaze wander over the jungle, but she could see nothing through the dense foliage.

  As if sensing her fear, Vlad moved near her. “Princess, stay near me.”