“Okay. Well. Here’s to my dear brother, Aksel,” Stella says, raising her glass to me. “Even though you were always my big, big brother, I never felt any distance between us growing up. My fondest memories, my earliest memories, were always of you. I knew from the start you were meant to be a king and I knew that you would do the job better than anyone else. You have heart and morals, even if you hid all that by being cold and insufferable most of the time.” I give her the get on with it look.
She continues with a laugh, though now her eyes are watering. “It’s the truth. But I saw a side of you that no one ever saw…until you met Aurora. I knew, from the moment I met her, from the moment I saw you look at her, that she had gotten under your skin. That she had seen the real you and you recognized it. It was apparent from the very start that there was something brewing, and I could only hope and pray that one of you would come to your senses. Because you, brother, are a king who has needed the right queen by his side. And she is the right queen.”
“She is,” Maja says, raising her glass.
“Well thank you,” I tell Stella, trying to keep my emotions in check and ignore the hot knot forming in my throat. I appreciate the praise, but it does make me uncomfortable. “Only a fool wouldn’t fall in love with her.” I give Aurora a squeeze.
Aurora blushes and tries to shake off the compliment. “Or perhaps only a fool would.”
“Normally I wouldn’t argue with you but I’m afraid I’ll have to make a stand.”
To be fair, when I decided I was going to pop the question during the press conference, I was wondering if I’d look like quite the fool in the end. The press conference itself was out of character for me since I’ve had such a distant relationship with the press and public and I know that not only announcing our relationship, let alone proposing to her like that, was bound to ruffle some feathers.
But, fuck it. What’s the point of sitting on a throne if you can’t ruffle some feathers every now and then? They didn’t expect it from me but maybe now in the future they will. I’m not sure what kind of king I’m turning into but perhaps Stella was right, and this is the king I’m meant to be.
There was also the huge risk that Aurora would turn me down, especially since she practically told me that in St. Croix. I know that was during a fight and things were so up in the air at that moment and emotions were flying very, very high, but it still hurt fairly deeply, it still planted a tiny seed of doubt. It was a gamble that luckily paid off.
Everything has been a gamble so far since the day I met her.
It was a gamble to pursue her, to act on my feelings.
It was a gamble to profess how I felt about her, to admit my truth.
It was an even greater gamble to open my heart the way I did and let myself free fall without a parachute, even after we came together.
I know I came on strong. I know that after months of testing her, testing myself, and then finally giving in, I went all in, to the hilt. I know that we went from zero to sixty after so much denial, making up for lost time, but that was the only way I knew how.
It was the only way I wanted, needed to love her.
With Aurora, she made forty years of loneliness disappear with the drop of a hat.
Why wouldn’t I embrace the sunshine after all that darkness?
Why wouldn’t I spend all my days with her, holding onto forever?
And now I can.
She said yes.
I’d never felt happier, more at peace, more excited about our world and the future, than I did in that moment.
The gamble paid off.
I have my queen.
“Here’s to you, Aksel,” Maja says, clearing her throat. “You’ve found your second chance, you’ve found your peace. May you always hold onto it, onto her, forever.” She then looks at Aurora with a twinkle in her eyes. “And you, Aurora. I knew right away that you needed to be in this house. I knew that you were meant for the job because I knew that you had just the right amount of spunk and beauty that could get to Aksel’s heart. I knew you wouldn’t just be a wonderful nanny to the girls, but you would shake things up, shake this king here loose, help him find his way. And that’s just what you did.”
I raise my brow, both charmed and surprised. “You were trying to play matchmaker?”
“I didn’t try, dear nephew. It worked.” She raises her chin, ever an aristocrat. “And I would like all the credit for it.”
Aurora rolls her eyes, but she’s blushing. “Since you’re going to be my aunt-in-law, you can have all the credit you want. I know whose good side I have to stay on.”
“You’re a very wise girl,” Maja says. “Welcome to the family.”
We all clink our glasses together and I hold Aurora’s deep brown eyes as she has a sip.
Welcome to the family, I think. Welcome to our brand-new life.
“So, now that this has happened,” I tell them, “now that Aurora will be permanently part of our lives, I think perhaps tomorrow we should visit mother. All of us.”
Stella nods. “I have a flight out in the afternoon, I could do the morning.” She looks to Maja. “What do you think? Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“It’s a nice idea, above anything,” Maja says. “I’ll call up the nurses in the morning and see how she is. But if it doesn’t work out, then we’ll try again.” She puts her hand on my arm. “I know you think your mother doesn’t know you’re there or doesn’t care, but I promise you, the more you visit, the better it will get. For you. She can feel love, even if she doesn’t know who you are, but for you, it’s never too late to start rebuilding a relationship. And if you can start with Aurora by your side, I think that will make all the difference.”
I nod, finishing the rest of my glass, letting it go to my heart. In this world of second chances, I owe it to my mother and myself to give our relationship another one.
Suddenly, the squeal of a pig interrupts us, and Maja lets out a scoff as Stella jumps, nearly spilling her champagne.
“I’m going to go check on the girls,” Maja says and when Aurora moves to do it, Maja puts her hand out to stop her. “You and Aksel need some alone time to process everything.” She jerks her head to the door. “Come on Stella, help me round up these monsters.”
They leave the room and I turn to Aurora, wrapping my hands around her waist. “You hear that? We need some alone time.”
Aurora grins, that smile still trying to bring me to my knees. “I could always use some alone time with you.”
I lean in and kiss her softly, gently at first, then as her mouth opens to mine, warm and lush, I feel an overpowering urge come over me, my hands tightening around her back and pulling her against me. “Come on,” I whisper against her lips. “Let’s go consummate this engagement.”
She nibbles on my lower lip, gently tugging. “I’m not sure that’s how it works.”
“It works when you’re trying to make a baby,” I remind her. “Tick tock.”
She pulls back and smacks me against the chest. “Speak for yourself, old man!” she sneers. “I’m the young and fertile one here.”
“Well then I don’t have a lot of time to spare to do I?” I say, clutching my heart. “This old ticker might give out at any moment.”
She shakes her head in amusement and laughs. “You are such a dork; did you know that about yourself? From King Asshole to King Dork.”
I grab her arm. “How about King Fuck Your Brains Out?”
Before she can protest, I pull her out of the living room and up the stairs to my—our—bedroom.
I shut the door behind us, lock it, then proceed to get naked.
“Wow,” she says, watching as I strip, her eyes lingering on my cock, hard and ready to go. “You really are wasting no time.”
“Pretty spry for an old guy,” I say, motioning for her to take her clothes off. I’d do it myself, but I have a bad habit of tearing things, especially those pretty little blouses of hers.
“I think you just
made a pun about an Offspring song and you have no idea,” she says, letting out a laugh.
“I have ideas. Get fucking naked.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
She steps out of her pants, throws off her shirt, in seconds flat, then slowly undoes her lace bra and panties, tossing them aside with flourish.
I take a good long minute to drink her all in.
Aurora has a beautiful body. Curvy hips, gorgeous tits, skin like cream. A body I know better than my own. I’ve touched and licked and tasted every part of her until her skin has imprinted on my heart. I can’t stop wanting her. I can’t believe my luck.
She gives me a sly little smile, her eyes dancing eagerly and then gets on the bed.
I follow, prowling over her until I’m between her lush legs and she’s staring up at me with those big brown eyes. I reach over and brush a strand of her silky hair off her face, cupping her jaw as I stare into her eyes. I feel like I can see her whole heart in them.
“I can’t believe you’re going to be my wife, my queen,” I manage to say, feeling as if I’m about to be sideswiped at any minute by today’s emotions.
She gazes at me through her long dark lashes, and I feel the heat in my chest intensify. Her usually saucy expression is softening, and her sudden tenderness is utterly disarming.
Then her trademark cheeky grin emerges, and she reaches down, her palm sliding flat along my stomach until she grips the edge of my cock, hard and rigid as a cement bar.
“Don’t forget the future mother of your children,” she says.
God, help me. The urge to come inside her already, to plant my seed, to give her a baby, is thoroughly intoxicating. With her hand gripped expertly around my cock, my eyes nearly roll back in my head.
“There’s no forgetting,” I manage to say, the raw lust and need starting to build inside me. My fingers press harder into her jaw as I lean in and kiss her, capturing her mouth against mine, my tongue dancing with hers, stoking the fire.
“Aksel,” she says against my mouth.
My name sounds so good but still, I have to tease her. “Is that the proper way to address me?”
“Is this what marriage is going to be like?”
“Only when you misbehave.”
“I’m hardly misbehaving now,” she says, squeezing my cock harder.
Fuck.
I unleash myself on her neck, licking and sucking just the way she likes it, until soft moans fall from her mouth. Music to my ears.
My fingers slip between her legs, slick and slippery.
“God, you’re so wet for me,” I whisper to her, my voice catching in my throat. “Can I make you wetter?”
“Yes,” she groans breathlessly as I slip my finger along her cunt, the sensation making me delirious with lust. She lets out a lengthy moan, her hands going to my shoulders, then to my hair, making fists.
“I want my cock to slide into you, just like this.” I add an extra finger and move them in together. “You want it harder, deeper? In this bed, I serve you.”
She groans, arching her back, her tits pushed up, her sweet, pink nipples tight and hard.
She’s yours, she’s yours.
This queen.
“Do you want my cock first?” I ask softly. “My tongue? How would you like me to fuck you?”
“Give me everything,” she says through another moan as I drive my fingers even deeper. “Lick me out.”
No fucking hesitation from me.
I move back and lower my head, pressing my face in between her legs, my tongue snaking out and licking up to her clit. “You taste so good, so sweet,” I murmur into her and she shudders from the vibrations. “I’ll never get enough of this.”
“Then we’ll have a good marriage,” she teases, until I suck her clit into my mouth, wet, warm, and she gives a sharp cry, calling out my name in such a way that I nearly come on the bed, right there and then.
I pull away, needing a breather, needing to control myself. Her eyes are half-closed, dazed, mouth open with her hair falling over her face.
Goddess.
“I want to fuck you from behind, my queen,” I tell her as I slip my arm under her back and flip her over on the bed so she’s on her stomach.
I position myself behind her ass, her soft, shapely legs between my thighs, my cock hot and inflexible in my hands. With one hand, I run my finger down the crack of her gorgeous bottom, so perfectly round, that I instinctively give it a smack with my palm.
I can’t help it.
“Sir, yes sir,” she murmurs.
I smack it again, hard—crack—the sound filling the room.
“You love your punishment,” I murmur and the moment she nods, I spank her again, this time getting both cheeks, turning them red.
She nods, makes a sweet little sound of urgency, and that alone makes me want to explode.
I take the moment to really tease her and run my thumb over her cunt, making it wet, then drag it up to her ass.
I slowly push it in her opening, tight and taboo.
We’ve never done this before but it’s about time I test the limit.
“God, I love what a Dirty Dane you are,” she says. Her voice is tense, trembling but still dripping with want.
I grin and push my thumb in further, feeling her asshole clench around it.
“Oh god,” she moans.
“You want the rest of me?”
She lets out a breathy laugh. “That’s not how you make babies, Aksel.”
She has a point.
I grab my cock at the base and steadily push it in between her legs, into her cunt, deep as I can go.
I groan as she envelops me, a tight velvet fist. The fact that her legs are closed together means I have the added friction from her thighs.
Fuck. I’m not going to last long.
She grips me from the inside out and I push in further, my breath shuddering.
I press my hand down on her shoulder for leverage, slowly pulling myself out, then back in, trying to find the rhythm without crushing her. My thighs are doing most of the work, shaking slightly, the muscles popping as I move faster and faster, my cock disappearing entirely inside her, the base shiny from her desire.
My hips circle and I shorten my thrusts, so I don’t slip out. She’s wet down to the middle of her thighs, and I want to stay inside her deep like this, tightly packed. It’s such a fucking squeeze that a sweat is breaking out at my temples, my muscles wound too tight.
Aurora is moaning something deep and desperate and loud.
For once we can be fucking loud.
No hiding.
“Do you want to come, my queen?” I whisper hoarsely. “Will you come on my cock?”
She’s groaning, whimpering for release. “Yes, yes.”
I love talking dirty with her.
I love how I can let myself out of the cage, a beast unleashed.
“I’m going to make you come,” I say roughly. “I’m going to make you come so fucking hard. Fuck you up so good.”
I move one hand down to her waist and grip her while the other squeezes in between her hips and the mattress until I reach her clit. It’s soaked and my finger slides over it with ease.
That’s all it takes.
Her body tenses and then starts to quake beneath me. She pulses around my cock, her clit throbbing under my finger. A sharp cry leaves her lips, then fades off into breathless little moans.
I come immediately after. There’s a rush along my spine until something at the base of me explodes. I grunt like an animal, thrusting deeper and deeper, the bed shaking, while the cum shoots hard into her.
I exhale loudly, my breath elsewhere, my heart thudding to a marching beat inside my head. I lean back on my thighs, absently run my hands over her bottom while I remember how to breathe. Then, when it doesn’t feel like I’m having a heart attack, when the sweat stops rolling off my brow, I gently pull out.
Leaning forward, I put my lips to her ear. “Did you like that, Goddess?�
��
She turns her head, her eyes closed and whimpers. “Yes. Yes, yes.”
I brush the hair off her face and kiss her cheek. Then place tiny, soft kisses on her neck, shoulder, down her spine, until I finally get off of her.
“Your Majesty,” I add.
“Your Majesty,” she says.
We take a few moments, lying next to each other, trying to bring our breath back into our bodies and calm our racing hearts.
I reach out and touch her damp forehead, pushing aside her hair.
“Today, I have never been so proud of you,” I tell her, my voice hoarse. “I hope you’re proud of yourself.”
She swallows, nods. “I think I am. I think…it’s finally starting to sink in. That it’s all in the open. That there’s no more hiding.”
“No more hiding.” I lean over and kiss her forehead, tasting the salt of her sweat. “No more hiding.”
“And you,” she says. “You don’t have to hide anymore.”
I sigh. “No. I mean…I do have to keep lying to the world about what happened with Helena and Nicklas.”
“But that’s the world and the world doesn’t matter. The people who do matter to you, the people who you love, they know the truth. And that’s all that matters. They know it and they still love you. You’re free Aksel. We’re both free.”
I let her words sink in, soothing my heart. I pull her into me, holding her tight.
We’re both free.
Epilogue
Aurora
Five years later
“Are we there yet?” Clara asks.
“Yeah, are we there yet?” Freja asks.
“Yeah, are we there yet?” the twins say in unison, giggling like the little devils that they are.
“Not even close,” I tell them, leaning back in my seat. I glance over at Aksel, his hands comfortably on the wheel, his aviator shades covering his eyes.
“How are you doing, baby?” I ask him.
He glances at me, gives a half-smile. “You mean, aside from the kids yammering on and on in my ear? I’m fine.”
“You know we could have done this road trip with them in the car behind us. In fact,” I turn in my seat to glare at everyone. “If you guys don’t be quiet, I might have your father pull the car over and I’ll stick you with your aunt Maja.”
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