“And what if I no longer want that?”
“Isn’t that why you brought me here?”
“Yes,” he slowly replied, “but things changed. I want us to be together.” He closed the gap between them and kissed her hand. “I want to turn this fantasy into a romance, and there’s no one else I want to be my queen except you.”
She closed her eyes for a moment and pulled her hand away. As much as she didn’t want to tell him the truth, she had to. Once she did, he’d understand why it’d never work out. Then he would agree to send her back to her world, thereby annulling their marriage. “As the king, you will need an heir. I can’t give you one,” she finally said, her voice soft.
“Can’t or won’t?”
Her gaze met his, a spark of bitterness in her eyes. “Can’t. I went through menopause when I was twenty-two.”
It irked her to no end that her fiancé’s reaction to the news still bothered her, even after twelve years. Maybe it was because once in a while she ran into him and saw him with his wife and children, children he’d wanted so much that he had to end their engagement so he could find a woman who was able to have them. For the first time since she told her fiancé the truth, she was telling someone else, and it wasn’t any easier. But it had to be done.
“I wasn’t being a…” She stopped before she said the word that came to mind. “What I mean is that when I was telling you I would never give you an heir, I was telling you the truth. It’s impossible. I know it seemed like I was being stubborn, but I wasn’t.”
“You were hurt,” he whispered. “Because you want to be able to but can’t.”
Surprised, she returned her gaze to him, ignoring the tears welling up in her eyes.
“I guess people take it for granted that a woman can have children, including me.” With a sigh, he added, “Now so much of what you’ve been doing makes sense. You were pushing me away so I’d give up and take a queen who’d be able to give me an heir. Sandy,” he drew her into his arms, “there’s more to a woman than whether or not she can have children. If all I wanted was someone to have an heir, I would have picked anyone to marry. But I didn’t pick just anyone. I picked you. There’s no reason to keep fighting your attraction for me.”
Despite her tears, she laughed. “You’re that certain I’m attracted to you?”
“There was no denying the fire blazing in your eyes when you saw me naked. You liked what you saw.” Brushing his lips against her ear, he added, “I’m more than willing to satisfy your desire to see me again.”
“Is your mind always on sex?”
“Only 99% of the time.” He kissed her neck, making shivers of delight race up and down her spine. “You smell nice.” His hands traced the curve of her back and cupped her behind. “You feel nice.”
Giggling, she swatted his hands away. “Not out here where anyone can see us,” she warned, glancing around to make sure they were alone. “Don’t you have guards watching over your castle?”
He brought his hands back up to the small of her back. “Yes. Thanks for reminding me.”
“Let me guess. You were thinking about sex and forgot everything else.” Though she shook her head, she couldn’t stop smiling. “You are definitely a man.”
“You saw me naked and you doubted that?”
She pulled away from him but took his hand and led him down the path, further into the garden where more trees would give them a better sense of privacy. “What will you do for an heir, Gavin?”
“What were you going to do for one? You had your own kingdom. Eventually, you were going to have to find someone to replace you.”
“No, I wasn’t. I’m the author. My plan was to stay the same age in this series.”
“Alright. I’ll grant you that, though it’s a weak answer.”
“Weak?”
“Yeah. Weak. If you were truly a queen of your own kingdom, you’d have to think about who would replace you in the event of your death, whether on the battlefield or in old age. Sooner or later, you’d have to deal with the inevitable.”
“Well, in that case, I guess I would find a baby stranded by her parents and raise her so that she would become queen when I’m gone.”
“Then why can’t we do the same thing? If we happen to find a child who’s been abandoned, we can take him, or her, and raise that child to rule over our kingdoms.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I can’t help but notice you’re talking as if I’m going to spend the rest of my life here.”
Shooting her a charming smile, he cupped her face in his hands and gave her a lingering kiss that made her heart beat in excitement. Thinking of how wonderful he was to want to be with her, even after learning her secret, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and returned his kiss. And soon, the rest of the world slipped away, making her forget everything but him.
***
Sandy let out a contented sigh. She couldn’t recall the last time she felt so good. Her body tingled all over and there were parts of her that were eager to be touched again. Stretching, she smiled. What a great dream. What a vivid dream. Everything about it had seemed so real. The castle, the garden, the delightfully handsome man, the night spent in bed with him… She snuggled deeper into the covers.
But then she realized the smell of the covers wasn’t familiar. There was a masculine scent on them. She opened her eyes. It took her a moment before she realized where she was. She was in Gavin’s bedchamber.
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
Her gaze went to Gavin who was lying next to her. She blinked several times as she became more alert. “So it wasn’t a dream?”
He chuckled and scooted closer to her. “Nope. Every glorious bit of it really happened.” Wiggling his eyebrows, he gathered her into his arms and grinned. “Three times.”
“It’s coming back to me,” she replied and kissed him. “Every morning when I wake up, I think I’m in my apartment and everything that’s happened here was a dream. It takes a minute to realize it’s real.”
“I hope you’re not disappointed.”
“No, I’m not.” She finally found someone who wanted to be with her, really wanted to be with her. “But…” She sighed. “Is this real? You know, you and me.” She gestured to the room. “All of this?”
“Of course it is. I told you, I’m as real as you are.”
“But we’re still inside a story. This world—whatever it is—was created on my computer’s hard drive. If you could change the story, that means whatever happens here can be altered. It’s not like that in my world. When something happens, there’s no going back and changing it.”
“Maybe some things would be better on your world if you could change it.” He kissed her and rolled her onto her back, settling next to her so he could trace her body with his fingers. “I certainly don’t mind the way things have changed.”
“I don’t either, Gavin. But…”
She hesitated to mention her family and friends who were back in her world. She didn’t know if she could even stay here indefinitely. But would she want to if it was possible? He had decided to stay married to her even though she couldn’t have children. It only seemed fair that she give up something to be with him as well. Would she even age in this world? Stories were eternal. The characters never aged unless the author indicated a passage of time, and she didn’t control things here like she did when she was in the other world typing this story on her computer. The rules were different here.
Gavin cupped her face with his hands and kissed her, his lips soft and warm. “I don’t know the details, but I know we belong together and no matter what happens, we’ll end up together.”
It might be foolishness on her part, but she found his confidence reassuring. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer to her and returned his kiss.
She felt safe and adored when she was in his arms. She never thought she could experience such a thing, but she did. Given how things started between them, it surprised her that she shou
ld fall in love with him so fast. But she was tired of the years she’d been alone while she watched others around her find their spouses. It’d been frustrating and lonely, something hard to explain to anyone so she learned to keep her feelings to herself. But after making love to Gavin the previous night, she realized she was more vulnerable than she thought, and being vulnerable wasn’t so bad when she could be cherished so well.
Gavin deepened their kiss, his hand sliding to her breast where he cupped it in his hand. She moaned and wiggled against him until she could reach down between them and stroke his erection. He shifted to give her better access to him, his lips leaving hers and lowering to her neck. She wrapped her hand around the base of his penis and brought it up to the tip, her thumb brushing the moisture there.
His hand descended to the curls between her legs and his fingers traced the damp folds of her flesh. Her body tingled in anticipation. She slid her hand back down his shaft and brought it back up, slowly establishing a rhythm she knew he enjoyed. She was rewarded with a groan from his lips. Smiling, she grew bolder in her movements. In return, he slid two fingers into her and caressed her core, centering on the sensitive area that heightened her arousal.
She slowed her strokes as she neared her peak, and he moved so that he could bring his mouth to her breast and tease her nipple with his tongue. Gripping his arms, she gave herself over to the pleasure mounting inside her, her hips rocking in rhythm with him. It wasn’t long before she found her release. She cried out and stilled, her heart beating fast, her breathing hard.
After her head cleared, she reached for him and took him inside her, her flesh still sensitive. He moved in her and she adjusted her hips to take him deeper in. She ran her hands along his back, noting the muscles beneath his skin, something within her finding his masculine strength extremely sexy. When he climaxed, she brought him closer to her.
They stayed in each other’s arms for several minutes, reluctant to part. She thought he’d drifted off to sleep, but he lifted his head and kissed her. She ran her legs along his, enjoying the feel of him still inside her, a feeling that seemed wonderfully intimate.
“And that’s how I want to wake up every morning,” he whispered then rolled onto his side.
She chuckled. “It is a pleasant way to start the day, isn’t it?”
“It’s too bad we can’t spend all day like this, entwined in each other’s arms, making love. You know, satisfying that 99% part of me that thinks of nothing but sex.” He kissed her hand. “What the hey? Let’s stay in bed all day. The rest of the world can manage without us.”
Her stomach growled in protest. “It doesn’t sound very practical. We still need to eat.”
“We’ll have food brought up to us.”
“We can do that?”
“We’re the king and queen. We can do whatever we want? What does my lady want to eat? A slice of banana nut bread?”
“You remember that?” She hadn’t mentioned that since her first morning in this world.
“I have a good memory.”
“I guess so. But do you remember what I wanted to drink?”
“A mocha.”
Impressed, she smiled. “Wow. You’re pretty good.”
He caressed her behind and winked. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
She groaned and pushed him away. “And cocky. I think I’m going to the banquet hall. Your ego is too big for this room.”
Laughing, he reached for her and brought her back into his arms. “No way. Do you know how much work I went through to get you here?”
“Well, I couldn’t make it easy.”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind a challenge, and I don’t give up when I set my mind to something. I knew it was just a matter of time before you admitted we belonged together.”
“No, you didn’t.” She snuggled up to him. “I saw how alarmed you were when you couldn’t find me after that magician turned me into a mouse.”
“I only pretended I was afraid I lost you to gain your sympathy,” he said. “How else would you see the caring and sensitive side of me?”
With a sigh, she shook her head. “Gavin?”
“Hmm?”
“Shut up and kiss me.”
A slow smile spread across his face before he obeyed her, demonstrating which one of them had the real power in their relationship.
Chapter Thirteen
When Sandy woke up the next morning, she checked the spot next to her on the bed and saw a letter on Gavin’s pillow. Curious, she read it.
I hope last night was as good for you as it was for me.
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t resist chuckling. Considering how often he suggested sex, she wasn’t surprised.
Turning her attention back to his letter, she read, I wanted to be here when you woke up, but I had some pressing matters to tend to. I won’t bore you with the details. Only know that I miss you and look forward to seeing you at breakfast.
She slipped out of bed to get ready for the day. Once Noel helped her into her morning dress, she strolled down the hallway. The day promised to be another sunny one. Her eyebrows furrowed as she inspected the flurry of activity along the castle walls. Something was up. Frowning, she hurried down the nearest steps and followed the direction of the commotion. It was coming from the throne room.
Several guards stopped talking as soon as they saw her approach the room. One stepped in front of her, “I’ll announce your presence before you enter.”
“Why?” She glanced from him to the guard who came over to her. “I thought I was the queen.”
“You are, my lady,” he replied, “but the king needs to give consent before you can enter the throne room when visitors are present. It’s one of the laws in this kingdom.”
“That’s a ridiculous law,” she replied, frowning. “Especially since I’m the author of this story.”
“It’s the way things are. The king is the primary authority in this land. You’re second. We swore an oath to obey the king’s laws.”
Though she didn’t care much for the law, she relented. “Fine. Tell him I demand to go in there.”
The other guard nodded and entered the room. She tried to peer around him to see who was in there, but the other guard blocked her from seeing anything.
“You’re amazingly loyal to the king,” she noted.
“He saved my son from a village burning. I’ve been his guard ever since,” he replied.
She sighed. “Let me guess. The village burning was in the original version of this story, the one I wrote to show how evil he was?”
“When he undid that part of the story, I got my only son back,” he said.
“I see.”
She had to hand it to Gavin. He knew how to rally a groundswell of support with a single “delete” key on the keyboard. It was a surprisingly efficient and smart move on his part. It eliminated all the damage he’d done when she was in control of the story, thereby making him the hero.
The other guard came out of the throne room. “The king says you may enter.”
“Yipee,” she replied, not hiding her sarcasm.
Apparently, being the author wasn’t a big deal, even though it was because of her that these characters existed. She followed the guard into the room where a group of guards with three knights talked to Gavin.
Gavin glanced at her from where he sat on his throne and stood, motioning to her. “As you can see, your queen is doing well.”
The knights turned to face her and she recognized the gold swords and rose on their armor. They were from her kingdom. It was strange to see them in person, though they looked exactly as she pictured them.
“Queen Goldenvalor,” one of them said as they bowed before her. “Forgive our delay. We came as soon as we heard of your abduction, but King Petros detained us in battle.”
“Why would King Petros do that? We’re not at war with him.” Her gaze went to Gavin who shrugged.
“He thought we brought you to this world,” the k
night told her. “Once he learned we didn’t, he made amends but we lost several good men in the battle.”
“That’s unfortunate,” she whispered, wondering which of her loyal men died unnecessarily.
“Those deaths can be undone,” Gavin said, stepping down from his throne.
“But that would change the story as it’s going right now,” she replied.
“She’s right,” one of Gavin’s guards replied. “It will change the story. Nothing can be changed unless we erase everything else that has happened since the queen’s arrival to this world.”
“Can’t we do the same things we did leading up to this point, minus the thing with King Petros?” Gavin asked. “It shouldn’t be too hard to delete one scene.”
“We can’t do that,” Sandy told Gavin. “Every time you change one thing in a story, other things are altered and it’s hard to say what the outcome will be. We might or might not be standing here discussing this in a different version of the story. The changes can be minor or big, but it’s hard to tell how or when until you revise the story.”
Gavin frowned. “That means there’s no bringing back the men?”
“I’m afraid so,” Sandy began, “unless you want to take the chance the story won’t go in your favor, as it has up to this point. King Petros might come here instead of going to my kingdom. There’s no telling what he’ll choose. The choices everyone in this story had made is based on freewill because I’m no longer writing it.”
“Interesting.”
Yes, it was and it also meant if they deleted King Petro’s attack in her kingdom, she might not get a chance to know Gavin, to learn that he was a good man. And she didn’t want to take that chance. With a sigh, she turned her attention to her knights. “Did you come to tell me about King Petros?”
“No, my lady,” the head knight said. “We came to inquire after your wellbeing and,” he glanced at Gavin, “need be, to rescue you.”
“I appreciate your concern and your loyalty, Sir Landry, but I am here by choice,” she said, ignoring the smile on Gavin’s face. If he was cocky before, she doubted anything would stop his ego now. “Our kingdom is now joined to this one.”
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