by Faye Avalon
“Why did you come here to the Park?”
“Because that’s where you were.” Her face flushed a little. “The men at the tavern said that protocol would demand we were kept apart until the nuptials, and that as you would no longer be permitted to visit my bed you would journey north and find solace at the Doe Park. Earlier, I had asked the maid where you were and she was very dismissive. I put the two explanations together.”
“And you came up with an entirely incorrect conclusion.” Acting on instinct, Caelan reached for her hand. “It is true that we will now be kept apart until the ceremony, but no other woman will share my bed.”
Caelan couldn’t resist smiling when she caught her bottom lip between her teeth and her eyes lit. “We were aware that the king’s ship had sailed close to Limani, and men were keeping a close watch. When word came before sunrise that morning that the ship had sailed toward the peninsula, we left immediately after the announcement of the betrothal. Only a trusted few knew of our destination.”
Her face fell. “I understand.”
He wasn’t entirely sure why she looked so deflated when moments ago there had been happiness in her countenance. “I was at the peninsula, Lahna. With Kassaro and several of my warriors. We were keeping watch on the ship and its occupants. We saw that boat capsize, just as you mentioned. We saw the rest come ashore, waited until they had hidden their boats, and then we took them prisoner.”
“But I was there, too. I saw nothing of you or that you had taken prisoners.” She placed her hands over her face. “But I didn’t wait,” she said, her tone full of frustration. “I only saw them start to come ashore, and then I left to hurry back and tell you.”
“We must have been on opposite sides of the rocks,” Caelan said, squeezing her fingers before lifting her hand to kiss her gently across her still grazed knuckles. “You could have been taken, Lahna. Do you realize that if those men had seen you, they might have taken you back to the king?”
Her gaze fixed on his hand around hers. “I didn’t think of that. Truly I didn’t.”
“Do you know the real reason I forbade you to explore the island alone? Why I refused to allow you to leave the palace unescorted? Why I placed a guard at your door?”
She shook her head, her eyes misting over.
“Because I didn’t want you to leave me.”
She bit her lip, her lovely breasts rising and falling with her breath. “You didn’t want me to leave you, but still you don’t trust me.”
“At first, I didn’t trust you, but that is no longer the truth.”
“You said only a trusted few knew of your destination, of your plans to watch the ship and its crew. You didn’t trust me enough to tell me.”
Since he couldn’t argue with her accusation, he remained silent.
“You thought I was the king’s plant. That I was a spy, just like those men who came ashore.”
“Aye. Until I realized how unhappy you were, how you had been so determined to escape Zomotia. After that, my fears became centered on your escape from Limani. And from me.”
“I planned to escape,” she admitted. “I worried that you would send me back to the king. I would rather die on the seas than accept such a fate. You only wanted me as your consort because I offered political benefit. There was no affection on your part. What if, when Limani gained its independence, you tired of me and decided to send me back anyway?”
“I would never tire of you.” His breath caught as emotion choked him. He could not forget the feeling of despair that had enveloped him when he had thought Lahna had betrayed him, that she had wanted to leave him.
She had been truthful with him. Now it was his turn to do the same for her. “Perhaps once, I wanted you for reasons other than affection, and I admit to distrusting you.” His smile was grim. “In truth, I did not want to believe you, for you pull at something deep inside me, Lahna, and it terrifies me.”
“It does?”
He nodded. “If I could continue my distrust of you, then I would not have to address my feelings. I would not have to admit that I want you.”
“I want you, too,” she said a little coyly. “And maybe we can learn to be friends as well as lovers, and one day you will allow yourself to trust me to have your interests at heart.”
“I already do.” It surprised him as much as it seemed to surprise her. “You risked your life to come here and warn me. When I thought about how I could have lost you, it brought me to my knees. With you at my side I will become a better ruler, a better man. With your guidance, your support, your strength, how can it be otherwise?”
“I will be a good wife to you,” she said, stroking her thumb across his knuckles. “And I will be a good princess to the people. I care for you, for your people, and for this island.”
Still, she looked a little sad. “What is it, my princess?”
“Nothing.”
He ducked his head to meet her eyes when she lowered her chin. “It is something. Let us be honest with each other. If we are to be man and wife, we must be honest with each other.”
She straightened, drew back her shoulders, and would have pulled her hand from his had he allowed it. He only tightened his grip. He wasn’t sure he would ever be able to let go.
“You are right. We must be honest.” She swallowed, lifted her chin a little more. “I was displeased when I heard those men at the tavern. I did not want to think of you lying with another woman.” Her cheeks colored and she swallowed, clearly embarrassed by her confession. “Regardless of anything else, it is humiliating.”
He smiled. He couldn’t help himself. She was so obviously attempting to hide her true feelings about the matter. And since he was currently experiencing a ridiculous dose of male pride and pleasure, he decided to make her reveal herself.
“Regardless of anything else?”
She looked away, her cheeks coloring anew. “I do not want my husband finding enjoyment and pleasure in another woman’s arms.”
He could have kept pressing her, but, he decided, that would be less than chivalrous. Perhaps it was time he revealed his own feelings. “Your husband will not ever feel the need to look for anything in another woman’s arms, my love. From the moment I held you, felt you wrap around me, envelop me in your tender heat, there has been no other. And there never will be.”
Gripped with emotion, he sat on the side of the bed and wrapped her in his arms. “Be my bride, my Lahna, for no other reason than I love you and do not care to live another moment without you at my side. You are the woman I want as my princess, as my comfort and support. The woman I want to bear my children. The woman I want to love me. There will never be another. You are my heart.”
****
Lahna couldn’t breathe. She could hardly dare imagine that the words she had heard Caelan speak were true. Was she in some fever-induced haze where she dreamed such happiness? Only the squeeze of Caelan’s arms around her kept her anchored in the truth that this was in fact reality and that, yes, he had spoken the words that made her heart leap with unadulterated joy.
She wanted to hold on tight, to lay her head on his chest and listen to the strong beat of his wonderful heart. But she needed to look into his eyes, to be as honest with him as he had been with her.
“I will be your bride, Caelan. For no other reason than I love you, too. I want to bear your children. To be by your side. To care for you and support you. Always.”
His kiss was tender, full of the promise that lay ahead of them. Lahna held on tight, willingly going with him when he took the kiss to a deeper, passionate level. When Caelan drew back, Lahna felt decidedly weak again. But this time from pleasure.
“Kassaro is, as we speak, on his way to the outer islands to speak with the leaders,” Caelan said firmly. “He will extend an invitation that they join us as honored guests at our marriage ceremony, and to remain for initial talks and strategic planning for an invasion of Zomotia.”
Lahna realized that by telling her his plans he was p
utting aside the thorn that had been at the crux of their relationship, at the heart of their personal conflict and fears. He was telling her that he trusted her with Limani’s welfare and safety.
She placed her palm to his chest, comforted by the steady thump of his heart. “Do you think they will join with you?”
“I have every confidence. Their supplies are running desperately low, and Limani is fast becoming unable to support them at the scale they require. If the king continues to plunder the islands’ resources, their people will soon starve.”
“That is terrible. You must do everything possible to persuade them to join you and gain back independence.”
“There will be many challenges ahead for us,” he said, tracing his hand slowly up and down her arm. “Much preparation will be required.”
“And I will help,” Lahna said firmly, gliding the back of her fingers over Caelan’s new beard. “I will do all in my power to support you and your people—”
“Our people,” Caelan said fiercely. “They are as much yours as mine now.”
“I hope they will soon accept me.”
“They already do. Word has spread of your bravery and loyalty. That you traveled such treacherous terrain in order to warn me of danger.” He reached down and drew Lahna’s legs onto his lap. “Your poor blistered feet and battered legs. How can I ever repay such loyalty?”
“By loving me,” Lahna said. “By sharing with me. Everything. The good and the bad. I promise to be by your side through it all.”
“And I will be by yours, my love. Through it all.”
Epilogue
Lahna stretched lazily. Caelan had barely allowed her out of their bed since the nuptials three days previous. It had been a grand affair. With all the leaders from the outer islands attending, together with their wives. There had been a night of feasting and dancing and everyone seemed so happy, but Lahna sensed the underlying tension. Everyone knew that the future was uncertain, that ahead of them lay danger and hardship.
Battles were not fought without heavy losses, and Lahna knew that close to everyone’s heart was concern and apprehension for what was to come. Indeed, her own fears for Caelan’s safety were never far away. But on the night of her wedding she had driven it from her mind, and it seemed the people of Limani did the same as they rejoiced in the nuptials of their prince and his new princess.
Behind her, and with his arms tight around her, Caelan drew in a breath. “You’re awake, my love. I can hear you thinking.”
Lahna smiled and covered his hands with hers. She snuggled closer, wiggling her bottom tight against Caelan’s erect manhood. She knew how to tease him now, how to make him want her so badly she could keep him in bed beside her for many more moments before the business of the day claimed him.
“It’s impossible to hear someone thinking,” Lahna said with another slight wiggle. “I was merely waking and enjoying the warmth and feel of my husband beside me.”
“And if you continue to tempt me so, you will soon feel your husband inside you.”
She laughed and looked over her shoulder at him. “Why should this early morning be different from any other?”
He whipped her onto her back and lay above her. “Is that a complaint, my princess?”
“Absolutely not.” She fluttered her lashes. “What woman would deny the needs of her prince?”
He kissed her long, slow, and hard. “You are the only woman I am concerned about.”
She stroked his hair back from his forehead and ran her fingers across his now smooth jaw. “You have more talks today,” she said softly. “The time is coming closer.”
“It is. We are slowly reaching agreement as to the best way forward.”
She nodded. “I am glad.” Although it was increasingly hard to ignore her fears for Caelan and for the brave warriors and soldiers who would fight for their independence from Zomotia. “You will ensure that you do not take any chances? That you will stay safe?”
He laughed. “My love, we are planning a battle. It is required that we take chances.”
“I know, but promise me you will not put yourself in any danger that could be avoided.”
“This I can promise you.”
Lahna knew that would have to do, but it wouldn’t stop her from continually reminding Caelan of his promise to her. She loved him with all her heart and couldn’t bear to imagine anything bad happening to him. But she had to face reality. She had married a prince, a fierce and brave warrior who she knew would fight to the death for what he believed in and for those he loved.
“Caelan?”
“Aye?”
“Touch me.”
He smiled. “What man would deny the needs of his princess?” he said, parodying her. “Certainly not this one.”
With which he bent and took her breast into his mouth. He kissed her tenderly, running his tongue around the soft globes before gently taking her nipple into his mouth. His teeth grazed over the tight bud, and Lahna arched and tossed her head back.
Her core clenched as Caelan paid attention to her other breast, his hand sliding slowly over her stomach and down to the juncture of her legs. She opened for him as the early morning sun glinted through the window and threw slatted warmth over their bodies.
Her senses floated in the delicious ministrations of Caelan’s touch, her head swimming pleasantly as his mouth followed the route his hand had taken.
Settling between her legs, he hooked his hands beneath her knees and opened her wide. He smiled down at her, rather wickedly, and made her intimate muscles clench harder. Lahna loved when he kissed her there. She bit her lower lip and grinned back at him.
He kept his eyes on hers as he slanted his head and touched the tip of his tongue to her heat. She jerked, arched, moaned. He slid deeper, so slowly Lahna wanted to cry out in frustration. Moments later, with Caelan’s adept tongue refusing to stop teasing her, Lahna felt her climax rush forward.
Before the last contraction had ceased, Caelan moved up her body. He rocked his hips until the tip of his erection pressed against her heat, and he slid inside her. He was a man of finesse when he wanted to be, but at times he seemed every inch the marauding warrior returning from battle and aching to claim his woman after so long away. This was one of those times.
He pumped into her, his chest heaving and his jaw clenched tight, revealing his white teeth. His release came hard and hot, and Lahna joined with his cries as he filled her.
They took several moments to stroke, sigh, and regain their breath before Caelan rolled to his back and drew Lahna onto his chest. “You are a temptress, my love,” he said, still with his chest heaving a little. “How quickly you learn.”
“I learn?” Lahna asked, perplexed. “I learn what?”
“How to please me. The tightening of your muscles around my cock, milking me for all I am worth. The way you widen your legs to let me slide deeper, the movement of your hips as I pump. All ways of a temptress.”
“Are you the one to complain now?”
He laughed, the low rumble making his chest vibrate. “Never. I am the one to boast. To any man who would listen.”
Lahna felt her cheeks heat. She lifted her head to look at him. “You would talk about what we do to another?”
“No, my love. It is a figure of speech. What we do together is for us only.”
They lay in silence for a while, listening to the wakening sounds outside their room and from outside the walls of the pavilion. But Caelan’s words brought to focus the thing that she had been determined to address.
“Do you recall when you said you wanted to give me a present for our nuptials?”
“Of course,” Caelan said lazily. “It is tradition for a prince to gift his princess with something her heart desires.”
“I already have that,” Lahna said, kissing his chest. “I have you.”
“Always.”
“But there is something else I would have, if it is possible.”
“I will make sure it is
possible. Anything your heart desires will be yours if it is in my power.”
She rose up, sat back on her heels. She wanted to watch his reaction when she asked. The possibility existed that he would refuse, simply because he had no choice. At least not until dramatic changes had been made to the constitution of Limani. But there was absolutely no way she would give in easily. It was that important to her. Perhaps not an ideal solution, but it would be a start.
“I would like to choose my own maid.”
His eyes had been closed, but now they opened and looked up at her. He reached out, touched her breast softly. “Would you now?”
His touch sent tiny waves of reaction from her breast to her tender core, but she would not be distracted. “I would. While I am fond enough of my current maids, most of them are immature. I would like a personal maid I am able to converse with and with whom I can become friends.”
He frowned. “This is highly irregular.”
“You said yourself that when we are an independent land again, you will begin effecting change. And my request is a small thing when weighed against what we face with Zomotia.”
Caelan’s frown turned inquisitive. “And who did you have in mind?” he enquired, although Lahna knew from his expression that he was toying with her since he had already guessed. Despite his protestations, her visits to the Park to converse with her new friend had become a regular occurrence.
“Tavi’s a wonderful servant, and she intuitively knew what I needed and what she had to do to make me well,” she went on before Caelan could make objections. “And she acts with decorum and grace, and is loyal and trustworthy. What better person to become my personal maid?”
“She is not of noble family.”
“She was the daughter of a warrior. A much-respected warrior from what I can gather. And he was a favorite of yours, a friend even. Isn’t there some way you can overcome this silly ruling, or law, or whatever it is?”
Caelan looked at her steadily. “It means that much to you?”
