"I love you," she whispers, her legs around my waist, glossy hair spilling over the ground beneath us. A butterfly weaves its way between our bodies. It flutters from my chest to hers and she laughs out loud. It's an angelic sound.
"It's Stellan!" She says, through her laughter. "He always wanted to join us!"
I smile down at her because she's right, and because she finds a beautiful meaning in the smallest of things. The butterfly kisses her shoulder once more and goes adrift in the wind, and I take a deep breath, appreciating the joy of this moment before it can pass me by unnoticed. But I'm burning with need for her, and if I don't move more, I'm going to combust.
So I hold her hand in mine and fuck her like I mean it. I feel the tension building up in her body, winding her up to the top. The guards can hear us. Worse, the guards can probablyseeus, but I don't care. She's shaking beneath me, her breaths in perfect time with my hips. I rest my forehead on hers as we spin nearer and nearer. But I'm dangerously close to the edge.
"Anaeseliane, liaste," I say, in her people's tongue.Touch yourself, my love.I can hardly hear myself, hardly feel the grass beneath us, or the breeze on my back. It's just me and her, and that'll always be enough for me.
She comes. And as she buries her head in my neck, I do too. And then she's laughing; loud, cathartic laughter that has me laughing too, even though I don't know what it's about.
"What?" I say, cupping her chin and turning her face to me.
"We're supposed to be running this kingdom and look at us," she gestures to the lawn around us. "We didn't even make it to the door!"
I grin because she's right, but it's nice to relax sometimes. To break free from the chains that have bound me since the day my father died. I put my shirt over her head so she's just covered, and then I toss the rest of our clothes over my shoulder, smacking her behind as she walks down the path. She stops and frowns at the tiny log cabin nestled in the trees. "Is this... the gardener’s shed?"
"No, this is it," I say, tugging her forward. She hesitantly follows.
"Rexxan, I am not in the mood for you to murder me in a cabin. And this right here is a murder cabin."
"Drowned or hanged?" I ask her, and she follows after me through the little gate at the top of the cobbled path to the door.
"Hanged, obviously. What psychopath would choose to drown?"
"Me," I usher her past the wooden front door before she can run off. The staff have been here. The pantry is stocked, the house warm. I don't come here in winter, because it's too cold to stay here without a fire, and being in a small log cabin with a fire burning isn't good for me.
"I have so, so many questions," she asks, standing in the kitchen that's hardly big enough to fit us both in. It seemed big enough when Siddie was only as tall as my waist. Now he’s a giant like I am, it feels smaller.
"Fire away, sweetheart," I say, lifting her onto the oak worktop and settling between her thighs.
"Umm... do you own this?"
"Yes."
"Is it for... torturing people?"
I laugh out loud. Torturing Siddie with my chess skills, maybe. “No."
"Is it for... when you want to scream in pain at your burns?"
"No, but I've done that here."
"Did you buy it?"
"Siddie and I built it six hundred and fifty years ago, and we replace the roof and walls every now and then when they need it."
Her frown deepens. "But... I thought we were going to a castle or a manor. Something like Lynna's house."
My lips brush hers. "Why would I plan a Lynna honeymoon for Renna? This is a Renna honeymoon, through and through. We'll be alone in a wood cabin. We'll wash in the stream in the garden. We'll walk the forest outside. We'll fight each other in the garden until our swords are bent. We'll fuck until we can't anymore. We'll eat whatever and whenever you like, and we'll be husband and wife while we're doing it."
She's silent for a brief moment, but then she goes berserk, jumping up and down in my arms with childlike excitement. She barrels up the stairs and into one of the two small double bedrooms. There's an open window, a huge gap in the wall that is filled with the view of the trees outside.
"You own this?!" She yells, as she jumps out the window and lands with a thud on her feet, finding the archery target on the side of the house.
"We own it."
"This is my wedding present?"
