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‘Gerran can’t hurt anyone now.’ But her father’s notoriety would always cast a shadow on her life, Arielle thought bleakly. She bit her lip. ‘Why did Danny Bray defend me in the pub?’
‘I threatened to sue him for libel if he breathed a word against you ever again. When Bray realised that he faced being fined hundreds of thousands of pounds it made him reconsider his behaviour. I have also taken out an injunction banning the media from printing anything defamatory about you.’
‘But everything Danny said about my father is true and you can’t stop the story from being in the newspapers.’
He smiled. ‘It is old news already since a volcano named Vredkaempen erupted two days ago. Angry Giant, to give it its English name, is miles away from any towns, and no one was affected,’ he assured her. ‘The newspapers in Fjernland are full of reports about the volcano.’
Eirik slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew a silk pouch. He tipped the contents out and held up a silver chain, which was attached to a pink pendant, carved into the shape of a heart. Arielle’s breath caught when she recognised it was the piece of sea glass that she’d found smashed in her studio. She’d guessed that Danny Bray and some of his cronies had been responsible for the damage.
‘You had told me that you found the sea glass when you were with your mother, and it reminded you of her,’ Eirik explained. ‘I asked a jeweller to create the pendant so that you can wear it close to your heart.’
‘It’s beautiful.’ She studied the pink glass heart mistily, trying and failing to hold back her tears. ‘Why did you do such a lovely thing for me?’
‘Because I love you,’ he said huskily.
Arielle’s heart stopped beating. She lifted her gaze to Eirik’s face and the tender expression in his eyes made her tremble. ‘You said you had no intention of falling in love,’ she whispered.
He gave her a strained smile as he lifted his hand and brushed a stray curl off her face. ‘And yet here I am, completely and utterly in love with you,elskeda.I think I have been since the last time we were here at Pixie Cove, and I know I will love you for ever.’
Arielle’s mind was whirling. Happiness hovered within her grasp, but she dared not reach out for it. ‘You can’t,’ she choked out.
Eirik wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumb pads. ‘Don’t you want me to love you?’ There was uncertainty in his voice, the vulnerability of the boy he’d once been who had yearned for his parents’ affection.
‘Of course I do, more than anything in the world.’ She put her hand on his jaw and trembled again when he turned his face and kissed her palm. ‘I love you with all my heart. But loving you is agony. I want to be able to love you freely and publicly.’ Her voice cracked. ‘Please don’t ask me to be your secret mistress after you marry the woman who will be your Princess Consort.’
Eirik caught her to him and held her against his big chest. ‘I don’t want you to be my mistress,min elskeda. I want you to be my wife.’
She stared at him in disbelief and dawning wonder that he did truly love her. But love was not enough. He was bound by duty and centuries-old tradition. ‘Oh, my darling, we both know that can never happen. I can’t marry you. The people of Fjernland will never accept me, and your mother certainly won’t.’ Arielle pressed her finger against his lips when he made to speak. ‘I cannot change who my father is and the terrible crimes he committed. You must choose a bride who is suitable to be a princess.’
Eirik’s eyes blazed. ‘Youare my Princess, and only you. The Fjernlandic people will fall in love with you as I did. As for my mother...’ His jaw hardened. ‘Princess Hulda is praying that you will accept my proposal because I have made it clear to her and Prince Otto that no other woman will be my wife.’
He took the sea-glass pendant and secured the chain around Arielle’s neck. ‘I will only marry for love, and I will only ever love you,’ he said softly. ‘I have persuaded my father and the National Council to change the principality’s constitution so that if I die without an heir, Fjernland won’t be returned to Danish rule. Instead, the democratically elected National Council will choose a head of state to lead the government.’
‘Can you do that?’
‘It’s done, and it was surprisingly easy. But you can understand why my mother is desperate for you to agree to marry me, and for us to have children.’ Eirik smiled at her stunned expression. ‘I would like to have a family with you, not because I want an heir, but because I adore you and I’d love to have three or four mini versions of you.’
‘Four!’ Arielle stopped trying to fight the joy that swept through her, stopped being afraid to grab hold of the happiness that was standing right there in front of her in the form of a golden prince. Her Prince. Her fairy-tale happy ending.
‘We don’t have to have four, or any children at all if you don’t want them,’ Eirik said hastily.
‘I do want your babies,’ she assured him before she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him, telling him without words everything that was in her heart. ‘But more than anything I want you to love me as much as I love you, for the rest of our lives.’
He captured her hand and pressed it to his chest above his heart. ‘It beats only for you. Always and for ever,elskeda. My love,’ he translated for her.
‘Eirik...?’ Arielle was sure she was dreaming when he dropped down onto one knee on the sand and took a small velvet box from his pocket. He opened it to reveal an exquisite, square-cut pink sapphire surrounded by diamonds that sparkled in the sunshine.
‘Arielle, will you marry me and be my wife, my companion, my princess and my dearest love in this life and beyond?’
‘I will,’ she whispered. And then more loudly, because she had found her voice and would never lose it again. ‘I will love you to eternity.’
Eirik slid the engagement ring onto her finger and stood up to draw her into his arms. He kissed her tenderly and with increasing passion until they were both shaking. ‘Did you say that Pixie Cove is completely secluded?’ he murmured.
‘Yes, very few people know it’s here.’
‘Good.’ He tugged her tee shirt over her head and unclipped her bra, giving a low groan as her breasts spilled into his hands. ‘Because I have plans for us for the rest of the day and I don’t want to be disturbed, my love.’
EPILOGUE
