A Nordic King(70)

Because I have something rare and beautiful in my hands, a precious bird, and I don’t ever want to let her go. If I did, Aurora would fly away, and I’d spend the rest of my days searching the sky.

So I’m going to do what I do best and revel in denial. I’m going to pretend that what we have is good enough for now. That we can continue being together in secret, in private. That I can hide what we are from everyone else.

To be honest, I wouldn’t want to share it anyway. It’s no one’s business but ours.

I might be a bit presumptuous, too, thinking that Aurora wants to continue this, whatever this is. Perhaps she just wanted to get it out of her system. Perhaps last night was all there was between us.

I thought the same at first. I thought maybe, if I finally gave in to this raw, powerful storm that had been building between us for months, I could get her out of my system. An exorcism.

I couldn’t be more wrong.

I sigh and try to fall back asleep, but sleep is elusive now.

My hand pushes down my briefs and wraps around the base of my cock and I’m already hard, just thinking of her. I wonder if I should call her but decide it’s too risky. Not only could someone hear us, but I don’t want to come on any stronger than I already have. She’s no wallflower and she knows exactly what she wants in bed, what makes her feel good. But jumping from sex to phone sex doesn’t seem right.

So I stroke my dick, feeling the hot, rigid length under my palm, and think of last night.

I think of her eyes, soulful and deep, right before I kissed her.

I think of the way she moaned when I pushed deep inside her, the small gasp of pain and pleasure that fell from her mouth.

And I think of how I wanted to give her more, just like that, every single day into eternity.



*

Though I always enjoy my time in Sweden, getting out of the palace and being around friends, people who understand what it’s like to be a person in my position, to be a royal, I couldn’t get back to Copenhagen fast enough.

Thankfully the flight is very short, and I was back at the palace by noon.

“How was your trip, sir?” Nicklas asks me as soon as I step inside, stomping the snow off my boots.

I side-eye him. “It was good.”

Nicklas is smarting a little. Normally he goes with me when I travel but because this was just a social visit to Sweden, I decided against it. When he was with Helena, he went absolutely everywhere, social visit or not, but that’s because he was fucking her. And if he dares to ever press the issue, that’s exactly what I’ll tell him.

To be honest, I didn’t feel all that comfortable leaving him in the palace. After I discovered he had gone into Aurora’s room that one time, my guard around him has been up, much higher than usual. Every single day I berate myself for keeping him in this house and every single day I come to the same conclusion; That I have no choice.

That said, I made sure Maja was here the whole time I was gone, and I know Aurora doesn’t like Nicklas and avoids him at all costs. Hopefully this wasn’t an issue.

A high-pitched squeal comes from upstairs, followed by the sound of stampeding feet. You’d think a palace would have better soundproofing, but I guess my royal relatives never had to worry about pigs on the loose.

I brush past Nicklas, nearly hip-checking him out of the way, and head up the stairs.

“Papa!” Clara yells excitedly, holding up a tennis ball. She’s at one end of the hall with Freja and Aurora, Snarf Snarf running around in circles.

“We’re teaching him how to play fetch,” Freja says and both girls start running toward me. The pig follows them, ears flapping as he runs, shaking the floor. Aurora had warned me that “teacup” pigs rarely stay “teacup” sized and now Snarf Snarf is the size of a cocker spaniel and about five times as heavy.

I crouch down and hold my arms out and the girls run right into them. I lift them up, smiling at their joyous faces and my heart starts to bleed. My love for them is unshakeable, indescribable, and to see how happy they’ve become makes all that we’ve gone through worth it.

“What am I going to do when you’re too big to lift up?” I ask them, kissing Freja on her nose, which she immediately scrunches, and then Clara on her cheek.

“We’ll use a ladder,” Clara says, wrapping her hands around my neck and grinning at me. “Or Aurora can lift us up.”

Aurora is slowly walking toward me, a slight downward cast to her face, a shy smile on her lips. I don’t always see her so demure. Usually she’s yelling at me for one reason or another. But now it’s apparent how everything has changed between us.

I can’t help but smile at her, unable to rein it in.

Just the fact that I don’t have to pretend with her anymore makes my smile stretch wider, my heart in my chest buoyant and light and warm.

Though she’s at the end of the hall, distance doesn’t matter anymore. I’m able to look into her deep brown doe eyes and know that she’s mine. I’m a king with a palace full of treasures and yet she is my greatest possession.

I put the girls back down on the ground and they go running after Snarf Snarf, throwing the ball past Aurora and scrambling after it.

While they go, she comes over to me and gives me a small, hopeful smile.

“Hi,” she says.

“Hi,” I say back, still grinning. It takes every ounce of restraint to stop myself from kissing her right here, to not take her hand, to not touch her. We’ve gone from holding ourselves back for months to giving in wildly then back to being in control. It doesn’t feel right but it’s all we have to work with.