Page 25 of The Holly King's Sacrifice

“Drink, fairest one,” he says. “And I shall be yours as you are mine.”

I look him in the eye, and I’m confident in my choice.

I take a sip of the Elixir.

At first, nothing seems to happen.

But then I feel it—my senses getting sharper, my heart pounding. The chill in my bones vanishes to the point where I could kick off my shoes and dance, and I lock eyes with Ulfric.

The music starts again, and I realize the Skoll are playing the song Ulfric and I danced to in the ice cave: the ballad of the Holly King and his Snow Queen. He extends his hand, and bows to me as we fall into the steps.

The drums pound, and voices soar, and laughter fills my heart with joy. Ulfric and I spin round and round, the fire crackling at our feet, and I shed my boots to let him lift me into his arms as we dance. My flesh heats at his closeness, and when he draws me in for a kiss, I melt against him.

And we kiss, and we kiss, and kiss…

This is part of the process—the abandonment of shame, letting myself into the fold of the Skoll war band. The Elixir works its magic in my veins as we kiss, and I wrap my legs around his waist as he sways before the fire, the music growing slower. The drums pound and I hear a cry of pleasure from somewhere else in the group, mingling with singing and laughter.

The Elixir does something to you when you consume it with your partner. Something sparks, and flickers to life. I feel Ulfric’s desire as my own, and I thread my fingers through the dark hair falling around his shoulders before gripping him around the horns and ducking my head to his ear.

“Catch me if you can,” I whisper.

I fling myself from his arms and take off in the snow, adrenaline surging through me. I hear Ulfric’s euphoric snort from behind me, and the raucous laughter of those in the war band. It’s like a fever dream as I run around the fire, forcing him to follow.

The Holly King should always pursue his Snow Queen. And if he wants me…he has to catch me.

We run in the same circles we danced—eight beats one way, eight another. We stay on the other side of the fire, and I break out into a smile as I watch him get frustrated. His hair falls in dark strands around his face, his silver eyes blazing, his beard woven into ornate braids with gold rings. The sights and sounds and scents of the feast are all around me, the celebration of the morning to come, and of the days growing longer.

I fall into that. I let Ulfric chase me.

And when I climb the stairs to the dais, I know he’s about to catch me.

The feast is in full swing, no one paying any mind to us as we consummate our ritual. Ulfric’s weight hits me from behind, shoving me forward until my hands grasp the arms of the Holly King’s throne. I stare into the empty eyes of his mask where it sits on its pedestal, remembering a time when I feared him most of all.

And perhaps it wasn’t him I feared, but the anticipation of what was to come—of losing my inhibitions, and giving myself to heated nights spent in the arms of my lover, to the joy of the coming spring.

He leans over me, his cock hard against my core. His hand slides along my inner thigh and spreads my legs, leaving me open to him. My gown is barely anything at all, my skirt hitched high around my hips.

“You bring fire to my heart, fairest Aspen,” he growls in my ear. “And together, we will bring light back to this world, as you have warmed my cold bones.”

He thrusts into me in one smooth motion, and I cry out. My voice mingles with the song of the Holly King and the Snow Queen, the sounds of my pleasure in time with the beats of the drum.

“My wife…my heart…my world,” he moans.

He stands upright and smooths his hand down my back, and begins to plow into me, hard and fast. I feel no shame at how I’m displayed before all the war band, knowing that they’ll rejoice in the bright future ahead of us.

And there’s no reason to accept shame when you could have joy instead.

Ulfric’s pace increases with the drums, until it feels like my every limb is rattling with the throne. He reaches around and pulls the fabric from my breasts, squeezes my nipples. I moan and sob and writhe, pressing my backside against him, taking him deep. Mine,mine, mine as I am his…my Holly King. Every movement presses that aching spot deep within me, and I crack and shatter as I scream into the starlit sky on this darkest night of the year.

Ulfric turns me in his arms and holds me tight, melding my mouth to his. Our tongues collide as I think of all the things he’ll teach me through the long years—of how I’ll pester him with questions, and how he will patiently answer every single one. And I wonder at how strange the universe is, that it would toss him through the stars and into my arms. That fate would place me in that forest a week ago, only for me to land in Ulfric’s bed.

Perhaps the stories are right, and I’m just another version of the goddess of all creation, finding my lover across lifetimes.

He lowers me to the top step of the dais, and I spread my legs as Ulfric smooths his hands over my inner thighs. I offer myself to him, the golden fabric of my dress draped around my hips. Ulfric lowers his mouth the apex of my thighs and kisses along the sensitive flesh there, holding my legs up to drape them over his antlers.

“I will worship you for eternity, my Aspen,” he whispers.

And he feasts on me.

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