Page 115 of Prince of the Northwest Forest
Love.
I love Justice. I always have.
Justice pushes me against the door, and I drop my cloak. Our tongues touch, join, claim each other. His hands roam up and down my body, and I can’t get close enough to him. I tug him to me, wanting him to fuse to me.
One of his heavy boots is between my legs, the other to the side. I palm his ass and squeeze, and his growing erection rubs against my own.
I want this man. I want him all the time. I want him every single day. I want him naked and clothed. Touching me and across the room. I don’t want to miss a single thing about him. Ever.
Fumbling, I get his pants undone and reach inside to wrap my hand around his hard, thick length. His skin is warm and velvety, but his dick is straining, the tip leaking. Exactly the same as mine.
“I love how much we turn each other on,” I whisper against his lips as he unfastens my pants.
“I need this,” he murmurs. “I feel like I’m going to explode. Or start humping your leg.”
“You can do that if you want,” I say, laughing. He reaches into my trousers, but I move so that I’m pressing him against the door, both our cocks in my hands, and I start stroking us together, using our precome as lube.
We’re coiled springs needing to let go, and we do so in record time, first me, then him. We pant and grin goofily at each other, our pants halfway down our thighs.
“Will you come to the masquerade ball with me next week?” Justice whispers.
I give him a little bow as I do my best to wipe us off. “I’d be honored. Now, though, I really do have to go home and catch up with whatever has happened while we’ve been gone.”
We get cleaned up, and he checks his phone again. “I think I need to go visit Daryl before I do anything else.”
I smile at him. “Take care of your friend. I’ll come by later.”
When I arrive at the castle, my mother is in the throne room. She’s pacing, agitated, but she looks relieved when she sees me. “Kalle! Where have you been?”
“I went to the Fae Realm to find Justice.” I squint at her. “Do you remember him now? More than from when he came here recently, I mean. Justice Laurel. He’s Horace’s son, and he grew up here, at least part of the time.”
“How do you—” She blinks. “Um. Well.” Her face crumples. “I’ve never not remembered him. Kalle, you have to forgive us. We just wanted what was best for the realm.”
I stare at her, a sharp pain hitting me in the chest. “You? It wasyouwho bargained with the fae to steal his memories? My memories?”
Mother nods. “We knew the two of you were falling in love, and that couldn’t be. Mount Pátu was erupting, and we neededyou available to marry Princess Eleanor. We figured we would pay their price with her dowry, and it would save our realm.”
My jaw goes slack. Then I recover. “Even if I accept that you made that choice for the good of our people, when Mats volunteered to marry her in my place, you should have given the memories back,” I snarl. “How dare you?”
“We did what we had to do,” she insists, “and it’s still not enough. Tensions are rising with the Fire Realm, and now, because of their connections with Icedonia, that realm as well. Mats has refused to marry Eleanor anytime soon, and the fire queens are threatening to invade. So, since it seems that you aren’t picky about gender, you have a choice, Kalle. You can marry Princess Gabrielle of Icedonia or Prince Eckhart of the Fire Realm.”
I should have expected this, but now that I’m hearing it, my reaction is decisive. “I’m not going to marry either one of them. I’m in love with Justice.”
She looks upward and shakes her head. “I realize you feel strongly about him, but being with him won’t save your realm.That’swhat true love is: making sure that our land and subjects aren’t destroyed.”
“No,” I grit out. “There must be another way. Justice is the love of my life, and I now know that he always has been.”
“You must do your duty.” Mother’s voice is steady and low-pitched. She presses her lips together, signaling an end to the discussion.
Fuck my duty, I want to say. My palms hurt from my fingernails digging into the skin, and my face goes hot.
I’m not going to be rude to my mother, even though she deserves it.
Without another word, I storm out of the room.
I need more time. Will Mats be able to figure things out with Eleanor? Is there another solution?
Or am I doomed to marry … to save my subjects from destruction but kill my heart?
