The Snow Queen's Captive (16 page)

“Doesn’t look like anyone won, does it? But I admit, I’ve never had a draw in a fairy tale before.” Muffin tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I’m not quite sure what to do here.”

“Please,” Charlotte said. “I don’t want to leave.”

Kai held her tighter against him. He didn’t want her to leave, either. She was his, and wherever she went, he wanted to go there, too.

“Well, I can’t have a tie on the books,” Muffin said. She tilted her round little head. “So either you two duke it out,” she pointed at Charlotte and Gerda. “Or I give Charlotte props for creativity and just declare her the winner? I think I’ll do that. Then, everyone’s happy.” She leaned in and gave Charlotte a careful pat. “Job well done.”

“Wait, what?” Charlotte struggled to sit up in his arms. “I don’t understand.” She looked at Kai, then back at the old woman. “You’ve been discouraging me the entire time! Telling me that I’m doing things all wrong. Telling me that the plants were a bad idea!”

“Well, the plants are a terrible idea. They require so much magic that they’re not sustainable. If you move further up the mountain there, above the frost line, then you can live in peace and they can have four seasons again. Winter might be slightly longer, but otherwise, things will be just ducky.”

Further up the mountain? Kai glanced up at the forbidding, snow-covered peak. He remembered his day with Charlotte there. She’d seemed happy. And he imagined it would be a small thing to craft a new ice castle amidst the rocky crags if it meant everyone else was well fed and warmth returned to the land.

“I still don’t understand why you discouraged me the entire time—“

“It’s called ‘seeing if you have the stones to do the right thing even when it doesn’t benefit you’, sweetie. Not everyone gets a fairy tale. You don’t think we put this much effort into everyone, do you? I had to make sure you were worthy. And frankly, with the amount of power you were wielding, you could have made this one—” she pointed at Gerda — “into a popsicle and thought nothing of it. Things were a bit lopsided in your favor, so I did my best to try and even things out. Give you a bit more of a challenge.”

Charlotte closed her eyes, clearly thinking. “I don’t have that much power any more. I destroyed the mirror.”

“The mirror wasn’t kiddie stuff. I’m glad you didn’t play with it. And you don’t need that much power. Just stop exhausting yourself on silly bushes and relax and enjoy yourself.”

“So…I get to stay?”

Muffin winked. “You get to stay. Have fun with your stud here. I’m off to go try and salvage things on a Cinderella run in Ancient Egypt.” She shook her head. “You’d think nobody heard of compromise before. Ah well. Duty calls! Have a nice life, sweetie. And remember what I said – above the frost line. Now, get your strength back and start redecorating.” She wiggled her fingers and then disappeared in a puff of pink glitter.

Kai stared at the spot where the woman had been. “Strange sorceress,” he murmured.

“Where’d she go?” Gerda demanded. “I still don’t have my spear!”

“She left, and I don’t know that she’ll be back,” Kai said. He hoped not. He still couldn’t forgive the way she’d tortured Charlotte and made her cry. He squeezed his mate closer in his arms. She was being unusually quiet. He looked down at her beloved face and noticed she’d gone unconscious again. His heart squeezed painfully in his chest at the sight. But her breathing was soft and even, and the faint icy blue had returned to her cheeks. Even now, he felt the cold of her seeping through the furs. “My mate needs to rest,” he told the others in a soft voice, so as not to wake her.

Gerda seemed uneasy. “Do you truly think she’ll move into the mountains?”

“She will,” Kai said. “She’s never wanted to hurt anyone. All she wants is to live in peace.” And she wouldn’t be lonely, because he was going to be there with her, at her side.

Forever.

~~ * * * ~~

Charlotte woke up some time later to the feel of a soft fur glove stroking her bare skin. Immediately, her thoughts turned erotic. “Mmm, Kai.”

“I’m here,” he said softly. The glove moved down her back, glided over a sensitive buttock. “And we’re alone. Finally.”

Alone…? Oh God. She bolted upright, her mind flashing through vague memories of the day. “I…where are we?”

“You’re safe,” he told her. “You’re in bed. You were exhausted so I carried you in. You’ve slept most of the day through.”

Carried her in? Charlotte rolled onto her back and put a hand to her forehead, trying to think. She’d been so incredibly weak since destroying the mirror, and out of her mind with grief at having to send Kai away. Flashes of vague, dreamlike memory pushed to the forefront: giving the last of her strength to her berry bushes, Muffin’s face peering over her own, a fireman’s uniform, Kai’s own troubled face as he gazed down at her, black streaks on his cheeks…

She pressed a hand to her forehead. “Is it weird that I actually feel pretty good right now?”

“You’ve had nearly a full day to rest,” Kai said in a husky voice, and the soft glove brushed along her skin again. “I imagine that the magic works much like a rain barrel does. Pull too much at once and it will take time to refill, but it eventually will.”

That made sense. She opened her eyes, gazed up at the faceted ice ceiling, and then looked into his handsome face. Her hands longed to touch him, but even now, she could feel the heat blasting through his skin that warned her away. “You washed your paint off.”

“That was war paint,” he said, a dark look on his face.

She froze in place. “Are…are they still outside? Waiting for me to come out to attack?”

“Do you not remember?” The glove caressed her cheek, brushed her hair away from her face. “Your fairy godmother said that if we stay above the frost line, no one shall be affected. They have left, and in a few days, you and I will make our home higher in the mountains.”

A sweet ache crept into her throat. “You and I?”

“I’m not leaving you, Charlotte. You’re my mate.” The glove caressed her cheek, as did his gaze. “You can try to send me away, but I will chip at the ice walls until I break through again. There is nothing you can do that will keep me from your side.”

She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat.

“Why did you send me away before? When you were so sick? I felt as if my heart had been removed from my breast.” His soft glove trailed down to her breasts and rested between them. Apparently she was naked.

She didn’t care.

She licked her lips, feeling like an ass for hurting him. “Muffin told me that you being here could end up hurting you. I didn’t want that.” She confessed everything to him – the mirror, Muffin’s warnings about the different realities and the way the fairy tale worked out each time. The fairy godmother had sworn her to secrecy before, but since everything was theoretically ‘over’, she didn’t suppose it mattered if she told Kai the truth of everything. “I sent you away because I loved you and wanted to keep you safe,” she said finally. “I’m sorry if it hurt you.”

“I saw you dying,” he said in an agonized voice, and caressed her cheek again. “How could you think it didn’t hurt me?”

“I didn’t know if I’d get to stay here,” she confessed. “And I didn’t want you to wake up next to the old snow queen if she came back. I didn’t want to do that to you.” Her hand went to his covered chest, wishing she could feel his heartbeat. “I couldn’t bear the thought of you in her embrace again.”

“I would have chanced it if it meant remaining at your side.”

She shook her head. No sense in dwelling on something that hadn’t come to pass.

“Don’t you know you own my heart, Charlotte?” He pressed his gloved hand over her fingers, still resting on his chest. “It’s always yours.”

Her own heart ached in response. “I love you, Kai. I’m so happy I’m still here with you. You can’t imagine how happy.”

“Then show me, love,” he told her in a husky voice, the look in his dark gaze intense.

She shivered and her hand slid lower on his fur tunic, caressing his cock as she gazed into his eyes.

A voice cleared. “Before you two get busy…”

Charlotte’s eyes widened in horror. Oh god, she knew that voice. “Muffin?” Her hand jerked away from Kai’s body. A sense of dread swept over her. Was the fairy godmother changing her mind? “I thought—“

“I know, I know,” the fairy godmother said, stepping forward. This time she was in a flouncy white dress and straw hat. She looked more like Mary Poppins than a fireman. “But your happy ever after kept bothering me. I mean, if you can’t touch, how are we going to have snow babies?”

“Huh?” was her eloquent reply.

“So,” the fairy godmother said. “I figured every queen needs her king. When you broke the mirror, it took all your nice little unseen servants with it. And if you’re heading up the mountain, you’ll be lonely. Real lonely. And nothing heats up a cold winter night quite like
real
company. Now, come here, boy,” she said, and grabbed Kai’s shoulder and pulled him down to her. Before Charlotte could protest, Muffin gave him a big, smacking kiss on the mouth.

Kai tumbled over backward and fell off the bed.

Muffin giggled, the sound girlish and high. “Two thousand years, and I can still knock them on their asses.” She looked over at Charlotte, who was gaping, open-mouthed. “Have fun with your Snow King, sweetie. You won’t be seeing me again.”

“Snow King?” Charlotte asked, but Muffin was already gone. Glitter rained from the air. She peered over the side of the bed. “Kai? Are you all right?”

He lay on the floor, eyes closed.

Charlotte panicked and leapt off the bed, rushing to his side. “Kai?” She pulled at his tunic, careful not to touch him. His normally warm, tanned face was pale, a hint of blue edging his firm mouth. “Kai? Speak to me.”

He opened his eyes and she gave a sigh of relief.

Kai raised a hand into the air and stared at it curiously. His fingers were tipped in ice, and he frowned, then exhaled slowly. His breath came out as a frosty puff.

“Kai?”

He looked over at Charlotte, and then grabbed her and pulled her mouth against his in a fierce, impromptu kiss.

Charlotte stilled, panic flooding through her mind, of burning Kai with her mouth, of the pain and misery that the simple touch could bring…

But he felt…wonderful. She gasped as she realized his mouth was the same temperature as her own.

He laughed between kisses, his hands moving to cup her face as he kissed her over and over again. “Snow King. That old witch is crazy but I think I love her. I’m a Snow King!” He laughed wildly again. “She wanted me to be with my Snow Queen. This is incredible.” He kissed her again, and again.

Charlotte was incredulous. “I can’t believe it. I—I never thought to ask—” her hands gripped his tunic and then she tore at it, frantic. “Let me touch you. All of you. Please, Kai.”

He pulled at the clothing, equally as anxious as her, and they both divested him of the heavy furs within a matter of moments. Charlotte was already naked, and soon enough, he sat before her, his long, heavy black hair tipped with frost at the ends. His chest was as smooth and dusky as ever, but his nipples had a hint of frosty blue to them. She looked further down, unable to help herself. His cock was erect, and oh, it was gorgeous. Her fingers touched the crown of it reverently, still awed that she could actually touch him, and she gave a wild giggle when a bead of pre-cum iced on the head. “This is so incredible, Kai. I just…I can’t even….” She shook her head, overcome.

“It’s a gift,” he said in a low voice, and put his hand behind her neck and pulled her mouth toward him again. “You are mine, and I am yours. We are now a perfect match together. We are blessed.”

In this moment, she truly felt blessed indeed. With a happy squeal, she tackled him and rolled on the ground with him. Charlotte felt giddy with joy. He held on to her and they flipped over until she was beneath him and he was above her and his long hair was trailing on her skin.

“And now,” Kai told her softly, the look on his face infinitely tender. “I can kiss you as many times as I wish.”

“Then kiss me now.”

He smiled and bent to kiss her, and his lips moved against her own. And oh, it was sweet and wonderful and delicious. His mouth opened and his tongue touched hers, and she moaned. Just to be able to kiss Kai felt like the sweetest gift in the world, to feel his teeth tug at her lower lip, his tongue caress her own.

They kissed for endless minutes, each movement of his mouth on hers a new and wonderful experience. By the time he lifted his head to give her a chance to catch her breath, she was panting with need and aching between her legs.

“I love that I can caress your soft skin,” he told her, his nose nudging her own in a tender gesture that made her feel so, so adored. “I love that I can run my mouth, my tongue, my lips along yours. I love that I can touch your breasts.” His hand cupped one, teasing her aching nipple.

“I am yours,” she whispered.

“And now that we both have ice at our command, my imagination is full of thoughts on how we can use these powers…” He lifted a hand and ice formed, shaping into…a phallus.

She giggled. “Typical man.”

“Your man,” he said, leaning in to kiss her again.

“My man,” she agreed, putting her arms around his neck. “My man to touch and caress and kiss.” She nipped at his jaw, his neck, his shoulder, anywhere she could reach him.

His hand moved down her belly, trailing the ice dildo along her navel, and then gliding it lower. It felt smooth and warm against her skin, like glass. And it excited her when he pressed it lower, the thick length prodding at the curls of her sex.

“This time, it won’t be just my fingers entering you,” he whispered as he kissed her again. “It will be my fingers, my ice, and my cock. I will have you in every way, my mate.”

She trembled at those intense words.

“Open your legs for me, sweet,” he murmured, and rubbed the icy creation against her clitoris.

Oh God, that felt like sin itself. Charlotte moaned, her legs falling open so he could pleasure her. There was something naughty – but so right – about him using ice for their mutual pleasure. It was part of who they were and what had brought them together, and it felt natural.