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“Like this,” I say, before kissing my way down her body. Spreading her stunning thighs apart, I ease my face between them.

  “Darien?” she cries out. “What are you doing?”

  “Speaking to you in another language.” I pry open her lower lips with my fingers and swipe the length of her pussy with my tongue.

  Hips bucking and belly convulsing, she gasps. “Darien!”

  A smile blazes across my face as I dive back in and take another lengthy stride over her. Arousal pools in her opening. The sight of it spikes adrenaline through me. Dipping the tip of my tongue in it, I spread her juices, drowning in the sweet taste of her. I focus on her clit, sweeping circles around it to tease her.

  Sucking on her sweet sensitive spot, I slide a finger into her channel swimming in fresh arousal. Snow's body convulses under my touch, and she fills the room with whimpers and moans. She cries out my name on the wings of a breathy moan, fumbling her fingers through my hair.

  Her hips rock, mimicking the rhythm of my tongue. I plunge another finger inside her, launching her nearly off the bed as she arches in pleasure. She is ready, hanging on the edge of her climax. With a flick of my tongue, I sweep her over it as the waves of her orgasm hit. Her moans notch up an octave as the ripples of ecstasy shudder through her.

  I make my way up her body, decorating her skin with licks and kisses. Heaving myself at a breast, I suck in a pebbled nipple. Snow writhes beneath me as my hands roam her soft skin.

  “Darien,” she whispers. “I need you inside me. Please,” she begs.

  Easing her onto a pillow, I brush a stray lock of dark curls from her face. “I'm so in love with you, Snow,” I say, before sweeping her mouth into a deep kiss and thrusting myself inside her. I don't give her a chance to respond, for I fear what she'll say. My heart longs to hear the words from her lips in return, yet if she says them I won't be able to go through with my decision. But she needs to hear them from me, and I pray she believes them. Because they are filled with truth.

  Rocking my thighs, I penetrate her, pumping in and out as slow as I can stand it. My cock throbs inside her tight walls, and with one thrust I nearly come. I pull back from the kiss and gaze down into her bewildered eyes with a smile. Her lips pucker open and a gasp leaves them. I stare at them as they twitch with each of my thrusts. She is lost in a world of pleasure, and she looks like an angel. I capture that moment, that stunning image of her face at peace, in ecstasy, in love. I wish I could look at it forever.

  She chokes out my name, and I stop her before she says anything else, reclaiming her lips with my own. I punish her tongue for attempting to speak, making love to it as I do her pussy. Lifting her thigh, I slide in deeper and accelerate my thrusts. I can no longer hold back and must release.

  We are one.

  Her hips buck up against me and I down into hers. Our lips break as a growl works its way out of my throat. She replies with a moaning scream and digs her nails into the flesh of my shoulders. A shiver claims my body, and I collapse against her. Warm arms surround me as she pulls me to her breasts. I bury my face in her flesh, drinking in her scent mixed with our sex. I know in that moment, I cannot be with anyone but Snow.

  Chapter Five

  My eyes flutter open to the echoes of snaps and crackles from the fireplace at the corner of the room. I roll over to find a note and a white rose. Sadness aches in my heart that Darien's left. I succumbed to the call of sleep after our love making, content with him tucked against my bosom. Thoughts of making a life with him in the castle fill my head. Perhaps I really could stay here, with him.

  My time in the cottage has ended. A new season for me must begin, in life and in love. In love. The words circulate in my head until they no longer make sense. I am in love with Darien. Closing my eyes, I think back to what he professed to me as he filled me with himself. He loves me too. My heart ached to tell him the same in that moment, but he swept me into our special world and I lost myself in him. Tonight though, I will make sure he hears the words. I need for myself to say them as much as he needs to hear them.

  I pick up the note, holding the rose against my face to indulge in its sweet scent.

  My dearest Snow,

  Forgive me for departing before you wake. Truthfully, I could have spent all day watching you sleep, looking upon your beauty, and touching your softness. But I'm afraid I have a bit of kingdom business to tend to this afternoon. Wait for me tonight in your bed chamber. I promise you will not wake up alone again.

  All my love,

  Darien

  I swallow over the emotions choking in my throat. There is so much I want to say to him. But first, I must find Rose and tell her of my decision to stay with Darien in the castle. What she must think of me for running out on her this morning at breakfast. She needs to hear the blessing from my lips. I want her and Marcus to spend a long happy life in the cottage.

  Leaping from the bed, I scurry around looking for some form of clothing. My poor chemise and overdress lay in a puddle at the edge of the bed. A giggle floats from my lips as more memories from the morning swirl in my head.

  A stunning red and blue dress in one of the armoires catches my eye. I work myself into it, lacing up the tight blue bodice that puts my bosom on display. I've never worn such a thing before, but glancing down to my breasts peaking from the top I picture the look on Darien's face. I imagine I won't be in it for long. Another giggle flits from my lips as I slip on my boots and make my way through the snaking castle halls in search of Rose.

  Winter's wind barrages the castle, its howl piercing through the cracks in the walls. Yet I sense no chill over my skin, my body still flushed and heated from Darien. I check the dining hall, throne room, and common areas to no avail. Rose must be in her bed chamber with Marcus. Where once this would annoy me, I laugh it off now. I understand. Rose and I share a new connection, one I could never have had before Darien.

  I make my way back to my own bed chamber to await Darien's return. As I round the corner, I catch the glint of moonlight flickering off something silver, casting shimmering beams into the hallway. With slow steps, I make my way inside to seek out the source.

  A regal mirror hangs from an archway. Elaborate silver and gold flourishes scroll around its border. The glass glistens like moonlight on water. It beckons me toward it, as if calling my name. As I inch closer, the glass ripples, coming to life. Shock fills me, dropping my jaw open as I look upon the reflection.

  My own eyes look back at me from under pinned up tresses adorned with a crown. But blackness fills them, shrouded in power and lust. Long dark fingernails hold a scepter in one hand, and in the other an apple dripping with blood. A scream sticks in my throat, escaping in a choked whisper. “No.”

  I turn away, but it commands me to look upon it once more. I swallow hard over heavy breaths as I take in the sight before me. Reaching my hand out, I attempt to touch it, make sure it's not real. My fingertips graze the surface, slipping through it as if it isn't there. But something pulls at me from the other side, and a shock rattles through my body as images from another time and place pummel me. Flashes and images I do not understand attack me, yet they fill my heart and I know them as if I've lived them.

  I yank my hand back and drop to my knees, weeping. My future stares back at me from the mirror. One in which I am queen. One in which I have lost who I really am, fueled by a desire for power and sins of the flesh. The kingdom lay in tatters, tears, and terror. The people fear me instead of love me. Darkness drenches my heart.

  Sobs rips through me in convulsions, and I pound my fists on the stone floor. If I remain with Darien, this is who I will become. An ache wells through me, ripping open my heart, and I bleed out my love for him. I will not turn into that. For the love of the kingdom, all of its people, and for Darien, I must leave.

  I push myself up from the floor on wobbling arms. So heavy is my heart it weighs me down, and I force myself to my bed chamber through languishing strides. My body collapses against the bed as I take one
last look around the room. I search for an ink well and quill to scrawl a letter to Rose, giving her the cottage and my blessing. In loving detail, I express my gratitude at having had her in my life like a sister, and pray one day I may see her again. I beg her to tell Darien that I love him and my reasons for leaving, but only after I am gone, pleading for them both not to come looking for me.

  Even I know not where I will go. Tossing what little belongings I brought to the castle in a satchel, I head out of the room leaving the letter on my bed.

  Blustery winds sting my face as I step into the night air. Tightening my cloak around me, I press on through the drifting snow. It mocks me as the flakes fall and melt against my tears. I have fallen so far. Trading purity for pleasures of the flesh, I can no longer be Snow White.

  Moonlight slices through the darkness as I enter the haunted woods after an hour's walk through the kingdom. Stillness calms the howling winds, but it gives way to howls of another kind, those from the wolves hiding in the shadows.

  The snap of a twig jerks my attention, and I freeze in place.

  “Do not be afraid, dearie, I won't be doin' ye any harm,” a feeble voice creaks from the trees.

  I spin around, toss back my hood in a fury, and search for the source of the voice. “Who's there?”

  A frail woman steps into my path, cloaked in drab gray. Leaning on a staff, she offers a hand. “Looks like the winds have said all they can for the night. I'm thankful for the silence.” She stares into my eyes. Something familiar looks back at me from them, but I cannot place where I know her from. “Where ye be headed on a night such as this? Ye shouldn't be wanderin' the haunted woods alone.”

  “Do forgive me, but my business is none of yours. I must make haste.” I slide my hood back up and take a step forward.

  Her staff catches my ankle, halting another step. “You runnin' from yer past or yer future?”

  Her words stop my heart, and I whip around to face her. “What do you know of it?”

  Releasing the hold on my ankle, she once again leans on her staff. “I know a great many things...Snow White.”

  My chest convulses in a choke and gasp. “What do you want from me?”

  “Nothing.” She shakes her head. “I only offer help.”

  I eye her with suspicion and doubt. “How can you possibly help me? You know not of my troubles.”

  “Fear boils in your veins, so heated I can smell it. As much as the scent of the prince that still clings to your body.” She taps between my legs with her staff.

  I jump back and fight for words to form in my mouth. I have no response. Are my indiscretions that obvious? Tears flood my eyes and leak down my cheeks, freezing against my skin like icicles.

  “But I can help ye, dearie. You need a clean future. Something to wipe away the past.” Tilting her head, she inches toward me.

  “And how can you help do that?” My words come out as frosty as the air that carries them.

  “Ye need not but take a bite of this.” From inside her cloak she produces an apple, outstretched in a hand of bones and wrinkles.

  An apple. Just like the one in the mirror, only this one gleams in the moonlight; red, inviting, and not painted in blood. “I take a bite of that apple, and it washes away the past and changes my future?”

  “Aye, it can.” She nods.

  “And what do you want in return?” I suck in a deep breath, hating myself for even considering this as an option. But maybe it'll allow me to somehow still be with Darien. Maybe we can have a fresh start, and I'll be able to control myself around him. We can be married before we make love, and I will not turn into an evil queen and destroy the kingdom. But that's a lot of hopes to place on an apple. Perhaps it will just wipe my memories and I won't remember any of this, a fresh start with no past and no haunting future.

  “Nothin'. I'm repayin' ye for what ye've done for the kingdom all these years. Helpin' the poor, feeding the sick and hungry. You and yer mother.” A smile slithers over her lips and it gives me pause.

  “You knew my mother?” I reach for the apple with an unsteady hand.

  She inches it closer to me, dropping it into my palm as our hands meet. “Oh yes, I knew Ella very well. Eat.”

  My eyes trail from the apple to her elongated, sallow face. I glance back to the apple and bring it to my lips, taking a small bite from the skin. My tongue tingles as it slides down my throat. “How did you know her?”

  The old woman's eyes blaze from black to violet. “She tried to take my kingdom from me. She was a queen once. But I'm sure you knew that.”

  The apple lodges in my throat, and my eyes grow wide. “What?” The bits choke me, and I cough, working to free it and suck air back to my lungs. I swallow hard, and it slides down my throat, burning until it hits my stomach. My limbs blaze as if fire lights them from the inside, and I drop to my knees. “What did you do to me?”

  “Fixed a problem,” she says, sliding back her hood, revealing herself as Queen Miriam. “I was once betrothed to your father, King Henry of Evansdale. But Henry fell in love with your mother instead, charming her into his bed. How could he love a commoner who slept with pigs and dressed in cindersoot? We were to be the most powerful royal couple in the world. Then she showed up at our engagement ball, professing her love to him, and he called off our wedding.”

  She blurs before my eyes. Dizziness swarms my head as I force myself to look up at her from the ground, fighting to keep awake. “I....I don't under...stand...” My body sways, and my head bobbles forward.

  “I took care of that problem, and I'm taking care of this one. Hestor gave me a potion that stripped your mother of her memories. She didn't remember she was a Queen, nor in love with Henry, or even marrying her Prince Charming. All of it, poof. But it was too late, you were already in her womb.” She stalks around me as flakes of snow blanket my body. “I found a new prince to marry though, here in Everwood. I got my kingdom in the end. And I will not let the offspring of my archenemy steal that from me too! From that day forward I made the decree, only those of royal blood can marry another royal, thus ending the commoners from invading our world.”

  “I'm....a.....princess?” The words barely leave my lips as I drift in and out of consciousness.

  “Unfortunately. But no matter, with you out of the way now, Darien will not marry, and I will keep my crown.” She drops to a squat and whispers in my ear. “I'd hate to have to turn another of my sons into a bear.”

  In a puff of purple smoke, she vanishes. And so does the world around me.

  Chapter Six

  I march through the halls in search of my mother. After several hours prepping the perfect speech, I'm ready to face her. I refuse to give up Snow. My plan is perfect. I shall marry Snow and abdicate the throne, as my brother did. Snow and I shall live among the people, helping them retaliate and withstand the oppression of my mother's forces. When mother passes, I shall regain the throne and extinguish the decree that a royal cannot marry one not of royal lineage.

  With purpose in my head and love in my heart, I feel ready to take on the world. I speed my steps into the throne room and find mother pacing the floor.

  “Oh Darien!” she cries out, throwing her arms toward me. “I've been trying to find the words to come talk to you.”

  Sadness fills her eyes through glassy tears, and it strikes my heart with worry. “Mother, what's wrong?”

  Pulling me to her chest, she strokes the back of my head. “I'm so sorry, son.”

  “For what?” I ask, buried against her neck. Once again she manages to derail my plans.

  “Snow,” she says, and wipes a tear from her eyes as she pulls out from our embrace.

  My heart hammers. “What about her?” I left her only a few hours ago, asleep safely in her bed.

  “I had gone into her room to let her know I had accommodations arranged for her at the best inn in the kingdom until she could make herself a new home. I found this letter on her bed.” She turns the letter over to me.


  My heart lurches into my throat as I read the words.

  Sweet Sister Rose,

  I fear my time here at the castle has come to a close. It's best for me to move on, from here and from my old life. You and Marcus may have the cottage, and I pray you fill it with lots of scampering little feet. One day I'll return and hope to meet them, as I know they will be good-hearted and beautiful. Please tell Darien....please tell him that I love him, and that he's showed me things I'd never dreamed of. He fills my heart with the love I've longed for all my life, but feared I'd never be worthy of keeping. He is my world, and that is why I must leave. A premonition of the future haunts me, and if I do not leave now, I fear I will destroy everything I hold dear. I love you, dear sister. And I love Darien with all my heart and soul. And if you love me as much in return, do not come looking for me. I beg of you. Nothing good will come of it.

  Til next we meet,

  Snow White

  The letter crumples in my clenched fingers. I shake my head. “No. I must go and find her. What is this premonition of which she speaks? She's never told me of such a thing.”

  My mother grips my shoulder and spins me to face her. “You can't go.”

  “I don't care what she says. She's out there, in the dark, alone. I love her, mother! I love her more than anything. She is my future. That's what I came to talk to you about. I wish to abdicate the throne, like Marcus. If I can't have Snow, then I don't want the throne. We will do good by the people among the people.”

  Rage replaces the sadness in her eyes. “You can't. You're a fool. All men are fools the minute a pair of perky bosoms and full bottoms appear. Do not let flesh trick your judgment, Darien.”

  “Why? Because you've never known love? Father forced to make love to you in order to bring forth an heir, while people watched to make sure it happened? Do not spread your venom and hatred of how your life turned out onto mine and the kingdom.” Regret punches me in the gut the minute the words leave my lips. I've gone too far and let anger control my words. She is still my mother, and my queen.