Fantasyland 01 Wildest Dreams (74 page)

I turned the
envelope over and saw a bright green wax seal, pressed with a
scrolled, looped, double L.

Lavinia.

I smiled, ran
my nail under the seal, opened the envelope and pulled out the
thick, cream paper inside, opening it and reading.

My Winter
Princess,

The adela
takes root!

I cannot tell
you how pleased I am. As you know, I planted three branches and all
three have begun to glow. They send shoots into the earth, reaching
to the elfin realm. It is very exciting to have this early
success.

I am away to
move through my beautiful Lunwyn and plant branches before the
frost sets in. It will take decades for the trees to spread but our
great land will be graced by the glow of the adela once again, I
will see to it.

I have
received your letter and it is good to know your pregnancy does not
cause you trouble as other women endure. I wish this for you for
the entirety of it and I will be at your side when it is time for
you to deliver our next king or our next Winter Princess to this
world.

And I await
stories of your next adventure, my princess.

Yours
always,

Lavinia

I smiled at
the paper then, folding it and sliding it back into its envelope, I
moved to my mother’s old office, a smaller room, more feminine and
now unused.

The door was
open and I stopped in it to take in Skylar behind the desk,
Penelope lying on top of it. He was bent over it with pencil in
hand. She was sending her tail in wide sweeps, catching his
papers.

“Stop it,
cat,” he muttered.

Penelope swept
her tail away, then back over his papers.

He turned his
head and glared at the feline. “Stop it, cat!”

She executed
two more sweeps.

Skylar emitted
a little boy growl that was alarmingly like the ones I’d heard from
Frey’s men on occasion and punished my cat by picking her up from
the desk, cuddling her in his arms and torturing her with scratches
behind her ears.

I could hear
Penelope’s purrs all the way across the room.

When I heard
them, I smiled.

* * * * *

Two weeks
later…

Houllebec.

I sat in
Frey’s lap shuffling the cards, my eyes on the occupants of the
table.

Esther sat in
Oleg’s lap and I was unsurprised to see, for I’d seen it before,
that he was as gentle when he was with her as Frey was with me.

But, even so,
he still didn’t talk much and when he did it was mostly grunts.

Jocelyn sat
beaming in Thad’s lap and although Esther and Oleg were testing the
waters, clearly enjoyed each other and were becoming close; it
didn’t take a love doctor to see Jocelyn had fallen and when I say
that, I mean
deep
.

Thad had too.
It wasn’t so much him showing it, though he, also like Frey, was
not afraid of showing affection and he often teased her in a way I
thought was super sweet. It was that Thad told Frey and Frey told
me so I had the inside scoop that Thad had fallen, and hard, for my
Jocelyn.

Thad was also
recovered, or as much as he ever would be. He’d sustained an injury
to his leg which would mean he’d always walk with a hint of a limp.
But I had noticed he wasn’t letting that slow him down and I also
noticed that none of the other men said a thing about it, called
attention to it or treated Thad any differently.

Ruben was with
us too, his woman not there, as were Laurel, Ulysses and
Frederick.

I stopped
shuffling and smiled and chatted while I dealt the cards, every
card I threw on my husband’s pile I dealt from the bottom of the
deck.

Then I set the
deck down, picked up my cards and started to fiddle with them in my
hand but didn’t get very far.

Frey threw his
hand down on the table face up and announced, “Finnie cheats.”

I looked to
the table at the fantastic hand I dealt him then lifted a hand up
to touch my chest and my eyes moved to my husband’s.

“Me?” I asked
with sham innocence.

Frey grinned.
“You,” he answered.

“Well, I
never,” I muttered.

“Yes, you do,
Finnie, every single time,” Thad stated.

He was not
wrong.

“Finnie?” I
heard a voice that was familiar, a voice I hadn’t heard in a long
time, a voice I thought I’d never hear again and I turned slowly in
Frey’s lap and looked at the woman standing behind him and my heart
leapt into my throat.

“Claudia?” I
whispered, taking in my friend wearing a Lunwynian style gown, her
hair pulled back, a redhead, also in a Lunwynian gown, standing
behind her, her lips tipped up in a cat’s smile.

“
Claudia!
” I shrieked, jumped out of Frey’s lap, rounded him
and threw myself in my friend’s arms. “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my
God,
God, God!
” I chanted, holding on tight and swinging her
side to side.

“Oh Finnie,
honey, oh God,” Claudia muttered in my ear then burst out crying,
her arms spasming around me.

“Oh Claudia,
honey,” I muttered back then
I
burst out crying.

After we did
this awhile, I pulled back, framed her face with my hands, grinned
into her wet, twinkling eyes then I let her go and threw myself at
Valentine.

“Valentine,” I
whispered, holding on tight.

“My goddess of
love,” she whispered back, giving me a squeeze.

We said no
more, just held on. I hadn’t seen her in ages, she left shortly
after Frey and his dragons routed the enemy and I hadn’t heard from
her since.

Finally, I
pulled away, smiled at her and held her upper arms then my eyes
caught on a flash at her throat, they dropped there and I saw a
very,
very
large Sjofn ice diamond, what I had mistaken as
aquamarines in my crown and the jewels I wore on my wedding night
but what were actually very sought after, very expensive diamonds
found only in the depths of Lunwyn. Diamonds that legend held were
touched blue by the elves.

I looked at
the diamond then at her.

Then she
whispered, “I told you, love is everything and your husband knows
this.”

I blinked.

Frey had given
her that diamond. Somewhere along the line, Frey had given her an
expensive diamond from another world in payment for her bringing
Claudia to me.

In payment for
her bringing things I loved from my old world to my new one.

I released her
and slowly turned to Frey who was watching me.

“You did
this,” I whispered.

“Indeed,” he
replied.

I stared into
his green-brown eyes.

Then I burst
into tears.

About half a
second later, I was in my husband’s arms, my face shoved in his
neck.

“Is that her
husband?” through my tears I heard Claudia stage-whisper to
Valentine.

“Yes, dear
Claudia,” Valentine answered on a beleaguered sigh. “How, in your
infinite insightfulness, did you fathom that?”

“Well, he’s
hot,” Claudia shot back. “I mean, like,
hot
hot. Like
otherworldly
hot. Not that Finnie couldn’t get hot but… I’ve
never seen that level of hot
.
”

“Otherworldly
hot,” Valentine murmured, her two words sounding vaguely annoyed in
a way that stated Valentine actually found them quite annoying but
she wasn’t about to expend the effort to be
too
annoyed by
the likes of Claudia.

Hmm. Seemed
things hadn’t changed between Valentine and Claudia.

I pulled
slightly away from Frey, wiped my face and smiled like a lunatic at
my friends. “Find chairs, sit down, we’re playing cards. I’ll
introduce you to everyone.” Claudia grinned at me; Valentine looked
aghast at the table like sitting in a pub, playing cards was akin
to spending the night in a hotel that was any less than five stars,
I totally ignored this and shouted, “Lindy! We need horns!”

“Got it,
Princess Finnie,” Lindy called back.

“Awesome.
Princess
Finnie,” Claudia whispered and smiled at me.

I smiled
back.

Then my friend
from my old world sat down with my friends from my new world, I
introduced everyone, we played cards and drank ale.

Well, except
me, I played cards but Lindy brought me apple juice in my horn.

* * * * *

Later that
night…

“What is
this?” Frey asked as we sat on the mattress in the firelight and
candlelight in the loft of his cabin, Penelope curled in a ball
asleep at the end of the bed, all our friends gone home to soft
beds and warm bodies with Claudia and Valentine staying at an inn
in town.

I scooped out
some peanut butter then set the jar aside and dipped it into the
marshmallow fluff.

Claudia had
talked Valentine into bringing gifts.

And she picked
good ones.

I looked to my
husband who was warily inspecting my movements.

“Heaven on a
spoon,” I told him and turned the loaded spoon his way. “Try it,” I
encouraged and his eyes came to me.

Then his mouth
opened and I fed him heaven on a spoon.

When he was
working the delicious goo down his throat and I had started to dip
the spoon back in the jars, I asked, “Do you like it?”

“Its…
interesting,” he replied, I looked to him, grinned big then shoved
a giganto spoonful of peanut butter and fluff into my mouth.

My eyes closed
slowly in abandoned rapture as I sucked the spoon clean.

“Gods,” Frey
muttered and I suddenly found myself without spoon or jar and on my
back in our bed with my husband on me.

“Frey, I
wasn’t done,” I told him as his fingers pulled my nightgown up.

“You’re done,”
he told me as my hands slid around his back.

“No,
seriously, I wasn’t –”

His lips came
to mine, his hard hips pressed into my soft ones and he growled,
“You can have more later.”

“Okay,” I
breathed against his mouth, I felt his lips smile then he slanted
his head and he kissed me.

My handsome
husband tasted of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff.

Kiss number
three in the lineup of our best kisses.

Kisses, all of
them, better than anything… absolutely anything… even my wildest
dreams.

* * * * *

Very late that
night…

The forest
outside Houllebec.

Valentine
Rousseau moved through the dark night until she saw the figure
emerge from behind the tree and she stopped.

There wasn’t a
cloud in the sky, the moonlight was bright and she saw his big,
firm, muscular body, dark thick hair, strong jaw and jade green
eyes.

Delicious,
she thought as she had always thought when she
saw this gorgeous specimen.

“You are a
powerful witch,” his deep, appealing voice rumbled.

“I am,” she
replied.

He
hesitated.

Then he asked,
“Is it true what Frey tells me?”

“About each
world having twin?” she queried.

He didn’t
bother to reply but she knew.

She knew.

She was
pleased to bring her goddess of love jars of peanut butter,
marshmallow fluff and even her tedious friend for she had her
delightful ice blue diamond from The Drakkar.

But Valentine
was multitasking.

“It is,” she
answered.

He moved a
step closer and she tipped her head back, keeping hold on those
remarkable green eyes.

And what she
read there made her draw in a delicate breath.

Then he held
out a small, leather pouch to her, she lifted her hand, palm up and
he dropped it in.

“Her name is
Ilsa Ulfr,” he growled then he turned and strode away.

She stared at
his broad-shouldered, departing back.

Then she
dipped her chin, pulled the leather band on the pouch to open it
and she tipped the stones into her palm.

They sparkled
in the moonlight.

She smiled her
cat’s smile.

Then she
looked to the distance and saw he was gone.

“Love is,” she
whispered to the night, “everything.”

####

About the Author

Kristen Ashley lives in the beautiful West
Country of England with her husband and her cat. She came to
England by way of Denver, where she lived for twelve years, but she
grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana. Her family and friends are loopy
(to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.

Kristen’s Mom moved her and her brother and
sister in with their grandparents when she was six. Her
grandparents had a daughter much younger than her Mom so they all
lived together on a very small farm in a small farm town in the
heartland. She grew up with Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO
Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).
Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and
love was a good way to grow up.

And as she keeps growing up, it keeps
getting better.

Discover
other Titles by Kristen Ashley at
Smashwords.com

The Rock Chick Series:

Rock Chick

Rock Chick Rescue

Rock Chick Redemption

Rock Chick Renegade

Rock Chick Revenge

The ‘Burg Series:

For You

At Peace

Golden Trail

The Colorado Mountain Series:

The Gamble

Sweet Dreams

Fantasyland Series:

The Golden Dynasty

Fantastical

Other Titles by Kristen Ashley:

Lacybourne Manor

Mystery Man

Penmort Castle

Sommersgate House

Three Wishes

Connect with Kristen Online:

Official Website:
www.kristenashley.net