Storm of Raging Seas (The Fallen Realms #2)

Prologue

The queen drifted through the decaying field, once full of wildflowers and teaming with life.

Her heart sank as the ground beneath her feet crumbled. The land was dying—succumbing to its fate as Yggdrasil’s magic dwindled.

“Poor mortals,” she whispered, fighting the urge to let her tears fall. Her tears would only draw attention to her growing power.

No matter how hard she yearned for a normal life, it had not been possible.

A warm voice came from behind her. “You pity them?”

She smiled to herself, hoping he might follow her. He had pursued her these past years, and because of the vow she’d made—a vow they’d all made—she had refused him.

But the dying realm, the only realm without enough magic to fuel its land, needed saving.

And perhaps he was right—their joining might very well produce an heir who could help these poor souls thrive.

“I do,” she answered simply, still not turning around.

She didn’t hear his approach, but a cold shiver ran down her spine when his warmth pressed against her back. She leaned into the god with a sigh.

“Is that defeat I hear in your voice, my queen?”

The lightness of his tone made her chuckle. “Perhaps,” she said a smile blooming on her lips.

“I do wish your change of heart had nothing to do with your pity for the mortals.”

“Is that not why you want this?” she asked. Though her heart sympathized with Midgard and its inhabitants, she was tired of fighting her desire. Even if the realm had not been dying, she would want him.

In all her existence, she’d never felt this way. She’d sworn an oath and had buried that part of her deep down. But he had reached into her soul and brought her desire forward, renewing the beating of her heart.

His chuckle reverberated through her, his warm breath tickling her neck. “Fishing for words of affection now are we, my treasure?”

Those two words broke the last of her resolve. My treasure. That’s exactly how he made her feel. Cherished. Precious. Many had fawned over her—for her looks, her power, even her lineage.

But not him.

No, he’d shown her how he cared for her soul. Her heart. Treasured it.

Though her desire burned brighter for him than it had for any other, she had made him prove himself to her. She wished to know his true intentions beyond a shadow of a doubt.

“Tell me again,” she whispered, pressing her back to his broad chest. A large hand encircled her waist, pulling her tightly against his hips. She sucked in a breath at the hard length now pressing into her back.

“I want you, treasured one, because your heart sings to mine. And if I must, I will wait another lifetime to be with you.”

She turned in his arms, bringing her fingers up to stroke his cheek. His face shimmered through her blurred vision as tears filled her eyes.

“And for no other reason?”

Her heart hammered in her chest with the force of a great weapon.

The weight of the impending broken vow settled over her.

She knew the consequences, as did he. Instead of the guilt she expected to overwhelm her, only exhilaration thrummed through her.

Surely this twist of fate could not be wrong when it felt so right. She must trust her heart.

His forehead rested against hers as his hands slid up her back, as if protecting them from any prying eyes.

As if she had spoken the reason for her hesitation aloud, he reassured her.

“It is not certain that any offspring would come from our union, my treasure, and if you do not wish to have any, my heart would still burst with the fullness I feel right now.”

She pressed her hips into his and grinned. “You do feel rather full right now.”

He groaned. “Are you done torturing me, witch?”

“I’m a witch now?”

“You have possessed my mind and soul. What else would you call this but a spell?”

Her eyes glistened again as they locked gazes.

“Love,” she whispered right before their mouths crashed together.

Light exploded behind her eyes at the forbidden contact.

Right, right, right.

Her heart beat in time with the words.

Tears she’d held back now escaped, streaking down her cheeks before spilling onto the dead field below. The moment a tear hit the earth, green grass bloomed in its wake. His lips curled against hers as he wiped her face with his thumbs.

“You are life itself,” he whispered.

And then there were no more words between them as he laid her down in the blossoming field and reminded her what it was to live.