*************************************************************************************************


“You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it”

~French Prover Quote


*************************************************************************************************

Prologue

Walking carefully but swiftly through the night, away from the small shack, a man dressed in huntsman attire made his way to a nearby river. He gripped a small box in his hands tightly, trying to keep the little thing from moving inside. Soft muffled cries of need came from the box, begging for mercy, but the man ignored them.

He looked left, then right, making sure there was no one to witness his crime. When he saw the coast was clear, he knelt down onto the moist bank. Just as precaution, he again looked from side to side, then to the dark shack in which he was “spending the night”. He would leave early in the morning so the kind farmer and his wife wouldn’t suspect him of anything, so he wouldn’t be blamed.

The man looked at the small, mostly vacant shack, and felt a small prick of guilt stinging his insides. The farmer and his wife? They had been so kind to supply him with dinner and a place to stay…then again they might have not done any of that if they knew who he actually was…but was that enough of a reason to steel something so closely dear and precious to them?

Anger quickly overwhelmed his guilt when he remembered the prophecy in which the whole town had spoke of, including the farmer and his wife.

“You will never be my son-in-law,” he whispered aggressively to the box. A soft cry, the sound of a desperate baby, erupted from the box, “You’re not worthy of my daughter…and you’re sure as hell not worthy for the thrown! My thrown!”

And with those last words, the king whom was disguised as a commoner gently set the box carrying the farmer and his wife’s child onto the soft surface of the cold brown waters. He watched with narrowed eyes as the current of the river gently pushed the box out of his hands, and down the bank away from him, out of his life. The king didn’t care what God’s will was, or what the prophets read of the future. He would never give his daughter, or his thrown, away to some farm boy. This boy was unworthy of the very air he breathed, and fortunately he’d never have to see him again.

~1~

Sarah's P.O.V.

I watched him stride through the forest, along the river, near the house he shared with his father, the famous town's blacksmith. He was wearing his everyday commoner attire; brown leather breeches with the trim pulled up to his knees, so he could walk through the semi-deep waters without getting his pants wet, and his puffy white shirt and leather vest.

I watched as he knelt down, cupping his hands and dipping them into the river, acting as a cup. He splashed a handful of the cold yet dirty river waters across his face and neck, rinsing him of all the sweat that accumulated from his daily laborious chores but coating his skin with sprinkles of mud. He didn’t care, though. Like most guys, he enjoyed being dirty.

He splashed the remaining water off his hands back into the water, and I took a step forward, not wanting to waste the best opportunity to strike him.

I stepped on a branch, and it snapped, echoing around the trees.

Ulrich reacted immediately; turning quickly and on his feet to face whatever it was that had disturbed him. He looked left and right, and then shrugged, turning back to the river. He folded the long sleeves to his thin white shirt up to his elbows, and before my opportunity was completely lost, I pounced.

I ran and then jumped, ready to lock him in a choke hold, but he must have heard me. He quickly and easily, grabbed me by my arms and yanked flipping me over his right shoulder and then pinning me to the ground on my back.

“Oomph!” I grunt, sucking in the quick breath that I lost when I slammed into the leaves and shrubbery on the ground, “That wasn’t very nice.”

“Neither is attempting to sneak attack someone.” Ulrich said back with a big and bright smile, the one that always made my insides melt. I couldn’t help but smile back, “Attempting? Was I really that bad?”

“Let’s just say you need more practice.”

“Well what did I do wrong?”

Ulrich sighed, his dark brown eyes seeming extremely amused. He ran a hand through his long blonde locks of hair and sighed, “Well…next time, you might want to lose the war cry.”

“Oh…yeah, I guess that would be beneficial.”

“You don’t say.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed on his shoulders with all my might. Ulrich stumbled back, falling on his butt with a faint chuckle, “Well I can see you’ve gained some strength in those tiny arms of yours.” Ulrich said, pushing me with just as much force as I had pushed him with, yet instead of stumbling on my butt I literally rolled backward into the river.

It only took seconds for me to panic, when my whole body became enveloped in cold water. I slowly tried to open my eyes, but I could barely even open them let alone see through the muddy waters.

I innately began to thrash my arms and legs, trying to reach for the surface, but that only made me sink faster. I innately opened my mouth to scream for help, and the disgusting contaminated waters took it upon themselves to plunge incessantly into my mouth. Only seconds passed before the back of my throat was burning and my lungs began to shrivel and ache in pain. I tried to hold my breath, but couldn’t. I found myself gasping for air, but the more I tried to breath, the more the waters were able to rape my mouth.

Then, as quickly as I had sunk, I was back on land. Drenched with dirty water, staining my tan commoner dress, and hair sticking to my wet cheeks, I clawed at the now damp foliage under my hands. Digging my fingers into the dirt, I pulled, yanking the rest of me from the waters. Ulrich grabbed me by my waist, helping to pull me away from the river.

When I was finally a safe distance away from the river, where I was sure I wouldn’t again fall in, I flipped onto my back. I took in a breath of relief, and then turned to cough up the unhygienic water that I had swallowed.

“Only you would drown in water, two feet deep.”

“Well I’m sorry, I can’t swim! It’s not exactly my fault…besides! You’re the one that pushed me!” I yelled in between heaves, slapping him playfully on the shoulder.

Ulrich rolled his eyes, “Whatever, are you okay?”

I nodded; whipping a splatter of mud away from the corner of my mouth…it tasted horrible!

Ulrich sighed, then reached for the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head, “It won’t do much, but it’ll be fine till we get back to the house.” He said handing me his shirt.

I quickly tore it from his hands, making sure to avert my eyes from his perfectly sculpted and tan chest, “Thanks.”

I slipped into the shirt and let him walk me into his house.


Ulrich's P.O.V.

“So…how’ve you been?” Sarah asked to me, through the closed door of my mother’s bedroom.

I shrugged, sighed, and then leaned against the wall to look aimlessly at the weak and wooden ceiling of the house my father had built with his bare hands, “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. It’s just been awhile since the last time I saw you. I was just wondering how you are since then…good? Bad? The same?” I heard her, voice sounding a bit strained.

Furrowing my brows with confusion and worry, I looked at my mother’s bedroom door, “I’m fine, I guess.”

“I guess? That doesn’t sound to assuring.”

“I’m fine, Sarah.” I said, curious to why her voice kept cracking and why she kept squealing.

Lightly I pushed on the door. It cracked open an inch or two, making a barely audible creak.

I took a little and quite step toward the door, to peer into the small opening in between the door and door frame. Through the tiny sliver, I saw why she was shrieking continuously like an annoying little girl.

She had been in my mother’s room for over twenty-minutes now, yet she was still changing out of her wet dress. She awkwardly reached over her shoulders reaching the back to her dress. It was quite a struggle which seemed to take much effort and time, but eventually she was able to untie the back of her dress.

I knew better…I was raised better…but I couldn’t help it, couldn’t help myself. I knew I should, but I just couldn’t tear my eyes away from her as she let her dress fall over her hips and to the ground.

She untied the back to her corset, a contraption which me and my father considered pointless, which most commoner’s, like herself, didn’t—shouldn’t—possess. Within seconds, she was completely nude, running her hands through her long, wavy, and lushes blonde hair.

“You still there?” she asked, as she peered over her shoulder toward the door which she thought was still shut.

I took a quick step back, to avoid being seen as I licked my lips and in a cracked voice mumbled, “Yeah, I’m here.”

“Oh, okay…so how’s your father been?”

“Good.”

“His drinking habits?”

“Escalating.”

“And his yelling habits?”

“Deceasing,” that was a lie, but it would make her feel better. If I told her the truth she’d confront my father about his drunken, verbally abusive, state and attempt at fixing him. That would only anger him and make things worse. Sarah always wanted to help, help, help, never really thinking through things.

“Well that’s good! What about his work, how’s that coming?”

I looked down the hall of the upstairs, to my shaking hands, and then back to the still cracked door. My whole body was radiating heat, my heart was skipping multiple beats—which I’m sure is unhealthy—and my breaths were escaping my lips quickly and unsteady.

I was confused.

Sarah? I’ve known her ever since I can remember. We had met when we were both really little, around seven? Maybe eight? She was walking through the forest as lost as could be, and we had been best friends ever since. She was always like the little sibling I’d never had. I could tell her everything, confide in and trust her. I teased and scared her non-stop, knowing that no matter what she’d still come back to that very spot in the forest where we’d meet every now and then. I showed her how to fight for self-defense, and she taught me to read and write.

Never, EVER, had I felt this way. Never, EVER, had I even thought about her in this way, till only a year ago.

She was no longer the little girl I could trick into believing trolls lived in the trunks of trees. Yes, I can still tease her, but the point is she’s no longer a little kid. She’s a woman! A smart, funny, kind-hearted, and amazingly attractive woman!

She used to barely be able to push me over. Now, she’s a bundle of non-stop surprises. She can make me smile with a single bat of her eyes, and can make my skin grow hot and my insides melt with a single touch of her fingers. She affected me in a way no other girl or woman ever had or could.

I took a quick step toward the door, eyeing her from head to toe. I took in every detail of her; the way the rays of the light shone on her pale skin through the bedroom window, the elegant curves of her waist and hips, the ever-so-slight arch of her back, the smooth length of her long legs, “Yeah, it’s…its going good.”

“Well that’s…Ulrich? Ulrich! What are you doing?” Sarah squealed, and only then did I realize I had actually swung the door completely open, my only camouflage completely gone. She had seen me watching her.

“Oh! Oh, um! I…I-I was just—“

“Ulrich! Get out! Go!” She yelped running a hand through her hair before grabbing at her wet dress to hold it in front of her completely exposed body.

“Right! Sorry!” I mumbled before storming out of the bedroom.

She slammed the bedroom door shut behind me, but this time locked it. And even as my heart leapt in my chest, knowing that what I did was wrong and that I should feel bad, I didn’t. Infact, I couldn’t stop smiling.

~2~

Sarah's P.O.V.

I stood for a good minute or two, arms crossed over my chest glaring at him before he even apprehended my presence.

“Oh! Hi!”

“Hi,” I mumbled slowly, keeping my eyes narrowed making sure not to waver or even move a muscle.

Ulrich watched me for the longest time before squinting with confusion and then shrugging, as if whipping away his puzzlement. He just picked up another small log from the pile of wood next to his house. He set it in the dead center of the tree stump in front of him. Picking up the axe, which was also leaning up against the tree stump, he swung downward so quickly and with so much force the log of wood split before I was even given a chance to even blink. Beads of sweat drenched his forehead and cheeks. His white shirt was soaked through, sticking to his chest.

“How long have you liked me?” The words slipped out of my mouth, before I was even able to fully comprehend what it was I was asking. When I spoke, it was with defiance and confidence. Now I was completely unsure and just wanted to run in the opposite direction, I felt so idiotic. I wasn’t even sure if what I had asked was even true. It had just been a somewhat educated guess, a hypothesis that may and may NOT be true.

Ulrich shrugged again, then sighed as he threw the two halves of wood onto a separate pile a few feet away. With a grunt, he again swung the axe, piercing the blade into the flesh of the tree stump. “Awhile,” he answered before whipping his sweaty hands on his pants and turning toward me.

I gulped, utterly shocked, “Uh-awhile?”

“Yes.”

I didn’t know what to say or do. I knew Ulrich, better then myself. I knew when he was lying, with a simple look into his eyes I could tell what he was thinking. I knew his likes and his dis-likes. I knew how he’d react to things and what he’d do in certain situations…but now? I was too overwhelmed by my own revelation to think clearly let alone see if he was even telling the truth, or if I even felt the same way.

“And…And…And you never told me?” I yelped the first thing that came to mind.

Ulrich shoved his thumbs into the waist band of his pants, rolling his shoulder to stretch his sore limbs, “You never asked.”

“So…So…So what now?” I muttered unsure of what to ask, or even how to approach him. It was obvious, by the genuine look in his brown eyes that he was indeed telling the truth...but he was being so truthful. He was being so blunt and out there, yet it was like he wasn’t showing any emotion at all. It was confusing.

Ulrich said nothing, only shrugged as he licked his lips.

We stood there for a moment, silent and motionless. I watched and waited, hoping he’d say something, anything, to end the awkward silence.

And eventually he did, he spoke, but it didn’t end the sudden tension I felt between us. It only made it worse.

Ulrich took the few steps forward it took to close the space between us, “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“How do you feel…about me?”

“I...I…I’m not—“

“Ulrich? Ulrich? Where are you son?” I heard Charles, Ulrich’s father yell from inside their house.

Quickly Ulrich and I looked around, before deciding I should behind the pile of logs next to the house.


Ulrich's P.O.V.

“I’m out here, dad!” I called just as my father walked out of the house in his dirty ash covered apron. With another filthy cloth he was whipping the soot of his callused hands.

“What’ve you been up to? More work?”

“Yeah. I’m just chopping up some more firewood for tonight.”

My father nodded, scratching at his whisker covered face, “Alright, well…we’ve both been working all day. It’s been awhile since we’ve, I don’t know…enjoyed each other’s company. What do you say; we make some rabbit stew and just chat? Catch up on things?”

I sighed, “I do, dad. I really would like to, but I can’t. I already have plans.”

My father’s graying eyebrow cocked at that, “Oh yeah? With who?”

“Sarah.”

“Sarah? The girl from the woods?”

“Yes.”

“Hasn’t she been ditching you for the past few years?”

“She didn’t ditch me, dad. She doesn’t live in town! Usually she’d come here every summer with her family, but the past few years her family hasn’t come. This year, they have.”

“So what? You’re just going to wait in the middle of the forest for some girl that may, or may not, show up?”

I said nothing, only nodded, despite the fact that Sarah was actually hiding nearby, probably eavesdropping on mine and my father’s conversation. Maybe she’d get the hint and head to the woods.

My father glared at me for a moment, eyes filled with skepticism, but my father trusted me and didn’t argue, “Fine…when am I going to meet this Sarah girl anyway. You’ve been seeing her for…well, ever!”

“I don’t know, maybe soon.”

That earned me another skeptic glare, “Do you have a thing for her—”

“Dad!”

“—what? The girl must be pretty special to you if you’re willing to sit out there, in the middle of nowhere and just wait for her.”

I stole a quick glimpse at the pile of lumber, wondering if she had taken my hint and ran to our meeting spot in the forest, if she’d stayed to listen. If she did, she didn’t make herself known. There was no sign of her being there, not so much as a sound.

“Yeah, she’s pretty special to me.”

Father nodded, “Then marry her already.”

“I can’t just marry the girl,” I mumbled with a huff of surprise, not at my father’s request but at how my heart slammed against my chest in anticipation at the thought of being married to Sarah.

“Why not? Now-a-days you’re lucky if you’re able to know what a person looks like before marriage, let alone actually know them. If you like this girl, take her, before someone else does.”

~3~

Sarah's P.O.V.

“So are you going to answer me, or are you going to avoid my question from earlier?” Ulrich suddenly asked, looking up at me propping his head off the ground with his elbows.

I shrugged, doing my best to play dumb, but just like I knew Ulrich, Ulrich knew me. The moment I said the words, he knew I was trying to, like he said, avoid his question. “What question?”

He didn’t bother accuse me of lying, though. Guess he figured there would be no point, and he’d be right. Instead he just sat up, to look at me in the eyes, “When I asked you how you felt about me.”

I sighed and quickly averted my eyes from Ulrich’s feeling so unbelievably uncomfortable, way more than I thought I’d ever feel around him. More uncomfortable then I even was when I saw him watching me as I undressed. I twisted my finger around the slightly damp blade of grass and pulled, finding something to preoccupy my shaking hands, “Ulrich…you’re my best friend—“

“And you’re mine.”

“—but I’m not quite sure what I feel.”

Ulrich spoke softly and gently, but his eyes were dark and a bit hurt, “Don’t try and skip around it, Sarah. You either do like me like…like I like you, or you don’t. It’s one or the other, there’s no in between.”

I couldn’t hold back the tears, as I shut my eyes trying to focus on my heart. I honestly, truly, didn’t know how I felt. And even if I did like Ulrich, I don’t think I’d even know it. Ulrich thinks I’m just an everyday commoner, but I’m not. I haven’t grown up in the same surrounding with the same people as him. My life is easy and I rarely ever have to do anything for myself, unlike Ulrich who works every second of everyday, just to keep his and his father’s house in shape so they don’t end up sleeping on the streets. I’ve never been around boys, other than my father and cousins, and older brother, and I do love them, but not in the way that Ulrich is talking about. I don’t have much experience with even tying my own corset, which is why changing in Ulrich’s mother’s bedroom had been such a challenge. I didn’t want to explain to him why I didn’t understand his feelings, which would mean sharing a secret. That would mean confessing to him that every time I’d seen him, I’d lied, and I’d lose him. I’d lose my best friend.

“I honestly don’t know. I’m just so confused about everything.”

“It’s a simple question, Sarah. You don’t have to even think to answer it, just listen to your body, your heart. What is it telling you?”

“My body? How do you listen to your body?” I asked, with a roll of the eyes, whipping away my tears before Ulrich noticed them.

“Just remember, remember how you react to things.”

I rolled my eyes, this time out of frustration instead of amusement, “That’s the problem, I don’t know how to. I don’t even understand half the things you’re saying right now.”

“Every day for the past seven years, I’ve sat here, at this very spot, waiting for you, hoping you’d show up. And when you didn’t, I’d go the rest of the night with a hole in my heart. The rest of the day would be boring, gloomy, overwhelmed with blackness and depression. When younger, I’d cry for hours because you didn’t show up. As I grew older I’d bottle all my feelings and wonder if you were okay, what you were doing. All day and night, I’d worry and miss you. When you’re gone I can’t eat, sleep, or even think a single train of thought that’s not interrupted by the image of you…and when you showed up today…everything changed. Your smile brightens my day. Your laugh and pure clumsiness amuses me on the worst of days. A single touch of your skin, a brush of your fingers holding my hand,” Ulrich whispered, lightly grazing his fingertips over my collar bone and neck, making my cheeks warm and turn red, “makes my skin grow hot, and my body tingle with need.”

I took in everything he said, making sure I understood every detail of his misery and joy, which I apparently seemed to have caused him. I looked into his dark brown eyes and let out slow breaths as his fingers traveled up to my cheek. He continued to talk, but I barely heard the rest. I was too focused on my surroundings.

The tension between has had seemed to get thicker, the moment he touched me. His eyes were getting darker and darker, as he spoke with an overwhelming emotion that, like he described, made my whole body radiate heat. My fingers and toes tingled with such electricity that made my body ache and shiver to its very core.

It amazed me how well he was describing what I once had, and do, feel. All those years that I had promised to see him, and couldn’t, I’d felt guilty and upset. I had so badly wanted to see my friend, to know how he was doing, and how his life in general was. I was looking forward to seeing his smile, hearing his laugh, and being able to be my complete self. He excepted me. He’d seen me at my worst and best. Sometimes it even seemed he knew me better then my own father, and I was with him almost twenty-four-seven. Today was the first day in seven, maybe even eight years I’d seen Ulrich.

And only now, did listening to his cracking voice and looking into his truthfully compassionate soul through his eyes did I realize how much I had missed him over that long period of time. Only now did I realize what my heart was trying to tell me when Ulrich would smile and it would pound against my chest. Only now did I realize why my stomach would flip, and why my knees would buckle when Ulrich would hold my hand or say the right thing.

Could this really be happening, and true? Was I just being naïve and gullible, like my father said all teenage girls were? Or had I truly found someone who loved me and that I loved back. Just this morning the thought of loving or even liking Ulrich in this way hadn’t even crossed my mind! Is it even possible for me to have been so oblivious to my own feelings through all these years? Or was my body tricking me into believing something that was never meant to be or even true?

His lips brushed against mine, knocking me out of my trance of thought. I hadn’t even realized how close he was getting, hadn’t even realized when he was right in front of me.

My heart was pounding, blood rushing through my body, at such a quick pace as the electricity from my smaller appendages was. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins, warming my insides, fogging my thoughts. Everything up there was now completely blank. All I could think of, more like focus on was Ulrich. How weird—but in a good way—he’d always made me feel, how he now made me feel. And all I had to do, to forever hold him, to forever have him, was lean forward and return the kiss he was about to give.

~4~

Ulrich's P.O.V.

But she didn’t. She didn’t kiss me back, like for that moment I thought she was going to. She had closed her eyes and a barely audible moan had even escaped her lips, but she didn’t kiss me when I leaned in trying to close the last inch of space between us. Instead, she pulled back, and then quickly slid from out of my grasp and stood.

“Sarah? Sarah, I’m sorry.” I mumbled, and in all reality I wasn’t. At least not for what I was just about to do. I was sorry for her, about how overwhelmed and confused she said she had felt. I’m sure after all these years of holding it in, me just one day blabbing it out was a pretty big shock…but there was no way this thing we had was one sided.

Without saying one word, she took off, sprinting through the forest away from me.

“Sarah? Wait!” I yelled after her, quickly stumbling to my feet to follow her through the forest…if she didn’t like me back that was okay. I wouldn’t want her to admit feelings to me that weren’t true. I wouldn’t want to be strung along, so if she truly didn’t share the same feelings for me as I did her and that was okay. But that didn’t mean I was okay with completely losing her. I didn’t want to lose my friend.

A few minutes later I stopped running when Sarah, too, had stopped. She was sitting in the middle of a big pool of water. It was a lake, surrounded by open forest and lush green grass that seemed colorful lively even in the dark night.

I looked down at my feet and saw Sarah’s dress and under armor lying on the bank of rocks and mud by my feet.

Quickly, I tore my eyes away from the site and swallowed the thick lump that had formed in the back of my throat.

Sarah was good distance away, but I could still see her clear as day when she lifted her hand, and curled her pointer in a gesture calling me toward her.


Sarah's P.O.V.

Ulrich was purposely—maybe unconsciously—torturing me. Either way, watching him strip out of his shirt, then his breeches, to join me in the cool waters of Crescent Lake, took forever. And once he was finally in front of me, towering over me, waters at his waist, what I had so badly wanted to do just minutes ago seemed horrifyingly scary.

But I pushed myself to go through with it.

Slowly, I slid off my knees, and stood revealing myself as I stood to look up at Ulrich. He looked over my petite body, eyes stopping at were the waters too stopped at my hips, just below my navel.

His eyes quickly snapped to mine, looking hesitantly but desperate.

He wrapped one arm around me, pulling me against him by the small of my back, and more words slipped out, “I really shouldn’t be doing this.”

“What?”

“I just…I wasn’t brought up this way; I’m not supposed to be doing this. I’m supposed to be pure for the day I marry my husband. I want to, but this…it just doesn’t feel right.”

“I agree.”

“Yeah?”

“Marry me?”

He said it quickly, sounding only the slightest bit nervous. I was shocked, though I guess I should have seen it coming, “What?”

“Will you marry me?”

“I…I can’t just marry you.”

“Why not? You love me don’t you?” he asked, caressing my cheeks.

Only moments ago I hadn’t been sure, now I was, yet I wasn’t sure if I could say it. It took a moment of hesitation, but eventually I was able to, “Y-Yes, but—“

“But what? If I love you, and you love me, what’s so wrong with marriage?”

The law, I thought. If only he knew who I really was. Me and him, it wasn’t possible. It’d never work, it wasn’t aloud, “I just…I don’t know.”

“Sarah?” Ulrich whispered as he looked into my eyes, “I’m not going to force this on you. If you don’t want to, I won’t make you, but I don’t want to lose you either. And I certainly don’t want to give you away to some other guy whom you don’t even know. I want to wake up every morning with you beside me. I want you to have my children. I want a life with you and only you.”

I stared at him, wondering how I could’ve been so blind. How I couldn’t see how deeply he felt for me all these whiles. I wondered why only now he spoke up and only now I truly believed in his words…but none of that stuff really mattered. What mattered was he had finally spoken up, and I finally realized I felt just as deeply for him as he did me.

My father had always told me stories about love, and how it always conquered overall, so how could he deny me mine. How could he deny me Ulrich, despite the law?

…he couldn’t!

"Okay,” I whispered back with a nod, wrapping my arms around Ulrich’s neck.

“Okay? Is that a yes?”

I giggled, a big and indisputable smile lifting my spirits and filling my head with silly child-hood fantasies of my prince charming…the one I had finally found, “Yes.”

Ulrich smiled back at me before leaning down to kiss me, and finally I didn’t pull away or refuse him. I didn’t even just let it happen. As he kissed me, I kissed him back, moving my mouth against his eager one.

The kiss was soft and gentle...at first. Only moments passed before it turned into something completley different, but just as thrilling. Suddenly, both of us were desperate to taste eachother's lips. We kissed frantically and heatedly, never wanting to part.

I ran my hands through his thick locks of blonde hair, gently tugging on fistfuls as our tongues collided in an unfamiliar dance that sent another surge of electricity and excitement through my body, arousing every inch of sensitivity within me.

Ulrich's hands roamed over my wet and supple body, carresing my cheeks, then my neck, then my breasts, then grasping my thighs, lifting me out of the water.

I felt my core press against his length and I couldn't supress the moan.

“God, I love you.” Ulrich grunted against my mouth in between pants, barely giving either of us chances to breathe between kisses. “I love you, too.”

~5~

Sarah's P.O.V.

I woke up the next morning on a pile of soft moss and shrubbery. It took a moment for all the events of last night to sink in...and when they did...oh my god!

I had actually fallen asleep in the forest. And next to me lay my fiancé, Ulrich, son of John, the town’s blacksmith. And not only were we to be wed…we’d made love!

At age seventeen, it seemed like such an unbelievable thing to happen, especially since I was not yet married and despite the fact most girls younger than me were already married and with children. Everything about this series of events was wrong, most of the events illegal…but for once I didn’t care. I didn’t care about the law, or what my father would think. All I cared about was ME. For once I had done something that I wanted to do, and not done something for the sake of my father or my people.

I had made love to Ulrich, and I could still remember every detail!

Bodies still wet from being in the lake and flesh dampened with our own sweat, we had entangled each other in showers of caresses and curious touches. Ulrich had nestled himself in a comfortable position in between my shaking legs. He had whispered in my ear terms of endearment and adoration. He had moaned my name over and over again to the beat of my own moans, as we finally became one, consummating our secret engagement.

There had been a strong aching pain in the pit of my stomach, but the bliss and euphoric pleasures that came over me during had overwhelmed the pain pretty quickly. Last night was very pleasing and undoubtedly would be the first of many nights me and Ulrich would share together.

"Morning."

I stopped rubbing my bottom lip with my fingers, remembering the taste of his lips, when I heard Ulrich mumble groggily from my side.

I bit my bottom lip feeling so free and happy, it almost seemed unreal, "Morning!"

Ulrich took one glance at me and chuckled, the biggest smile on his face, "I take it you had just as much fun as I?"

I didn't answer, only nodded as I slid back under his arms and squirmed my way against his chest. I stretched under his soft grasp, brushing my lips against his neck. Opening my lips to taste his flesh, I left a soft trail of kisses from his neck to his chest.

"Mmmm, I'll take that as a great, big, yes."

Last night was unlike anything I had felt before. I had felt warmth and pleasure in places I had never knew was possible. Ulrich had, literally, awaken a part of me that had just been waiting patiently to arise...and I wanted more, needed more.

"Can we do it again?" I asked excitedly, then bit my lip again as the warmth in my cheeks grew showing how embarrased I felt at my own enthusiasm.

"Again? I don't know, I'm pretty tired still." Ulrich teased, grabbing me by my waist and dragging me to strattle his lap.

"Please." I whispered in his ear, leaving another trail of kisses on the other side of his neck.

It was silent for a moment.

I listened to Ulrich's heart beat, as his chest rose and fell with each breath. I shimmied over his stomach, kissing his collarbone, and Ulrich's heart began to pound rougher, faster.

"Well...since you said please," he said with a groan, flipping me off of him and back onto my back. He slowly let the full weight of his body lay ontop of mine, resting in the familiar place between my legs. Eagerly I wrapped my arms around his neck and welcomed his love for me.


Ulrich's P.O.V.

For once I had listened to my father and had been overjoyed with the outcome. I was getting married! And not to some stranger, but to an actual love. I was going to marry a beautiful, smart, and adventurous young woman who actually felt the same for me...I'll admit, though, she's alot more frisky then I had anticipated. Not that I'm complaining!

We had just finished making love for the second time in nineteen hours, yet the moment I opened the door to my house to welcome her in, she wrapped her arms around my neck pulling me toward her.

She pecked me on the lips once...then twice...then began untying my vest.

I chuckled against her mouth reaching for her small petite hands, "Sarah? Sarah, not now! My faher's going to be home any moment now!"

Her smile immediatley fell, and so did my heart, "Have I said something wrong?"

"I...I can't meet your father, Ulrich." she whispered suddenly as if she were afraid someone would hear us together, all the color drained from her face.

I narrowed my eyes confused, "Can't? You can't meet my father? Sarah! We're getting married and you can't-"

"Run away with me!"

I froze for a moment, completley dumfounded, "What?"

"Run away with me!" she repeated, the soft cream color of her skin reaching it's way back to her features. The bright blue of her eyes looked into mine, soft, gentle, and desperate, "Please!"

"Run? I don't understand!"

"You don't have to! Please, Ulrich, just trust me!"

"I can't just leave my father! I'm all he's got! I don't see why him meeting my future wife is such a problem."

A long quite moment thickened the air as I watched Sarah. She ran a hand through her hair, looking frantically around the room, then eyes stopping back on mine, "Ulrich...I haven't exactly told you the truth...about me."

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Ulrich, I...I'm not...I'm not a commoner."

"I'm sorry, I still don't understand what it is you're trying to say."

She licked her lips, and looked up at me pleading, "Ulrich...my father is-"

"So what's this I here you have a son? With a mistress, may I ask?" An unfamiliar voice, low and defiant, asked.

"Well, no. I found the boy at a mill more then ten years ago." my father replied enterring the house with a big man by his side dressed in fancy robes and furs. Rings coated his fingers, and his undernails were spotless, unlike mine which were filled with grime and dirt....he was...he was...

"Oh! Speak of the devil! Here's my son! Ulrich meet the king, Arthur! He's a big yearly customer of mine, but I haven't seen him in years."

The king's big brown eyes which seemed to be soft and full of joy turned to me, and then suddenly grew hard with surprise and then anger.

"And who's this, son? Is it the famous Sarah you've been telling me about?" My father said aloud, draping his arms around my future wife's shoulders and pushing her toward me. She stumbled over the ruffled skirt of her dress, landing in my arms.

"Are you okay?" I whispered to her, but she didn't answer. She didn't even look at me. Her eyes were locked on the king.

"Sarah?" the king asked completley shell-shocked and furious.

I could feel Sarah tremble in my arms as she looked back at the glaring king, he was definitly an intimidating man...but Sarah? She looked like she was on the verge of tears. She managed to take in a shaky breathe, though, and whimper a, "Goodmorning father."

Imprint

Publication Date: 05-07-2012

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
Based Off: 'The Devil and the The Golden Hairs' Dedication: to the Grim Brothers