Chapter Twenty-Eight

 

Parties agree to nullify all previously written rules regarding their physical contact, with the exception of the fact that they will remain monogamous.  The parties instead agree to engage in any consensual physical activity, at any time and for however long they both wish.

Clothes may come off, as applicable.

 

Clause 22- Consummation of Marriage

(Containing Nullifications of Clauses 4- Physical Activity Between Parties and 21- Amended Physical Contact Agreement)

 

“So this is the stable.”  Midas told Gwen unnecessarily, after making sure the horses were bedded down for the night.  “I’ve got no idea why you wanted to see it, but here it is.”

“And you used to work here?”  Gwen asked again, leaning against the door.  She was watching everything he did with an oddly intent expression.

Midas looked around.  “Yes.”  There were six stalls, only two of them full, but each one was clean and fresh.  Merlyn’s magic would have made Midas’ life a hell of a lot easier, had he possessed it all those years ago.  “It was my job to see to the horses.”

“So you were a definitely a stable boy?  You’re sure you’re not making that up?”

“It’s hardly something I would lie about to impress you.”  He muttered, not meeting her eyes.  He was wearing thicker work gloves over his regular gloves and he absently stripped them off, slapping them against the width of his thigh in a practiced movement.

Gwen’s eyes went wide, a small gasp escaping her.

“Look, I know it’s not the most glamorous job.”  Midas continued, too agitated to notice her response.  Working in the stable was always a hot and sweaty business, even in Camelot.  His shirtsleeves were already rolled up his forearms, so he tugged open some of the buttons of his shirt, trying to get air.  “But I didn’t have a lot of options…”

He didn’t get to finish that.  Her low moan of sexual desire cut him off.

Midas’ head snapped around in surprise.

“I’m sorry.”  She arched her back off the door in a restless, sensual movement that held him transfixed.  “I am just so turned on right now, Midas.  You’re making me kind of crazy.”

Nothing she possibly could have said would have shocked him more.  “Huh?”

Her gaze roamed all over his body.  “Would you judge me if I told you my deepest, darkest sexual fantasy?”

Midas had felt overheated in the stable before, but it was nothing to the scorching temperature that burned through him, now.  “You can tell me anything, Gwen.”

“Even if it’s kind of… dirty?”

He was riveted.  “Tell me.”  He commanded, his heart pounding.  She was incredibly aroused.  He wasn’t sure why, but he could see it and his own body went rock-hard in response.

She licked the corner of her mouth.  “You know, I’ve always been a queen, right?  Growing up, everyone knew I would marry Arthur, so I was treated like I was already his wife.  They said I was his, so they made sure I was untouched by other boys.  I told you that.”  Her eyes drank him in.  “I don’t think they would have let you near me, back then.”

“How the hell could they have kept me away?”  Midas stalked towards her, reacting instinctively to the challenge.  “They’ve been trying to hide you from me for years and it didn’t work.  They threw me in prison and I still found my way to you.”  There was nothing in this kingdom or any other that could stop him from reaching his True Love. Midas stopped directly in front of her, one hand braced on the wood beside her head.  “You weren’t his.  You’re mine and I will always come for you.”

Gwen swallowed hard. “Fucking hell.”  She whispered, unconsciously echoing his favorite oath.  “This really is the best idea I’ve ever had.”

Midas’ felt his mouth quirk.  “Tell me about the dirty stuff, kitten.”

Her breathing was chopping.  “Well, maybe it’s a fantasy all untouched queens have, especially when we’ve got no interest in the asshole king.”  She met his eyes.  “But, I wanted to be touched by someone bigger and Badder, Midas.  So, that was the fantasy I thought of when I touched myself.  You know?”

Now they were getting somewhere.  “Describe it in graphic. fucking. detail.”  He ordered, breathing in the scent of her.  “And I will make it all happen.”

She shivered.  “Just so you know, I was a very Good girl.  I would never actually have done this.  Not unless I had met you.”  Her palms came up to measure the width of his chest, like she just couldn’t resist.  “Not unless you’d come for me, Midas.”

“I have come for you.” He growled, entranced by the contrast of her small hands against his coarser skin.  She was and always would be the classiest thing he’d ever seen.  Arthur’s hideous ring was gone, so her delicate fingers were long and bare.  Too bare, actually.  “What do you want me to do, kitten?”

“Well, I have always –always-- wanted to seduce a strapping stable boy.”  She confessed in a rush.  “Who is Bad, and kinda rough, and a little dangerous, and a lot hard.  And I know it sounds silly, but the fact that you’re my fantasy man, is just really, really turning me on.”

He blinked, trying to form a coherent sentence in his head.  “You like the fact that I’m a rough, Bad, stable boy?”  He clarified, making sure he understood.  The woman was fantasizing about all the parts of him that he did his best to hide?  He didn’t know whether to curse in frustration or fall to his knees in gratitude.

“A strapping stable boy.”

“I have no idea what that even means. It sounds like a word women use to describe men when they don’t want the men to understand what they’re saying.”  Which was… intriguing.

“And who’s also a little dangerous.”  Gwen continued, like she didn’t even hear his muttering.  She nodded earnestly, her attention dropping to the waistband of his pants.  “And a lot hard.”

“I’m also the richest man in Camelot, you know.  Maybe the world.  You could probably have a real nice fantasy about that.”

“Nope.  I just want your strapping body.”

If he wasn’t so out of his mind with lust, he might have laughed.  Goddamn, but he loved this woman.  She never failed to interest him.

“So, I was wondering if we could do some renegotiation.”  Gwen shifted impatiently, brushing against him.  Wanting him simply because he was Midas and she was a crazy, beautiful lunatic.  “I know that you touched me once already today, but I need you to touch me, again.”  White teeth chewed on her lower lip.  “I’m really… tight.”

Midas hadn’t known it was even possible to sense your pupils dilating, but he swore he could feel them widen like the lens of a camera, trying to capture this moment forever.  Gwen took his stunned silence as a refusal and gave a distressed whimper.  The erotic sound shot straight to his groin, nearly doubling him over.

“Please?  I’m already so wet. It really shouldn’t take much effort to make me come.”  She begged.  “Please, Midas.”

Holy.

Shit.

Breathing didn’t used to be hard, but suddenly he’d forgotten how.  What the hell did it matter what “strapping” parts of him were turning her on, just so he was turning her on?  “Of course, I’ll take care of you.”  He managed to say.

“Really?”  She tugged at the edges of his shirt, jerking the final buttons free.  They were made of cabochon rubies.  Midas didn’t even turn his head as they went flying off and were lost forever between the floorboards.  Gwen’s head dipped to lick across his damp chest and his eyes literally crossed in lust.  “You don’t mind?  I’ll stop if you want.”

“Don’t stop.  God, no.  Don’t stop.  I don’t need a safe word and I don’t want to stop.”  He somehow managed to step back, desperate to have her.  “Where do you want to do this?”

“In the hay.”  She was already unfastening her long coat.  She’d had it on the whole time.  “Thank you, Midas.  You’re always such an accommodating business partner.”

Midas walked backwards, not wanting to take his eyes off of her as they headed into the nearest empty stall.  “Believe me, this is my supreme pleasure.”

The jacket dropped and all she wore beneath it was a short, white negligee.  The silk clung to her body, showcasing her beaded nipples.  This is what she’d changed into, back at the house?  Midas was dazzled.  She’d been planning to seduce him, all along.

He was the luckiest stable boy in the world.

“It’s really very nice of you to give me what I want.”  She came towards him, like an angel.  “You’ll always give me what I want, won’t you?”

Midas was past talking, so he just nodded.   Logically, he must have been the one to pay for that nightgown she wore, so it was now a scientific fact that gold could indeed buy happiness.  He reached for her, wanting to feel her skin all wrapped in the silk.  His gloves were in the way, which just about killed him.  All he wanted was that supple flash beneath his bare hands.

“No, no.”  She smiled and shifted back, one thin strap sliding off her shoulder.  “In my fantasy, I’m the one doing the seducing, remember?”  She gave him a light push, wanting him to lay down in the straw.

Fuck yes.

He would do whatever she wanted.  Midas sprawled backwards in the hay, staring up at her in awe.  He’d slept in this stall, more nights than he could count, crying and miserable.  It was a place he hated like none other.  Now, all of the bad memories washed away, leaving only this one magnificent moment.  Leaving only her.

“I had fantasies, too.”  He admitted, yanking off his boots without looking away from the glorious sight standing above him.  “When I lived here.”

“About a queen seducing you?”

“No.  About you, Gwen.  About my…”  True Love.  He broke off before he could finish the damning words.

“About your what?”  She asked innocently, kicking off her own shoes.

“About my wife,” he substituted, “who I imagined would be amazingly beautiful.  But I never, ever imagined she’d be as beautiful as you.”

Gwen glided downward, positioning one knee on either side of his body.  It was the most perfect experience of his life.  “Was I smart and funny and capable, too?  Or did you stop the imagining with just my appearance?”  She teased.

“You were everything.  You are everything.”  Midas watched, transfixed, as she pulled the sinful confection of white silk over her head.  The fabric skimmed her body and then she was kneeling above him naked. For the first time, he believed in all the gods Corrah had told him about.

“I really appreciate you helping me out tonight.”  Gwen assured him, apparently not noticing his reverent expression.  “And not laughing about my fantasy.  Why, I really don’t think you could be any kinder to me, even if I was your True Love.”

He flinched, looking away and suddenly hating himself.  “Gwen…”

She ignored his interruption, her hands freeing his arms from the unbuttoned shirt.  “To show my thanks, let me make sure you’re satisfied, too.”  She murmured, her fingers running from his shoulders to his waist, in obvious appreciation for his size.  “I mean, it’s kind of pointless to alternate days, now that I think about it.  Why can’t we both be satisfied?”

The muscles in his stomach jumped at the feel of her soft fingers, sliding downward.  From out of nowhere he recalled the True Love he’d dreamed of as a young man had smooth, flawless, gentle palms.  The opposite of Midas’ own hands, which were broken down from scrubbing and shoveling in the stable.  In his head, his True Love had possessed the hands of a queen.  And he’d imagined that she’d touch him like he was special to her.

…Just like Gwen always did.

“You don’t have to do that.”  Midas offered, but he sure wasn’t resisting when she unbuckled his belt.  He lifted his body to help her, in fact.

“Oh, it’s the least I can do.”  She gave a mysterious smile and unzipped his pants.  “Relax.  I know what I’m doing.  I’ve played it all out in my head a thousand times.”

Holy shit, did she know what she was doing.

Her fingers wrapped around him, stroking at the perfect rhythm, and Midas couldn’t breathe.  His True Love was sitting on his lap, naked and caressing him, and it was more than he’d ever imagined he could have.  “Gwen.”  His gloved hand came up to cup her cheek and he knew his heart was in his eyes.

Gwen leaned closer to him, face hovering over his.  “Tell me you love me.”  She whispered.

“I love you.”  The words slipped out and he didn’t even try to call them back.  “I am so crazy in love with you, there’s never been any hiding it.  Everyone in Camelot knows I’m yours.  I’m already designing the billboards to brag about it.”

Her mouth curved.  “Neon?”

“I upgraded to the TV ones that show pictures.”

“Very not-beige.”  Her lips brushed his and his whole body jolted.  “If you love me enough for billboards, will you give me what I want?”

“Always.”  Anything she wanted, he would provide.

She adjusted herself over him and he could feel the warm, wet core of her body calling to him.  “I’m so empty, Midas.  Touching me won’t be enough to make the aching stop.”  She brought the tip of him right to her entrance.  “See?  I’m soooo ready.”

His hips gave an involuntary jerk upward, needing to be inside of the radiating heat.  “Gwen.”  A savage hiss escaped him, his hand clenched in the straw.

“Make love to me.”  She kissed him, like she was frantic.  “Say yes.  I need you.”

His lips met hers wildly, as she slid against him.  There was a reason they shouldn’t have sex, but, for the life of him, he couldn’t recall what it might be.  It couldn’t be very important.  Not nearly as important as Gwen.  Being with her.  Giving her whatever she asked for.  Having her in his arms.  “Yes.”  He groaned.

…And then he remembered.

Midas’ eyes shot open in panic, but Gwen was already moving.  She’d been waiting for this.  Before he could voice a protest, she was sliding down onto his throbbing shaft.  Her body sealed around his and Midas’ head went back in ecstasy.  “Oh fuck!”

Being inside of her was like coming home.  Every inch of her body was made for him.  Of course it was.  She was his True Love.

…And now she realized it, too.

His dazed eyes met her triumphant gaze, knowing she’d just outwitted him.  If he wasn’t so busy with panic and desire, he would have been impressed.  She’d set him up.

“I knew it.”  Gwen said breathlessly and her dainty fingers dug into his shoulders for support.  “I told you I’m almost-Bad.”

Midas tried to think, but it was hard to focus on anything except the feel of her body.  His palms settled at her waist wanting to keep her still so he could form a coherent thought.  Wanting to guide her up and down, until his mind was emptied of everything but her.  Of his two conflicting intentions, he already knew which one was going to win out.  Everything he’d ever owned or desired or possessed meant exactly nothing compared to this woman.

The love he had for her was burned into the very cells of his being.

Gwen pushed up and, for a second, all his worst fears rushed to the surface.  She was going to stop.  She had what she wanted, so she could just leave, now.  She didn’t need their deal anymore.  She held all the cards and they both knew it.

Desperation filled Midas.  That fear of abandonment that lived at the very core of him.  “Gwen…”  He began, prepared to beg, but his words ended in a blissful groan as she sank back down, her tight channel swallowing more of him.

Her eyes were bright and clear and they stayed locked on his. “Did you really think I wouldn’t notice who you were?”  She asked, a breathless hitch in her voice.

Midas blinked, his lips instinctively parting as her mouth brushed against his.  Why was she still kissing him?  Why was she still touching him?  He gazed up at her, hypnotized and unsure.  “I hoped you wouldn’t.  I thought it would be safer.”

“Why?”  Her teeth bit down on her lower lip as she leaned back, trying to take him even deeper.  “Don’t you trust me?”

For a moment, Midas couldn’t speak.  She wasn’t at the right angle to take him fully, but she wasn’t experienced enough with this position to know how to fix it.  He was trying to let her set the pace, but his instincts took over and he yanked her hips forward.  They both groaned in response.

“I trust you.”  He got out hoarsely.  “God, I trust you like I’ve never trusted anyone.”

“Then why didn’t you just tell me you’re my True Love?”

His hands slid up to cover her breasts, because he simply couldn’t help himself.  “I was afraid.”  There was no sense in denying it.  His thumbs brushed the hard points of her nipples, hating that his gloves prevented him from touching her rosy flesh.  “I’m still afraid.”

“Why?”  She asked again.  The word was gentle.  So were her palms as they came up to cover his, holding them against the soft mounds.  Her fingers slid between his, linking them even through the black leather.

“One day you’ll see that I’m not who you think I am and you’ll leave.” Midas gave in and laid himself bare.  “And when you send me back into the darkness…  I won’t recover.  I won’t even want to.  It would be a thousand times worse than being left on the porch.  You have more power over me than anyone else could ever have.”

“You really think that’s my masterplan?  To leave you all alone?”

“I never have a fucking clue what you’re thinking.  I wish I did.”

She dipped her head to kiss the side of his jaw.  “Well, right now I’m thinking that I’ve never come with a man inside me.”  She whispered in his ear.  “Want to try and change that for me, husband?”

It was calling him “husband” that did it.  Every time she did that, Midas lost whatever remained of his sanity.

He gave a snarl of pure lust, flipping her so she was beneath him.  Shiny curls spread across the straw and she laughed in delight.  Her cheeks were pink and her hair was blonde and she looked exactly like every dream he’d ever had. Despite everything, the stable boy fantasy was really fucking working for him.  Maybe because it wasn’t a fantasy.  He was a stable boy and he’d somehow gotten his hands on a queen.

Midas stared down at her, breathing hard, as she tugged his pants all the way off.  “There is nothing I won’t give to keep you and our daughter, Gwen.”  He wanted her to understand that while he still had the capacity for speech.  “Nothing.”  He planted his hands on either side of her head, caging her in.  “Stay with me and I will pay any price you ask.”

“You can’t buy a family, Midas.  It doesn’t work that way.  If you have to pay for people, they’re not really yours.”

“I’ll take you anyway I can get you.”

“You’ve already got me.”  Her legs came up to clasp his hips, pulling him closer when she should have been pushing him away.  “One aspect of this arrangement that you might not have considered:  You’re my True Love, too.”  Her hand touched his face.  “Equal partners.”

His eyes slashed up to meet hers, his heartbeat somehow speeding even faster.  “You’re not sure you even believe in True Love.”  He reminded her, hoarsely.

“I guess you convinced me.”

He blinked.  “You’re going to accept the bond?”  Even in the face of irrefutable evidence, he’d expected her to try and deny the truth.  To try and deny him.  Why wouldn’t she?

Gwen gave a strange smile.  “Has is occurred to you that I’ve been the one trying to bring us closer, right from the start?  I’m the one who proposed.  I’m the one who insisted that I satisfy you, instead of letting you see other women.  I’m the one who seduced you tonight and tricked you into admitting that you’re my True Love.  It’s always me reaching out.  Why do you think that is?”

His brows tugged together in confusion.  “I don’t…  I’m not…”

She leaned up to kiss him as he hunted for words.  “Maybe because I am crazy in love with you, too.”

Midas froze.

“I do see the real you.”  Blue eyes gleamed, as she continued her revelation.  “I see someone who does everything he can, every single day, to take care of me and our child.  Who is kind and gentle, even when he tries to hide it.  Who lives by the knights’ code without anyone at the Academy having to teach him to be gallant.  He just knows.”  She smiled up at him.  “I see you better than you see yourself.  I see the man who was born to save Camelot.  I see my husband.”

Midas’ whole body jerked.  “Gwen.”  It was all he could manage and he said it like a prayer.  Her words alone could make him come.  They washed over him like rain soothing a parched desert.  He would feel his mind soaking them in, needing the life they brought.  Combined with the soft warmth of her body, it was nearly impossible to keep his grip.

“I have loved you since before we even met, Midas.”  She moved against him and it was the closest he would ever get to heaven.  “I kind of think you’re the reason I had so many stable boy fantasies.  Our connection was pulling me to you and I didn’t even know it.  I have to tell you, it played havoc on my teenage libido.  I really did have to touch myself every night, because of you.”

“Don’t, Gwen.”  His voice was strangled.  “Don’t tell me anymore.  Not until you’re with me.  I’m about to lose control.”

Gwen grinned impishly, liking that reaction.  “I love you.”  She said again and he could feel himself faltering.  “I love everything about you, Midas.  I used to do all kinds of naughty things in bed, while I thought about…”

“Fuck!”  Fun as her games were, he was too close.  She was going to come with him deep inside of her, no matter what it took.  Midas somehow captured her hands, pinning them above her head with one palm, before her soft touch sent him over the edge.  “Stable boy’s turn to direct the fantasy.”

“What are you…?”  She broke off with a keening wail as he pushed deeper and harder inside of her.  “Midas!”

“This is where I belong.”  He’d finally found it and he was staking his claim.  “Right here, Gwen.  With you.  Let’s negotiate a new contract.  I give you whatever you ask and you be my wife.  For real.  Forever.”

“Cheating.”  She got out, breathlessly.  “You always cheat when we negotiate.”  She didn’t seem very upset about his tactics, though.  If anything she grew more aroused, her skin flushed with pleasure.  “God, you completely outmaneuvered me the night we met.  I put in all those clauses and you still got everything you wanted.  …Because all you wanted was me.”

“All I ever want is you, kitten.”  He lowered his head, his teeth grazing the vulnerable curve of her shoulder.  The primitive demand for submission would have shocked any Good folk in Camelot.

…But not as deeply as the fact that Gwen instantly turned her neck to give him access.  She always seemed to like his rougher edges and this time was no different.  The woman melted into his evil clutches, without the slightest hesitation.  “I think you’re doing ‘strapping,’ right now.  It kinda means --like-- strong.  Muscular.  Masculine.  Big.”  She gave a soft whimper, as he pressed forward, making her accept even more of him.  “God, I love how big you are.”

“How strapping I am.”

“Exactly.  Best stable boy ever.”

Midas kissed her neck, holding her down so he could have his wicked way with her.  “Well, the job itself sucks, but it has some unbelievable benefits.”  He was lodged tight inside of her perfect body, her wrists caught in his massive palm, and his teeth by her slim throat.  The Queen of Camelot was completely at the Kingpin’s mercy.  Trapped by a villain.  A mongrel from the depths of Celliwig.  He could do anything to her.

And still she smiled at him like he was a hero.

Midas’ eyes glowed, barely holding on in the face of her unending faith.  “I will stack the deck to have you.”  He warned.  “I will lie and cheat and kill anyone who tries to steal you away.  I’ll buy you things you don’t need or want.  I will do any crazy thing I can think of, if it’ll keep you willingly by my side.  Because, I really am a tawdry, feral animal when it comes to you, Gwen.”

And for once he wasn’t sorry about it.

Neither was she, apparently.

“I know.”  Gwen panted, her body completely opened to him.  Giving him all of her.  “Plus, you’re some kind of contract-y genius, so you’ll probably use that, too.  The way you arranged our deal, so you’d come out on top…?  The way you planned everything and got what you wanted…?”  Her head went back in blissful surrender.  “No one else could have done that. Just you, Midas.  You are the best businessman I’ve ever seen.  It’s sooooo hot.”

He liked that she’d figured out all the tricks he’d used to acquire her.  …And he really liked that she was impressed by them.  Just like he had a feeling she’d be pleased when he praised her effusively for blindsiding him with this stable boy seduction.  The two of them apparently enjoyed being outflanked by the other.

“Is the businessman hotter than the stable boy?”

“Thank God I don’t have to choose.”

“Does this mean you’ll stop calling me trusting?”

“No, you’re still too trusting.”  She nipped at his shoulder.  “But next time we’re in your office, I’ll let you take me right on top of your desk and you can brag about how you’re the smartest man in the kingdom.  That’ll be fun for you.”  Her eyes gleamed.  “And me.”

“I’m going to take you in every room of our house.  And it’s a big goddamn house.”  He suckled her breast.  “New contract, kitten.”  He prompted, wanting to wrap up the details before he died from need.  “No more telling me we’re ‘fake-married.’  No more Termination Clause.  Just you and me, until death do us part.”

Her whole body was quivering, right on the edge.  “Please.”

Midas’ tongue rasped her nipple, wishing again he could touch the velvety tip with his hands.  “Yes or no:  I am your real husband and you are my real wife.”

“Yes.”  Her glazed eyes locked with his.

“Yes what?”

“It’s real.  It’s always been real.”

His strokes grew less controlled.  “Who am I?  Say it, again.  I want to hear it, again.”

“Husband.”  It came out as a shriek.  “Midas, you’re my husband!  God, I love you so much.”

Yes.

Midas’ hips pistoned, driving as deep as he could go and Gwen exploded.  “Oh God.”  Her hips bucked against his.  “Oh God, Midas!”  Her body tightened for an endless moment, rippling around him with strong, erotic, irresistible force.

There was nothing Midas could do but join her.  He came so hard the tendons in his neck stood out.  “Gwen!”  His teeth ground together, not wanting it to end.  It was perfect.  She was perfect.  “Love you.”  He chanted, unable to say anything in that moment except the core truth of his being.  “Love you.  Love you.”  He rested his head against hers, his body shuddering.  “My wife.”  He breathed, finally sagging against her.  “Love you.”

Gwen tilted her face, so she could meet his eyes.  “I love you, too.”  She said, like maybe she suspected he needed to hear it a lot.

She was right.

“Are you sure?”  He asked, trying to catch his breath.  It still seemed utterly impossible that someone like her would love someone like him.  “You won’t change your mind?”

“I’m not going to change my mind.  But I will find some way to stop you, if you ever decide to change your mind, so be warned.”  She kissed him lightly.  “It’s just you and me and no one else.  For ever after.”

“That’s a deal.”  He touched her tousled curls, his eyes intense.  “You are my True Love.  Not because biology tells me you are my True Love.  But because I am so damn in love with you, I don’t know where I stop and you start, Guinevere Skycast.”

She gave him a drowsy smile.  “Did you know I was your True Love from the first second you looked at me?  Just like the internet says you would?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“I know it every time I look at you.”

“I can feel it now, too.  I think I always could, I just didn’t know what it was.”  She adjusted her position, like she fully intended to fall asleep right there in the stable.  “Our connection is… everywhere.”

“I know.”  He watched in perfect contentment as Gwen settled against him.  Her tiny body curved into his like a missing puzzle piece.  His lips grazed her temple.  “Next time, I get to try out a fantasy.”

“Okay.”  She agreed without even pausing to consider all the immoral thoughts that could lurk in the head of a gangster.  Her eyes fluttered shut, with such innocent trust that Midas’ throat got tight.  “Do I get to wear a leather costume and carry a whip?”

“No, but I like it when you sit on my lap.”  He admitted, running a hand along her spine.  “Every time you do it, I think of Bad things.  So, I want you to sit on my lap and I want to be able to do all the Bad things I’ve been thinking about.”

She grinned without opening her eyes.  “You could have been doing Bad things to me on your lap for days now, if you weren’t so stubborn.”  She caught hold of his arm and wrapped it around her waist. “But, don’t worry.  After my nap, I’ll show you what you’ve been missing, husband.”

If Midas had magic, he would have frozen the moment forever.

He’d taken his coat off earlier and hung it over the door of the stall.  Reaching up, he caught hold of the hem and dragged it down.  Expensive fabric ripped.  He didn’t care.  He spread it out over Gwen like a blanket, making sure she’d stay warm.  While he was at it, he shifted his large form so he was between Gwen and the door.  If anyone was stupid enough to intrude on his happiness, they would be dead before they had a chance to disturb his angelic wife.

Still, a bed made of straw wasn’t really the most comfortable place to sleep.  He could adjust without difficulty, but he worried about Gwen.  “Do you want to go back to the house, kitten?”

“Nope.”  She yawned, replete and satisfied.  “I just want to rest up for a minute before I seduce you, again.  I like it here.”

“I always hated it.”  He tenderly picked a strand of green straw from her shiny hair.  “In fact this was the exact spot where I had the very worst moment of my life.  I was lying here, one night, and I realized that I would never have anything I wanted.  Never have anyone who cared about me.  I was Bad and poor and dirty and it was all… hopeless.”

She opened one eye to look up at him.  “And what do you think now, stable boy?”

“I think I just needed my queen to come and find me.”

“Good answer.”

Midas absently twisted the straw between his fingers until it was braided into a circle.  Carefully lifting the edge of his glove, he touched it to his naked palm.

“Straw into gold?”  Gwen teased.  “Seems too easy for you.”

“Kitten, I have worked harder at this than I’ve ever worked at anything.”  Readjusting his glove so his skin was safely covered, Midas turned his hand and displayed the golden ring he’d made.”

“That’s a wedding band.”  Gwen said softly.

“No.”

“No?”

“It’s not a wedding band.  It’s your wedding band.  If you’ll take it.”

He’d bought her enough jewelry to fill a canyon and she hadn’t worn a single piece.  Because, none of those gemstones and precious metals had been worth anything.  He saw that now.  If you wanted the best, you couldn’t pay for it with money.  You needed to offer something far more valuable or it would slip away from you.

Lake-blue eyes filled with tears.  “You’re giving me something you didn’t buy?”

“It seems fitting.  You’ve given me the only things I can’t put a price on.  The only things that matter to me, Gwen.”

“It’s beautiful.  You are beautiful.”  Gwen held out her hand, so he could slip the ring in place.  “Thank you.”

Midas felt the magic sealing it in place and it sent a new, unexpected jolt of desire throbbing through him.  The simple gold band glistened and finally her finger looked exactly… right.

His wife.

She leaned up to kiss him.  “I love you, husband.”

Christ, there was no way she was getting that nap.  “If you seduce me again now, I will turn a whole forest into gold for you.”  He offered, because --well-- he was still Midas.  “Two of them, if you want.”

“You know, less is sometimes more…”  Gwen began, only to stop and frown suddenly.  “Ouch.”

“What’s wrong?”

She shifted in the hay, doing nothing to alleviate his growing desire.  “There’s something jabbing into me…”  Gwen reached beneath her and came up with a magic wand.

Merlyn’s magic wand.

About twelve inches long and silver, it glowed with power.  His name was engraved on the side, leaving no doubt whose vast magic it contained.

“So that’s where he hid it.”  She said softly.

“The last place I’d ever want to look.”  Midas murmured, unable to tear his gaze away from the elegant gleam of the wand.  “The place I hate the most.  …Until you came along, anyway.  You found it, kitten.”

“We found it.”  Gwen beamed up at him.  “We just saved Camelot, King Midas.  All because you’re so damn easy to seduce.”

“Glad I could help.”  Midas pressed a kiss to her temple.  He didn’t give a damn about the kingdom.  All that mattered was having Gwen in his arms.  “Don’t ever leave me.”  He whispered, because he just couldn’t stop himself.  “Please.”

“I won’t.”  She snuggled into his embrace.  “Don’t leave me, either.”

Midas snorted, holding her tight.  “The odds of that happening are absolute zero.  You are the only place I belong.”

…But when Gwen woke up in the morning, Midas was gone.