Eternally North (Eternally North 1)

He laid his head in my lap, his arms tight around my back. We stayed that way for several minutes.

He had told me in advance that being with him wouldn’t be easy. He was right, but it had been easy to forget that he was a public figure. I had met him in Calgary while he wasn’t shooting a film, I’d never even seen him act and I’d let myself pretend he was normal for a while, but he wasn’t, was he?

I was fully aware that our relationship was moving faster than a fat lass out of a slimming club, but then, like they always say, when you know, you know, right? There was nothing in the past several months of my new crazy life that I would deem as ‘normal’, so surely falling for a massively famous, troubled, tattooed ‘Bad Boy’ could just be part of this parallel universe I had found myself in. For the first time in my life I wanted to be impulsive, I wanted to embark on this roller-coaster ride with Tudor, and I wanted to continue to seize the day.

Tash, just go the hell with it. After all, to live a life with no regrets was surely better than thinking on what could have been, should have been. Nobody ever gets to the end of their life and thinks, ‘I wish I had lived more cautiously’, ‘I’m so happy I never tried something new’ or ‘I’m glad I let the potential love of my life go because I was too scared to take a chance’.

So here was the new Tash, the girl who would put her trust in her heart, not her head, and the one that deserved to be loved and gave her love freely to someone who would treasure it. Some people might think it rash and even stupid, but roles reversed, can you honestly say you wouldn’t do the same? Especially if it meant that you got to ride Tudor North’s very talented love-pole for the rest of your days? Multiple orgasms can be a very persuasive factor when deciding to give a guy a chance.

A whisper of a smile reached my lips as I remembered the ‘real’ side to Tudor, the man and not the celebrity, and the way he cared for me when I was ill. Didn’t he deserve a chance? Didn’t we deserve a chance?

Carpe Diem it is!

I lifted Tudor’s head from my lap; his eyes were shut and his body tense, obviously bracing himself for my rejection. I put a hand on either side of his face and drew him to my level. He huffed out a breath and opened his eyes cautiously.

“You can trust me, Tudor, and I will trust you, and in time we can trust each other enough to disclose everything. Now, how about we take that walk?”

He looked at me warily for several seconds before his mouth lifted into a lop-sided smirk and he leaned in to kiss me. He touched his forehead to mine, relief pouring from his wide grin.

“Tudor?”

There was one last thing I needed to tell him, bearing my soul. “Please don’t hurt me,” I whispered.

He pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “I won’t, I promise, I couldn't live with myself if I did.”

He stood slowly, taking me with him, and led me back into the warmth of the apartment. He picked up my coat and gloves that had been discarded on the table and helped me into them. Walking to the closet, he reached for his jacket and car keys and held out his hand for me to take.

We began walking towards the door, when he stopped. “Hang on for just a second,” he said, and darted to my bedroom.

A few moments later, he came back holding his scarf that he had retrieved from under my pillow. I blushed as he wrapped it around my neck, praying he didn’t think I was a stalker, and he kissed me on the tip of my nose,

“You made me yours and I made you mine, we will work if we try hard enough.”

I nodded in agreement, and he took my hand and led me out the door.

Chapter 22

The wrath of a fairy

We drove over an hour out of town to the beautiful Kananaskis National Park. Tudor didn’t want to go somewhere busy or local as he wanted to spend all his time with me and not deal with the public. He apparently had just the spot that he wanted to take me, Forget-Me-Not Ridge.

On the journey he never let go of my hand and kissed me at every stop sign, every red light – basically every possible opportunity. He was demonstrating his unrivalled affection towards me after the cluster-fuck that was the lies sprouting from the mouth of that bitch, Raquel Banks.

Arriving at Tudor’s chosen location, we climbed out of the car and strolled in silence for what seemed like hours, hand-in-hand, enjoying the peace and the togetherness after the emotional drama of the morning.

He led me to the top of a hill overlooking the Forget-Me-Not pond, and I almost cried at the stunning view of the surrounding snowcapped Rocky Mountains. My appreciative gaze drifted over to Tudor; his eyes were closed, head back, breathing in deeply while clutching my hand to his chest. He was smiling. It was perfect. Tudor and me, and no-one getting in the way, not even skinny blonde actresses with a penchant for Tudor-based delusions.

When Tudor finally let me take a break from walking, we took a seat on a bench at one of the isolated vantage points. Snuggling into the crook of Tudor’s arm, I drew together all my courage. I needed answers to some questions. I realised I had said yes to Tudor and a relationship very quickly, ignoring all of the times he had dismissed me and upset me. A twelve-hour, mind-blowing sex session can kind of do that to a girl. I probably let the feminist movement down somewhat with my acceptance of Tudor’s affections after being treated so badly. I knew he was sorry, his actions more than made up for that, but I needed to talk, to help me figure it all out in my head.

I turned to my new boyfriend, who was already staring at me, rubbing his lips together in worry. I was startled to see him already waiting for me to speak. It was like the boy could read my mind.