“And the tide would still go out without my pushing it. The spring will still melt the snow without my warm breath nagging it. You’re a person, all on your own, with hopes and thoughts and dreams completely separate from mine. Do you think I want a woman who needs to lean on me to be complete? I don’t, dearling, I want only you, as whole and self-sufficient and tender as you are. I want to know that if I die tomorrow, you can support my father’s grief and raise my son to manhood.”
She didn’t admit he was right, but the body beneath his arm relaxed from its rigid restraint, and he smiled a little and rubbed her hair with his cheek.
“That’s another thing,” she complained. “You don’t need heirs of my body, for you have a son.”
“True, I don’t need a child of yours to inherit my lands. My feelings have nothing to do with need, however. I want to hold your babe in my arms. I want those childish arms around my neck.”
She made a yearning sound, and William rocked her back and forth. “Kimball adores you.”
“And I adore Kimball. But he’s of an age to be fostered. You must admit he doesn’t need me.”
“Kimball is so confident, he doesn’t even need me,” he pointed out. “When our children come, he’ll be so happy for us. He’ll be a good brother and never begrudge them your lands at all.”
“I know. He’s a good boy. I like Kimball.”
“So tell me what great revelation made you confess your love, really confess it, not toss it out like something you thought I wanted to hear.” She didn’t answer, and he pressed her like a priest urging a confession. “Tell me what made you trust me at last.”
“You’ll like it not,” she warned.
“I haven’t liked the whole conversation,” he declared. “Nevertheless, it needed to be said. We’ve established that I will not strike you, nor will I crumple into dust, so tell me, please.”
Her smile dripped with honey, pleasured with a sweet and toothsome memory. “Until today, I didn’t think you needed me, but you do.”
“What brought this great revelation, my lady?”
“In the dungeon you needed me.”
She felt his flush heat the chest beneath her hand. “In the dungeon? In the dungeon, I cried like a babe deprived of its tit. I shook, I trembled, I clung to you.”
“Aye.”
“I hoped you’d forget the dungeon.”
“Never. I’ll never tell anyone, but William,” she took his face between her hands, “for those tears and those fears I love you all the more.”
“Woman!” He wanted to shout at her, but his exasperation evaporated beneath the sun of her smile. “Woman, I want you to forget.”
“I’ll never forget.” Her smile vanished, and the lump in her throat reformed suddenly. The highs and lows, the death and the joy seemed too much to bear, and her tears suddenly soaked his chest. She held onto him with clenched fists as if he’d float away, and he hugged her and made soothing sounds. The comfort was more than she could bear; her weeping accelerated until she shook with anguish.
Petting her with the tenderness of a desperate man, he begged, “Please stop crying.”
She nodded and sobbed.
“Please stop.” He scrubbed her face with his big palms, erasing the tears before they could drop. “I can’t stand this, Saura.”
She nodded and held her breath, trying with all her heart to halt the flow. Shudders racked her, she fought for air, she rubbed her eyes with her fists.
“If it’s going to hurt to stop,” he said in exasperation, “go ahead and cry.”
She laughed in small, gasping chuckles.
“I’ll never understand women,” he grumbled, clearly relieved by the break in her clouds. “I beg you to stop and you cry harder. I tell you to cry and you laugh.”
Snuggled in his arms, she recovered in the heat of his embrace. When she could speak, she said, “This is the way it always is. It’s always seemed when I’m afraid and you’re with me, my fright disappears in your confidence. And now I know I can absorb your troubles, too, turn them around and transform them into strength. You clung to me, you cuddled in my arms, you needed me. At that moment, I knew the truth of your pronouncement. We are two halves of a whole. We do fit. No one is ever going to tear us apart.”
“You foolish, idiotic woman.” From his lips, it sounded like a choked commendation. “Did it take you this long to discover the truth?”
Saura’s throat tightened, her heart beat with his, and she lifted her mouth to meet his as it descended. They kissed as if they were the first two people to discover the joy of kissing; they kissed as if they had done it for a millenium. They kissed and parted and kissed again, straining against each other in demanding need. She turned in his lap and wrapped her legs around him, fierce with her love and her pride and her joy. He pulled her close, wanting her with a mighty deluge of pleasure. He’d won his victories; victory over the evil that threatened them, victory over Saura’s fears. He wished he could tell her everything in his heart, but the surge of her body against his distracted him, and his thoughts scattered in the insistent breeze.
Together, they clutched and parted and clutched, frustrated by clothing and frantic with love, and only a sudden cold gust of sea wind woke William to good sense. “Saura.” He held her hips still. “Saura. It’s getting dark, it’s going to rain, and my father will send Bula if we don’t come back soon.”
“Bula?” She grabbed the front of his shirt. “My dog? I heard the barking, and hoped. Was it really Bula?”
“It was,” he confirmed. “But it was a new Bula. He fought like a warrior. It seems Nicholas had an exaggerated faith in what a blow to the head would do to that dog’s hard skull.”
“To his master’s hard skull, also.” She grinned at him with saucy delight. “I should have known it was him. That deep, threatening roar that reminds me of your rage in canine form.”
“Have I been insulted, I wonder?” He leaned into her neck and nipped her ear.
She gasped, and laughed shakily. “If we don’t find a bed soon, Kimball won’t have any siblings to worry about.”
“Aye.” William drew a ragged breath. “I’ll wrestle my father for the master bed. Oh, nay!”
She stopped rubbing his chest. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t take you to a bed.” He stood and set her on her feet, brushing her skirt and finger-combing her hair. “But I can introduce you to a prince. He longs to meet you and hear the tales of your courage.”
“A prince?”
“Prince Henry is here.” She gaped at William, and he laughed. “Yes, the heir to all England awaits us in Cran Castle. He has great plans for England. He has great plans for peace, and I believe he’s the man to bring it about. Our sons and our daughters will have a place in the court of the king, and you’ll be one of the jewels of the kingdom.”
“Prince Henry?” she faltered. “I’m not a jewel of the kingdom. I’m a beggar. I can’t meet Prince Henry. I’m dirty, my hair is in snarls, and my clothes—”
“Your clothes look fine for a woman who’s just routed an army,” he assured her. She looked unconvinced, and he offered, “I’ll gladly sneak you into the keep and play lady’s maid until you are your usual comely self.”
“I would be satisfied with my usual tidy self,” she answered tartly.
“I offer you a chance most women would jump at,” he grumbled, “a chance to meet a prince, and you are unimpressed. Well, if I can’t tempt you with a chance to meet our future king, perhaps you’ll go down to the castle for the chance to salute your heroic dog.”
She touched his cheek with her hand. “Am I such a trial to you?”
“Aye, but God never gives me more than I can handle.”
He sounded so naughty, she laughed and raised her arms to him. “As long as you’re with me, I can face anyone. Let’s go, then, and while we go, tell me how to behave for a prince.”
He swept her into his arms and began to descend the path toward the light
s of the castle. “Be yourself. He’ll be overwhelmed, and jealous of my good luck.” He stopped and looked down into her dear face. The chalk that covered her couldn’t hide the beauty of her features nor dim the beacon that shone from her soul. He held her close against his body and brought his lips against her cheek. “Stand tall, show your pride, and never forget. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be cowering in my own castle, afraid to move for fear of the dark. In this world you are my light, my candle in the window.”
About the Author
Christina Dodd’s novels have been translated into ten languages, won Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart and RITA® Awards, and been called the year’s best by Library Journal. Dodd is a regular on the USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and New York Times bestseller lists. The Barefoot Princess is the second book in her classic new series, The Lost Princesses, following her enormously popular novel, Some Enchanted Evening.
Christina loves to hear from fans. Visit her website at www.christinadodd.com.
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By Christina Dodd
THE BAREFOOT PRINCESS
MY FAIR TEMPTRESS
HERO, COME BACK
SOME ENCHANTED EVENING
ONE KISS FROM YOU
SCANDALOUS AGAIN
MY FAVORITE BRIDE
LOST IN YOUR ARMS
IN MY WILDEST DREAMS
RULES OF ATTRACTION
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
RULES OF SURRENDER
SOMEDAY MY PRINCE
SCOTTISH BRIDES
THE RUNAWAY PRINCESS
THAT SCANDALOUS EVENING
A WELL PLEASURED LADY
A KNIGHT TO REMEMBER
ONCE A KNIGHT
MOVE HEAVEN AND EARTH
THE GREATEST LOVER IN ALL ENGLAND
OUTRAGEOUS
CASTLES IN THE AIR
PRICELESS
TREASURE OF THE SUN
CANDLE IN THE WINDOW
Credits
Cover art copyright © 1999 by John Ennis
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
CANDLE IN THE WINDOW. Copyright © 1991 by Christina Dodd. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition June 2006 ISBN 9780061739903
10 9 8
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Christina Dodd, Candle in the Window: Castles #1
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