The Candle Princess

by Raine Hughes

  He normally didn’t confide in anyone but Jasmine was different, and not just because she was a Djinni. “Carol, my wife then, was indulgent in the beginning. Then my project began to interfere with the things she wanted—a fancy new house that escalated into a mansion and estate.” He shook his head, remembering the arguments they’d had. Now that he thought about it, she probably figured the tourist attraction would never come to be.

  “That’s when I realized she married me for the royalties from several oil wells on the property, so she could flaunt her riches. Only I had other plans for my money and they didn’t include impressing a bunch of snobs. I’m out to impress someone all right—children mostly. I love children, planned to have a whole passel myself.” He shook his head and refused to go further on that subject. Carol hadn’t been interested in children and that had been that. “The happiness of youngsters will be my pleasure.”

  Jasmine danced back and forth and sideways in front of him. He hoped the children on his ark would be just as enthusiastic. She was like a child, a beautiful, loveable woman-child. He ducked his head and slanted his mouth across hers.

  She sucked in her breath. Noah was startled himself, by his impulsive and utterly brazen action but all that didn’t fully register until after he’d taken his fill of tasting her, of breathing in her essence, of savoring her sweetness, of discovering that she responded by embracing him in return. This was not like that very first time he’d resorted to kissing her, to stop her crying. Even with the urge to feel her lips move under his now, to savor their softness and to urge a response from her, he had been assuring himself that he wouldn’t succumb to such base instincts. Especially since he had no right to!

  But his brain hadn’t been listening so that he only lifted his mouth for a moment, then he went on kissing her, driven by some unknown force within him that made him desperate to explore the sweetness of her mouth, to have her moan in ecstasy, to plunge…

  He mentally hauled on the reins of his galloping thoughts and broke the contact with a groan of despair. She had truly responded, eagerly and favorably, to him, a mere mortal. He had obviously overwhelmed her restraint. Worse yet, he’d overridden his own! He had no rights where a princess was concerned, but the way she looked at him, awed rather than angry, held his apology in his throat.

  In fact, the proverbial cat seemed to have stolen his tongue for he couldn’t talk at all for several moments. Jasmine didn’t try to, either. With a stunned look still claiming her features, he launched into details of his plan, to take her mind off his indiscretion. Not that he thought for a moment that she would forget.

  Was she surprised at his brazenness? Did his kiss solicit a yearning for more?

  Who was he kidding in trying to justify what he’d just done? He couldn’t think how to handle the situation. When he finished talking, he still didn’t know if he should apologize or remain silent as if he regretted the impulsive move. He didn’t regret it one bit!

  He felt a ridiculous grin form on his mouth that he couldn’t stop.

  Maybe he should have taken the kiss deeper, to get it out of his system, so his subconscious wouldn’t lead him to try again. The turmoil inside left him weak-kneed. He forced himself to get back to the ark, forcing his focus to remain on his mind’s image of the ship. He valiantly tried to wipe the grin from his face and resorted to swiping a hand down his face to do it. Then he lifted his hand to draw Jasmine’s smiling attention away from him and onto his vision. She’s not upset, the minx!

  “I can see it now, children and animals all looking out over the sides of the ark, watching the shoreline as we drift peacefully along. It will be a relaxing journey and I’ll tell them of the mystery of the disappearing lake—that was the name of Mystery Lake at one time. Then I’ll tell them about the animals because some of the children will never have been near farm animals before. I’ll recount the Bible story of Noah’s Ark, too. Everyone will have a good time.”

  Could Jasmine see his vision in her mind’s eye as he did?

  * * *

  Jasmine’s delight was barely tempered as he continued what he’d started, telling her all about his project. His darting gaze was mostly focused away from her. Noah was just as astonished by his actions as she had been. The disbelieving look that had come over him after he realized what he had been doing showed how their kiss had affected him. While recovering, he had breathed in great gulps of air, just like she had. She thought it safe to assume that he had enjoyed the kiss every bit as much, too.

  Noah might be a mortal, but his embrace certainly was not dull. She still tingled from head to toe, happy and incredibly alive. She laughed, for the first time truly carefree. Noah’s laughter joined hers. She no longer would think constantly of her green urn home nor the dual-purpose brass stopper, or of her father’s despairing words. She had a trip on an ark to look forward to, with a very special person! She would help him attain his dream.

  She also had a serious seduction to carry out. And, she was going to thoroughly enjoy doing it. Given her flawed past and her mortal-tainted blood, her father expected her to take up her great-grandfather’s weakness. The way the near thousand-year-old man still touted the part his long-deceased wife played in his younger years, must have prompted Prince Jafar to advise her to experience a mortal, too. That gave her free rein to follow her heart, did it not?

  “I can help thee, you, yes please?” she blurted.

  Noah halted mid-sentence, plainly startled by the question. “I’ve tentatively got it all planned out and there really isn’t much to be done until spring, Jasmine. I’ll finish these pens this winter then buy the animals come spring. I have a boat, a ferry, lined up to come from British Columbia. Bringing it here, to Mystery Lake, will take several days to accomplish because it will have to come by truck through the mountain passes. It’s a huge undertaking that will be difficult and even dangerous.”

  “I can bring it here in a moment, Noah.”

  “No.”

  “I can do it!”

  “I’m sure you can.”

  “You are afraid I will bumble, fumble, the job.”

  “Perhaps,” he said, without trying to deny that. “If something happened to the ferry you would conjure up another to take its place, right?” He sounded hopeful, like he was not certain he believed that himself, but he charged on without waiting for her to confirm it.

  “That isn’t the reason I don’t want you to try it. It’s advertising,” he declared, expanding animatedly on the unfamiliar word. “It will be great publicity. A ship moving across land, through difficult terrain and for such a great distance, will be news across the country! It’s never been done, except for very short distances, Jasmine. It’s fantastic free advertising—television, radio, the newspapers, other media. I can’t afford to miss such opportunity.”

  Jasmine regarded him with amazement over the way he had glossed over a potential botched task. He seemed to have faith in her, or at least in her ability to arrive at a suitable end result. She had to blink back the joyful emotion brought about by his confidence. She could so easily love this mortal man with all of her being.

  “I’ve gone over the route many times with the trucker and I know there will definitely be problems. I’d be pleased to have you help me through those times, Jasmine, if you really can stay.”

  “Stay?”

  “We’ll have found your magic urn by then, in the spring when the snow melts. Don’t you have to return to it and let someone find you?”

  Jasmine’s breath caught. What he said was depressingly true. That would mean that Noah might not be the mortal she was supposed to experience. She scrambled for words, desperate to prove that fate had already led her to that special mortal.

  “You did find me, outside your door! You saved me! I do not have to leave unless you do not wish for me to stay.” She put a little plea into her voice, shamelessly begging.

  She could be reprimanded for her tactics, but she really, really wanted to be with Noah almos
t more than she wanted to take a ride on his ark. She wanted Master Noah to be her soul mate, her lover, her mortal. She fixed her gaze on him, to allow him to see that she desperately wanted him to say yes, to allow her to continue being his Djinni.

  Before her, Noah hesitated, dropping his gaze to focus on his feet. He rubbed the back of his neck vigorously with one hand. Jasmine’s heart plunged down to her toes. He did not want her. She lowered her eyes and stared mutely at the snowy ground.

  “No, you don’t have to leave.”

  Jasmine heard the softly spoken words but could not bring herself to believe them. He had taken too long with his answer

  “Jasmine.” When she did not acknowledge him, he reached out and lifted her face to him, using both hands. “What happened earlier—me kissing you, I—”

  “You did not like kissing me?”

  “No! I mean, yes! I liked it very much. That’s the trouble. I have no right to be kissing you. You are a royal princess! I know that, but I can’t seem to stop wanting you.” He stumbled over his words but before she could assure him, he asked, “Have you put a spell on me, Jasmine? I seem to have no control over this deep down wanting, this need in me. Am I under the influence of a spell?”

  Jasmine shook her head, her face still imprisoned in his palms. The warm friction heated her right down to her toes and it was a wonderful feeling. “I would never use a love spell for myself. I would not contrive a false affection. Love must be honest and freely given. Is this not the same for thee?”

  Noah’s thumb began a slow and tantalizing tour of her lips. She pushed her tongue out to trace the path of his thumb in an effort to quell the tickle. What he was doing to her lips sent shivers of delight all through her, until the core of her was trembling. too.

  “Yes, that goes for me, too, Jasmine. That aside, you are a princess, and therefore off bounds to a mere mortal. I will not have a royal Djinni scandalized because of me.”

  He smelled of fresh sawdust, with a hint of the menthol aftershave he’d showed her in answer to her query. The scents were so masculine they awakened every nerve ending in her body. She and Noah were just inches apart, his eyes wide with awareness. And regret, she thought. He was telling her he would not make love to her. Her spirits plunged, but only momentarily as the reality came to her.

  “I am free to experience, to share kisses with you. In this I am not bound by Djinn law. My father’s words have released me. I am an uncommon Djinni, with mortal blood flowing through my veins.”

  A slow grin spread across Noah’s face. He took the liberty of pressing an all-too brief kiss to her lips then he released her. However, his eyes continued to blaze with suppressed emotion. “I don’t know where this kissing will lead us, but I’m glad you’re here with me, Jasmine. I only hope I can survive this experience you talk of because I certainly want to taste your lips again. Thoroughly.”

  Jasmine laughed. Kissing was an excellent beginning. Maybe later Noah would relent and make love to her. She hoped so. For now she presented him with her upraised face and puckered lips and he lost no time in availing himself of her offer.

  * * *

  Afterwards, Noah laughed, his tension strangely eased despite the persistent longing to go on tasting Jasmine. He hung his hammer on the fence and pressed his hand to the small of her back, nudging her along. “I think I’ve done enough out here for now. How about a cup of tea?”

  “Will you wish for it instantly or shall I brew it?”

  “I’m in no hurry.”

  “And you will tell me more about your ark?”

  “There’s not much more to tell.”

  “But is it not an unusual dream?”

  “I’m an unusual man.”

  “So am I,” Jasmine pointed out,” as a woman that is, at least in your land, I am unusual.”

  Noah halted in his tracks. He looked at the woman at his side. No, she was no ordinary woman. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t been able to find the girl of his dreams—he needed to find an extraordinary one. Maybe one of his wishes was coming true—someone to share his dream of sailing an ark on Mystery Lake, of making the Bible story come to life. Why not? Wasn’t that what he wanted most in life these days?

  He could do without the other one, a wife to share love. Love and marriage wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Love had many facets, though. One was an intimate, all-consuming physical thing. The other was spiritual, an awareness of the other, a respect and acceptance of one another. That’s what he could share with Jasmine—spiritual love, since there was a possibility that she was simply a spirit.

  It flashed across his mind that while he’d already tried the other love once, there was a saying beginning with if at first you don’t succeed.

  “I wish—” Noah shook his head and started again. “I guess we’re just two out-of-the-ordinary people who are free to experience kissing, at least.” He started walking, guiding Jasmine along with him. “And speaking of out-of-the-ordinary, I shall tell you the story of our lake, especially since I’m beginning to think that the outlandish stories associated with it might be based in truth.”

  “Yes, please,” Jasmine returned enthusiastically. “I love mystery and intrigue.”

  Noah chuckled. “It certainly is mysterious, a curiosity for sure.”

  Once inside the porch, they peeled out of their heavy winter snowsuits while Noah began his tale. “Mystery Lake was once known as Disappearing Lake, as you already know. The name got changed before my time. In fact, depending on which map you look at, it might still be labeled as Disappearing Lake. That’s because that’s exactly what it does, and with no apparent reason. That in itself is good enough to attract tourists. ”

  He explained how both the waters of the lake and the small resort town named after it, was home to some strange and unexplainable weather-related phenomena.

  “First and foremost there’s the fact that the lake simply dries up and practically disappears as if on a whim, regardless of any climatic or environmental considerations, only to magically reappear, filled to an unerring consistent level of water that hasn’t changed since history began.

  “Scientists and geologists have studied the crystal clear waters and found nothing. It’s deep, deeper than most inland bodies of water. When it shrinks to the size of a small pond, pumping that little puddle results in an unending supply of water that doesn’t match the amount that’s visible. It’s as if it’s drawing from a well. The lake never goes completely dry.”

  “You have seen this?” Jasmine asked in an incredible tone.

  Noah nodded. “Twice, both long ago, first when I was a child then when I was nearly grown. It hasn’t happened for a little over a decade, but I’m not worried. The lake comes and goes in a matter of a few short months, although it remains a large deep body of water for years on end. I read of a lake on the continent of Australia, in the Southern hemisphere, that is very similar.”

  “What will happen if the water disappears when you are sailing your ark?”

  Noah shrugged. “People will still come to witness the phenomenon. We may not be able to sail but it won’t stop the people from coming to see the lake’s change.”

  “Tell me more, Noah.”

  He grinned at the way she was already caught up in the suspense of the lake’s unusual habits and her quest to learn everything there was to know about it.

  “Fog or mist often shrouds the lake and its environs, again without reason. Heavy snowfalls and rains come unannounced, as does the sun. The place seems to have a weather system of its own that defies meteorological predictions. It’s an enchanting though sometimes eerie place to live, and its smack dab in the middle of Canada where there are no other strange phenomena, other than crop circles supposedly made by aliens, that is. We’re rather proud of the fact that we have our own little mystery.”

  “Are you not afraid, Noah?”

  He shook his head. “I’m fascinated. The village has its fair share of weird occurrences, too. Mystery Lake either
attracts them or creates them, per observation of our local newspaper, the Mystery Lake Review,” Noah said. “It’s a town of vivid colors and unusual architecture, befitting its ethnic variety of people. People who live here came from all over the world.”

  “I am from another place. too,” Jasmine pointed out.

  “Yeah, you are, so I guess that means you’ll fit right in.” As Jasmine clapped her hands at that prospect, he wasn’t so sure. Jasmine was nothing like the others.

  * * *

  “We’ve got it!” Noah announced, hanging up the telephone. “I’ve officially confirmed purchase of an old ferry I had lined up that will be suitable for my ark.”

  Jasmine squealed excitedly, bouncing up and down before him. He enjoyed the energetic movement of all parts of her luscious body.

  “He’s sending photos and blueprints and he already looked into the paperwork needed to get it out of British Columbia.”

  “It will be here soon? I can hardly wait.”

  Noah laughed, reaching out to still her. Her excitement was infectious. “We won’t try it until spring, Jasmine, when the conditions are better.”

  She looked disappointed at the delay.

  “But with the blueprints and photos, we’ll be able to draw up our own plans for renovations while we wait.”

  Jasmine’s renewed grin warmed his heart considerably. He’d been right—her enthusiasm was just what he needed. He wasn’t just thinking about his dream project, either. Now that they had something to work on together, there was no telling what might happen between them.

  Chapter 6

  Much to Noah’s delight as well as his dismay, Jasmine regularly accompanied him to the barn. She loved to spend time with the animals. At first he’d been worried when she paid equal attention to the big Shorthorn bull as she did to the smaller stock. However, it appeared this one was blessed with gentleness. The bull would be perfect for the ark.