He placed his hand on mine. “I’m glad.”
He guided me across the gardens to a path leading down to the edge of the cliff. He was chivalrous and kind, assisting me in navigating the steep, rocky trail. If it wasn’t for the annoying layers of clothing I wore, I would have made it without a hiccup of difficulty. Instead, my petticoats wrapped around my legs and I was constantly lifting my skirts away from my feet.
Once we reached the sandy shore and gazed at the horizon, I knew the trek coming down the cliff with my tangled mess of skirts was worth it. The colors on the rippling waters were spectacular. I couldn’t remember ever seeing a more magnificent picture.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” William said quietly.
“It’s amazing!”
Vivid colors spread across the sky and reflected on the water. Far away on the horizon, the sun appeared to rest on the edge of the world before it dipped slowly away.
“Let’s sit over here,” William said. When I didn’t respond, he touched my shoulder.
“Yes,” I finally replied, “let’s sit.”
We leaned against a large rock and watched the sun’s reflection playing on the waves. The color shifted to a rich orange and then a dark pink. Each new color spilled onto the water in breathtaking splendor.
After the sea sparkled blue and then light purple, William broke the silence. “We should head up the cliff before it gets too dark to proceed safely.”
I nodded and allowed him to help me stand. I didn’t want to leave, but he was right. I took one last look at the sunset and then followed him to the cliff. He pulled me by the hand while I used my other hand to hold onto my cumbersome skirts, and we made it up the cliff easier than I’d imagined.
When we got back to Sherwood Manor, it was dark.
“Thank you, William,” I said as we stood just outside the manor near the kitchen door. “I had a really good time.”
Could I curtsy my appreciation, or would he expect a kiss? What was the norm on first dates in the late eighteenth century?
“Thank you for accompanying me,” he said courteously.
“I’m sorry we didn’t talk more. I guess I was overcome by the beautiful sunset.”
“It’s all right.” He stepped closer, reaching for my hand. “I’m not one to overstrain with needless talk.”
Whoa, boy. Back up!
My heart did not flutter but rather quivered with his implication. Had I been wrong not to worry about this guy?
Suddenly, I felt William’s lips on mine. I stood awkwardly, with my eyes open. I wanted to pull away, but I didn’t know the proper way to refuse him. After all, this was partly my fault, since I had accepted his courting.
I stepped away abruptly. I was tempted to wipe William’s saliva from my lips, but I stopped myself. “Good evening.” I smiled politely. “The sunset was beautiful.”
He nodded and said, “Good evening,” then turned and retreated around the corner of the house.
I leaned my back against the door and pressed my hand to my forehead. I’m such an idiot!
Everything was turning out to be a complete mess. And to add to my lifelong romantic problems, William’s kiss had obviously meant nothing to me. I was as much of a hopeless romantic here in Fenmore Falls as I was back home in Idaho. I decided I wasn’t destined to find my Prince Charming, let alone true love. What I needed was a good night’s sleep and to wake up from this horrible nightmare.
I stood outside for a few more minutes, not ready to face anyone or answer any questions about my date. If I waited long enough, everyone would be in bed.
I only closed my tired eyes for a second, but when I opened them a tall figure emerged from the shadows. As he rapidly moved closer, I was shocked to discover it was Dennan.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
He didn’t say a word but continued his determined approach until he stood in front of me. He looked the same as earlier—shirt unbuttoned, dark hair in boyish disarray, black cloth covering his face, eyes piercing with emotion.
My heart raced. “Dennan?”
He was frowning. “How could you let him kiss you like that?” he almost growled.
“Excuse me?”
Dennan stepped close—so close I could feel his chest rise with his measured breathing. “Why did you let him kiss you?”
I was completely flustered. First of all, what was Dennan doing here at Sherwood Manor? And secondly, why was he so angry? I looked at the side of the house where William had retreated and then to the stables. Had Dennan been noticed by anyone else at the estate?
“You shouldn’t have let him kiss you.”
“I don’t think that is any of your business!”
Dennan clamped his mouth shut.
“I don’t understand why you care,” I said angrily.
“I don’t care. It’s just that if you let someone kiss you, he should kiss you decently.” Dennan shook his head. “You shouldn’t let him slobber all over you like that.”
“He hardly slobbered all over me,” I lied. “And I still don’t see what business it is of yours.”
“I just expected more from you.” His eyes narrowed.
“Who do you think you are, Sir Dennan?” My voice cracked with emotion. “You, all high and mighty, creep up to me in the dark of night, eavesdrop on a private conversation, and feel like you can give me advice just because we spent a couple of hours together by the pond?”
He inhaled slowly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come.”
It had been a long day, and I felt the sting of tears behind my eyes. “Why did you come, Dennan?”
He leaned forward until I could feel his breath on my face. “I was just passing by.”
A tear trickled from the corner of my eye. “Why are you here?”
His expression softened and he lowered his gaze. “I saw you at the ocean and wanted to make sure you made it home without harm.”
I was flattered. “I assure you that my safety was not in question. William would have protected me from danger.”
“It was the potential danger from your companion that I was referring to.”
“What? And you think that you would be a safer companion? You’re Black Rider, the knight of the road, and you dwell in the forest, waiting to rob your next wealthy victim.”
“I shouldn’t have come,” Dennan said gruffly. “Good evening, Miss Brinlee.” He turned and began to walk away.
As I watched him go, my heart ached for him to stay. And since I possess the most untimely talent of not thinking before I speak, I blurted out, “I assume you know the decent way?”
Did I really just say that? I held my hands up to my cheeks as they began to burn. Maybe he didn’t hear me.
Wrong!
Dennan slowly turned, raising an eyebrow. “The decent way of doing what?” He walked back to me.
I couldn’t figure out how to erase what I’d said, so I went with it. “You said that if I let someone kiss me, he should be worthy of kissing me in a decent way.” When Dennan stopped in front of me, I looked up into his brown eyes and asked, “How are you so sure William didn’t kiss me in a decent way?”
Dennan leaned close so his mouth was next to my ear. His breath sent goosebumps down my neck and my arm. “His kiss didn’t leave you breathless like you are when I am close to you,” he whispered.
I exhaled the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Oh, he is smooth. But he was right. I felt nothing with William, while Dennan made me feel things I’d never felt before.
“Come with me.” He grasped my hand and pulled me away from the kitchen door.
“Where are we going?”
“Do you trust me?”
Surprisingly, I did. “Yes . . . I think so.”
> He led me around the corner and down a path leading away from the manor. I kept up with his hurried pace until he stopped abruptly behind some trees. I bumped into his back.
“Oops, sorry.”
Using the hand he wasn’t holding, I pushed myself away from his back. All I could feel was muscle. Is he made of steel?
He turned around, and my hand sort of traveled across his arm to his chest. It just happened . . . I swear. Again, one of those out-of-body experiences. But I’m not going to say I was saddened by the convenient position.
I could feel him waiting for me to look up at him. Instead, I stared at his shirt, or should I say I was hypnotized by his chiseled chest. Oh my!
“Brinlee?” he asked.
I still did not meet his eyes. He was too close.
He placed a finger under my chin and forced me to raise my eyes. His gaze bore into my soul.
“I followed you tonight because I had to see you again.” He lowered his eyes, looking embarrassed.
Touched by his honesty, I reached behind his head to untie the cloth that hid most of his face. Once the mask fell away, I rested my hand against his cheek, feeling the rough whiskers on my palm.
His eyes met mine. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he said.
“I’ve been thinking about you too.”
Dennan turned his mouth into my palm and gently placed a kiss in the center of my hand. My body trembled.
“Will you allow me to demonstrate how you should be kissed?” He placed his free hand at the hollow of my neck. “Then maybe you’ll pay closer heed to whom you allow to kiss you.”
Knowing my inexperience with passionate kisses, I looked away shyly.
Dennan gently grasped my chin and directed my gaze back to his. “Are you afraid of me?”
“No,” I said a little too quickly.
“I will never hurt you.”
“I know.”
His hand returned to my throat, his fingertips playing at the back of my neck. I was sure he could feel my speeding pulse under his hand.
“Now let me illustrate the difference between a kiss” —he pulled my head closer to his— “and a decent kiss.”
With his lips hovering above mine, he asked, “You didn’t enjoy his kiss at all, did you?”
“No,” I breathed, then closed my eyes as Dennan’s mouth finally descended on mine.
At first his kiss was gentle, as if he was testing the waters. Then his lips were more demanding. His hand moved to the back of my head, and he pulled me closer. I slid my hand up his chest to his neck and threaded my fingers through his long hair.
I gasped out a breath. Is this really happening?
“I couldn’t stop thinking about kissing you,” he whispered, pressing his lips just below my ear.
How was this kiss different from any other? What made kissing Dennan so special? My burning heart shot out the answer: I was falling in love for the first time.
Did I just say the L-word? Was it possible to love someone so soon?
Dennan playfully kissed the corners of my mouth, and when I couldn’t take it any longer, I took his face between my trembling hands and forced his lips back to mine. A sigh escaped him as he pulled me firmly against his powerful body. My fingers were lost again in the softness of his hair.
In that moment, nothing else mattered in the world—nothing but Dennan. It was my first thoroughly impassioned kiss. It was the kiss I had been waiting for, the kiss that made my heart soar.
Suddenly, I realized I would never again experience such a kiss. I pulled away, knowing that the longer I kissed Dennan, the more I’d know what I was missing when I returned home. In hindsight, it was probably better to never have felt what it was like to be kissed decently by the most handsome man in the world.
“I’m sorry.” I moved my hands from the back of his neck and placed them squarely on his chest, pushing him to create distance between us.
He held my face in his hands. “You have no need to be sorry.” His eyes were filled with concern. “It is I who should apologize to you.”
I shook my head between his strong hands. “Don’t apologize for what happened,” I said. “If you do, it would be like it never happened.”
He stood quietly, still holding my face between his hands. Lost again in his penetrating stare, I studied the green specks in his brown eyes.
Why now? Why did I have to find the perfect guy in a make-believe world? “I should go.” I lowered my eyes to hide my tears.
Dennan kissed the top of my head. “You’re right. I promised you that I would never put you in danger, and right now the best way for me to do that is to leave.”
He stepped away from me, leaving me feeling oddly cold.
Don’t go, I begged silently.
“That’s how you should let someone kiss you,” he said as he turned to go. “Good evening, Miss Brinlee.”
I watched as he walked away in the moonlight.
And thanks to you, Cinderella, Miss Gabby, magic door, or whoever is to blame for this mix-up, if I wasn’t a psychological mess before, I can guarantee a whopping diagnosis when I get home.
Chapter 14
The Wonderful Birch
Russia, 1890
Now it happened that a great festival was to be held at the palace, and the king had commanded that all the people should be invited, and that this proclamation should be made:
Come, people all!
Poor and wretched, one and all!
Blind and crippled though ye be,
Mount your steeds or come by sea.
And so they drove into the king’s feast all the outcasts, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. In the good man’s house, too, preparations were made to go to the palace. The witch said to the man, “Go you on in front, old man, with our youngest; I will give the elder girl work to keep her from being dull in our absence.”
Days 6 and 7
The following day came and went with no incident. That included no word from Dennan, whom I had nicknamed the Heart Assassin.
I’d almost given up on opening the magic door. I was stuck in this demented world forever.
For-ev-er! For-ev-er! Yes, I also liked to quote the movie The Sandlot.
I tried to hide my sadness, but as Katie assisted me with my corset that morning, she asked, “Is something troubling you, Miss Brinlee?”
“I’m just a little homesick.”
She accepted my explanation, even though I saw a flash of doubt in her eyes.
Fanny and Rose traveled to town that day to inspect their gowns at the milliner’s. While they were gone, I took a walk and ventured out to the cliffs.
I let my thoughts dwell on Dennan for a moment. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around myself as I relived our enchanting moment from the previous night. My heart pounded at the ecstasy of feeling his lips on mine, yet my chest ached because I would never have that pleasure again. Why did I ever let him kiss me?
For the rest of the day, I attempted to push all thoughts of him aside by helping the servants around Sherwood Manor. I probably worked more in Fenmore Falls in a dress than I ever did at Nana’s farm in Idaho in pants. I worked hard and fell on my bed exhausted that night. In the morning, I would beat at the magic door again, pleading for Gabriella to free me from this place.
I woke Friday morning, my seventh day in Fenmore Falls, with the ache in my heart only a murmuring echo. Everything was eclipsed by my throbbing hands, blistered from spending several hours the day before untangling knotted ropes in the stable.
I was more grateful than ever to have Katie to help me dress. With my injured hands, I was unable to even lift my clothes off the floor. She also wrapped my hands in linen to protect them.
That morning at breakf
ast in the dining room, Fanny asked, “Are you going to attend the ball this evening, Miss Brinlee?”
“I don’t have the right clothes to wear.”
“Doesn’t Cinderella own something you can borrow?” Fanny snickered.
“Now, Fanny,” Lady Catherine said, but it was clear she delighted in her daughter’s cruel comment. “I am certain that we, as Miss Brinlee’s hosts, can provide her with an appropriate gown so she may attend one of Fenmore Falls’ most significant events.”
“I don’t think there’s a dress with sleeves long enough to cover her bandaged hands,” Fanny managed to say between giggles.
I stood. “May I be excused?”
I exited the room, leaving my untouched food on my plate. When I reached the hall, I allowed the tears to fall down my cheeks. What am I supposed to learn from this insane place?
Footsteps approached from down the hall. I quickly wiped the tears from my face.
Thankfully, only Katie rounded the corner. As she approached, she did not seem to notice my blubbering or my teary eyes.
“Has Lady Catherine finished her food?” she asked.
“Um . . . no. Not yet.”
“She told me to be here as soon as breakfast was finished.”
“Busy day?”
Katie nodded. “She has requested my assistance for the entire day. After breakfast, I am to inspect the women’s costumes and trimmings to see if I need to make any necessary alterations for tonight’s ball. Then, stockings will need to be ironed, corsets tightened, dresses pinned, hair curled, and faces primped.”
Suddenly, I longed to join in the merriment and to waltz with Prince Charming at the ball. But even if I’d had an appropriate dress, I had failed to act like a gentlewoman, so I could not go. Sadly, there were no such events in my reality world in Idaho, and I was unable go to a ball here in the fictional world of Fenmore Falls. Being Cinderella and dancing at the ball with Prince Charming just wasn’t in the cards for me.
I'm Not Cinderella (The Princess Chronicles) Page 12
