The Ice Princess (Princes #3.5)(21)

She half-turned and looked back along the worn narrow trail by the cliffs. Her cottage was on the horizon, a small white dot. It was a tidy little house with four rooms and a garden and it was all hers. With the money she'd saved from the Grotto she should be able to live the rest of her days comfortably if not extravagantly. She'd hired a woman from the village to come in twice a week to clean and cook. Perhaps she'd even learn to garden. Coral imagined herself in a wide-brimmed hat and an old apron, cutting some type of flower-perhaps daisies. She'd bring the flowers into her kitchen and place them in a blue glass vase. Billy and the girls and boys at the Grotto would laugh if they saw her in such a domestic picture.

Coral wrinkled her nose. The cottage, her peaceful life by the sea, even the garden she had no understanding of, were perfect. Were everything she'd worked her entire life for: independence and freedom. And yet.and yet her life here was so lonely.

So very lonely.

Coral faced forward again, walking beside the cliffs as she did everyday. Maudlin regrets were simply silly. Her sister, Pearl, would've been quite pleased to have Coral come live with her and her husband, but it hadn't seemed right somehow. Pearl was so happy now, so very settled into domestic bliss, that Coral would've felt like a third wheel: unnecessary and awkward. So she'd come here, to live beside the sea. If she were honest with herself, she'd hoped, deep down inside, that Isaac would follow her. Oh, she knew the wish was impossible--she'd left no note, no direction, no way for him to figure out where she'd gone, even if he'd wished to follow her, but the hope had been there nonetheless.

Or it had been.

Coral kicked a small pebble rather viciously and it went careening off the cliff. She'd held out hope for week after week, but now it had been six months and hope had died. He was at sea again by now, or--wretched thought!--had found some other lady to court.

For he'd courted her--she acknowledged that now. He'd wooed her and made love to her, and in the end she'd fallen--hopelessly and helplessly--in love with Captain Isaac Wargate. A sob lodged in her chest and Coral stopped, gazing sightlessly out toward the gray sea. She loved Isaac. After a life lived as a whore, after never feeling the slightest emotion for any man, she'd fallen in love. A tear slipped down her cold cheek. Oh, how the gods must be laughing! She'd never see him again, would live out the rest of her dreary life here by the sea simply because it reminded her of him.

Coral sighed, fished a tattered handkerchief from her sleeve, and wiped her face. How very stupid to stand here weeping in the wind. It must be almost luncheon time and whatever stew the woman from the village had made would not taste better cold. Best to start back. She turned, watching her footing for the path was rather rocky, and when she at last looked up she thought at first that she was imagining it.

She blinked, but the sight was still there.

A man, small in the distance, but growing larger at a rapid pace. He strode over the gorse, his steps firm and long, and even from here she could tell that he wore a naval uniform.

Coral's heart began to beat like a wild thing trying to fly. A long black cape blew against his legs and his shoulders were set with determination. He must've seen her, but his stride didn't break and his expression didn't change. He was grim, like a man going to war, his wide mouth straight, his cheeks like granite, his black eyes dour beneath lowered brows.

She had an instinctive animal urge to flee before his grim advance, but it was too late now. He was upon her.

She lifted her chin and opened her mouth--to cry for joy or to offer explanation, she did not know and it didn't matter anyway.

He seized her shoulders and kissed her.

Chapter 12

And as the ice covering the Ice Princess melted, the frozen statues thawed as well, until hundreds of living, breathing men stood where once there had only been frozen bodies.

The men gave a great cry and each and every one of them started the journey back to their own homes. Soon only the Ice Princess and the soldier remained. Hot tears continued to drip down the Ice Princess’ pink cheeks, falling into the hands she held in her lap.

The soldier looked at her and asked, “Why do you weep, sweetheart?”

The Ice Princess drew a heavy breath. “You’ve freed all my ice men and soon you’ll leave as well. Then I shall truly be alone.” . . . .

--from The Ice Princess

This. This was exactly what he wanted.

Isaac wrapped Coral in his arms and kissed her with all his soul. He’d spent the last six months wondering if he’d ever see her again—if he’d ever find her again—and now at last he had her. Something quieted in his chest. The hawk beating its wings against his ribcage all this time settled and closed its eyes. Finally. Finally he’d found her.

Not that his ire was altogether appeased.

Her lips trembled beneath his and she parted them with gratifying speed. He took her offer and plundered her mouth, making sure she knew who kissed her. Knew that he had no intention of letting her go this time.

He raised his head and examined her. She wore a plain frock and shawl, an almost Puritan white cap upon her head. Had she thought to hide her beauty from him with such a meager disguise?

“I searched for you,” he said with careful precision. “I searched for you obsessively for the six days before the Challenger left port--”

She blinked. “Six days?”

“And when I returned only a fortnight ago,” he continued, determined to speak his fill. “I stopped only long enough to see my men safely to port before continuing the chase. I haven’t even had time to sit down to a proper meal on land since I made port, all because I was searching for you. And the worst part, the most damnable part of all--is that until I came over that hill and saw you standing here I had no proof that I would find you at all.”