Sunlight (2 page)

If she only had a pitcher to drink, and some bread and fresh fruit to eat, then surely someone was going to come by and fix her up with a refill?

She hoped.

Well, she wouldn’t worry about that right now. Hope spent the time flipping through Rapunzel’s things.

There was a basket of embroidery, some sewing, a few dresses, and what looked like a scroll or two.

They were in a language she couldn’t read, though. Figured.

And even though the tower was nice enough, it was dark. She’d had to use candles to have even the smallest bit of light to see by, since she was afraid to open the window and let the sunlight accidentally touch her hair. Not ideal.

She was watching one of her last candles gutter out when a shout came from below.

“Rapunzel,” a deep voice called. “Rapunzel!”

Hope approached the window cautiously. Okay. The fairy godmother hadn’t said anything about a guy coming by, but she was familiar enough with the tale of Rapunzel.

From what she could recall, the woman let down her hair to call up her lover, the prince, right?

That must be him. A sudden nervous flutter shot through her. She didn’t have a lover. Not in her old life.

She’d spent so much time in and out of hospitals that she hadn’t even been kissed by anyone other than her parents when they’d been alive. She smoothed her hands down her dress. Would this man kiss her?

He must love her to come and see her in this tower, right?

“Let down your hair,” the man called below.

Her cheeks flushed and she cracked open the window. Weak late-afternoon sunlight poured in and her hair began to grow wildly. A wooden bar was anchored to the wall at waist height and she quickly realized what it was for. Hope wrapped the thick mass of her hair around it twice, anchoring herself. The rest she let fall out the window, and waited.

Her long hair jerked. She frowned, holding onto the anchor bar as the heavy weight jerked on her hair again, then again. Climbing? She bit her lip and forced herself to be patient. What would her prince look like? Was he hot? If so, she’d give that fairy godmother a big smacking kiss of gratitude the next time she saw her.

A big, tanned hand appeared over the window ledge. A leather bracer covered the wrist. As she watched, another arm appeared over the edge, and a man hauled himself over, handfuls of her long hair wrapped around his arm.

He pulled himself in, got to his feet, and then stood to his full height, looking over at her.

Oh, he was gorgeous. She’d been expecting–hoping for–attractive. This man was mouthwatering.

Long, thick black hair swept over his shoulders, and his big body was muscular and fit. He was dressed in some tartan-like outfit and she noticed an enormous sword hung over his back.

A Scotsman. Well now. This got better and better.

He looked over at her with eyes that seemed uncanny in his tanned face. Pale and silver. Mm, she liked that. His face was chiseled perfection–strong and hard, but with a full mouth.

Her gaze went to that full mouth and focused there. She wanted to kiss it. She was going to kiss it, she decided. She was strong and healthy and she had needs, damn it. So she unraveled her hair from the anchor bar and moved to the man’s side. Hope laid her hands on his chest, feeling the pectorals beneath the thin fabric. Her heart pounded, but in a good way this time.

Oh Lord, he was sexy. Muffin, you doll. I am totally buying you a drink if they have bars in this place.

He chuckled as she dug her fingers into his chest, seemingly fascinated. “Wee bit forward today, aren’t we, lass?”

Was this forward? She didn’t care. She tilted her face up to his and slipped a hand around his neck.

“Wait until you see this,” she murmured, a moment before she tugged him down and put her mouth on his.

He tasted…delicious. He stilled at her kiss, but then his tongue stroked into her mouth, and she whimpered in delight at the sensation. Oh…that was so good. She needed more. Her tongue rubbed against his and her pulse flared in her pussy. Her sex grew instantly wet, and her nipples grew hard.

All from one kiss.

This fairy godmother thing rocked.

She pulled away, flushed and breathing hard.

He looked down at her in surprise. “That was no’ what I expected in greeting.”

“It wasn’t?” she asked, touching her mouth. It felt swollen and delicious.

“Am I going to have to stay down here all day?” a sharp male voice bellowed below.

Her eyes widened. “Someone else is here?”

The man in front of her gave her an odd look, then shook his head. “Daft, all of ye.” He unslung a pack on his back and she noticed that it held rope.

She leaned over his shoulder, her long hair swinging forward. “What’s that rope for?” He then unslung his sword and in one quick motion, chopped her hair. The locks swung at her waist, a heavy thick mass. Then he re-sheathed the sword and dropped the rope over the side.

Wait, it wasn’t rope. It was a rope ladder. Her eyes went wide and she pushed to the window.

Another man was climbing up. She gasped and then turned to the hottie in front of her. “Who’s that?” The delicious man scowled. “That’s yer prince, woman.”

Oh. Oh shit.

“Well, who the hell are you?”

“His guard.”

Oh, damn it. She’d kissed the wrong man.

Hope stared in shock as a second man climbed to the top of the rope ladder, griping and bitching all the way.

Well, he didn’t actually get to the top of the ladder. More like when he got close enough, he stuck up a hand and the handsome, burly man that she’d thought was the prince had to haul him in to the window.

And now that he was inside, she got her first look at him. Prince Charming wasn’t exactly what she’d imagined a prince to be, not really. His face was long, his hair thin and straggly, and his nose curved a bit too much to one side for his face to look symmetrical. His shoulders were small and the rest of his body lean–almost too lean.

“My darling Rapunzel,” he said, holding his hands out to take hers, and when he smiled, she caught sight of a set of jagged teeth. One particular tooth in front was a shade of yellow darker than the rest.

She glanced back to the guardsman, who seemed to be watching the entire thing with amusement.

Why the heck wasn’t the sexy guy the prince?

She had some serious things to say to Muffin when that woman returned.

The prince wiggled his hands at her. “Rapunzel, darling, what is the matter?” Oh. Hope placed her hands in his, hating that his grip was warm with sweat. His brow was beaded with it, as if climbing the ladder had been far too much effort for him.

Judging from his build, maybe it had been. “I–I’m sorry,” she said slowly. “I hit my head and I haven’t been feeling well this morning.”

And she used that as an excuse to pull her hands from his and rub one of her temples. Muffin had said that the other Rapunzel hit her head, after all. She could use that excuse, too.

“My poor darling,” the prince cooed, moving toward her as if he wanted to kiss her.

Hope delicately sidestepped, closing her eyes and feigning a headache. “Please. I am…confused. It will just take a little time. Who are you? Both of you?”

The prince looked concerned. “You are seeing double of me?”

“I think she meant me,” the guardsman offered, and she could have sworn his mouth twitched with amusement. “Her brains must be addled.”

The prince nodded. “Must be. Darling, you don’t recognize me?”

“Of course I do…Prince…”

“Walter,” the guardsman said helpfully.

She shot him a dirty look. “Prince Walter, that’s right.” The prince smiled. “If you remember me, surely things aren’t so bad.”

“Guess not,” Hope said, forcing a faint smile to her mouth.

“Well, I cannot stay long today, darling Rapunzel,” he said cheerfully. “My father insists on a great many tasks from me at the moment, so I do not have much time to devote to you. I merely came by to remind you of my love and to see if you had made up your mind.”

“That’s very kind of you,” she said slowly. “Made up my mind about what?” He tsked, and she found herself staring at that yellow tooth. “It will come back to you, my dear.” Walter put a hand around her waist and tugged her against him. “Unless you need a little prompting?” Her hands went to his chest in alarm, and she pushed at him. From over his narrow shoulder, she could see the guardsman’s face. He was watching her carefully, eyes narrow.

Did he suspect something? She supposed she should let Walter kiss her, then.

But when Walter leaned in, she caught a hint of his breath. Oh, dear God. At the last moment, she turned her cheek and let him plant his mouth there. “I’m sorry, I’m not feeling well. I must have hit my head harder than I thought.”

Walter seemed disgruntled at this. “But I came here to see you. Took time out of my day. Do you know how difficult that is for me?”

She didn’t, actually. And she slipped out of his grasp, sliding away a few steps, and tripped over her long skirts. Stupid skirts.

The other man was immediately at her elbow, catching her before she fell, and a flush came over her face.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “My head just isn’t in things today.”

“That’s obvious,” Walter snapped, clearly annoyed with her. “It looks as if I came all this way for nothing.”

She wrung her hands. Was she messing this up? Was she supposed to romance this creep, then?

This wasn’t exactly how she’d planned the grand romance after Muffin had told her about the curse.

She’d thought he’d look more, well, like his bodyguard. And that yellow tooth was bothering her something fierce. “I just need a bit of time. I…so many things are a blur to me right now. I don’t suppose you know how I got trapped in this tower? Or cursed?”

The prince’s annoyance turned to a look of pity. “My poor precious. You must have indeed hit your head very hard. You must be more careful.”

She nodded slowly, giving him her most pitiful look. “I’m sorry.” He chucked her under the chin.

“Don’t be. I’ll be back tomorrow and we can renew our love then.” Lucky her. Hope smiled tightly.

“I’ll be here.”

Hope waited for the fairy godmother to show up. She had some rather choice things to say to that woman. But Muffin was a no-show, and Hope’s irritation grew with every passing hour. By the time the moon was high, she was exhausted and even more anxious than before.

Maybe she could escape on her own. Hope threw open the window of the tower and stared at the ground below. It was…rather far. And her hair wasn’t growing, thanks to the lack of sun. She could always cut it and save the tail to make a ladder, except that it’d disappear as soon as it was cut.

So, in essence, she was trapped. Damn it all.

She eventually went to sleep in Rapunzel’s narrow bed and woke up the next morning, starving.

Hope ate the last of her food and drank the last of her water, and then sat around and waited.

This kind of sucked. Not only was she bored out of her mind, but she was hungry and thirsty. The chamberpot seemed to be enchanted, though. Every time she used it, things disappeared. That made the tower a lot more bearable, at least. She’d have hated to sit here and sniff her own crap for hours on end. But that didn’t fix the fact that she was hungry and thirsty, and no one was coming by to solve that problem for her.

By the time the long day had crawled past, she was at a fever-pitch of annoyance with Prince Walter.

Didn’t he know she was stuck up here without a way to get food and water? Was this punishment because she hadn’t kissed him last night? If he showed up with a hamburger right now, she’d have kissed him, yellow snaggletooth and all.

Hope clutched her growling stomach, worry eating at her mind. What if he didn’t come back for days and she starved to death? Died of dehydration? That wasn’t much better than dying of heart failure.

Just slower.

“Rapunzel!” a deep voice shouted.

Yes! Thank God. She flung herself to the window, not caring that the skies were orange with twilight.

“I’m here!”

As soon as the light touched her hair, her scalp shivered and the locks began to grow, sliding down her shoulders and out the window. She moved to the anchor bar and quickly looped her hair, and then waited.

As yesterday, the big, delicious guardsman pulled himself up by her hair. Once he slid in the window, he brushed off his plaid and then pulled out his sword, cutting her hair free.

And then, to her surprise, he shut the window.

She gave him a confused look. “Is…where is the prince?”

“Busy,” he said in that thickly accented voice. “I’m here to bring you supplies.”

“Supplies?”

“Aye. Food and drink.” He unslung a bag tucked into his belt and handed it to her, along with a heavy skin of water.

“I could kiss you for this,” she said with relief.

A slow, sensual grin crossed his face. “Ye did yestereve.” So she had. A pulse of desire flared through her body. “Is…that the price today?” He tilted his head, regarding her. “I’ll no’ turn it down if ye’re offering.” Was that a yes or a no? She put her hands to her hips. “I’m not sure what you–” One big hand curled in her thick hair, and then he pulled her forward, his face tilting toward hers. He kissed her hard.

And…oh. She melted in that rough embrace, her legs becoming like putty. Her fingers curled into the thick fabric of his clothing as the kiss deepened, his tongue sweeping over her lips, coaxing them to part.

And when she did part them, his tongue thrusting into her mouth in a way that made her shiver deep in her body. She moaned in response to his kiss and felt her nipples harden against his chest.

God, this man knew how to kiss.

He tugged at her hair again, eventually pulling his mouth from hers, though she was reluctant to break the kiss, sucking on his lower lip.

“That’s what I thought,” he purred.

“Hmm?” she said dazedly.

“So, lass, who are ye?” He studied her for a minute. “Because ye’re not Rapunzel.”

“I’m not?” Hope’s eyes went wide in feigned ignorance. “You know a lot of women with cursed hair?”