Page 10 of Bride of Fire
The bed was assembled and made up with linens, bolsters, an embroidered wool coverlet, and sheepskins.
But as he looked at the pair of pillows gracing the bed, he felt a sudden, sharp, unexpected pang, like a dagger stabbed in his heart.
This bed—this chamber—was meant for the laird and hislady.It was too imposing and extravagant for one man alone.
She should have been here.
Alicia should have been here.
Sleeping beside him.
Sharing his chamber. His castle. His life.
Choking down his grief, he crossed the room to place the candle in the wall sconce. As he passed by the open window, his eye caught on something outside.
The image was so fleeting, he was sure he’d imagined it.
Just past the window, he stopped in his tracks.
The candle flickered in his trembling hand.
For one terrible instant, he would have sworn he’d seen her standing beyond the fence. Alicia. His dead wife.
Emotions coursed through him as swiftly as lightning. Shock. Disbelief. Wonder. Relief. Longing. Anguish. Misgiving. Dread.
His heart pounded as he continued to stare blankly at the empty black sconce on the white plaster wall, trying to make sense of what he’d just glimpsed.
His eyes must be playing cruel tricks on him. What he’d seen couldn’t be Alicia. Alicia was dead. He’d laid her in earth himself. And only fools believed the dead returned as ghosts.
Nay, what he’d seen was likely only a sapling blowing in the wind.
Taking a steadying breath, he slowly backed to the window again and peered out.
Alarm sucked the spit from his mouth.
It wasn’t his imagination.
It wasn’t a sapling.
It was a lass.
The sight of her challenged his grasp on reality. Her veil swirled around her like a misty aura, glowing from the light of the full moon.
He’d never believed in ghosts. But he had to admit he’d never seen anything look so ghostly.
If he’d seen the figure more clearly the first time, he would have recognized at once it wasn’t Alicia. The lass might be enveloped in a filmy white shroud, but beneath the sheer veil her naked body was quite visible.
Unlike slim Alicia, this lass possessed voluptuous curves. Unlike Alicia with her tightly braided black hair, this lass had gold-burnished waves that cascaded down her shoulders. And there was no way shy Alicia, even as a ghost, would have stood naked in the middle of a field.
He narrowed his eyes and studied her.
She stared back at him, unmoving. A gust of wind teased at her veil, revealing long, shapely legs and a delicate dark patch where they joined her body.
The sight caused an unwelcome twinge in his trews.
Still she didn’t move.
He lowered a dubious brow.
