A Kiss for the King Read online

  As the King was standing looking at the courtyard, it seemed as if the passion in his voice echoed through the marble latticework and became part of the music of the fountain.

  Anastasia was trembling and she had locked her small fingers together so tightly that the knuckles showed white.

  She knew that he was waiting for her answer and she knew what she wanted to say, but somehow the words would not come.

  Then in a very shy little voice which was in complete contrast to the positiveness of his, she whispered,

  “That night in the cave you said – you wanted to throw away your – decorations. I have thought that when you – came back to me I would like to – give you one more.”

  “Yes, of course, if that is your wish,” the King replied.

  She knew that his response was indifferent and that he imagined she was trying to change the subject.

  “The decoration I would – give you,” Anastasia said in a voice he could hardly hear, “is called – ‘a Kiss for the King’!”

  For a moment he did not move.

  Then he turned around and she saw the light in his eyes that transformed his whole face.

  “Do you mean that?” he asked. “Oh, my precious little wife, do you really mean that?”

  Anastasia was trembling but she lifted her face to his.

  Very slowly, as if he fought for self-control, he put his arms round her and looked down into her face.

  “I have dreamt of this,” he said hoarsely, and his mouth took possession of hers.

  For a moment he was gentle, then, as he felt Anastasia’s lips respond to his, as he felt a thrill like quicksilver run through her and she pressed herself even closer against him, his kisses were fierce and demanding, passionate and insistent.

  It seemed to Anastasia that the Palace whirled around them and dissolved.

  They were on a high mountain far above the world – a man and a woman alone – touched by the Divine.

  As the King drew her closer and still closer, they were no longer two people but one and she thought it was impossible to feel the rapture and ecstasy that seeped through her, and not die of the wonder of it.

  Finally, he raised his head to look down at her shining eyes, her flushed cheeks and the softness of her lips.

  “You are lovely!” he said unsteadily, “so incredibly, unbelievably lovely! Am I dreaming this, or is it true?”

  “It is – true.”

  “And you love me?”

  “You – know I do.”

  “With your mind as well as with your body?”

  “With – all of me. There is – nothing that is not – yours!”

  *

  Very much later Anastasia stirred against the King’s shoulder.

  The mother-of-pearl shell over their heads glowed in the moonlight shining through the open windows.

  “Are you – happy?” she asked in a whisper.

  “I did not know such happiness existed,” he answered. “But there is a question, my darling, I want to ask you.”

  “What is – it?”

  “Did you, my sweet, touch the stars?”

  “I thought we were – both a part of – them.”

  “And did I take you down into the very depths of the sea?”

  “You know – you did,” she replied. “But ‘making love’ was more wonderful – more – glorious than either of those things.”

  She gave a deep sigh and hid her face and then she said,

  “I can hear the nightingales.”

  “It is my heart singing,” the King replied.

  “I – wanted so much to be – here with – you.”

  “It is a Palace for lovers – we will live here in the spring and summer and only go to Sergei in the winter.”

  “How – wonderful! Wonderful!”

  “That is what you want?”

  “Oh, I do – because I feel it is enchanted, like the Palace of the Sleeping Beauty.”

  The King pulled her closer and her body was very soft against his.

  “And now the Sleeping Beauty is awake! Did I ever believe that English women were cold?”

  “You are not – shocked that I should – love you so – much and that you – excite me?” Anastasia asked.

  After a moment the King kissed her hair.

  “Are you thinking of what your mother said to you?”

  “Y-yes.”

  “Forget it – nothing we could ever do together would be shocking, my precious, for the fire of love which consumes us both is sanctified, as you told me it would be. We love each other not only with our bodies but with our minds.”

  “It is difficult to know where one – ends and the other – begins.”

  The King smiled very tenderly.

  “There is no division when one is in love, as I am in love with you and, my perfect darling, like you, this has never happened to me before.”

  “Is that true – really true?” Anastasia asked.

  “I swear I had no idea that love could be so ecstatic, so utterly and completely perfect.”

  “You will – teach me, so that you will not grow – bored with – me?” Anastasia asked.

  “I shall never do that,” the King answered, “not only because you are the most entrancing, adorable and desirable woman in the whole world and your beauty staggers me whenever I look at you, but also because your mind has already stimulated and, as I have told you, inspired me.”

  His lips were against her forehead as he went on,

  “I cannot do all I want to do without your help, Anastasia. That is something I never expected to say to any woman, but I am saying it to you because it is the truth. I not only want you, I need you.”

  He paused for a moment and then he added in a deep voice,

  “I knew when you held me in your arms in the cave and I put my face against your breast that you were not only my wife but also my mother, and at the same time a child that I must teach. You are everything I ever longed for – the ideal woman a man dreams of but never expects to find.”

  He kissed her eyes before he said,

  “I love you, I desire you, my wonderful wife, and I worship you!”

  Anastasia felt the tears come into her eyes at his touch and the wonder of what he was saying to her.

  She put up her arm to draw his head down to hers and once again his lips took possession of her.

  She felt her whole body quiver against him and he was carrying her up towards the stars and down into the depths of the sea.

  In mind and body, heart and soul, they merged together and became one.

  OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

  The Barbara Cartland Eternal Collection is the unique opportunity to collect as ebooks all five hundred of the timeless beautiful romantic novels written by the world’s most celebrated and enduring romantic author.

  Named the Eternal Collection because Barbara’s inspiring stories of pure love, just the same as love itself, the books will be published on the internet at the rate of four titles per month until all five hundred are available.

  The Eternal Collection, classic pure romance available worldwide for all time .

  Elizabethan Lover

  The Little Pretender

  A Ghost in Monte Carlo

  A Duel of Hearts

  The Saint and the Sinner

  The Penniless Peer

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  A Shaft of Sunlight

  Lies for Love

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  Love and the Loathsome Leopard

  Beauty or Brains

  The Temptation of Torilla

  The Goddess and the Gaiety Girl

  Fragrant Flower

  Look Listen and Love

  The Duke and the Preacher’s Daughter

  A Kiss for the King

  THE LATE DAME BARBARA CARTLAND

  Barbara Cartland, who sadly died in May 2000 at the grand age of ninety eigh
t, remains one of the world’s most famous romantic novelists. With worldwide sales of over one billion, her outstanding 723 books have been translated into thirty six different languages, to be enjoyed by readers of romance globally.

  Writing her first book ‘Jigsaw’ at the age of 21, Barbara became an immediate bestseller. Building upon this initial success, she wrote continuously throughout her life, producing bestsellers for an astonishing 76 years. In addition to Barbara Cartland’s legion of fans in the UK and across Europe, her books have always been immensely popular in the USA. In 1976 she achieved the unprecedented feat of having books at numbers 1 & 2 in the prestigious B. Dalton Bookseller bestsellers list.

  Although she is often referred to as the ‘Queen of Romance’, Barbara Cartland also wrote several historical biographies, six autobiographies and numerous theatrical plays as well as books on life, love, health and cookery. Becoming one of Britain’s most popular media personalities and dressed in her trademark pink, Barbara spoke on radio and television about social and political issues, as well as making many public appearances.

  In 1991 she became a Dame of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to literature and her work for humanitarian and charitable causes.

  Known for her glamour, style, and vitality Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime. Best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels and loved by millions of readers worldwide, her books remain treasured for their heroic heroes, plucky heroines and traditional values. But above all, it was Barbara Cartland’s overriding belief in the positive power of love to help, heal and improve the quality of life for everyone that made her truly unique.

  A KISS FOR

  THE KING

  Barbara Cartland

  Barbara Cartland Ebooks Ltd

  This edition © 2012

  Copyright Cartland Promotions 1975

  eBook conversion by M-Y Books

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Author's Note

  Chapter One 1860

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

  THE LATE DAME BARBARA CARTLAND

  Copyright

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