The Stolen Brides 02 -His Forbidden Touch (46 page)

It flashed through her head that, for the
first time since she had arrived in Chartres, she was free of de
Villiers. But the idea only struck new fear into her heart as she
pictured what he would find after several days searching the
forest: her body, raped and bloodied, hidden beneath a tangle of
underbrush.

The trees became a blur and her eyes locked
on the sword still in her abductor’s hand, the reddened blade
resting across her knees. Though her mouth was bound, her mind
screamed in a single, endless shriek as a cold wave of fear
drenched her. She thought she would faint.

But even in shock, her mind refused to sink
into darkness. The outlaw kept changing directions, turning left,
left again, right, then back along their own trail until she no
longer heard the sounds of other horses. She wanted to close her
eyes and waken alone in her chamber at the convent, to find that
all of this had only been a nightmare.

Instead, she was intensely aware of her
captor’s every move as they galloped onward. She felt his powerful
thighs easily guiding the charger. Felt the pounding of his heart
against her back—or was that her own heart? He even filled her
every breath as they raced through the forest, that unfamiliar,
spicy maleness sending her senses reeling.

Would there be much pain when he took her?
Or would she finally lose consciousness? She had only begun to
imagine what horrors possibly lay ahead, when the ride came to an
end as suddenly as it had begun.

He slowed the horse to a trot and gave an
unusual whistle. A moment passed, then she heard an answering
whistle rise eerily from the trees to their left. The stallion
turned toward the sound. A few paces further on, her captor
stopped, eased her to the ground, and moved off.

She felt disoriented, breathless, could
barely see in the gloom. Her trembling legs threatened to give way.
She reached out to steady herself against a tree, but a rough hand
took her own and a masculine voice rumbled from the shadows.
“
Och, seo ise duais
.”

Laurien knew several languages, but his
words were utterly foreign to her. The speaker stepped forward and
she found herself looking not at the outlaw, but at a second man,
also garbed as a pilgrim. Older, with dark hair and a grizzled
beard. The hint of a smile played about his lips as he looked at
her. “
Àlainn
.” He glanced toward his companion.
“
Iadsan lean, companach
?”

She looked to her left and saw the
fair-haired outlaw saddling a fresh mount. “
Air chall iadsan
ann craobh
.”

The older man reached toward her face. She
started to back away, but he merely unwound the cloth that gagged
her. She spat out a mouthful of damp fuzz and turned on the blond
madman.

“Who—What—Who
are
you?” she
sputtered. Then she realized that these men, who were clearly not
French, might not understand her. “My … family … will … pay,” she
said, speaking each word loudly and slowly, pointing to her coin
purse to explain her meaning, “a … ransom … for … my … safe …
return.”

She hoped that was true.

Both men burst into laughter.

“We speak your language,
demoiselle
,” the blond outlaw replied in lightly
accented—and perfectly fluent—French, as he easily swung up on his
new horse. “And ‘tis not money we want.”

“Our apologies, milady.” The older man also
mounted a fresh stallion. “But there is no time for formal
introductions. My friend here tells me he lost our pursuers for the
moment, but we had best not linger. I am Sir Malcolm MacLennan. And
this rogue”—he indicated his friend with a nod—”is Sir Connor of
Glenshiel.”

“Of Scotland,” the rogue in question
explained, giving her a half bow as he rode toward her. “And as for
you, Lady Laurien d’Amboise…” He reached down with one burly arm to
lift her onto his saddle again. “For the next fortnight, you are
mine.”

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–-

SPOILER ALERT

–-

Dear Reader,

I always love those “Behind the Scenes”
bonus features on DVDs. I enjoy learning what inspired the stories,
characters, and settings of my favorite movies. I love getting a
peek at how the costumes were made, how the sets were built, and
what changes were made in the editing room. When I first set out on
this digital publishing adventure, I knew I wanted to include a
“Behind the Scenes” bonus feature in each of my e-books.

But I realize that some people dislike
“Behind the Scenes” features. For them, hearing the nuts-and-bolts
of the creative process ruins their enjoyment of the story. I don’t
want to ruin anyone’s enjoyment of my books, so if you’re someone
who typically skips “Making of” features on DVDs, it’s probably
best to skip this section.

Also, if you haven’t finished the whole book
yet, you’ll want to finish before returning to this page. I’m about
to give you an inside peek at the creative decisions that went into
writing this story—so plot twists may be revealed and characters’
secrets spilled. (There are no spoilers for
other
books in
this series, in case you haven’t read them all yet.)

So … if you’ve skipped ahead to this
feature, please click back and finish the book. I totally
understand the skipping-ahead impulse, because I’m a chronic
skipper-aheader myself. But really, now is the best time to skip
back. Before you see any spoilers.

When you’re all done, return to this page.
I’ll be waiting right here for you.

Ready? Here we go.

Inspirations

Readers of previous “Making of” features
know that I usually—okay, almost always—get my inspiration from
movies. I’m a rabid movie fan, a visual thinker, and briefly
flirted with a career as a screenwriter. (The main stumbling block,
believe it or not, was the idea of moving to Los Angeles. I’m a
lifelong Midwesterner and my favorite seasons are autumn and
winter. I just can’t live without snow. Plus, that whole earthquake
thing just freaks me out.)

Movies have had a huge influence on my
writing. Whenever I’m starting a new novel, I “see” it first in
scenes and visuals before I “hear” the dialogue.

Readers who are new to my work might think
that
His Forbidden Touch
is a grown-up version of the
Disney movie “Tangled,” about a sheltered princess experiencing
life in the real world for the first time, and the handsome rogue
who agrees to serve as her escort on a journey to a royal palace.
My two daughters adore that DVD, and certain aspects of the movie
do remind me of Royce & Ciara’s story. But
His Forbidden
Touch
was first published in 1997, long before “Tangled” was
even a pixel in Disney’s eye. So that’s a good guess, but “Tangled”
is not the movie that inspired this book.

HFT
actually combines three of my
favorite movies: The 1987 Tom Berenger/Mimi Rogers crime drama
“Someone to Watch Over Me,” Kevin Costner & Whitney Houston’s
1992 romance “The Bodyguard,” and Audrey Hepburn’s 1953 romp “Roman
Holiday.”

The guardian plot has always been a classic
in romantic fiction, and it’s one of my personal favorites. I just
can’t resist a story about a dark-and-dangerous hero assigned to
protect an elegant, aristocratic heroine. The guardian plot is all
about the tantalizing appeal of forbidden fruit: the hero is
supposed to protect the heroine, not seduce her, but he just can’t
resist her—and the next thing he knows, he’s falling in love.

Both “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “The
Bodyguard” use that plot, but in my opinion, neither movie is
completely satisfying. The Mimi Rogers character in “Someone” is
married to another man, and Kevin & Whitney go their separate
ways in the “The Bodyguard.” At the end of both movies, I found
myself thinking, “That’s not the way I would have written it…”

One of the great things about being a writer
is that I
can
write it my way—by turning the plot into a
novel and giving it the satisfying ending I wanted.

So that’s how
His Forbidden Touch
started. I knew I wanted to write a guardian book, and I already
knew who my hero would be: Royce Saint-Michel, the roguish
mercenary with a mysterious past who first appeared in
Forever
His
.

But who would his heroine be?

That’s where “Roman Holiday” came in: it’s
about a princess who wants to experience life as a commoner before
assuming the responsibilities that come with her crown. But unlike
Audrey Hepburn, my princess wouldn’t be on a sight-seeing lark.
She’d be running for her life. My version of “Roman Holiday” would
have assassins, sword fights, cliff-hangers (literally), and steamy
love scenes.

What can I say? I love action/adventure
almost as much as I love romance. My books always blend the two. As
I once said to my agent, I don’t write historical romance; I write
romantic suspense. I just happen to write romantic suspense that’s
set in another time and place.

So now I had my mercenary, my princess, and
my plot. I knew this would be a fun book to write, and that’s my
main requirement before starting any manuscript.
I
need to
have fun while I’m writing, because if I’m having fun, chances are
the reader will, too.

Soundtrack

One of the first things I do when starting a
new project is choose a theme song for my hero & heroine. It’s
one of my little creative rituals, something that helps me connect
emotionally with my protagonists as I begin working on the
character sketches and plot outline. Most of the time, it’s a
current song on the radio that captures some element of the story.
Once in a while, as with
Into the Sunset
, it’s the spark
that inspires the entire book.

I sometimes change my mind and switch to a
different song if something better comes along, but usually, once I
pick a theme, it sticks. I’ll listen to it now and then while
working on the manuscript, typically when I’m in editing mode. I
can’t listen to music with lyrics while writing my first drafts.
The lyrics coming through the speakers get jumbled up with the
words bouncing around in my head, and the whole thing ends up in a
mangled tangle.

I do listen to music when writing, but it’s
usually (surprise, surprise) an instrumental movie score. James
Horner, James Newton Howard, John Barry, Thomas Newman and Gabriel
Yared are the guys who keep me company while I work.

Royce & Ciara’s theme comes from “The
Bodyguard” soundtrack: Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.”
Yes, I know, that song is now considered terribly cliché. But I
wrote this book in 1996, long before people started singing really
bad
renditions of “I Will Always Love You” while auditioning
for “American Idol.” These days, we’ve all heard so many awful,
screeching performances of that song, it’s hard to listen to it
anymore. But once upon a time, it was a wonderful, moving love
theme.

Actually, it still is. Listen to the vintage
Whitney version some time, and see if Royce and Ciara can help
erase some of those bad reality-TV memories.

The Title

The working title of this book was … wait a
minute, let me go check my files. The title was changed to
His
Forbidden Touch
so early in the process, I can’t even remember
what my original title was.

Okay, found it: the working title was
Guardian of My Desire
. Hmm, that’s really… not good.
Awful, actually. No wonder I forgot it. I like
His Forbidden
Touch
much better.

Authors who write for New York publishers
learn very early in their careers that publishers, not authors, are
in charge of titles. It’s spelled out right in the contract.
Publishers feel that titles make a vital impact on sales, so they
reserve the right to choose them. To a publisher, a title’s most
important job is to serve as a marketing tool. Whether it bears any
relation to the author’s story is purely a secondary
consideration.

I learned that lesson the hard way on my
first book, as I mentioned in the “Making of” chat in
Falcon on
the Wind
(where I also revealed how the Stolen Brides series
got its name). After that unsettling experience, I always kept a
running list of at least ten alternate titles on hand for my
book-in-progress. I wanted to be ready when my editor called and
said, “Marketing feels that we need a new title.” Marketing pretty
much always felt that we needed a new title. And I wanted to be the
one to choose it, rather than leaving it in someone else’s
hands.

The
Falcon
flap was only the first
of many title fights I would have with my publishers. Sometimes I
won the battle, sometimes I lost.

I must have been
really
worried
about this book, because I’m looking at my list of possible titles
right now—and it has 21 alternates on it.
Guardian of My Heart.
Beloved Guardian. The Protector. Sweet Protector. Fire and Ice. The
Princess and the Swordsman. My Guardian’s Heart. My Guardian’s
Touch. Forbidden.
I wanted to include the word “guardian” or
“protector” because I felt it was a key selling point. My editor
disagreed. In the end, I combined the last two titles and came up
with
His Forbidden Touch
.

Avon
loved
that title. They loved
it so much that three years later, after my book had gone out of
print, they used the identical title on another author’s book.

The Cover

You’ll find full-color photos of both the
original paperback cover and my new digital cover on my Facebook
page:
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorShellyThacker