Denial (Goblin's Kiss Series Book One) (41 page)

“She has your balls gripped so
tight—

“
Okay,
stawp
already!” I said.
“
She
is standing
right here, Oh Freckle-less Ones. If and when I want to know any of
his secrets he is unwilling to share, I will be sure to come your
way. And if I “pop” off with my magical destructiveness,
I
’
ll
be sure to aim it at you first.” My finger pointed straight to
Trigger.

I glared at his mouthy friend, but
Ames was glaring straight at me with a hint of laughter in his
eyes.

The matter of
Brooks would be dealt with soon enough. He knew everything somehow.
He
’
d
been looking out for her, and me, for years. I
’
d always seen him as a
substitute father in a way, but would never tell him. To find out
he knew as much as me, if not more, was disturbing and comforting
all in one. I couldn't believe he knows about the
curse.

Realms may be restored again with
all that kings and queens of old crap, but there is still the
matter of Caydon. He was my next obstacle, but before that came
out, I needed to tell Emma other things. She was bound to me which
left me secure with the surety of her loyalty. Kissing her was
selfish and not entirely honest, but I wanted her for myself. She
was good for our realm, myself included.

Telling her who
my brother was to who she now deemed a purely disgusting guise for
a king was beyond stupidity, but I didn
’
t have any control over it.
Apparently he
’
d taken care of it for me. But
there was more.
So much
more
.

“There is
something I still need to show you,” I forced myself to release her
body, but not all of it. I kept her hand steadily in mine as I led
her out of the destruction and to my Jeep. I would piece it
together for her a little at a time and see her face when she saw
each piece of the puzzle coming. It can
’
t be entrusted but to only
the greats. Otherwise, we
’
d have a world war on a constant
basis.

I pulled the jacket back to the
center and covered her chest once more. “First, I want you out of
that dress.”

Both of her eyebrows shot up,
cheeks burning. I wish it were that easy.

“I mean out
of
that
dress. I
have your bag in my car.”

I hoped the
grass was soft for her bare feet. I threw the shoes in the pile of
rubble. It wasn
’
t
her.

When the shoes broke
into pieces, I realized I caused it. I could usually hide my
strength. And have well in front of her with few
exceptions.

“
And your mighty
Hercules strength is a king thing?” she asked.

I shrugged really not
sure, “I guess.”

She let it go. It was
something that always bothered me.

“We need to go back to my cabin.”
A tiny nod told me she heard me, but perhaps she was still in shock
and needed reassurance. “The cabin is safe.”

“That
’
s not why I
’
m nervous,” she
answered to my real thoughts of trying to figure her out, but
naturally I couldn
’
t. This male and female Mars and
Venus thing was truer than they all said.

“Can I help?”

“Not with this,
you
’
re the problem.” She looked down at her feet that were
shifting back and forth. I peeked out around her to be sure we were
still alone.

“I
’
m the problem?” My lungs hurt saying it.

“Yes, Ames. Ever
since that day at school when you were standing with the fawning
cheerleaders, I have felt...different.” Her nose crinkled up before
she continued. “I can
’
t seem to stop thinking about you
and I hate it.”

I
couldn
’
t stop my heart beating faster. “And that is so
bad?”

My approach
changed as my hands snaked around to her hips a little tighter than
ever before hoping to convince her I was in this
for
her.

“Not bad....just new. I keep
waiting for that great cloud of happiness to pop and remind me that
my reality is never going to include well...happiness...or you.”
Something in her voice wavered freezing my hands to her.

“I
won
’
t hurt you, Emma. I
’
m not like the other guys
you
’
ve known though I can
’
t help but want to rearrange
their faces for having anything to do with you or what they did to
hurt you.”

It wasn't about me.

I
can
’
t stop the fascination I have had with her since that first
day. I don
’
t know if I can name it, but she
had me that day. Maybe it was her eyes, her unearthly drawn energy
to me, or just simply it was the magic of who we are. I
didn
’
t care what...I just wanted her no matter the
cost.

Oh, gawd. Did he know about the
rumors?

“What is it, Emma? Talk to
me.”

I
didn
’
t mean other guys and the past. I meant that he might
disappear of something. And I didn
’
t want to tell him about Rick. It
made me open to hurt worse if he rejected me, but I
couldn
’t
lie.

“First, I meant I am afraid I will
still lose you somehow. It had nothing to do with being hurt in the
past.”

He lightened his squeeze on my
hips.

“When I was with Rick,” I paused
looking up to the sky away from his face, “I let him talk me into
staying after cheer practice one day and wait for him to finish in
the locker room after practice. We hid in the school for an hour
making out in the lab. He said he wanted to be able to think of me
when he was in class. I was naive and stupid.”

I
wouldn
’
t be able to tell him all of it. I
’
ve never told anyone. I
wasn
’
t sure what Ames would think of me if he
knew.

I sighed heavily
and walked away from him, hiding my eyes. “The next day he did it
again during study hall when the lab was empty, but this time he
told everyone I did more than just kiss him. I
’
m not that kind of
girl and never intended for it to look that way. He
just...”

He
’
d followed where I escaped from his judging eyes. Still in a
half-dressed state, his hand touched my bare skin where his jacket
fell off my shoulder searing me with heat I never felt with
Rick.

“That was long
ago and you are older now. You have nothing to hide from me. You
have to let it go. He was a jerk who had no regard for your
feelings and didn
’
t deserve you anyway. Besides, he
was acting like a teenage boy with only hormones for brains. You
didn
’
t know what he was capable of.”

His eyes darkened when I turned to
him abruptly.

“And you do?” I questioned
carefully.

“Emma.
Don
’
t ask me what you shouldn
’
t hear. For now, I want you safe.
You are not ready for marriage and neither am I, nor are either of
us safe to make a mistake we would regret.” His voice shuddered
with need and want and something else. It scared me, but excited me
only because he was being that great of a guy.

“For now, we
enjoy just being together. If that
’
s what you
want?”

What I want. I
don
’
t want anyone else. “It is.”

“Then together
it is.” His voice grew deeper and he breathed in unsteadily causing
me to do the same. I caught the scent of his earthy pine and
wondered then if it was a different cologne I
hadn
’
t registered before or simply just ode de Ames. “And when the
time is right, I will ask you to marry me and be mine forever. I
have no doubt that you are the one for me, Emma. If that scares
you, I don
’
t mean for it too. I just want
you to know the truth.”

He
’
d accepted my teenage drama past and acknowledged we were
still too young to make quick decisions about a future together.
Besides, I had to finish high school first. I
won
’
t pretend that it
’
s not freaking scary that a guy
just said he wanted to marry me, but my inner diva was dancing
around screaming
Hooyah
! Amongst this inner
screamfest, I leaned in and multitasked trying to see if he was
wearing cologne or not.

“Are you smelling me?” he asked
obviously startled by my silly notion. How embarrassing.

“Um...you always smell really
good. Is it your cologne?”

“I
don’
t have any on at the moment. Had other
things pressing on my mind than primping this morning. Guess
I
’
m
just that irresistible.” He spread his arms out before him in
arrogance. I slapped his arm playfully.

“Incidentally, you smell good
too.”

“Surprise. Perfume, no. Lotion,
yes. Honeysuckle.”

His eyes brightened a little and
he even licked his lips. I was so far from talented in the flirting
department since Rick messed me up.

“I could tell. It was my goal to
figure it out.”

“When did you
figure it out?” I wasn
’
t sure this was going to be the
answer I was looking for. With Ames, I was always
surprised.

“The first day you walked into my
realm. Honeysuckle grows right outside the entrance and you caught
me picking one of the flowers when I realized it.”

The hard edged
Ames I met that first few days was a lot more carefree and eased
into himself. I liked that he was telling me little things like
this. It was kind of poetic, but I
’
d never tell him in case he took
it wrong and stopped saying them.

In the car I changed into jeans
and the red t-shirt I knew Ames silently liked, but hated. He kept
his eyes forward but popped his neck a few dozen times to stop
himself from looking back. He grunted and adjusted in the seat more
than a few times. I liked having that affect on him.

“You could
hurry. It isn
’
t easy on a guy to know your
naked back there.”

“Maybe
that
’
s why I
’
m taking my time,” I said
bravely.

“Wow!
She
’
s daring with her other weapons as well.” His voice was husky
even as he tried to be playful.

I
couldn
’
t come up with a comeback that didn
’
t sound too unladylike, so I
just climbed over the seat and popped a kiss on his
cheek.

He kept his eyes on the road while
I asked questions I thought he might finally answer.

I did clarify
the whole goblin
’
s kiss thing that Brooks started
and never finished. Turns out, every goblin king found his mate and
his “oh so awesome” kiss made her swoon with longing and she was
his forever. That could be very dangerous, you know. What if you
kissed your mother as a child out of childhood innocence when she
tucked you in at night?

Ames
didn
’
t laugh at my assessment, but he did say that I
wasn
’
t the first girl he
’
d kissed.
I
’
d
already figured that since he was a “really good kisser”! As
jealous as it made me, I also knew he was mine now. Forever. The
goblin
’
s kiss was a permanent thing that can only be shared among
our own kind if one of them is a blood heir. Guess that says he
wasn
’
t kissing any other queen to be
’
s, but I didn
’
t want to think about
that either.

And his father
had married a human. He loved her and that
’
s all that mattered in my
book. Perhaps Ames had redeemed my faith in men and was even handed
down by his father as a gift solely for me. I wished we could have
known him.