Denial (Goblin's Kiss Series Book One) (42 page)

I wanted the
subject to change before it went all serious again so I asked,
“Didn
’
t you say you had to take me somewhere?”

She was still a
young girl on the inside. Her ability to make decisions, talk like
an adult made her wise beyond her years, but she was still young. I
wouldn
’
t force her to do anything she didn
’
t want to do. She might have
been brave with the Joshlin thing, but inside she was screaming for
normal again. I could meet her halfway.

Her being almost
completely naked in my backseat didn
’
t make my focus on the road very
well. They say cell phones are dangerous while driving! Try having
the girl you vastly want to have your way with sitting naked in the
back while you
’
re stuck in the front...in
drive.

She asked about
Wicker and Katelyn and was completely surprised but genuinely
excited for her new friend. By the way she talked,
they
’
d become better than just friends in the end just as
predicted. I was happy for all of them. Now, I just wanted to see
Emma aim a smile meant for only me.

When she brought
up that her body was indeed naked, I almost wrecked the Jeep
keeping my eyes on the friggin
’
road. She
didn
’
t cool off her raging desire even as she climbed back over
and gave me a momma
’
s kiss on the cheek. That
wasn
’
t the kind of kissing I had in mind.

I pinched my
legs through my jeans to get my mind cleared. When I could trust
myself to move to a topic that didn
’
t involve a bed and clothes on
the floor in my mind (
or a
backseat)
, I looked back at
her.

I told her she
would go back and finish her senior year of school. I would pick
her up and drop her off for school meant only for her safety. She
giggled at the idea of her “
boyfriend
” dashing in and dashing
out every day.

“So
I
’
m
your boyfriend, is it?”

She rolled her
eyes at me. “I
’
m not sure you can call a goblin
prince who kissed me and made me all googly eyed with want, a
boyfriend.”

“Oh, so my girlfriend is not the
princess of the goblin realm with more superpowers than Superman
and guts like steel.”

“Touch
é.”

“Will you keep an open mind when I
take you into my lair?” I wiggled my eyebrows trying to lighten the
mood for the coming events to take place.

“You
’
re scaring
me.
”

“I
don’
t mean to. It
’
s
just...you
’
re the only one
I
’
ve
ever told or shown this too. No one but the king or queen can know
about it.”

I turned onto the road leading to
the cabin and a point of no return.

“I
’
m no queen,
” she
scoffed.

She asked if Joshlin knew. He
wasn’t a real king. So that would be a no. And I never intended to
tell him.

At the entrance
to my personal road leading to the cabin, was Caydon. He was set
back in the trees where he knew I
’
d see him. He was there when I
brought her here the first time. It was another warning. He
wouldn
’
t wait long. Ignoring him, I focused back on the girl in
question.

“I beg to differ on you renouncing
your title. I am the one who watched a girl command a king to step
down and give up his crown with the crack of her proverbial whip.
You, my love, are just what the realm needs.”

I stiffened as
the car stalled and Ames pocketed the keys. My body went cold from
my toes to my brain. His door closed and I
couldn
’
t bring myself to move.

My own door
swooshed open, and there stood two black boots facing me. I was
lost sometimes with what was magic from Ames and what was normal. I
followed them up to his face taking time to appreciate his beauty.
No, he
’
d never like that word, but he was. He was all muscle and man
and just scrumptious to look at.

His
un-agenda-like smile told me he had no idea what
he
’
d
just called me and in no way would I tell him. He called me his
love. How many more things would I learn about him before he could
tell me with awareness that he was doing it?

I trudged one foot out and made
the other follow taking his hand to loop up and out of the car. We
walked together into the cabin, his hand out to let me
lead.

I wanted to
close my eyes and go back in some ways. Have the moment on the back
porch back. The spaghetti. But I was positive of something else. I
didn
’
t want to go back home to a life of being ignored and hiding
who I was. I thought I did before, but now...

“What will we find
here?”

“Nothing,” he said. “We are going
down below it.”

Below it? I raised my own brow at
him the way he did me when I made him wait.

“You
’
ll see,” he swallowed a mouthful
of air before nervously flipping the rug in the hall
closet.

Who keeps a rug in a closet? Oh, a
door...in the floor. Ames lifted a creaking mystery worthy trapdoor
from the floorboards of the empty closet. Well, empty except for
one coat that I never saw him wear.

“After you, my queen.”

“Not yet
I
’
m
not,” I sing-songed and enjoyed that same rare smile he gave Brooks
and Wicker that was becoming more of a stationary thing. Except I
noticed the smiles he gave me lifted the tiny dimple in his
chin.

“Time will go by
faster than we might realize.” He took my arm in his grip. “After
you see this, you can
’
t go back. Really,
it
’
s
too late. You already know about the door to get in
now.”

“Ames,
I
’
m
not leaving you. You aren
’
t the only one
who
’
s in too deep. I might have been a silly school girl a few
days ago, but I
’
m not that girl anymore. And she
wants to be with you no matter the cost.”

He might not have realized he was
holding his breath. “You really want to be with me?”

He doubted it
still? Guess girls weren
’
t the only ones with insecurity
issues.

“I told you. I have not been able
to focus since the day I met you. You crawled into my head and left
a permanent mark on me. I want...” I gained the courage, “I want to
stare at you all freaking day and kiss you worse than anything, but
most of all I love your courage and determination.”

The next thing I
know, I was being squeezed half to death and my mouth was being
overtaken by earthy man scented Ames Cahn. His kiss was urgent and
his hands were moving south gripping fabric. I felt him stop on the
top of my hips, but wanting to move further. I
didn
’
t think he would, but the small excitement of knowing he
wanted to, thrilled me. Who didn
’
t want to be
wanted?

He broke the
kiss and panted into my hairline trying to bring himself back under
control. I can
’
t say I didn
’
t like his lack
thereof.

I thought of my
friends back home. If only they would keep their self-respect and
know that the right person would wait for them to be ready. Maybe
I
’
d
get a chance to tell them.

“Give me a
second and we will head on.” His shuddering made me shiver too.
Glad it wasn
’t just
me.

“I like this.” I sounded lame.
Classy. Great come back.

He grinned
well...smugly.

A kiss landed on my forehead and
his hand indicated to move down the steps.

All the way down
the steps and then some. At least thirty of them. They
weren
’
t too narrow except at the top, but I had to keep my balance
and feel the wood move each time I advanced as well as when
Ames
’
body came down behind me.

The walls were all rock, red, and
combed with ribbons of gold and silver matter all across it. Light
was coming from somewhere, but who would have lit it? The more I
focused and scanned what I could see it seemed more like a glow.
The walls themselves kind of shimmered, but not like
diamonds.

At the bottom step I glanced up to
be sure he was still there. He had maybe ten steps go so I found
myself walking away, but not far.

A very large, depressed open area,
much like a humongous basement, lay before me. It was paved with
the same metallic substance that lined inside the walls leading to
a passageway. A carefully carved column colonnade stood in patterns
around making a star-like shape that gave me the impression they
were more for vertical support. One...two....seven columns in
all.

I nonchalantly
checked the ceiling above just to be sure it
didn
’
t appear close to caving in. The same dark amber colored
rocks were mixed into the grays and reds browns.

“You are in my first home, or what
were my ancestors, as is now yours.”

Home?
“We
’
re in a cave Ames, not a house.”

“We look human
Emma, but we are not. Our first home was that of the mountains
where our ancestors carried on our world until one of the many wars
between our own people destroyed that era. We moved above the
mountain out of preservation for our heritage after a time of
rebuilding became mundane in the eyes of the rulers at the time.
Our caverns remained either way. Your father
’
s ancestors and mine
were residents here before another
’
s greed drove my brother and me
above to where the palace stands now. In pieces mind you,” he
jested.

“Not that I can
take that all right now, but what do you mean your brother and you?
He isn
’
t your real brother so why do you call him that.” I hated to
sound bitter, but I couldn
’
t have compassion for the guy at
the moment. He kind of kidnapped me.

On the bottom
step now, he dusted his hands like I had and walked over to the
closest column. He handled the walls and traced the carvings around
them. They were beautiful. I hadn
’
t noticed them
before.

“No, he is not my real brother. He
was taken in by my father not long after I was born when his own
parents perished in an accident. My father felt responsible for it
since he ordered his parents to retrieve something and the
traveling ended in a fire that took both their lives.”
“How terrible. Not that I feel completely sorry for him, but no one
should have to go through that.”

His eyes lifted to me. “Unlike the
two of us who lost both our parents to the war it
caused?”

My head hurt. I
didn
’
t like being reminded that I knew nothing about my parents.
Maybe now I would and it hurt to find out the truth. Truth stinks
sometimes. “Is that what happened?”

“Later maybe.
For now, let
’
s see what we have down here.”
Ames took my hand and weaved us through the columns to a carved out
room within the larger area. Inside, stone tables circled oval
shaped walls with nothing in the middle. On each of the tables were
stacks of gold in uneven shapes and covered in dirt and dust.
Another table, singled out, was standing alone in the corner
stacked with paper that looked more recent and without age. I
glanced over at it recognizing Ames
’
scraggly letters with a few
spots standing out with my name on it. The name Jem, at
least.

“What is all this?” I fingered a
small piece of the cold, dirty rocks that was closest to
me.

“Gold,” he answered.

“Ames, don’
t patronize me. Why is
it here?”