Denial (Goblin's Kiss Series Book One) (20 page)

“Yes he has.” I
didn
’
t know how to answer him without burning holes in his
head.

I scratched my palms stifling the
anger boiling up.

He clapped his hands like this was
a business proposition. “Good. Good. I will announce our engagement
tonight and the wedding will be next week.” He reached for a
strawberry and fed himself. The whole scene was too comical to
retell anywhere. No one would believe me. No one would care. Was
that why I was easy to take?

Oh, I was beyond
boiling point. I was five hundred degrees and climbing. How did I
ever get caught up in the web of his hotness? He
didn
’
t even appear so good looking now. His arrogant wave of hair
was just annoying and his swagger as he walked looked like a cowboy
just off his horse. Yeah, his eyes were still sexy, but they were
full of lies. He was just horrible.

I stood feeling the power
increase. I was so wrapped up in that anger of his self-absorbed
lie to marry me based on who I was I forgot what Ames needed me to
do. On occasion, I have been known to lose control of it. Come to
think about it, the tree incident by the school probably put me on
the radar. Rick was following me on my run that day.

My hands tingled. It was
close.

I
didn
’
t know what to do. She wasn
’
t holding back what I told her to
do. She couldn
’
t control it. The man was a jerk
to her and he deserved her weapon of destruction to land straight
across his face, but he would use it. That is, once he recovered. I
couldn
’
t let her.

I leapt to the
stage he kept himself on the second her hand started to raise. I
grabbed it into my own and the second it did, the feeling was gone.
Like that. As if I made it go back away or something. Her face told
me she knew what had happened but didn
’
t understand it
either.

Now I had to
deal with the whys. I snatched a strawberry from the table behind
her back and
his
.
I twisted my fingers to bruise it profusely and held it up between
her face and the king
’
s.

“Bruised and all. She is too
perfect to eat such uncared for food.” I knew what he would
do.

“Cate.” Joshlin
called over his shoulder. I feared I
’
d screwed up things for Cate, but
she would recover. Emma wouldn
’
t.

“Take the crop of strawberries
back through the kitchen and next time check them more carefully.
Another mess like this and you will be replaced.”

She whimpered
low and bowed backwards all the way out the door. I hated him in
that moment more than I ever had. Not because I
didn
’
t know what he was already capable of, but because he showed
all of it in his glory to this girl. Emma was better than him and
he would use her as a decorated fancy cake on
display.

Emma
’
s hand still in mine, the dirtbag
King turned back to us. I dropped it the second he registered it
was there. If he thought anything at all, he
didn
’
t show it.

“It was fine.
You didn
’
t have to berate her,” Emma snarked off at
him.

“Yes, I did. And you will not
question me in my realm.”

I knew it before it
surfaced.

Damn
. How will I cover this one? The
surge built inside of her. I moved behind her situating my hand on
her back hoping for the same reaction. It didn
’
t work this time. I
was baffled.

Worse. It was growing this
time.

“Take the princess to her rooms.
If she sees fit to have her manners back, she may
return.”

She would blow the whole plan in
about ten seconds. I had to get her out of there.

One step. Three steps down. Five
to the door. The hallway. The stairs. Courtyard.

My hand was still on her back. As
a guard I generally kept hands off, but with her...

She took the longest breath ever
when the fresh air hit her. She turned fast, exhaled, and belted
out with, “That man is horrid.” And the worst was yet to
come.

“
We
haven
’
t much time. He will check on you in precisely one hour,”
Ames told me.

“How do you know?”

He looked uncomfortable. “I just
know how he does things. He is always gone one hour at a
time.”

I took that for
truth and let it go. The less I knew about Joshlin the king of the
world I didn
’
t belong in, the
better.

“I
didn
’
t hide it very well,” I confessed.

He shrugged keeping his eyes all
over the place but me. “I was glad I could help.”

“Yeah, about that. What exactly
did you do?”

He shifted his feet, rubbed his
chin.

My eyes must have sparked with the
sound of his fingers rubbing the day old unshaven face because his
brow lifted and he did it again. I blushed just like I knew my face
would.

He smiled one
tiny length of time and then said, “It didn
’
t work when I touched your
back but I have a theory. We will test it when it is safe to
practice. For now, I just want to get you to safety.” His face
changed completely. A slow serious survey like the secret service.
“Emma, I have to ask you something,” he checked all around us. “If
you go with me right now, we can
’
t come back.”

“At all.”

He nodded.

“Home?”

“Not today. In
days maybe to see them, but it won
’
t be safe.”

He was telling me something. “If I
stay, he will lock me up, right?”

He nodded slowly and caressed my
cheek. I craved his touch.

“If I go home they will come find
me?” Before he could answer, I asked something that had to be
asked. “Then why did you bring me here?”

He looked as
torn as I felt. “Emma, I
’
m sorry. I knew this morning this
was a mistake. I couldn
’
t just take you and hide you. It
would be just like him. He has forced me to do things...things
I
’
m
not proud of. But you, well...I searched for two days on how to
save you, keep you from him.”

“And what did you decide?” I
swallowed the lump in my throat.

“That I
couldn
’
t save you until you saw what he was first. What I am. If you
found all the truths outside of me, you would hate me at the very
least. I didn
’
t want you to have to see him or
at his worst, but there it is. There are still things you
don
’
t know and I will tell them to you. But if you go with me
now, it is on the run. It will be the only way to escape
him.”

He just admitted
my regular, somewhat normal life was over days ago when he first
showed up. That he
’
d have to take me regardless and
have to leave me unless he could hatch a mock exit for the two of
us to survive.

I was scared.
But I couldn
’
t go home. In a way, I didn’t
want to. I felt my fingers tingle with warmth. I was fuming that I
went with him. I didn
’
t dare look his way for he might
see how furious I was. So when I did, his face was sad. I
didn
’
t expect that. Or that he was probably thinking the same
thing. He
’
d said that I would have been taken regardless. Maybe this
wasn
’
t entirely his fault. He was trying to save me from this. He
didn
’t lie.

“Emma. We can get through this.
When you run into a wall, you push through it. It you hit another,
you find a way around it.” He paused then said, “We will get you
out of this.”

I have heard the
phrase, “Bit off more than you could chew”? I was feeling the
repercussions of it right now. And at the point when I thought I
couldn
’
t do what it was I was promising, this girl handed me her
complete trust once again. She had no idea what it meant to use
caution when dealing with danger.

“Okay.
I
’
ll
go with you.”

She was willing
to give up everything at a moment
’
s notice. Well, mostly everything
for now. Her body spoke to me showing that all of her alarm bells
were singing, but her eyes were begging me to make sure she could
trust me. My heart galloped like a race horse at the thought of
proving it to her. I wasn
’
t sure I knew
how.

And I was sure
she
’
d say no, huff off towards home, and force me to protect her
with my body splayed across the front of her when the boogie man
came calling.

“But I have one question,” she
shifted her feet and watched them move on the ground. I left my
lookout position to her now softly lidded eyes. The fierce strength
she so often held was gone from her face.

“If you hate me
so much, why are you doing this?” I started to correct her when she
added, “
And
don
’
t try any of that man shark smooth talking on me when you
don
’
t mean it.”

I
can
’
t believe I never found her before. She was a fire I
couldn
’
t control and didn
’
t want to. She was perfect the
way she was. When her hand lifted to her hip and she leaned
sideways, I wanted to do all kinds of things to her I
shouldn
’
t.

“I
won
’
t talk you into anything.” Now was not the time to tell her I
was absolutely nuts for her. Besides, it would just come out
wrong.

I took her hand and headed out the
courtyard door and back to the entrance without delay. No one
questioned me, the head officer of the guard for the king. I had a
good hour, maybe even two before all heck would break
loose.

Time.to.go.

A head nod to
Jones told him the plan was a go. He would see me when he sees me,
so to speak. I didn
’
t think all this through as
clearly as I should. Here I was sneaking away the only girl
I
’
ve
ever done anything for from my own people, but if I stopped and
thought about it too long, I might have backed out. My heart
clinched when I thought about her being touched by that
monster.

Once outside, I hurried back to
the practice grounds where the oblivious Wicker would be waiting
for an inquiry. I was in no such mood.

Bypassing the
grounds, I took her through the higher brush making it difficult
for me to shield every limb that hit her body. I
didn
’
t want any harm to a single part of her precious
skin.

“You
’
re going around to avoid
Wicker?”

She figured me out. Smart
girl.

“Yup!” No sense
hiding it. I said I wouldn
’
t lie. Not to her at least. There
are some things I
’
m giving up for her. Things that
would hurt her. If something caused her pain or put her in danger,
then all bets were off.

“We have a goal
in mind?”
she
quizzed.

Did she think me daft? Of course I
would have a plan. I told her I did. “Got it covered.”

I smiled at the thought of my plan
actually coming to fruition.

“Care to share this great and
awesome plan?” She went on.

Didn
’
t she trust me?

Just then, lady luck threw another
monkey wrench in my face.

“Where do you two think you are
going?”

I high-tailed it
around to block her from him. He wasn
’
t supposed to be here. I could
see this wouldn
’
t be easy.