Forged in Stone (14 page)

I
could have stayed there forever
. Ainsley lay beside me, her head resting on my chest. She looked like an angel with her hair splayed out on the pillow above her. Her even breathing relaxed me, and I had to fight to avoid falling asleep. I didn’t want to leave her by herself, but I had to do some research of my own before I met with the Guards. This was not the kind of research that Ainsley could be involved with.

I inhaled her intoxicating scent again, letting it take over my senses. I needed to get as much of her as I could, because I could not make her mine no matter how much my mind, body, and soul demanded that she be.

I tried to slip away, but she snuggled in more. “James,” she mumbled my name.

She was dreaming about me. How was I going to leave when I knew that? I would have to find another way to get the information I needed.

She shifted, kicking off the covers. My eyes went to her now exposed long legs. She was sleeping in nothing more than a t-shirt and underwear.

She smiled. Her eyes were still closed, and I wondered if the smile was from her dream. Her dream about me. My heart rate picked up and my body hardened. If only I had the gift to slip inside her mind. I wondered if her dreams were anything like my own.

She shifted again, this time draping one of her silky legs over my body. I groaned. This was torture. To have such complete beauty nearly on top of me without being able to do anything about it. I wanted her. No, I needed her. I ran my hands down her back. It was a safe gesture. I could touch her without crossing a line.

“James.” She did it again. She mumbled my name. Did she realize what she was doing to me? The discomfort she was causing? I ached for her.

I laced my fingers through hers. Maybe holding her hand would be enough. She pulled our joined hands against her chest. I could feel her breast beneath our hands. It was getting worse. Much worse.

I tried to pull my hand away from hers, but she held on tight. I might wake her up if I tried harder. Instead I closed my eyes, and focused on the sensations. The feel of her breast underneath the thin cotton of the t-shirt, the way her leg felt pressed against me.

I focused on her breathing again. It had gone quieter. Maybe the dream was over. Either way, I could not move without waking her. She was too peaceful, and I was too comfortable to ruin that.

I relaxed, and before long my breathing matched hers. I felt myself falling asleep, but I did not fight it. Instead I embraced the feel of sleeping beside Ainsley.

I
blinked
. Light poured into the room through the open curtains. Ainsley still lay mostly on top of me, but the quilt was pulled up over us. I did not remember doing that, so maybe it was her doing.

I thought about moving the blanket so she would not get upset with me, but I resisted. She should know how close we had been sleeping together. I wanted to see how she would react.

She murmured something and then blinked, finally opening her eyes. She looked into my eyes. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” I waited with anticipation.

“Oh.” She looked down at our entangled bodies. “No wonder I slept so well.”

I grinned. “I slept pretty well myself.”

“I guess we both spent the night in your bed.”

“We did. You are the first woman I have spent an entire night with.”

“Oh? Usually the love and leave them type?”

I gave no answer. I had no interest in thinking about other women with Ainsley so close. No one else could compare. “I wouldn’t mind a repeat of this.”

An unreadable expression crossed her face. “Did I talk in my sleep? I’ve been told I do that sometimes.”

“A little bit.”

“Oh no!” She put a hand over her mouth. “What did I say?”

“Only my name a few times.”

She blushed. It was the cutest blush I had ever seen. “Yeah… I was afraid of that.”

“Have some nice dreams last night?” I teased. Maybe she would share them.

“Yes.”

“About what?”

“Are you purposely trying to embarrass me?”

“Dreaming of me is not embarrassing. I hope you do it every night, as long as the dreams stay good.”

“I was afraid I’d have nightmares. I have that problem a lot.”

“You suffer from nightmares?” I ran my hand through her hair. “I didn’t know that.”

“You don’t know me well. It’s not something I tell someone when I first meet them.”

“We know each other well now, or we should considering we spent the night together.”

“We slept in the same bed. That is not spending the night together.” She moved her leg and settled at my side.

“We did not have sex, but we spent the night together. “

She shivered beside me.

“You cold?”

“No.” She blushed again.

“Then what is wrong?”

“Your words got to me. That’s all.”

“My words seem to have an effect on you a lot.”

“Everything about you does. It’s not fair.”

“It is perfectly fair.” I boldly pulled her on top of me. I needed to feel her pressed against me; it would illustrate my point better than words. “Everything about you affects me too.”

“Maybe we should just have sex and get it over with. Maybe once it’s out of our system this will stop.”

“Get it over with?” I could feel my eyes widen. “There is no getting anything over with. When I finally have you, there will no rush, and it will not be the end. It will only be the beginning.”

“You said when. Don’t you mean if?” She made no move to slide off me.

“I am not a fan of pretending.” I could not pretend anymore. She was made for me. I was as sure of it as I was that the sun would rise every day.

“But I’m going home.”

“You are.” I would play along with that idea for now, but I would change her mind. She had said herself she had nothing to go back to. She had plenty to stay for. Whether I deserved her or not, I would have her. I would spend each and every night with her beside me, only there would be no clothing separating our bodies. She would be mine in every sense of the word, and nothing was going to get in my way. Not even her fears.
Ainsley was mine
. The voice in my head repeated those three words over and over.

I was blinded. Without any thought I crushed my lips against hers and rolled her beneath me. She gasped as I deepened the kiss, needing to taste every corner of her mouth. I held my weight off of her with a hand, but I let my other hand settle on her hip beneath her t-shirt.

She reached up and ran her fingers through my hair. I let more of my weight press into her, and she moaned before rewarding me by thrusting her body against mine.

My body strained against the cotton of my pants, and the knowledge of how little separated us urged me on.

She slipped a hand underneath my t-shirt, running her hands up and down my torso, setting every spot she touched on fire. I broke the kiss to pull off my shirt. I needed to feel more of her touch. I moved my lips to her neck, eagerly leaving kisses all the way down to her shoulder. I pulled away her t-shirt enough to continue to kiss down her neck, to her chest.

Ainsley is mine.
The voice urged me on, as her hand left my hair and moved to my back. She pulled me all the way down flush against her. There was absolutely no hiding how aroused I was, and I did not want to. She needed to know exactly what she did to me.

She locked her eyes with mine before taking my hand and slipping it under her t-shirt to settle on her bare breast.

Perfection. She was perfection. The touch was incredible, but I longed to see. She seemed to read my mind. She pushed up against me, and I dropped my hand. She pulled off her t-shirt and tossed it where I had thrown mine.

“Such beauty cannot exist.” I returned my hand to her breast while I dared to lower my mouth to her other. She moaned beneath me. She liked the feel of me on her. She wanted this as much as I did.
Ainsley is mine
. The voice urged me on, but another voice joined in, stopping me in my tracks. It was all too soon. I was rushing things. I reluctantly released her beautiful breasts and moved off of her.

“Oh my gosh.” She covered herself with the sheet. “That just happened.”

“It did.” I lay back against the pillows. I had never experienced such pleasure, and I knew there was so much more to come. But not yet. She was already mine. There was no reason to push things too fast.

“It didn’t help.”

“What do you mean?” I rolled onto my side to look at her. I knew she was nearly naked underneath the sheet, and it took restraint not to pull it off and return to her amazing body.

“I still feel a pull toward you. It may be worse.”

“I told you your idea wouldn’t work. I only want you more now. I need you more.”

“You are the one who put on the brakes.” She sighed.

“Because it is not time. This may be my old bed, but it is not my home. You deserve more.”

She touched her neck. “Please tell me you didn’t leave a mark.”

I examined her soft skin. “No. I was careful.”

“Good. That would be hard to explain.”

“Hard to explain for the both of us.”

Her stomach growled.

“You are hungry.”

She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“I will get us some breakfast.”

“I can go with you.”

“Wait here. I can bring it up.”

“I don’t need breakfast in bed.”

“Have you ever had it?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Even more of a reason to have it now.” I was going to make sure she liked Energo. Serving her breakfast in bed seemed like a good start.

“How long will you be gone?”

“Worried you will miss me?” I brushed my lips against hers.

“I’m not that pathetic.”

“Why would missing me be pathetic?” I crawled over toward her, pinning her back down in the bed.

“Because just yesterday I was running from you.”

“I prefer this.” I cupped her breast through the sheet.

She closed her eyes. “Don’t tease me.”

“You don’t like being teased?” I released her breast and ran my fingers over her body.

“Teasing is only fun if you know you are going to get something good in the end.”

“And you doubt that? I have already told you that you will be mine, Ainsley. Do not take those words lightly.”

“You say that like I should be afraid.”

“I will never hurt you.” I ran my lips over her neck.

“But are there other reasons to fear you?”

“Only that I may never give you back.” There was no may about it, but there was no reason to frighten her.

“What kind of girl does it make me that I am as excited about those words as afraid?”

“It makes you the kind of girl I want. The only girl I want.” I locked eyes with her. She needed to understand the intensity of my feelings. That way I could at least pretend I gave her a choice.

“James?” She spoke my name carefully.

“Yes?”

“Kiss me one more time before you leave.”

“Demanding now.”

“You are demanding too.”

“I know.” I lowered my lips to hers and gently brushed them against hers.

“That is not a real kiss.”

“The problem with a real kiss right now is that it will be hard to stop.”

“I can stop it. I need the practice.”

“The practice?”

“Yes. You can break it. I need to learn too.”

“I guess you are not as hungry as I thought.”

“This won’t take long.” She pulled my head down to hers. She pressed her lips against mine hard, and then quickly demanded access to my mouth. I eagerly allowed her, fully turning over control. She deepened the kiss further and further until she suddenly stopped. It took a moment to break the daze. “You can go now.” She grinned.

“You make me dizzy.”

“You did that to me twice already.”

“Let me do one more thing before I leave.”

“What is it?”

I tugged on the sheet revealing her nearly naked body again. “Just need one more look.”

“Already forgot what I looked like?”

“It is burned to memory. Although I still do not know what you fully look like.”

She slipped her fingers in the side of her underwear. I stopped her. “Let us save that, shall we? We both have more to share later.” I kissed her lightly before jumping off the bed. I needed to separate us or we would spend all day in that bed.

I pulled on my shirt and slipped back into my boots. “I will be back shortly.”

“I guess I should get dressed.”

“No. Stay in bed exactly as you are.”

“Why do you care if you won’t be here?”

“Because I will know it. I will know you will be awaiting my return.”

“How do you make things like that sound sexy?”

“It is my accent.” I winked. “Be back soon.”

She smiled. “I’ll be here.”

A
s soon as
the door clicked closed I lay back against the sheets. What was wrong with me? I’d just fooled around with James. The same guy I had nearly gotten killed running from. Why did he have the ability to drive me wild with just a tiny touch or word?

I pulled on my t-shirt. His effect on me dwindled when he wasn’t near me, and I was able to see how silly I was being. I had nearly died the day before. It wasn’t the time for naked, or nearly naked, breakfast in bed. Unless he was naked too. The thought of that warmed my body. No. I wasn’t going there. I wasn’t going to think about the way he felt pressed against me. I already knew he was large. The kind of large that made me nervous but excited me at the same time. Would sex with him be different? He was still human even if he was from another world. He had to be. I mean Liam had gotten Charlotte pregnant.

A light knock on the door pulled me from my less than pure thoughts.

“Ainsley?”

I sat up with a start when I heard Charlotte’s voice. “Yes?”

“May I come in?”

“Of course.” I pulled the blanket over my lap.

Charlotte walked in. She was once again wearing a long dress. “I wanted to see if you needed anything. I should have offered last night. If you want to take a bath I can help because of the problems with your ankle.”

“Oh, thanks. I managed one last night.”

“Good. I hope it wasn’t too hard.”

“It wasn’t.” I kept the help from James to myself. At least he’d left before Charlotte showed up.

“Did you sleep well?”

“I did.” My body warmed thinking of the company I’d had. I hoped I wasn’t blushing.

“He’s a good guy.”

“James?”

“Who else would I mean?”

I turned toward the window.

“He looks like he is walking on cloud nine right now.”

“You saw him?” So the timing hadn’t been random.

“Yes. I ran into him on the stairs.”

“So you know he…”

“Slept in here?”

I nodded.

She smiled. “Yes. There’s no reason to be embarrassed. You two have a connection. That’s a good thing.”

“A connection?”

“Yes. I can see that in people. It’s part of my job. I have final say on whether to grant a uniting if the parents object or are not around.”

“What does that mean?”

“A uniting?”

“Yes. James said it was like marriage but stronger.”

“That’s essentially what it is. The two of you become connected. It’s especially strong with a Guardian if he finds the right partner.”

“Why?”

“I might leave that to James to explain.”

“It’s fine. I’ll never need to know about it.”

“You sure?” She raised an eyebrow.

“I’m going home. There will be no uniting with anyone here. No offense of course. Energo is great.”

“Some people try to control their feelings, and you can alter the artificial ones somewhat, but you can never change the real ones. They are what they are.”

“You sound so much older than you look.”

“It’s part of the Essence thing.” She laughed.

“Before you leave, I might need your help getting dressed.”

“Absolutely. These dresses take getting used to.”

“They’re pretty, but they don’t seem particularly easy to move in.”

“You can wear pants. My sister-in-law insists on wearing them, but I’ve gotten used to these.”

“Is she from our world too?”

“Samantha? No.” Charlotte shook her head. “She’s from here, but she was trained as a warrior. She takes bad ass to another level.”

I laughed. “Sounds cool and scary.”

“You’ll get to meet her.”

“When you say sister-in-law… are they actually married?”

“It’s habit. They are united. Kevin didn’t feel the need to do a ceremony back home. Liam and I did, but that was mostly for his mom. “

“Debbie is nice.”

“She is. I wish we saw her more, but what can you do?”

“Does she know about all this?” I couldn’t imagine returning to my old life after knowing that another world existed. It wasn’t the kind of thing you could easily forget.

“Yes. We had to tell her… but she’s sworn to secrecy. You will be too, if and when you leave.”

“It’s when. I have to leave.”

“Let’s pick out a dress for you.” She walked over to the armoire.

“How about purple?” She held out a long purple dress. It was made of an ultra-soft cotton, and it had laces running up the back.

“That works.”

“Great.” She walked over.

I grabbed my clothes and picked up the bra I’d been wearing when we left. That would have to do.

Without taking the shirt off, I slipped on the bra.

“I can probably do this myself.”

“I’ll wait here just in case.” Charlotte handed over the dress.

I turned my back to her and pulled off the t-shirt. Then I started to pull the dress over my head. It was heavy and took a few minutes to pull into place.

“Ok, now how do I tie this?” I struggled to reach around to the back.

“See, that’s why I stayed around.” She walked behind me and tied up the back of the dress. “Some of these dresses require some help.”

“Thanks.”

The door burst open. “Hope I did not—” James stopped when he took in the room.

“Good morning again, James.” Charlotte spoke while I stood there.

“Good morning, Charlotte. Helping Ainsley out?”

“Helping her in.”

“That color looks wonderful on you.” He placed a covered tray on the bedside table.

I smiled. “Thank you.”

“I will leave you two to your breakfast.” Charlotte grinned and walked out of the room. She closed the door behind her.

“You did not wait in bed for me.”

“I had company.”

“I see.”

“Thanks for getting the food.”

“I hope you are still hungry.” His eyes remained fixed on me.

“Very.” Surely it had been more than a normal amount of time since my last meal. Hours had passed before we reached the castle, and then we slept.

“Since you are dressed, want to sit out on the balcony?” He gestured toward the large windows.

“There is a balcony out there?”

“Yes. A nice one.” He picked up the tray and headed toward the windows.

I watched as he unlatched one, still managing to balance the tray. “I can help.”

“I am capable of multi-tasking.” He held open the door for me, and I stepped out onto a wide patio. A wrought iron table sat in the center with two chairs next to it.

James pulled out one of the chairs before I could, and I took a seat. He set down the tray and sat down in the other chair. “Not quite breakfast in bed, but at least it is nice weather this morning.”

“Beautiful weather.” It was warm and sunny, and the balcony gave us a view of the city. Most of the buildings were stone, and it had a timeless feel to it.

“I hope you like some of what I chose.”

“I am not a picky eater.”

“Neither am I.” He opened the lid to the tray.

“Wow.” I took in the heaping tray of eggs, several different breakfast meats, fruit, and pastries. “That all looks amazing.”

“There are benefits of being in a castle.”

“I take it the cook is good?”

“Very.” He moved the large plate to reveal two smaller ones as well as place settings. He handed a plate to me. “Want me to serve you?”

“I can help myself.” I resisted my initial inclination to grab a pastry first. Instead I went for the eggs. I could use the protein. I also served myself some fruit salad, although it wasn’t fruit I recognized.

James took a bit of some sort of white fleshy fruit. “You have to try the jade Fruit. It is my favorite fruit.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“It only grows in Energo.”

“Oh.” I used my fork to pick up a bite of the white fruit. It melted in my mouth. “Amazing!”

“The food here is quite good.”

“I see.” I took a bite of eggs before giving in and going after an iced pastry.

James smiled but said nothing.

“What is the plan?” I set down the pastry after a bite. It was warm and sweet and tasted like a cinnamon roll.

“We meet with the Guard after this.”

“Do they already know I’m here?”

“Yes. They have been alerted. “

“Alerted?”

“The Guard has to know what is happening around the Essence at all times.”

“When you said we meet with them, does that mean I come?”

“Yes. They may have questions for you.”

“Questions?”

“About how you got the house sitting position, things like that. Liam sent someone to find Stan and Emma, so hopefully they will bring us answers soon, but until then we have to work with the information we have.”

“How long will the meeting take?”

“Not too long. Then I need to do a few things.”

“A few things?” I raised an eyebrow.

He took a bite of some sort of sausage. “Yes. Nothing to worry about.”

“Can I come?”

He shook his head. “No, it is not safe. You will stay with Charlotte.”

“That sounds sexist. It’s dangerous so I’m going to stay back with the girls?”

“It is something I have to do alone. But I will be back.”

“I’d hope so. Remember, you promised not to ditch me.”

“I will be with you by tonight… speaking of which.”

“Yes?”

“The castle is comfortable, but would you want to see where I live?”

“You mean your real home?” I remembered his words. This wasn’t his bed, his home. Was he inviting me over there for that reason? I took a deep breath. I wasn’t allowed to get excited. Besides, I shouldn’t have been excited.

“Yes. It is not quite this fancy, but there are comforts. Plus I can cook for you there.”

“You cook?”

“Yes. Very well.”

“This I have to see.” As if he wasn’t good at enough things already? He also knew how to cook?

“Then you will. Dinner tonight.”

“With everything else going on, you are going to cook for me?”

“With everything else going on, we were enjoying each other this morning.” He helped himself to more fruit.

“True.” I could feel the blood rushing to my face. “We shouldn’t have been.”

“We should have.” He reached over and took my hand. “There is nothing wrong with what we did. And what we will do.”

“I’m not talking morally. I’m not particularly concerned with that, it’s more that we should be focusing on the bigger issue. I can’t focus around you.”

“We have established that. And you believed we could get it out of our system.”

“And you proved me wrong.”

“Either way, I am making dinner for you tonight.”

“I’ll agree, because it means you will have to be back in time.”

“I will be.”

“Good. Otherwise I’ll have to ask someone else to cook for me.”

“Oh, will you?”

“Yes, since I know so many people in Bellgard.”

“Are you implying you are with me because I am your only option?”

“No.” With him? I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. “Not at all.”

“Good.” His eyes locked with mine. “Because then I would have to lock you away so you never met anyone else.”

“That had better be a joke.”

He laughed. “Of course it is. So much for gaining your trust.”

“I trust you.”

“You trust me in bed. You do not trust me outside of it.”

“Yes I do.”

He shook his head. “You want to think you do. That is different. Either way, we need to finish up.”

“Is it time for that meeting?”

“Yes. You ready for it?”

“Does it matter?”

“It matters, although you have to go either way.”

“All right.” I started cleaning up our plates and the extra food.

“I can take care of our mess.”

“I’ll get this. You are the one making dinner tonight.”

He smiled. “How about we do this together?”

“Sure. That works too.” We piled up the plates and put them back onto the tray. James picked it up. “They will clean up the room while we are out.” He set the tray down.

“They meaning?”

“Household staff, and before you get all upset, they are treated well. Working in the castle is considered an honor, and can you imagine Charlotte treating anyone without respect?”

“No.” Although we had just met, I already felt like I knew her. Charlotte definitely wasn’t the rude, treat her underlings differently kind of person.

We walked out into the hall, and I let out a deep breath. Hanging out in my room was one thing, now we were going back to reality. I had no idea what to expect from these other guys. I only hoped they didn’t somehow blame me for whatever trouble was afoot.

James put a hand on my back and led me toward the grand staircase. I held onto the banister and tried to hold up my dress so I wouldn’t trip and fall all the way down the stairs. At least no one could see my dirty old shoes that definitely didn’t go with the dress.

The murmur of voices pushed my thoughts away from the shoes. Clearly we weren’t the first ones to arrive. We reached the first floor, and James led us toward an open set of double doors.

Inside was a long table filled with people. Everyone looked toward the door as James and I walked in.

Liam raised his hand and everyone stood up.

Charlotte smiled. “Nice of you two to join us.”

“We are right on time.” James led me over to the two vacant chairs in the middle of the long table. We stood in front of them like everyone else was doing.

Charlotte ignored James’ comment and turned to me. “Ainsley, I would like for you to meet the rest of my Guard and Samantha.”

My eyes went right to the girl. She had long blond hair tied in a braid. She was wearing pants and a tunic that accentuated her slim figure.

She smiled. “Nice to meet you Ainsley. I hope your stay in Energo has been pleasant so far.”

“It has, thank you.”

James nudged his shoulder into mine. I ignored him.

Charlotte smiled at us as though to say she thought we were cute. “The goofy looking one next to Samantha is Kevin.”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “Ignore my sister. Nice to meet you.”

“You are the Tar Heel?” I studied the tall and muscular guy sitting beside the girl. His hair was dark brown, and nearly matched his sister’s. His physique definitely was that of a college basketball player.