Gaia's Secret (41 page)

I rolled my eyes. “Give me a few days. I’ll
be better than you.”

He smiled then, the starlight sharpening his
already strong features. His dark hair fell around his face and
eyes in a beautiful mess. He looked so striking that my breath
caught in my throat and I glanced away, afraid to look back at him,
afraid he would see the effect he had on me.

Daria, knock it off. He’s your friend. It’s
okay to think he’s handsome but you should probably stop drooling
over him.

“What made you decide to forgive me?” His
deep voice tickled my ear.

Friends don’t drool. Friends don’t
drool…

“Tiernan gave me a choice. He said if I
surrendered my powers to serve him, then he wouldn’t harm any of
you. And if I didn’t, he would kill me and take them anyway. Then
he would kill the rest of you.”

I felt Alex’s gaze on me, but I stared out at
the water like it was the most interesting thing I’d ever seen.

“It was then I understood why you didn’t tell
me all those years. You knew me better than anyone—that I would
march myself right into harm’s way, thinking I was invincible. But
to know that nothing would happen to you—to have the promise of
your safety if I lived a lie—that’s what I would be doing. I
would’ve done it. I would’ve hated myself for it, but I would’ve
done it to protect you.”

“But you didn’t.”

“That’s because I had another option.”

He was still watching me, but I couldn’t turn
to look at him. Not this close. Somehow I knew I’d never be able to
finish what I wanted to say.

“I don’t know how I managed it, but I thought
if I could somehow manipulate a fire to appear, there might be a
small chance I could manipulate my chains to break.” I tossed
another pebble in the lake and it splashed with a hollow
plop
. “I don’t know. Thinking back on it, my logic sounds
ridiculous.”

“And it worked?”

I felt his surprise as I nodded. “Ironic, you
have Lord Tiernan to thank for that. He’s the one that convinced me
I had all this power in my blood. I figured if it was something he
wanted so desperately, I should at least try it out before he took
it away.”

Alex grabbed onto my wrists and I flinched.
His brow furrowed as he rolled back my sleeves. “Why didn’t you say
anything about this?”

Even in the low light, my wrists looked badly
bruised, with dark lines of dried blood etched around them from the
chains. He pushed one of my sleeves up further, revealing the line
Tiernan had not so delicately carved into my arm, and looked up at
me with a frown. “Daria.”

“Really, I forgot about it. And it’s not like
I could tell your mom. I feel bad enough that she used all her
strength on my dad.”

His face was rigid with disapproval as he
stood and walked to the water’s edge.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He waved at me to join him. “We need to at
least wash it.”

“Oh no, no, no, no,” I said. “I’m not getting
anywhere near that water.”

Alex looked amused. “She won’t get you now.
I’m with you.” There was a gleam in his eyes that made my stomach
flutter.

Friends don’t drool…

I stood and joined him, crouching beside the
water. Alex helped splash water onto my forearm. It stung at first,
but then began to numb the pains in my wrists and arms. It was
purifying, cleansing my blood of grime and memories.

“Better?” he whispered in my ear.

I nodded. My heart was beating fast, and,
even though it was cool, I felt warm all over. He stood and walked
back to where we were sitting. The moment he placed about three
feet between us, I heard quick movement, an irritating familiar
gurgle of laughter, and found myself drenched from head to toe.
Again. “Alex!” I clenched my teeth.

He started laughing.

“It’s not funny!”

“I know…but....” He could barely get words
out, he was laughing so hard.

That was it. I charged at him, throwing
myself on top of him and pushing him to the ground, making sure his
clothing soaked up as much water as possible.

But he wasn’t fighting me.

Instead, his arms wrapped around me holding
me against him. His laughter died down as his hands trailed up my
back and into my hair and he rested his palm on my face, holding me
there, inches from him.

There was an intensity in his gaze that
melted every part of my body. My eyes were trapped. I couldn’t
move, I couldn’t breathe. He held his palm against my cheek as his
breath warmed my lips. He leaned closer, and he kissed me.

His lips were velvety soft as they pressed
against mine. He hesitated at first, fighting back a desire, unsure
of my feelings. And I finally understood why everything had been so
difficult, why his leaving had hurt so much. It was this. It had
always been this. He had always meant so much more than just a
friend.

Passion burned through my veins, and I
started kissing him back. His emotions were intense and dizzying as
they blended with my own. All of them were tender; all of them were
filled with longing. I drank in the taste of him as he rolled me
beneath him, his heart pounding against mine. His fingers threaded
through my hair and mine through his, each of us pulling the other
closer. Our legs tangled as our mouths pressed together more
urgently—with need.

With a soft groan he stopped. I felt resolve
replace his passion and he rolled away.

My heart was trying to explode out of my
chest, my mouth still burned from his lips, the taste of him
lingering on my tongue.

“I’m…sorry.” His voice was rough.

“You’re…sorry?” I gasped. “Why would you say
that?”

“I should never have…” He shut his eyes,
struggling to calm himself. “I forgot…myself.”

“Forgot yourself?”

He turned to face me then. His eyes were
filled with pain as he reached out and tucked a strand of hair
behind my ear. “I forgot who you are.”

I finally discover I’ve been in love with my
best friend all my life, and the first thing he does is say he
forgot who I am? You don’t kiss your best friend and then say
“sorry, wrong person.”

“What are you saying?”

He trailed his fingers along my cheek.
“Believe me, I’ve wanted nothing more than to have that freedom
with you, but I’ve always known that once you came to this world,
things could never be how they were, or—” he touched my lips “—how
I want them to be.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Once you meet your grandfather, you
will.”

My disrupted passion was turning itself into
anger. “You’re telling me that you’re going to let my grandfather—a
man I’ve never even met, and has never had any interest in my
life—control our future?”

“When your grandfather happens to be king of
Gaia, yes.”

I couldn’t believe he was doing this, making
it about my situation—being the granddaughter of a king. It was
like I’d stumbled into another time period altogether, when
position and class actually mattered. No, it couldn’t be
possible—not these days. This was the twenty-first century, and
although I was currently in another world, I was from the United
States. Born and raised there. I had freedoms—including the freedom
to associate with whomever I wanted.

“Daria.” He rested his palm on my cheek, his
gaze never leaving mine. “I have always loved you, much more than a
friend should—especially one that would do nothing to dishonor you.
We
can’t be. I’ve known this since the day I met you. Your
grandfather is, or will be, very protective of your position. You
of all people should understand. I’ve known this. I’ve always known
this.” He stared into my eyes. “We can’t be close, not like we
were. This is Gaia. We can’t do as we please—especially not you. I
can never have you when you belong to the state, and I doubt anyone
is as angry about that fact as I am.”

The absolute truth and sincerity in his words
filled my heart with bitterness from a discovery that was only
going to cause pain. His feelings were so strong and intoxicating,
I wondered how he’d hidden them from me this long. I had loved Alex
my entire life—loved him as my best friend—but it wasn’t until
recently that I’d been so confused. He had understood the depth of
that love; he was always the one that understood.

“There has to be a way.” I touched his cheek,
feeling the stubble beneath my fingertips. “My dad loves you. He
can talk to my…this king…”

Alex kissed my fingertips and smiled. “I’ve
always loved your determination. I won’t lie, sometimes it drives
me mad.”

I smiled back at him, our fingers intertwined
in the small space between us. I wanted to close that space.

“I didn’t plan on complicating
this…relationship of ours any more than it has been the past three
years. I just wanted some time with you alone.” He played with a
piece of my hair. “Without all the hordes of people that will be
surrounding you from now on. Everyone will be watching.”

“You’re acting like I’ll never see you
again.”

He gazed up at the sky and his chest rose
with a deep breath. He shut his eyes, silent for a moment. ”The
connection you have to this world—the connection your mom had.
What’s it like?”

His question caught me off guard. I also
wasn’t sure how much of it I wanted to tell him. He might be upset
if he knew I could almost always sense his feelings. Though I
wondered how accurate that sense was, considering I had never known
he felt this way about me.

“Well,” I started, taking in a breath of
fresh air. “It’s like my spirit is aware of everything around me.
Things I can’t see I can feel—like I’m being pulled in a thousand
directions. I can sense others when they’re near, as if their soul
has physical properties. I know their feelings at times—not why
they’re feeling that way, but just
what
they’re
feeling.”

His mind was thinking something over. “You
sense mine?”

“Yes.”

“And are my feelings stronger than the
others?”

I thought before I answered. “Yes.”

He nodded, staring at the sky.

“Why?”

“I can sense yours,” his voice was quiet.
“Ever since you’ve been here. That ability—I’ve never experienced
it. But you are the only person I can feel.”

Part of me felt horrified that so much of
myself had been obvious to him.

One corner of his lips turned upwards as he
glanced back at me. “Trust me, there were many points during the
past few weeks I cursed that newfound talent. I thought you hated
me so much I was beyond all hope of forgiveness. It might have been
nice to be ignorant of it.”

I smiled, dropping my gaze. “Alex, I’m
sorry.”

He placed his hand on my cheek again, our
eyes glued to each other. Moments passed and we lay still. I
yearned to be closer to him and my lips ached to feel his again,
and as the thought would pass—as my desire would pulse through—he
would smile that smile I adored.

The air grew cooler and the breeze chilled my
damp skin, giving me goose bumps.

“We should get back,” he said. “Someone might
wonder what happened to us, and I don’t want to be held responsible
for making you get sick.”

I nudged myself against him. “I don’t
care.”

I felt him fighting against his passion. “I
do. We can’t have the king of Gaia meeting his snot-nosed
granddaughter.”

I smiled at that, and he helped me to my feet
and wrapped an arm behind my waist, holding me to him. He stared
into my eyes as he moved the hair from my face. My need for him was
bursting inside of me. All of a sudden, little white specks started
floating around us, like snow. They landed in our hair, on our
clothes—delicate, white flower petals that smelled of rich
tuberose.

Alex dusted off a petal that had fallen on my
nose. “Show off.” When he saw that I had no idea what he was
talking about, he continued. “Like your dad said, you inherited a
connection to this world from your mom. A connection to Gaia. I
think these trees are in tune to your feelings and are…adding to
the ambiance.”

Before I could argue, he rested his lips
gently on mine. He pulled away too fast and grabbed my hand. “We
better leave or I won’t be able to help myself. My self-control is
waning fast.”

“I suggest we stand here then. At least five
more minutes.” I stood planted to the ground and another shower of
petals fell around us. I didn’t know how I was doing it, but I
wished it would stop. There’s no being discreet when the trees give
you away.

Desire flashed through him but he forced it
down the moment it came. Alex had incredible willpower. I’d always
admired that about him, but right now, it was driving me
insane.

He shook his head. “You are going to be the
death of me.” He pulled me after him through the trees. My pulse
ran fast; so did his as we marched towards reality and away from
something we both wanted. Responsibility was something I prided
myself in, but I hated it when it conflicted with my desires.

Everyone was just as we had left them.
Grool’s snores had been replaced by grumbling and mumbling as he
clawed at the air. Alex picked up Fleck and laid him down on his
blankets.

“What about you?” I whispered.

“I’m going to stay awake.”

“Then I’ll stay awake with you.”

“No, you’re going to bed.” He walked over to
my blankets and lay down, motioning for me to join him. I was there
in a heartbeat, lying on my side right next to him. His chest rose
and fell quickly as he chuckled into my hair. He draped an arm over
my waist, holding me against him as I breathed in the scent of
him.

I turned back and spoke into his neck. “I
don’t see how this is going to help your case—with everyone able to
see.”

His breath tickled my ear. “I’m only staying
until you fall asleep.”

“Then I won’t.”

He squeezed me gently as he kissed my hair
and said nothing else. I soon forgot the chill of night being
wrapped in a cocoon of Alex’s warmth. Sometimes he would trace
invisible patterns over my arms, or run his fingers through my hair
and brush it away from my face. I’d never been more comfortable and
contented. My eyelids felt heavy as I struggled to keep them
open.