Denial (Goblin's Kiss Series Book One) (23 page)

“Your fear is—

I cut him off,
“Don
’
t you think it
’
s a little early to be tossing
around such a heavy word that you obviously are going to try to hit
me with as an arrow to my psyche?”

“Might go deeper
than that, bro.” Trigger looked over at my sleeping angel and
darted fast to the wall. I
’
d just let my eyes stray from her
to broach him and his double meanings and that
’
s where he landed his
own heavy stare when I followed it back.

“Out with it,” I just wanted him
to spill it now before she woke up and heard the wisdom of the all
mighty Trigger man. If not, he’d do it later in front of her just
to piss me off.

“You have to tell all of
it.”

“Not happening.
”

“She will find
out. She will ask you why you didn
’
t tell her and the hurt
won
’
t be easily swept away. You know how a chick works on the
inside. She
’
ll let it eat at her and then
she
’
ll run away. You can
’
t let her hate you. You two are
all we have left.”

Tell that to the ones who cursed
her.

I was sick and
tired of everyone telling me I was the last hope. Even Esau got
burned when Jacob screwed him over all the way from birth. Jacob
was already pulling Esau back into the womb fighting for first
place to the deception of losing his birthright to his brother. The
only difference between us and them, I didn
’
t want it even if I was the
first born.

I
can
’
t win. It
’
s the only way. I let my fist
meet the floor. “No.”

“Then she should
know about the mountains. And her own realm. It
’
s her birthright.”
Trigger added as an after note. I hated that I confided in him
sometimes, but he and Wicker were all I had.

Emma finally
stirred making the blanket squirm off her shoulders and revealed
too much skin. Her flat stomach appeared even more as she stretched
cat-like sending me into action. I pulled her shirt down without
thinking about what I was doing or the reaction
I
’
d
get. I just knew I wanted to cover her from being seen by the other
two.

“Why are you touching me?” she
stilled to barely there.

I gave her an
eased laugh and let go after I had her covered.
“
Just protecting your
virtue.
”

She huffed and stood above me
forcing me to follow her legs up and see the heat in her
face.

“You
’
re cute when
you
’
re angry.”

The blood rushed to her cheeks and
neck betraying surfaced feelings hidden behind her mad fit
face.

“And
you
’
re just plain frustrating.” She blew a breath out, her eyes
hard as steel.

“Frustratingly hot? Frustratingly
smug? Frustratingly perfect?”

Trigger groaned and left cursing
under his breath.

I was avoiding the obvious for
various reasons but mostly so she would still see me with a little
respect even though I was trying my best to push her away. She
needed to be free of me.

As if she knew I
was her very own cancer sending her to her own death she said, “You
flirt with danger and keep secrets that you know affect what my
next move will be and even act as if you already know the outcomes.
It would be easier if you
’
d be more honest with
me.”

Ames didn't know
I
’
d
just heard the conversation between him and Trigger. It must have
been the tail end though since all I really gathered was that
something was important about the mountains and he was reluctant to
tell me. And that us two are all they had left. If he meant to
include me in that, I didn
’
t want
to know yet. It might be bad
news.

He mused over my
last statement no doubt pondering what he wanted to say and/or what
he should say but what came out wasn
’
t what I
’
d expected. “I flirt with
you, but to no avail. I keep my secrets from you, to keep you
safe.”

Safe. “Hiding that you have a
brother that is evil reincarnated is just wrong. You should have
told me that Joshlin was your brother.”

“And what would it have
accomplished?” His eyes narrowed but not surprised by my own secret
leaking out.

“Well,
” I swallowed not sure why
it bothered me so, “For one...it might have...well never mind. It
would have been nice to know.” I looked away from him in silent
protest silencing my knotted stomach to douse the fear of the
unknown. Telling me would have never landed me here.
I
’
d
have run for my life.

“Are you throwing some kind of
female fit?”

Female fit? Who
says that to a girl? “Don
’
t make me
madder.”

“Madder is not a word.”

I blew out an exasperated breath
and squeezed my shaking fingers.

“You
’
re super cute when
you
’
re angry. Excuse me,
madder
.”

“And
you
’
re too smug.”

“Not too much. Just enough to get
you riled up though. What will you do about it?”

So he wanted a
challenge. I could see he liked the excitement part of flirting
with words. “Perhaps you should be in my debt for making amends for
what you
’
ve done.”

A single eyebrow
rose on his left brow. “
Your
demands?
”

Oh, well. I could think of some
that I would never say, but for the sake of needing him to keep
telling more, I turned to humor. “A frappe.”

His face fell a little. “Is that
all?”

“You interrupted me. Let me
finish.”

I
wasn
’
t sure what to say that wouldn
’
t end up with my face flaming red
or him teasing me more. So I sat there like a
dummy.

“Trouble with that?”

I blew a breath and stood to go. I
felt stupid for not having a comeback or having the courage to say
what I wanted. Ames just seemed to jumble everything up inside me
and confuse every inch of my thoughts.

“Can I help you with the
list?”

What would he
suggest? Making me a love slave. A girl can hope. I sure
didn
’
t say yes or no, just waited to hear.

Just when I
didn
’
t think my face could get hotter, he was an inch from my face
and getting closer. I could see his eyes watching my mouth open to
help myself breathe the larger puffs coming faster now. The
greenness of his eyes brightened and flitted to my own eyes. He
stayed so still not touching any part of me. I felt like I was
keeping my cool from where I stood and that he
wouldn
’
t over think me falling apart by the mere idea of him kissing
me. Wrong!

His lips hovered just beside my
cheek. I closed my eyes more to keep myself from falling forward or
backward. It never came though.

“I think my point is
proven.”

Oh,
I
’
m
gonna—

His hands held my shoulders. “We
both lose focus around each other which only proves letting this
happen will...”

“...push me over the edge.” Did I
say that? Yep! Consider me the brave one.

He seemed to shiver right along
with me which only made me feel better. He took a turn to swallow
audibly and moved back away from me. I was starting to rethink how
much he hated me.

If something in
my life was ever difficult, that was it. Maybe, just maybe, Ames
didn
’
t hate me for who I was. Maybe he did like me. But to a naive
girl who knew nothing about worldly kind of guys, I could only
guess he
’
d see me as a project, not someone to stick around with in
overtime.

Ames swiped the back of his thumb
across my cheek petal soft and walked outside running his hand
through his hair. I guess he needed air since it was officially
sucked out of the room by all one hundred puffs of air I had to use
to get through the last two minutes that completely just rocked my
world to a screeching halt.

I
wasn
’
t sure what I
should
do next.

Something in me
just snapped at that moment. I was just intending to rattle her.
She went all dreamy eyed when I got close and I
couldn
’
t stop the thrill it shot through me. But when I moved in
wanting to just see her eyes widen with the close quartered
nearness, I didn
’
t expect what her tiny exhale of
breath would do to me. Like an alpha male dog thing, I was suddenly
very aware of how she smelled so sweet and imagining what she might
even taste like. I was still sticking with the candy likeness. I
wanted her to be mine and mine only.

Emma stretched again and tried to
pop her back. “I wish there was a mattress or something softer to
sleep on.”

With that one snap, crackle, pop
of her spine, I had plan B for the day.

We packed what things we had and
headed out to the wild blue yonder. With the intention of driving
across the state line into Tennessee, we buckled up for safety and
left the cave dwelling for the nocturnals. Emma was safe beside me
in the front seat reading through a magazine she picked up at the
gas mart. Trigger and Wicker were in the back arguing over who gets
the last Milky Way.

It was too good to be
true.

At the second
red light across the state line, a car snaked in behind us that I
recognized easily. Joshlin
’
s jacksquat bounty hunters, that
he thought I knew nothing about, who were a joke compared to what
the three of us could do. He
’
d trained them in the pansy arts
of fighting and defense, but not tracking. They had that down
well.

I averted the scum by weaving into
heavy traffic in hopes of warding them off long enough to get off
the exit just as he would pass it. The semi truck in front of me
went left at just the perfect time allowing me to duck the car fast
on the other side of it, leaving me able to exit the ramp and
swerve straight into the green light. We disappeared right and
followed the traffic wherever it would lead as long as it was far
from the inevitable.

We shook the verdangit hunt squad
and headed to the motel I intended for us to hide out in allowing a
little more comfort than the cave. Upon arriving, her face told me
it might have been a mistake.

The musty smell
of the small dilapidated reception room, where the dumpy man stood
waiting for potential customers, was nasty and unwelcoming. The
shirt he wore, a janitor
’
s uniform, had a nametag that
read “Bob”.
Bob
grunted and asked us how many rooms we
wanted.

“Two rooms. One with two beds,” I
responded. I didn’t intend to sleep or leave the door of her
room.

Emma gasped
behind me making the seemingly bored man click his rotund stature
up to his full height. She stepped out beside me and
Bob
pushed his grubby
hands over his unshaven face and whistled low.

“I have the
honeymoon suite available.” He looked her up and down making
me,
and her
,
fully disgusted.

“That is unnecessary. We just need
the two rooms and will be on our way,” I said agitated and ready to
leave.

“For an additional ten dollars
there a bottle of strawberry wine,” Bob smiled showing me he was,
in fact, toothless on the top of his mouth. Great!

“Ames,” her voice thinly called
for me.

I turned to see her scared face
and waited for her fears to be announced to the crowd.

“Where am I staying?”