His Abducted Bride (17 page)

When he glanced in her direction, she noted the warmth flooding her cheeks. There was no way he could know her thoughts and yet, he winked and shot her a suggestive smile before he turned his attention back to his sword. She had a mind to deflate that ego of his, except she caught the way his muscles worked under his thin, white shirt. She loved grabbing those strong arms while he made love to her.

All too soon, the exercises were over, and he was crossing the lawn so he could talk to her. “How is my lady doing?” he asked, his skin glistening with sweat.

She licked her lower lip as she contemplated what it might be like to have him make mad passionate love to her while she wore her dress and he wore nothing. There was something wonderfully wicked about that fantasy. Blinking back her thoughts, she cleared her throat. “You didn’t put some kind of spell over me, did you?”

He chuckled and sheathed his sword. “No. Why would I do that?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t put anything past you. You’d probably like nothing more than for me to throw myself at you.” It’d be just like him to put a spell over her to get her to seduce him.

A slow smile spread across his lips. “If you want me to take you, why don’t you just say so?”

“As it turns out, I’m not here for that.”

“Doesn’t matter. We can go to the bedchamber or somewhere else that’s private and make all your dreams come true.”

“Or maybe these are your dreams you’d be making come true?”

“If that’s your story, I’m willing to go along with it.” He took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips, his kiss making her body tingle in excitement.

“What am I going to do with you?”

He squeezed her hand and winked. “I don’t care as long as you promise to be gentle.”

With a grin, she pulled her hand away from his. “Well, this is an unlucky moment for you because I’m not here to do anything sexual with you.”

He frowned. “Not even a little bit?”

“No. In fact, I have something important to discuss with you.”

“Really?”

She glanced around and slipped her arm around his. “It’s probably something we should discuss in private.”

“And we can’t combine this with something more fun because…?”

She shrugged. “I have a feeling this might be important enough that you won’t be in the mood for sex.” She noted the flicker of apprehension on his face. “Okay. Maybe I’m being dramatic. It could be nothing.” But even as she said it, she wondered if it was the truth. Something about her encounter with the old man just wasn’t right.

When they were inside the castle, she made a turn to go to their bedchamber, but he stopped her. “I discuss serious matters in the planning room.”

“Alright.” She led him in the opposite direction and waited until they were in the room before she spoke. “Remember that old man I told you about?”

“The one from the strange shop in the village?”

“Yes.”

She expected him to walk right over to her, but he sat on the edge of the table in front of her, one foot on the arm of the chair in front of him. He rested his elbow on his knee and leaned forward. “What about him?”

“I saw him.”

“When?”

“Just now, as I was walking through the gardens.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “That’s impossible. None of my guards saw any suspicious activity there.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Your guards are watching me?”

“No,” he quickly argued with a forced chuckle. “Not watching you. They’re watching out for you.”

She crossed her arms and stared at him, not sure she liked any of this. “I fail to see the difference.”

“There’s a huge one. By watching out
for
you, they are protecting you from harm.”

“And what am I being protected from?” When he hesitated, she grunted and turned away from him so she could look out the small window. Her gaze went to the wall where three guards stood at their posts, ever diligent in their job. “What’s out there that is a threat?”

“I suppose the answer lies with the old man who somehow managed to sneak past the castle walls.”

“He didn’t sneak in. He was a hologram.”

“A hologram?”

“Yes. He was a three-dimensional image. It allowed him to be here without physically being here.”

“I know what a hologram is and what it can do,” he replied. “What I don’t understand is how he slipped the hologram inside the castle. The thing he used could be anything, and it’s probably something so small no one would notice it.” He shook his head.

“What are you thinking?” she asked, sensing there was more to this whole thing than he was telling her.

“I already told you what I’m thinking. This old man is using something small to find a way to get a message to you. What did he say?”

“Before I tell you anything, I need to know something first.” There was no way she was going to reveal everything when he was hiding something important from her. She uncrossed her arms and stepped toward him. “What’s going on? Why are the guards watching out for me? What threat am I supposed to watch out for?”

“The old man.”

“You’re dodging my question.”

“No, I’m not. It was an old man who appeared to you. Twice now.”

“But who is he?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I need to find out.”

“I don’t believe you.” She shook her head. “After all we’ve done together, how can you sit there and lie to me? Do you really think I’m so stupid that I can’t figure out you’re not telling me the truth?”

He swallowed and averted her gaze. She waited for a long moment for him to answer her, determined that she’d stand in front of him all night if that’s how long it took to get the truth out of him. He was remarkably stubborn, but she could be too if she wanted to be and since this concerned her, she had good reason to stand her ground.

“Gavin, tell me everything,” she finally said, her voice leaving no room for argument.

His shoulders slumped and he rolled his eyes. “Fine. It’s King Petros. King Petros is coming here to send you back to your world. Happy?”

She frowned. “King Petros? You don’t think he also wants to be a hero, do you?”

“I never wanted to be the hero. I just wanted to live.”

“You gave everyone you were supposed to have killed a second chance at a good life. That is the kind of thing a hero does.”

“I didn’t see it that way. I only wanted to undo the damage you made me do.”

“Alright. Fine. Whatever. It doesn’t matter now since it’s all in the past. What matters is that you wanted to get a hold of me so you could change my book. Do you think King Petros wants to do the same thing?”

“He wants to send you back so you’ll keep the book as it was originally written. That means I’d end up killing off everyone all over again and you’d kill me in the final chapter.”

“Oh.” She thought over what the old man had told her when she said she didn’t want to go back to her world. He said he was sorry to hear it. “Why does he care so much if I write the second book? He’d be the villain. That means he’d have to die at the end in order for the book to be complete.”

“If he can send you back, then he can access your world.”

“Well, yes. I suppose that’s true.”

“If he can access your world, then he can abduct you to force you to change the story.”

“You know, I’ve never heard of any other author who’s been harassed by her characters as much as I am.”

He slid off the table and pulled her into his arms. “I didn’t set out to harass you. I just wanted to stay alive.”

“Well, maybe he does, too. Maybe I should talk to him. It’s not like I have to write another book.” And given how much trouble everyone was going to so they could change what she wanted to write, it wasn’t even worth it. “I can tell him I won’t write anything else. Then he’ll feel safe and go back to whatever kingdom I placed him in.”

“He rules Reinhold.”

“What does it matter? The fact is, this whole thing isn’t worth it. I mean, I can’t write a simple story without my characters going all crazy on me. From now on, the only thing I’m going to write is a grocery list. Hopefully, the broccoli won’t raise a protest when I pass it up for a tomato.”

He chuckled and kissed her. “Well, if I was broccoli, I’d wish I was a tomato so you’d take me home.”

She rolled her eyes but grinned. “You have no need to worry because we’d go to the store and come back together.”

“That’s nice to know.” He massaged her shoulders. “Look, I don’t want you to worry. I’ll handle King Petros.”

“I’m the author. I should be the one to handle him.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not? I just told you I won’t write book two and kill him off. I’ll tell him the same thing. End of problem.”

“No, I don’t think so. This isn’t the same as it was with me.”

“Oh? Afraid I’ll leave you for him?” She meant to tease him, figuring he’d give her one of his cocky grins and say that there was no contest between him and King Petros because he was much better.

But to her surprise, he turned unexpectedly serious and made eye contact with her. “King Petros isn’t harmless. He killed three of your men to try to send you back to your world. I didn’t kill anyone to do what I wanted. You might not have thought him through when you introduced him in the original version of this story, but he’s taken on a life of his own and I don’t think he’s the type of character who minds being the villain.”

She considered his words. “If that’s true, then why didn’t he come right out and harm me? Why offer me a way back to my world where I could restore the original story?”

“There’s an original file of the story still available?”

“It’s on my hard drive. He put it in a file you wouldn’t find.”

He let go of her shoulders so he could scoot off the table.

As he headed for a cabinet in the corner of the room, she added, “You have no reason to worry. I’m not going to use the original version.” She traced the smooth edge of the table as he retrieved a rolled up map and set it down. “In fact, I told him I’m not interested in going back.” The last part she said softly, knowing as she came out and admitted it, she was revealing much more of her heart than she’d done with any other man.

His eyes met hers. “You’d do that? Give up your world to be with me?”

Her face growing warm, she lowered her gaze to where her fingers ran along the table’s cool surface. “I didn’t take the globe he wanted to give me that would have taken me back there.”

“I love you.”

Her heartbeat picked up and she chanced a look at him.

“I don’t want to live without you,” he continued, his voice gentle.

With a smile, she relaxed. “I don’t want to live without you either.”

“Because you love me?” he pressed, his eyes twinkling.

“If I say yes, will your ego get even bigger?”

“Most likely.”

Well, at least he could admit it. “Alright. I’ll take my chances and say yes, though I will add you wouldn’t be anything without me,” she teased.

He winked. “I won’t forget.”

Turning his attention back to the map, he rolled it out. “King Petros came from Reinhold.” He waved her over so she walked over to him and peered down at the map. “Before he came here, he went to Crystaline then came here, to Havenshire. What we know is that he planned an attack in Crystaline before he tracked you down and sent a holographic image to talk to you.” He drummed his fingers on the table and glanced at her. “I doubt he’s really an old man.”

“No. I barely know anything about him, but I know he was young.”

“Any idea of what he looks like?”

She shrugged. “A vague idea. Didn’t my knights see him?”

“No. He wore the mask that was the face of a golden vulture.”

“A golden vulture?”

“Yeah, apparently it’s his trademark.” He scanned the map. “You said he wanted to get you back to your world?”

She nodded and tapped the area in the heart of the Havenshire forest. “The globe he showed me said the portal back to my world is here, at least in this kingdom.”

“He’s right. It is. And it’s not easy to get to. I have enchantments set through the entire kingdom.”

“Like what?”

“Quicksand, mirrors that make you think you’re heading one way when all you’re doing is going in circles, trees that try to lure you off your path. Stuff like that.”

“Well, how fun. Sounds like I would have enjoyed the trip.”

His lips curled up at her sarcastic tone. “You needn’t worry. The enchantments won’t affect you. You’re the queen of this land. You’re safe from harm. In fact, the things living there will help you.”

“That would have been nice to know sooner.”

“There was no point in telling you before you fell in love with me.”

“You’re sneaky,” she wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his cheek, “but I’ll forgive you since you’re cute.”

“Being cute has its perks.”

“Definitely.” She kissed his cheek and giggled when he squeezed her bottom.

“Is there anything else that happened between you and that hologram?”

“No. He offered to show me a way back to my world, I declined, and he didn’t like my answer.” She glanced at the map. “What are you looking at this for?”

“I’m trying to figure out which direction King Petros is coming from. Since he left Crystaline, it stands to reason he came from the south.” He pointed to her kingdom. “He could access Havenshire from any of these two points of entry into the forest.”

“I will say one thing, that forest is a great hiding place for a lot of men.”

“Now you know why the guards are lined up along the wall.”

“At least you have the large clearing between this castle and the forest. It buys you some time before they can attack.”

“Not much but every second counts.” He traced two paths along the forest. “Though I didn’t think he’d find a way to send a hologram through the castle walls.”

“Shouldn’t your forest be a hindrance to his army?”

“A determined warrior finds a way, even if it costs him some men along the way.”

“You’re not like that. You wouldn’t sacrifice your men to get something you wanted.”