I finally took a quick breath, then a long one. “Thank you Ian. I feel better.” He’d successfully masked my worries and made me forget what was very far from my mind right now.
He shook his head and laughed.
A breeze hit my neck telling my senses that Danella was behind me so I turned sideways to see her. She didn’t come to the table unless it was urgent. “My lady,” she bowed and turned to Ian, “I have the items ready. You will need to have them wrapped and delivered before the day arrives. Shall I have this done now?”
My shoulders tensed. Ian’s chair screeched and he stood behind me. I stayed where I was. “I will take care of it. Please have it sent to my chambers.”
I found it funny how he called it his room when he was with me and chambers when referring to the court. It was more like a chamber to me since it included a bathroom the size of a house, but who cares, right?
Danella left. I turned back to my food, but was still not anywhere near hungry. Ian wasn’t beside me where he should so I turn the other way and found him standing slightly above still. “Can I take you somewhere?”
Specifically or just take me? I giggled at my double meaning that wasn’t meant that way initially but I found that I was doing it more and more. His head cocked left and I blushed knowing by his look that he couldn’t have read the thoughts. The silver in his eyes would have most likely surfaced.
“Yes,” I whispered out. He took my hand and led me to the garden. We sat in the very spot we’d sat on the first day he brought me here. He positioned me exactly as before and with the same gestures. I remembered this so well. Did he?
“Do you remember what you said the first time we sat here?”
“Which part?” He did remember.
He smiled. “You told me not to leave you.”
I nodded remembering that he’d told me that he would look different and would leave me by myself till the nighttime. I had panicked. “Yes, I said that.”
“And I meant to keep that promise to you. You know this, right?”
I didn’t know what to do next with this seemingly impervious to my wrongdoings man before me. “I do Ian. Why are you telling me this?” I thought I knew, but wanted to hear it.
He pulled out from behind his back a red rose and held it up to my face forcing my eyes to attempt looking around it but leaving me cross eyed. “I want to make sure you know that you are not alone and I am with you in this, right beside you.”
He was truly amazing. Truly. I felt ashamed that I couldn’t say the same. I didn’t think I could say anything worthy of expressing it so I just folded my hand around the hand that held the rose and pulled it down to lean my forehead to his. Eyes open, I touched my lips to his and concentrated on what I hoped was forgiveness. I love you.
He smiled. I love you too.
We both seemed on a high note of elation at this small secret recurring development between the minds. I was beyond deserving of this man.
“One more thing.” He snapped his fingers and two guards busted in with two white steaming boxes. “Your list of requirements.”
I smiled knowing my hunger returned at the very scent of them. When I opened the box and took a bite before it could disappear, I hated seeing the audience of three males noting the audacious manner of how unladylike I was presenting myself. I reached for the soda and Bane held on to it so I would look up. Examining his eyes and smile made his face look different than ever before. He let go of the drink allowing me to hold it and his other arm curved around and presented me with a dozen red roses. I melted a hundred times over. After the guards left, I finished my burger and had the last of the soda slurped down when Ian took my box and empty cup, sat them away from me, and turned my knees to him. I wondered about my third request, but knew better to ask when that would be with Mr. Chastity.
Chapter Thirty Five
PDA- acronym for public display of affection
It was midnightish. Five girls, my guards, Ian, Pike, and Bane were all standing in the middle of the range area deciding how to divide up. Ian’s possessive nature claimed me, not that I’d have chosen otherwise. Bane directly moved close to Sarah as she inched over closer to him. They were still in the I-don’t-want-to-make-the-first-move mode so I spoke up for them. “Bane, will you help Sarah with the bow?” He nodded a little too quickly. Ian eyed me giggling at her. Later, I messaged him with my eyes. Cell phones had nothing on me and my man’s mind texting. He nodded, but watched Bane’s hands shake as he tried to choose a bow for Sarah. Ian’s smile told me he was figuring it out.
“Pike can help Lorah and the other girls with the daggers? Only one to start probably.”
He nodded, not really happy with his task. Poor baby.
His head jolted at my mind texting which gained me a growl.
I laughed. Three women. One man. What’s the problem?
They’re not you.
As always, I’m flattered, but hop to it.
One of the girls kept eyeing Ian a little more than I was comfortable with, but was quickly extinguished by Pike’s overbearing growl and yank in a different direction. Who did she think she was?
I moved back to my man setting up for a little one-on-one lesson with my own black onyx bow that I fully planned to act very novice in. As it turned out, Bane was taking cues from Ian as to how to woo and teach at the same time. Ian was getting bold and very PDA on me with Bane mocking every move. This is a little too much for a still on the first step couple like Bane and Sarah, but Ian wasn’t thinking of them it seemed. Ian was folded up against me now with his arms tangled around and his front touching my back. Now, I loved this so much I let it go on until I looked over my shoulder and saw Pike having a conniption over our little display. Well, I am the queen. I can PDA all I want, right?
Ian stepped away and we cooled the moment by talking Sarah through a shot that hit far from the target, but gave us a good laugh. It hit Lorah’s dagger board, bounced off and landed back in front of the arrow target board Sarah had just aimed to hit.
I looked over at Pike and asked if he’d switch with us and he obliged. In passing he bent down meaning to speak to me to no doubt give me something to chew on, but I stopped to use one of Caylie’s best used moves. I put my pointer dexter finger in the air near his face. He could bite my finger if he wanted too. “Wait for it,” I said with such sarcasm a monkey would laugh. And I kept my face in that ever so eloquently posed face that Caylie coined as her I-don’t-want-to-hear-it face. It worked. He was so shocked, he just followed my finger and continued to tango our steps in opposite directions. The girls all caught this entire scene, clapped, and bowed towards me. Lorah hooped and hollered, “We bow down to the queen of sarcasm. You rock!” This was very bold for Lorah. I was rubbing off on them. “How very human you ladies sound.”
We all giggled in a huddled group now high-fiving. I finally came up for air seeing the wall of three men with folded arms all watching us. I had an idea. A very human warp-the-Fey women, moment. Somehow they wanted a diplomatic stuffy queen to rule their court, but that just wasn’t me. And certainly not now. A song pooled in my head from the pep rallies at school. And I wasn’t the cheerleader type. I pulled the girls back down to a football huddle and whispered my radical plan. I ran to the room and grabbed my mp3 player. It was tough at first because the girls had not ever heard of mp3 players or hip hop or what a poker face involved. However, they had read enough classic literature where the girls show out to the guys that they were able to comprehend what I was proposing. When finished calculating words and moves we stood up to form an all female wall to the male wall that seemed enthused with what we had stewing. I counted off quietly, pushed play, and then...
Oh,Oh,Oh
I’ll get him...
We danced in sync better than expected. The suggestive moves warranted all three men at full height attention. The song continued and so did we. Lorah was a bit shy at first, but soon realized the dancing was rather fun and sporadic, so having rhythm wasn’t important.
/> I didn’t need the whole song to make my point. We popped and locked and slapped our backsides with the only move I was able to get them in sync with. Now we were all high fiving each other. I’d taught them this friendly gesture during our book studies. After much feminine giggling and such we turned back to our men. It wasn’t really anything to boast about, but it was fun.
Their shocked faces would have been wonderful to capture on my cell phone if I still had one. Priceless.
Ian broke the spell by raking his fingers across his stubble, the sound traveling to my sensitive hearing and sending shivers up my spine. Ohhh! Ahhh!
“Well, I think you ladies have learned enough about weapons for the night. I feel my queen’s female human weapons have taught you more than our Fey men can handle.”
“Oh Ian. It was only meant in fun.”
“Oh, I know that my queen. But I can’t have my men panting and distracted with things like that especially if they are panting over my future wife. I’ll have to kill them.”
I squeezed my eyes in a glare at him. “You wouldn’t.” All eyes bugged out on us without a doubt watching the argument they could no sooner interrupt even if they wanted too.
“Oh, but I would. Don’t let me catch you pulling that kind of stunt again, my love.”
I was angry. “Ian, it was fun. Don’t take my buzz.” My human lingo always tripped him up. Or, it used to.
“Oh, I didn’t say you couldn’t do it for me. You can cheer for me in our own private space at any given moment. Just say the word.” He knew just what to say to me and in front of a crowd no doubt.
“Word!” I challenged.
His hand shot out and I was being dragged away. “If you will excuse us we will see you all tomorrow at breakfast.”
“Ian, they are going to think—“
“You should have thought of that before you broke your promise.” His hand was in the nook of my back guiding me towards a direction I knew would lead to his room. Once there, he motioned for me to lead in and I was shaking like a leaf as I did. Oh, what is he going to do?
“Promise?”
“To not flaunt what is mine.”
He steered me through the door, locked it, and leaned me back against the wall beside it. This was new.
His eyes danced all kinds of danger. I flattened up against the wall as if it might move and let me fall through it. My hands spread against the cold panels. “You’re mad I did that in front of others?” Both of my shoulders arched. “Why Ian? What did it do to you?”
His emotions were tucked away, but his eyes told me everything I knew the answers too. His growl was low and husky coming from his throat. He put one of his hands around my waist and I felt his fingers trace and move down to my behind. It stayed there. Then the other hand captured the other side. My heart was leaping up and down and screaming at me as I pressed both of my hands against his rock hard stomach that wasn’t moving. Wasn’t he breathing?
“This is mine. No one is to entertain thoughts about my queen. I tolerate the Pike thing because he is somehow tangled up in this prophecy, but I’ll be...Grace, I can’t handle anyone looking at you like that.”
My OH HECK moment had passed and was moving onto the HELLO jealous possessive boyfriend moment. And this is not a boyfriend you take it lightly from since he walks softly and carries a big stick. I was keeping a futile hold on his stomach as if it really created a barrier between us, but since his hands were still on my buns, I held tight. Nothing could take me from this flash in time nor take away the thrill of what I braved to get it.
“Are we clear on the dancing in front of others part?” I nodded very slowly in response glancing down at my hands on him. His shirt had ridden up and my hand was touching the edge of his hip. My thumb to be exact. The perfect finger that could just slide down into....
“That’s not a good idea right now.”
I burned. “Good idea. Bad idea. Better idea. I’m up for your ideas.”
“You’re playing with a danger you can’t control, Grace. You know nothing about the male species no matter how much you read in your books. You have no idea what is happening to me right now.” His hands moved too quickly to straight above me taking my hands with them. I was caged in. I wasn’t thinking clear thoughts anymore. Like a quiet suffocation of the hot and bothered variety.
I made the sore decision to glance under his arm at his bed.
“Oh, and that is a much better idea,” his voice was like silk to me. I sucked in my breath. “Are you scared Grace?” This was the very bad boy ride that bike, full of the devil Ian that I fell for. He knew what he was doing right now and I prayed I’d survive this without melting under his spell. I didn’t answer him.
I chose the burn ‘em down fast method and bolted out from under his arms and straight to the middle of the bed. I somersaulted up and stood up crouched and ready with vigor in my step. As hard as I tried, I bounced and he missed me. I dodged three more of his lightning fast moves.
Come down or I’m coming up.
You’re scaring me Ian.
You should be.
Why? Our mind passage was wide open. High emotions! Being able to talk to him this was...getting me hot. The temperature kind.
Because...
“Because, I’m trying to show you what you did to me back there.” His voice was hoarse and all manner of mint and woodsy and something else hitting me strong. I can’t take this...I’m going to give in to him. I jumped down fast and shoved my hands hard into his chest. Common sense went home to the human world.
He stepped closer.
I shoved him again.
Closer.
His breath hitched my own to a nonexistent barely there breeze.
“What Grace? What are you going to do?” He was in control and it was time I stopped it. “Stop. You’re making me crazy. This is to—I want to—”
I did it. I looked up at his eyes and that was it. The air left us both when I attacked him like a spider to a fly at his last meal. My legs went up around him. He balanced me in the air and then sat me down on the edge of the bed, his mouth all over me. I broke it as fast as it started and backed up in the middle of the bed where I’d stood before. We both panted and stared.
I watched as his eyes looked at the locked door where two guards were probably on the other side of them. Why I was thinking of them as if my safety were a concern was baffling. “What are you going to do now?” His eyes blinked rapidly and he appeared to change his mind from what he was about to say.
“Grace, I will refrain from saying what my mind is shouting at you and choose to save it for the right time. But know this, I hope you understand now what displaying yourself in public does to a man. I cannot allow it. You are mine and mine alone. If it is your desire to dance around so suggestively, then by all means, I will oblige. But not again anywhere else.”
I had to admit. This animal possession was doing wild things to my libido. I felt very much chased, and on top of my future husband’s bed no doubt. Talk about mating dances. I think we just rewrote the book. I slowly moved over and off the bed. I moved around him and walked backwards all the way to his bathroom with his eyes on me the entire time. Okay! So he got the point across. Couldn’t he have just said it outright?
I cooled my face with a splash of water and dried off. I sprinkled some on my neck and hairline. Heck! I sprinkled it all over. He’d know, but I wasn’t in a caring mood. No, that wasn’t the MOOD I was in at the second. And I had to return sometime. Maybe dawn would come first!
Chapter Thirty Six
investigation- n. the action of investigating something or someone; formal or systematic
I told the girls the next day how mad Ian had been. Well, they didn’t believe it. Lorah knew enough that Ian had “the look” in his eyes from the apparent extensive studies on the court men and their reactions to things Sarah did. Interesting studies ladies.
When I told them that we had it out and then we both fell asleep they eyed me with s
uspicion so my guilty conscious gave up at least half of what happened. At least I had girlfriends again. And I hoped they weren’t the kiss and tell kind. Oh, I pray.
I left out the part about the bed tumbling and gave them at least the steamy parts against the wall and after the bathroom. He’d been standing outside the room right where I left him when I opened the bathroom door. I hadn’t looked any cooler even with my elaborate splashing and the two of us stayed fully clothed. We laid down separately on the bed to wait out the next few hours. We finally gave up being far apart from each other and both went to eat in the kitchens. He told me blond jokes till I fell out of my chair from exhaustion and then carried me back to my room where I woke up alone.
I cornered Sarah for a trustworthy session of WHO DUNNIT!
“What exactly do you want me to do?”
I observed first and confirmed no brainwaves, bodies, or eavesdroppers of any kind. “I need you to just try to read my mind. Let me find out something.” A detective’s work is never done.
“What?”
“When I know, I’ll tell you.” FBI Grace on the case as the Freaky Babelicious Investigator! My Caylie side was showing out.
Sarah fretted for a little longer and finally caved, “Fine. But let’s hurry.”
“When you’re ready?” I lifted my pendant and put it outside my shirt. I could tell Sarah was concentrating, but felt nothing. Then, my head zapped and popped at the same time. Just like at the Unseelie court, with Kin, and with Pike. That’s what I needed.
I smiled at Sarah to give her the “you can stop now” face. She did immediately.
“Well,” she asked.
“I just confirmed that Ian has some kind of special link to me?”
“You needed me for that?”
“Yes. He apparently has his own special let me know head mojo that tells me he’s ringing my bell, so to speak.”
Sarah threw her hands up, “TMI Babe!”
Holy human lingo, Batman. I rolled my eyes back at her, “Not the message I was sending, BABE. I meant that he has a specific signal. Something that lets me know it’s him breaking or blocking into my mind. Everyone else has the same as each other. Like a zap. He’s different.”
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