Kiss of the Goblin Prince (26 page)

A waiter came over and she ordered coffee. Dai asked for another tea, chamomile, and paid for them both. She would’ve argued, but he didn’t seem to expect her to chip in. It was she who wasn’t used to having anyone else pay. She was used to doing everything on her own.

“You don’t like coffee?” she asked instead of dwelling on the reasons why he’d asked her out and what the etiquette should be.

“It doesn’t help my insomnia.” As he spoke she could see his guard going up as if admitting he didn’t sleep was a defect.

He was telling her the things he thought she needed to know before anything else happened. The idea that the strange dance they were doing was drawing them closer was scary and exhilarating, and she had no idea how to do it without Brigit asking what was going on. Brigit was part of her life, a big part, but she needed to carve out something for herself. A few hours of being more than Mom.

She smiled and leaned forward a little. “How much don’t you sleep?”

He took a sip of tea. “A lot. I find it easier to sleep during the day, but it’s not the same.” He turned the cup a full rotation on the saucer.

She waited to give him the chance to continue. He did.

“Last night I slept all night. I can’t remember the last time I got more than a few hours.”

“You must be exhausted all the time.” She had a fuzzy recollection of being up half the night with a new baby, but that lasted only months, not years.

Dai just nodded.

She accepted her coffee from the waiter. The rich honey scent of real coffee perfumed the air. It was so much better than the freeze-dried supermarket stuff she had at home. The smell alone was worth the price.

“Do you know why you can’t sleep?”

He glanced out the window. The fine lines at the edge of his eyes bunched. Amanda wanted to reach out and smooth them away.

“Nightmares mostly. Things I can’t change.”

His sister’s death still kept him awake. She’d been on the beach when Matt had disappeared, but watching someone be murdered must be another level of hell. “Post-traumatic stress?”

He frowned like he’d never heard the term.

“People who’ve experienced a shocking event or trauma often suffer flashback, panic attacks, and nightmares.” How did he not know this? “You never had counseling after your sister’s death?”

He shook his head and his dark hair skimmed his shoulders. In that moment, he looked younger than thirty-three. How had he never been counseled when he was a witness?

Was he just a witness? Roan never talked about their sister. Was there a family secret Dai wasn’t sharing? Did Eliza know everything about her new husband that she should?

“What about Roan?”

“He wasn’t there at the time.”

“Did you know her killer?”

He looked her in eye. For a heartbeat she thought she’d pressed too hard and he was about to bolt. “Yeah. I knew him well.”

The coffee wasn’t hot enough to remove the chill from the air around them. He was there and knew the killer. She asked even though she was sure she knew the answer. “Did he hurt you?”

“What do you think?” Then he shrugged. “He’s dead now; it doesn’t matter.”

It was no wonder he had nightmares. But if his sister was eleven, it must have been years before. “Can I ask how old you were?”

“Nineteen.” He poured himself another cup of tea with his long-fingered hands, careful and precise.

“It must have been hard on all of your family to lose her.”

“My mother died soon after Mave’s birth. My father…died when I was sixteen. They weren’t there.”

It was just the three of them, and then Dai was responsible for cutting them to two.

“I’m sorry.” Her hand clasped his and he returned her grip.

The room disintegrated around her until it was just the two of them locked together. She held her breath, not wanting to damage the moment. Would he share the rest and tell her what had happened? The tips of his fingers stroked her skin so gently she had to concentrate to feel his touch. The pulse of her blood became the only sound.

His eyes darkened like light night was stealing the day. “I can’t change the past, but I’m trying to move forward.”

Then he was next to her, on his knees. He traced her cheek. “I want to kiss you again. I’ve been thinking of nothing else.” His finger touched her lip, sending shivers down her spine.

The room spun back in a storm of noise and color. She couldn’t breathe as longing burst through her carefully placed walls, and all the reasons why she should say no were washed away as one word left her lips.

“Yes.”

Chapter 15

Amanda leaned down. His fingers pushed into her hair, drawing her closer. Their lips met. A touch. A taste. A tentative caress. Her eyes closed as she wished he’d continue. Her hand moved over his chest, his neck, his jaw. Stubble grazed her fingers, burning nerves as only a man could do. His tongue traced the shape of her lower lip. She tilted her head and opened her mouth anticipating more, needing more.

When the welcome invasion of his tongue didn’t happen, she went after what she wanted. She sought him out, his mouth warm from the tea. Their tongues connected and the moment shattered like crystal.

Dai pulled back, smile gone, guard up.

People around them catcalled.

Her breath returned, adding oxygen to the fire that was consuming her insides and creeping up her cheeks. So many saw such a private moment.

Dai looked over his shoulder at the grinning onlookers. He got to his feet as the color drained from his face. He was going to flee. She wasn’t going to let him; she wasn’t going to lose him to a past she didn’t understand. She grabbed her bag and his hand.

He pulled her out the door, dragging her in his attempt to escape, but not trying to escape her. Around the corner he stopped and spun her against the wall. The bricks were cold against her back, but he was warm as his body melded to hers. Every inhalation pressed them closer. Their hands still locked together against the limestone wall.

“What happened?”

“I didn’t want an audience.”

She caught the edge of the lie but let it pass. “Then kiss me again.”

Like they were the only two people in the world. She couldn’t escape her past any more than Dai could. But she had to move forward.

She relinquished control of the kiss and let him draw her into something slow that stole her breath. Her eyes closed as she sank deeper under his spell. His tongue darted over her lip and she let him in, moaning softly as his hips pressed against hers with a promise that couldn’t be fulfilled.

She wanted him. It felt like she’d been waiting for him to wake her up and make her feel alive again. She forced herself to breathe. All the air smelled like him. Male, and heady. Body to body she couldn’t escape and didn’t want to. He placed a final kiss on her lips and drew back a fraction.

His eyes were dark but not with shadows. And his lips curved in a way that suggested he knew exactly what she was thinking.

Yet they were in the open where nothing more could happen.

“You could’ve invited me to your place.” Her words were more breathy than she’d expected.

“I could’ve. Would you have come?”

She glanced away. “No.”

Because she didn’t trust herself to behave around him. Maybe that was the point. She shouldn’t have to worry about behaving, only giving in and enjoying herself. And when it ended and she got hurt? What then? She pushed aside the voice of doubt she’d listened to for far too long. Life was too short to be afraid. Love was too precious to turn her back on it.

“Then I’m glad I didn’t.” And yet every part of him indicated otherwise. If they were alone there would be less clothing, and much less talking.

She watched him from beneath her lashes. “Are you going to let me go?”

“Do you want me to?”

She shook her head. But she couldn’t spend the day making out with him. She had other responsibilities. “I can’t stay. I have to pick Brigit up from school.”

“I know.” He swallowed and his fingers slid away from hers. “You’re taking her to the healer today?”

“Yes.” She smoothed her hair. Her lips were sensitized from being crushed for the first time in too long and her skin ached from the loss of contact.

He frowned.

“What? I thought you believed in this stuff?”

“Oh, I do. But that doesn’t mean she’s legitimate. Just be careful.”

Amanda paused. “I always am.” Like she’d do anything to put Brigit at risk. The shadows on the side of the building crept into her blood and made her shiver. “She was recommended to me.”

He stepped back. “Okay. I’m sorry.”

“No. I asked for your opinion. And I am cautious. If it doesn’t feel right, we’ll leave.” She smiled at him, but the mood of the afternoon had shifted to something more serious. “You’re actually worried.”

He grimaced and looked out over the beach. “My understanding of healing is limited but I know it’s complex. Plus magic isn’t always predictable.”

Amanda nodded. Her hope that it would be the cure diminished as he voiced every fear she had tried not to acknowledge.

“How dangerous is it?”

“I wish I could tell you, but my focus was curses and other magical rites.”

She laughed. “Do you know how silly this conversation sounds?”

He raised one eyebrow. “Just listen to Brigit; if she doesn’t like the way the magic feels to her—”

“I know.” She ran her hand up his chest. She hadn’t imagined the hard planes of muscle the other night. What did he do in his spare time? She kissed his cheek, skin to skin for a moment longer than needed. His hand slid over her waist, but what she wanted was his hands against her flesh. He turned his head to catch her lips in another slow kiss. Her insides were molten with a need that would have to keep for another time. “Thank you for the coffee…and the warning.”

***

Dai walked past the nondescript building three times in his search for Birch. The only reason he kept coming back was because the building was
too
perfect. The magic was so tight there was barely a ripple of energy in the fabric. And that was the only clue. No other building had so few disturbances. Just existing caused connection and webs to form. Birch’s building appeared in his sight as if it had been scrubbed clean. He shook his head with amazement. That was powerful magic, but with one flaw. It lacked camouflage. But then the average human wasn’t able to see magic…or the lack of magic.

As he approached the double glass doors, the hairs along his arms spiked. A strong urge to turn away followed. He ignored it and his stomach curled up and lodged in the back of his throat. The wards were getting harder to ignore with each step. He put his hand out and pushed through air that thickened like concrete. The concentric circles on his back spun up ready to deflect any magical strike. Then the door opened with a hiss of air and the resistance vanished.

He let out the breath he hadn’t noticed holding. While he was tempted to look behind him and see what he’d passed through he didn’t. He kept his eyes in front like he had every right to be there and hadn’t forced his way past the locks designed to keep humans away. All that and he was only five minutes late.

A security guard with all the charm of a pit bull and the grace of a Rottweiler stopped him two paces inside the door by planting one giant hand on his chest.

“I was watching you.” The guard’s nostrils flared and twitched. His eyes narrowed. “You think you’re something special, getting in here?”

Dai tensed. The guard was the type of man who liked to abuse the little power he had. He knew the type. He maintained eye contact and didn’t move, even though he wanted to rip the creature’s hand off. The guard had no right to touch him. “Do you always treat clients like chew toys?”

Claws pricked through his shirt. He wanted to glance down but didn’t. That would be a sign of weakness and he’d end up flat on his back with a dog on his chest. The guard curled his lip and bared a lengthening fang. At the edge of his hearing there was a growl so faint it could be mistaken for traffic.

“Who are you?”

“Dai King.” His name was catching less in his throat.

The guard removed his paw and wiped it on his pants like being cursed was as contagious as the common cold.

“The boss is expecting you. You’re late.”

No
kidding.

“Took me a while to find the place.” Dai smiled and hoped it looked cold and threatening, as if he could turn the oversized humanoid guard dog into a pet rock if he wished. How much did they know about him?

The guard stepped back. “Up the stairs, second door on the left. Don’t get lost,” he said with a toothy grin that was anything but friendly.

Dai walked past and resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder. The guard wasn’t as human as he looked, but what did he expect from a bank that dealt only in special cases? Not everyone on the globe was as human as the humans thought, and not every fairy tale monster was pretend. There was a grain of truth in many of the stories people told, no matter how hard they tried to forget it.