The Color of Jade (Jade Series Book 1) (12 page)

“Is Trey… okay?” She asked with hesitancy in her voice, as if unsure if she wanted to know if the news was bad.

“Yeah… he’s fine.” Relief settled in her eyes as her worried glance softened briefly into a sincere, pleasant smile. “What are you doing here?”

“Someone from every household has to be here, it’s just the two of us now,” April said, as her smile quickly faded and she anxiously looked towards the gate. “I got to go. It was good to see you.”

“Wait, April!”

I called out for her but she turned with a saddened smile. One of the militia guards grabbed her arm and pulled her from the crowd as she walked through the gate. She glanced at him with the least bit of surprise as if she expected it. He spoke gruff with annoyance. I couldn’t tell what he said but his harshness, grossly visible in his expression.

Heat cursed through me like an electric current as I grew increasingly angry. The safe boundaries of my elementary school, where many of my pleasant childhood memories stemmed from, turned into what looked like a Nazi prison camp. Suddenly, I wanted to be inside the fence. I wanted to hear what was about to be said. I wanted to find out what happened to her, why that guard talked to her that way, why she was pregnant.

I stepped into line as the people moved slowly, like cattle herded into a corral. My breath caught suddenly as I glanced at the guard that spoke to April. He stood five feet ahead and I realized I recognized him. His eyes scanned over me and followed my every move. I froze in place as Rubin Morrison's heated glare penetrated deep, taunting
me as if he dared me to come closer, to walk past him. I slowly stepped to the side and let others pass, unsure if I should go through with it. Perspiration beaded at my neck and prickled down my spine. Nervous energy from his intimidating glare suddenly set my insides ablaze and I forced myself to look away.

With my fingers laced through the links of the fence, I watched the crowd and as I scanned over the sea of people, my glance shifted to a way too familiar face. I looked closer. Trey. Shocked to see him, my curiosity grew and I watched until he got lost in the crowd.

“You shouldn’t be here.”  I jumped, startled half to death by the voice next to my ear. I whirled around suddenly breathless with a racing heart to see who provoked my alarm.

“Gage!” Frustrated, I gave him a shove as I waited for the beat of my heart to slow back within normal range. “You scared me!”

“Sorry.”

A momentary faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips, slightly amused by my being startled. Then his gaze changed and the seriousness of his expression discouraged me, unsure how to feel by his unreadable expression. The first time we talked had gone all wrong. Well, not completely, but it ended terrible, so his impression of me, I imagined, probably a bad one. I hoped the next time I saw him, things would go better, and that I would want to see him, but I didn't, not here. Embarrassed still and under the current circumstances, I felt slightly irritated that he caught me here.

He took my arm gently, but yet deliberately guided me away from the entrance of the gate and stopped at the edge of the trees. He positioned himself between the gate and me so I couldn’t see Rubin anymore. Gage looked over his shoulder, the black and silver pendant dangled loosely over the collar of his tee shirt as his determined eyes scanned the crowd in search for someone.

“Why can’t I be here?”

“What do you think Kane would do?”

“Did he send you to keep track of me?” I asked angrily. I pulled my arm from his grasp. I held my frustration on the tip of my tongue and I wondered if Gage was the reason I felt intruded upon earlier in the trees.

“No.”

“Have you been following me?”

“No! I don’t live far from here. I was on my way over and saw you,” he said, suddenly on the defense. “But you shouldn’t be here.”

“Trey is here.”

“I know… Did he see you?”

“No,” I paused for a moment, glad he didn’t. I had a feeling he wouldn’t have been happy with me as well. “There are girls here younger than me, and kids, too.”

“I know, but… Jade…
You
shouldn’t be here. Come on. Let’s go back in the trees.”

“No! I want to hear what they have to say!”

“You can hear from the trees,” Gage said firmly, as he pulled me out of sight. The intensity and strength, visible in blue eyes sent my heart into a tailspin as he continued the uncomfortable interrogation. “That guard looked like he knew you.”

“He’s the guard that…” My heart sank, as I knew I wouldn't get past Rubin unrecognized. I peered around a tree to see if he still watched me. My voice trailed off as I watched him talk to a man. The man’s back, turned towards me and hid his face.

“He's the guard that what, Jade?” Gage asked with an urgency in his voice that sent chills over my skin. He looked to see what caught my attention.

My breath caught as I watched Rubin point in our direction. As the man turned, I saw him. My eyes met Damian’s as a smirk surfaced across his face then his look turned agitated as his glare shifted to Gage. I couldn’t bring myself to look away as his glare settled on me again.

Damian stood upright, his shoulders squared and his steely eyes penetrated through me. With his jaw set tight, his predatory glare caused me to shift uncomfortably, even with Gage next to me. Damian had too much support, too much back up here if he wanted to cause a problem and he knew it. Yet, he just stood there unmoved as if his intimidating glare was enough.

“Jade…”

Distracted, I rubbed gently at the faded bruise on my forehead. It was still a little tender. “He’s the guard that pushed me into the wall,” I said softly. I pulled myself from my stupor with the sound of my own voice answering Gage’s question. He pulled me back out of sight and I turned my attention back to him. He stood close as his hands gripped the sides of my arms.

“
He's
the guard that held a gun to you?”

I instantly turned frustrated with Emery for telling and with Gage for remembering. My eyebrows furrowed as I gave him a scowl. “Yeah…”

“That’s Rubin Morrison.”

“I know…”

“You are going home, Jade.”

I opened my mouth to protest but stopped short by his insistence. Gage’s stern voice sent me reeling and I felt surprisingly captivated and utterly irritated at the same time.

“Now, Jade!”

“Why do you care if I’m here?” The tone of my voice cut sharper than I wanted it to as the negative momentum continued to roll. I wished I could take it back a moment too late.  He replaced a fleeting hurtful glance quickly with one of austerity and seriousness. The anger in my tone lashed back as if I had thrown Gage a boomerang. With icy blue eyes, he returned harshness in his voice.

“Get on your horse and go home.” I shot him a menacing look at his insistence as the sense of fascination left quickly and irritation took over. Despite my protests, I did have the sudden urge to be home but for him to tell me I had to, caused my blood to boil.

“I'm not leaving. I'll find somewhere else to watch-”

“Yes you are. Your horse is that way,” he said, as he cut me off and pointed in the direction of Fire.

“Whatever…” My cheeks burned as I huffed inwardly then turned, flipping my pony tailed waves behind me. As I walked swiftly towards where I left Fire, I heard Gage’s footsteps crunch in the deadfall behind me as he followed.

I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. I just wanted to hear what was going on, especially after I saw April. I didn’t like how Rubin recognized me and after I saw him talk to Damian and look my direction, I felt uneasy about being there.

Despite my stubborn pride I knew Gage was right. His actions weren't unpredictable since I challenged his persistence. Kane and Trey would have done the same, probably not as nice. I don’t know why I reacted to him the way I did. However, with the way he insisted I go home, I felt defiant. There were easier ways to persuade me, and to say
I couldn't do something
, wasn't it. You'd get the same reaction if you set a fire underneath me and told me I couldn't jump in the lake.

I regretted my unreasonable tone and felt I just dug a hole too deep to climb out. I sighed out of frustration, then reached over and untied Fire from the tree. I stood next to her with my arms, folded across my chest as I watched Gage swing himself into my saddle. My peculiar glare brought a smirk to his face as he leaned down towards me and held out his hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure Kane’s
little sister
gets home safely.” His voice stayed even and gave no hint as to if he was kidding. My jaw dropped as my brows furrowed with the intensity of gasoline on a raging fire burning in my chest. Suddenly, I got it. He didn't say it in as many words, but I was nothing more to him than his friends' little sister. He did Kane a favor by taking me home.

I bit at my lip to hold my fuming tongue as his smirk erupted into a full-blown grin. He enjoyed this way too much. With his hand still outstretched, he chuckled as I reluctantly gave him mine. He grabbed my upper arm as I attempted to grab his, unable to wrap my fingers completely around his curling bicep. The strength in his arm surprised me as he helped me swing up behind him on the skirt of the saddle.

“You haven’t changed a bit, Gage.” Sarcasm hissed sharply against my tongue as the memory of a confidently daring, haughty, and full of taunt and tease little boy came to mind.

“Neither have you, Jade,” Gage said, as we rode along the trail. He looked back at me over his shoulder. He removed his grin but then a faint smile crept at the corner of his lip. His blue eyes danced with laughter at my expense. “You always were a pretty stubborn little princess.”

My jaw dropped. “I am not a princess!” He laughed. My cheeks blazed a hot crimson red and set my insides on fire. If I ever sat on the fence over what I felt for him, I leaned towards uninterested and indifferent, even though what I felt was fuming mad, fueled by the pain as my heart wrenched into a twisted knot. I wasn't sure what upset me more. The fact that I dug my own hole and deserved everything he threw at me at this point or that I was naive enough to think he might have liked me. My eyes burned and I swallowed hard at the knot in my throat.

His deliciously intoxicating manly scent lingered just under my nose. The broad shoulders directly in my sight of vision tormented me as I sat close to him. The warmth under his shirt penetrated through mine and aroused awareness that places of my body touched his. I peeled the front of me from the closeness of his angular back as I realized I still had my hand on his arm and swiftly removed it as if freshly burned by a scorching hot iron.

Gage shifted slightly in the saddle as he gave me a sideways glance over his shoulder. I watched his smile grow and it infuriated me to know that I couldn’t provoke the same aggravation in him that he provoked in me. I shifted back onto Fire's rump and made sure to keep my distance from him, untouched as he set out to take me home on my horse.

“Did you get a hold of your temper?” He chuckled as we crossed the street. He glanced in the direction of Marge's, and then led us down the trail once again, into the shelter of the trees.

“I'm working on it.”

Gage spurred Fire with his heels and she jumped forward suddenly into a lope. I squealed loudly as I tipped backwards and had no choice but to grab his tantalizing shoulders in a desperate attempt to stay upright on the back of my horse, all while he grabbed my thigh to steady me.

“Hold on,” he teased. The deepness of his voice sent chills over me. I felt the sting in my fingertips as I half-heartedly slapped his arm causing him to laugh under his breath. He knew my disadvantage sitting behind the cantle of the saddle and he kept Fire at a steady lope. I had no choice but to hold onto something, so I slipped my hands under his arms, lightly around his chiseled waist and gripped ahold of him, despite the torment it caused.

We rode to the edge of my property in silence with only the rhythmic pounding of Fire's hooves in tune with her exertion forced breaths. The heaviness in my heart drained my anger and left me feeling dejected and despondent. My once mid-high ponytail shook loose from the ride and slipped down, draping my shoulder. My weight shifted against him with forward momentum as Gage pulled Fire to a stop. Wisps of my tousled hair fell around my face and I blew with a puff of breath at a piece that fell into my eyes. He barely glanced at me as I jumped off Fire, which relieved me since I wasn’t sure how well I wiped the hurt off my face.

As he stepped off Fire, I couldn’t help but feel like he reveled in my annoyance and frustration of him taking me home. I realized my teenage infatuation was just that and Gage, most likely, saw me as an immature teenage girl. I felt stupid. After all, our three-year age difference and his evident experience in turning heads, no match for my lack thereof. I knew nothing about relationships or what it took for a girl like me to get a guy like Gage to look at me, really look at me. A two-year-old colt wouldn't be greener, an obvious observation that anyone could see and feeling beaten, I turned to step into the saddle.

“Jade, wait…” Gage said softly, and then paused as he left his thoughts to hang in the air. My breath hitched as I turned towards him, I couldn't bring myself to meet his gaze. He took a step closer, engulfing the space between us. His fingers brushed my disarrayed hair out of my eyes. As if his touch wasn't enough to send my mind reeling, his fingers gently traced my jaw line down to my chin. Goose bumps traveled swiftly up my neck and through my hair as he gingerly directed me to look at him. I couldn't stand the torture as his soft blue eyes looked into mine, full of worry and concern. “You don't belong there… Not you.”