Yield (11 page)

Emma had no idea that the guy beside her was covered in the trace and a little too friendly.  Not to mention heavy on the staring at her boobs.  Not sure if she ever caught on to his stalker crap, I intervened to make sure he knew she wasn
’t alone.  He backed off and went on his way, but he looked back several times.  He wasn’t there for the coffee.  Of that I was sure.

I was starting to wonder if she had some kind of weird effect on human boys I didn
’t get.  This was like the seventh guy I have averted from trying to talk, touch, or stare at her assets in so much as a week.  Not a single female ever approached her.  I couldn’t leave her alone for a second.  I haven’t really told her hoping to keep that worry from worming into her list of fears.

We worked out a plan otherwise taking me away from the stalker who was sitting in the car waiting when we walked back to the now windowless Jeep.  Emma, at my reluctance, would go back for a visit to her realm to reread the book under the impression she really wanted to know her mom better. She made me promise to do some digging on my own mother and father and where the family originated.  She wouldn
’t say why she wanted to know.  Just that it was a hunch.

We parted ways the next day at breakfast where I dropped her at the entrance of her realm.  Before going in, she looked up at the trees and fingered branches here and there.

“Can you ask Trigger to pick up a rather large bag of fertilizer for me?”

Shaking my head, I kissed her and told her to go.

“Aren’t you a little conflicted with Randor?”  She was stalling.  She knew Randor wouldn’t come near her.  And Caydon wouldn’t have a clue.  Randor would have made up some cockamamie story by now.

“No.  His girl is currently two cities over being watched by Jones and Patrick.  He won
’t even consider it.”

“Oh!” was all she said.  That was my way of making sure her girlish jealousies knew I wasn
’t the one watching the girl who meant absolutely nothing to me.  Two very single guys were doing the watching.

She kissed me once more, full on the mouth.  No holds barred. 

“Should I ask what that was for?” I really wanted to know.

“So you will miss me more.”

“Oh, Emma.  You altered my life into one huge ball of traction.  I couldn’t make tracks far away from you even if they take my shoes and poke nails in my feet.”  Besides, she could feel just how I felt when she focused on it.  I certainly felt hers.

“Vividly disgusting, but point noted.”

“You’re stalling?” I pointed out.

“
I just don’t want to go in there.”  She kissed me one more time and I let her.  

That right there makes this so much more hard to do.  I watched her move in the doorway and the shadows move just where I knew they were hiding. 

“Your little display may have made your point, but can’t change things.”  The voice met the face that came into view.  He heard what he needed to hear.  She’d love me no matter what transpired with him in the Loggin realm.

“Perhaps, but it
’s the only hope I have.”

“The only way is to find the needle in a haystack treaty that
’s been missing for I don’t know—forever man.  I’ve searched everywhere.  The realm will not accept me alone no matter what I do.”

“Maybe you haven
’t tried hard enough,” I scoffed at his pansy ass.  And finding it may not really help either.

“Like you
’ve been away from her long enough to do the same,” Caydon lashed back with the real truth.

Both of us stood facing the other now, feet apart, ready to fight and what did we do?  Laughed our friggin
’ heads off.

We both knew the other had it bad enough for one damn girl to make our whole world seem like a car with an engine stall.  There was only one engine I wanted to start and it would require making her physically mine in a way that would scar her for life if she were to marry another and truly become the goblin queen of our world.  It just came with the territory.  No one was allowed to take her without her permission and even then, she wouldn
’t have been able to produce children without it being her true mate.  That was me.  To go to Caydon, I would have to release her and I wasn’t ready to do that yet.  She would always be linked to me no matter who she was with.

Even in her human high school when that boy Rick tried to take advantage of her, he was yanked back by an invisible thread called “one of us”.  We were always watching.  Caydon didn
’t confess to it initially and not to me, but after all these years, I’m thankful he saved her that day.  He isn’t even aware that I know he was the one who saved her.   My only issue was that I wasn’t the one to do it, but apparently destiny worked it out that way.    I’d never believed in it before because I had no need to.  Fools believe in destiny, I’d say.  Guess I was the bigger fool.

Caydon and I parted ways and I felt a certain amount of peace knowing she was at least in good hands.  Scratch that.  I hated the side meaning in that statement.

Caydon wasn’t in the main room as I veered my way through the realm so I headed straight to my parent’s room.  A guard barred my entry, but let me in with a bat of the lashes.

Before I even had the first page read, Caydon was in the door.

“You are welcome any time to read it J—Emma.  It is yours to keep.”

Joy bloomed in my heart and I squeezed it to my chest.  I was here for research, but it was still something that belonged to my mother.  And somehow, I believed she meant for me to find it.

“You are serious?”

The corner of his mouth lifted.  “Deadly.  It will have to stay in here for the safety of no one finding it but us,” he swallowed a lump that had formed too quickly, “but you are free to utilize anything in this room.”

I wasn’t sure of his discomfort.

His eyes moved away from me where I sat in the same chair from yesterday. 

“You okay with this?  I can read it later.”

Snap.  His eyes came back to me.  He was nervous.

“Can I tell you something?” I laid the book down in my lap.

His body was rigid while his fingers smoothed over the palms of his hands in a stroking pattern. 

“I know about Lily.”

His horrified look made me wish I
’d kept my trap shut even if it needed to be said.

“I didn
’t say it to make you feel bad, but to let you know I understand why we are more alike like you said.  The way the cards have been dealt to us.  If I can change it by Friday, it will be the best card game I’ve ever played.”

“You don
’t understand what you’re doing?” Caydon’s hands stilled. 

“
Maybe.  But I won’t stand by and watch us both be miserable for the rest of our lives.”

“And what happens if you find no answers by Friday?”

I looked at my own hands thumbing the velvet on the journal.  “I don’t know yet.”

“The realm will never let you go.”

I narrowed my eyes to drive home that I wanted an answer to that statement.  “Why is that?”

“This realm has spent countless days and men protecting you.  I had a solution and they wouldn
’t give it the time of day.”

“What was it?”

“Leave you in the human world and shield your power from the humans the best we could.  You could have been happier there.”

I didn
’t like that scenario and glad it didn’t play out.  “What happened?”

“They saw how miserable you were living with them and thought you could of course be happier here no matter if it was an arranged marriage or not.”

“They’re clueless,” I rolled my eyes at the wall.

“Tell me about it.”

I stared at his calming eyes.  He really wasn’t a bad guy.  “What if we worked together?  Try to get out of this.”

“And again, what if it doesn
’t work?” He was protecting himself I decided.

“I will come here, do what the realm asks.  If we can find a way by stalling the realm as long as we can, we do what we have to do.”
              “Even if it means announcing an engagement and playing a part?”

Did I have a choice?  “Yes.”

“You’re sure?”

“I
’m a good actress.”  As was he.

He smiled one more lovely killer smile at me and asked, “Would you like some tea while you read?”

I looked at his face.  “Lily is lucky to have you.”

A sad smile
stayed on his lips. “I’ll send the tea.  Let me know if you need something.”

“
Wait,” I called to him.  “Do you have any idea why the treaty says I have to marry you and where it is?  I read it in here and Ames was arguing with Randor...” my words trailed off.  Oops!

“
Randor?” His back went ramrod straight.

Double oops.

His face was no longer as sweet.  “Tell me now.”  So the demanding kingly side of him comes out.

“You sent Randor to bring me here. He rammed his car into ours and when he did, Ames forced him another week to buy time.”

“And how did he do that?”

Gulp.  “Ames put a trace on his human girlfriend.”

I was so in trouble.

“I see.”  Is that all he was gonna say? 

“Why did you send him to kidnap me?”

“I didn
’t.” His hands were doing that same stroking pattern again. 

“Then why did he come after me?”  Another secret keeper.  When he remained silent, I asked again.

“Randor is my brother.”

“Brother?”

“Younger and hotheaded.  The realm will not let him rule.  I wouldn’t want to punish them anyway.”

“So what?  He called himself helping you out by trying to kidnap me?”

“Something like that, I’m sure.  I assure you, it won’t happen again.”

“Thank you.  I
’m sorry.”

Caydon tilted his head sideways.  “For what?”

“It sounds like your life has been as heartbreaking as mine.  I can’t help but wonder what would be different if I’d grown up here.”

“I know one thing.  You
’d be queen.”

I sighed. 
“Yeah.  That part seems inevitable no matter how unqualified one can be.  Maybe it’s time to catch up with the times and elect the next one.”

“Never happen.  Tradition is the one thing our people stand on above anything else.  If it is not our way, it is abolished and or destroyed.  You
’ll soon learn that to keep that from happening, you have to keep them happy.”

I heard what he said, but the words were all wrong.  They sounded like what Joshlin would say.  Yet Ames was running his realm just fine and not one complaint with all the changes made to the buildings and how things are run.

Really that was strange considering what Caydon just said.

Emma came out the doorway with a smile and a glimmer in her eye I didn
’t care for especially with Caydon close behind in hot pursuit.  Laughing over something together, neither saw me yet.  She thanked Caydon for the wonderful day and all the help he was giving her.

“Are you ready
, Emma?” I stepped out in time to catch her around the waist altogether way too possessively. 

“Oh
, yes.  We have wonderful news,” she kissed my cheek.

We?

“Caydon is going to help us.  I read and reread the journal top to bottom.  The only new item of interest is I can tell you about when the treaty was made.”

“How does that help?” I watched Caydon watch my girl with way to wide of a smile.

“Well, it means that if we can place what else was going on in the realms at the time, maybe we can pinpoint other items and places that would still exist to have it hidden in.”

“
My
clever girl does it again.” This time Caydon caught on to my hints.  Back the crap off my girl!

Leaning further back into the doorway, Caydon folded his arms.  “I assured Emma that Randor would not be bothering her again.  She also knows fully who he is.”

One glance at Emma told me she felt guilty for letting it slip but that was the least of our worries.

I nodded to Caydon in appreciation and curled my arm around her shoulders.  “Let
’s go.”

She told me everything she and Caydon discussed including Lily.  That subsided the beast willing to make a fool of himself in front of her realm to make others know she would not like going to be with them.  My insides warred with the right and wrong thing to do on a minute by minute basis lately.

  The entire night was spent researching my family with her head pouring over her phone and me watching her sit on the other side of the sofa I recently added to my room just to force her to sit closer.  So much for close.

“You are going to stay at that a while, aren
’t you?” I ran my hands through my hair dying for her to look at me.  Her hair folded down on both sides hiding her face, she just “Hmmed” me and continued on.

Time to pull out the big guns.  I wanted her attention.

“You planning on getting naked now or when we get in the bed?”

“Hmm!”  Tap.  Tap.  Tap.  Her middle finger taped the spine of the book.

I am the saddest excuse for a man ever. 

I reached over and pulled the phone from her hand receiving a “Hey” this time.  I scooted over slow and deliberate enough to make my intentions known.  I
’d never been this forward with Emma before.  It was like everything I’d ever done with a girl went out the window.  A mental virgin.