Kissed (The Thorn Chronicles) (16 page)

Puck closed his hands into fists and opened his mouth to say something. I realized that if I was going to get answers then I needed him alone.

“That would be wonderful, let’s go,” I said and pushed my chair away from the table. Puck hesitated, then got up. I followed him out to the back and down the stairs to a trail that I hadn’t noticed before. The trail wound back around the mountain. Puck strolled along in front of me, not waiting for me to admire the plant life.

He paused for a second and turned around. “If you want answers, keep up.”

I scurried to his side.

“How long have you known Kai?” he asked.

“Two months,” I answered and he whistled.

“And how do you know who he is?”

“He told me.”

“When?”

“He left a note a few weeks after he started visiting me.”

Puck stopped walking and stood in thought for a long while. I stared at the sky trying to find the nearly nonexistent stars.

“Did you ever see him?” he asked.

“Yeah, I woke up one night while he was there and I saw his face. And then—”

“You woke up?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you guys do?” I asked, tired of him asking all the questions.

He stopped in the middle of the path and turned to look at me. “Wait a minute. You’re seriously telling me that you woke up while Kai was kissing you?”

“Yeah, so?”

Puck stared at me openmouthed.

Confusion changed quickly to anger. I could taste blood and smell sulfur. It was a strange sensation like someone had flipped a switch and nothing made sense, and all I could do was act on the anger. I pushed Puck and started screeching.

“You bastard. What kind of stupid question is that?” My voice was shrill, shrieking and I kept shoving him. Every cell in body yearned to hurt him, to make him pay for questioning me. And yet, in a tiny corner of my brain a thought registered that I was seriously overreacting.

“Naomi, what the hell?” He moved to the side as I made to punch him in the jaw. He caught my arm and comprehension dawned on his face. “Destroyers. We’ve got to get out of here.”

In my rage, I didn’t listen to him, just continued to pepper him with insults. Words I’d never used in my life were creatively put together to curse him in new ways. I ripped at his clothes and scratched his arms. My insides rolled. The sulfur smell increased and I could hear gunfire and bombs exploding inside my head.

“Shit, Naomi, calm down.” He grabbed my wrists and held tight.

“No,” I shouted, breathing heavy and seething.

Suddenly, he pulled me closer and smashed his lips against mine. At first I fought against him and used all my strength to pull away, but then something changed. The cool taste of vanilla ice cream replaced the blood and I could smell oranges. Warmth spread from my lips to my face and down through my neck. My hands and fingers tingled. I wrapped my arms around him tight, not wanting to let go. And for the first time in months my guilt was gone. Soon, too soon, he pulled back and whispered fiercely in my ear.

“Naomi, there’s someone here who wants to hurt you. I need to get you out of here quickly. Promise me that if you feel anger or sorrow that you will resist. Hang on to this feeling you have right now. Focus on it and don’t let go. Can you do that?”

I nodded into his shoulder, and giggled. No way was I letting this go, not now, not ever. He took my hand and wove his fingers into mine. They were slender and soft, not like Kai’s. He was beautiful. And all mine.

“Ready?”

Once again I nodded, having lost my voice. Afraid that if I said something it would ruin this feeling I had. He tugged on my hand and ran. Small rocks weaseled their way into my sandals and every step stung. I struggled to keep pace with Puck, he was taller than me and a faster runner.

“You doing okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said through labored breaths, wanting nothing more than to please him.

When we reached the stairs I sensed that something was not right. Puck let go of my hand and let me go first, telling me to move quickly. The warmth slowly disappeared. The guilt came back first, tasting of brine and bile. Then a switch flipped and sadness filled my head with wailing and my skin crawled with bugs. I wanted to die, to drown myself in the pool. It was so unnatural, but I couldn’t fight it.

Tears coursed down my cheeks. I’d drown and this horrible feeling would be gone. I ran toward the pool, but before I could make the leap Puck gripped my arm. I fought against him, but he was too strong for me.

The sobs had taken over and my body convulsed. Life was not worth living in this wretched state. I scratched at my arms, trying to get the bugs out.

Puck placed one hand under my legs and swung me up so that he was carrying me. At first, I gave in and sobbed into his chest, but then I remembered that I was supposed to be drowning in the pool. I fought against his arms, trying to climb out of his grip.

“Look at me,” Puck said, his voice sharp and piercing. It startled me so bad I stopped struggling and looked right at him. His eyes were clear blue and intense. I felt like I was in a different world as he brought his face closer to mine and kissed me again. The switch flipped once again and then I was blissfully happy again. I smelled daisies, lavender, and coconut. Tasted vanilla with a touch of mint. My skin felt like the sun was warming it. In my ears I heard the song of the morning birds. This was better than the first time. Better than Kai.

This time he moved while he was kissing me and didn’t stop until he’d opened the door to Alejandro’s house. Even then, he put me down but kept his lips on mine.

“Puck, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Alejandro’s voice floated out somewhere from behind us. Puck pulled back abruptly. He glared at me as he moved away.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

I was reluctant to let go of him, like a part of me would break if I weren’t close to him. And he smelled so good. Exactly like Alejandro’s Tuscany rose. I closed the space between us, took his hand, and nuzzled into his shoulder. Alejandro raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything.

“Ale, we need to talk,” said Puck. He pulled away slightly, but I closed the gap. Puck, he was the only thing worth living for.

“Can it wait?” Alejandro looked around the pantry and grabbed a brick of chocolate.

“No,” Puck hissed. “There are Destroyers. Here. On your property.”

Alejandro swore and set down the chocolate. “Take Naomi into the library while I take care of Ginny. I’ll be there in a second and you can explain.”

Puck didn’t let go of my hand as he led me to the library. I clung tightly to him. Normally I would’ve been enthralled with all of the books, but tonight my eyes were only on Puck. He was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen. Those ocean blue eyes and deep wine colored hair. His sharp chin and angled brow. How could I have never seen it before?

He sat on a couch and I climbed onto his lap and rested my head on his shoulder. I wondered if he would be upset if I tried to kiss him. Because that was all what I wanted to do, desperately. Puck sighed and wrapped his arms around me so I wouldn’t fall off. I closed my eyes and envisioned our wedding. It would have thousands of roses and hundreds of kisses.

“Did you put her to sleep?” Alejandro asked.

“No, she did that on her own. But she’s not sleeping.” Puck shifted a little, but I didn’t move. Let them think I was asleep.

Puck wiggled me off his lap, crossed his arms and looked out the window. I blinked up at Alejandro.

He pulled a chair closer and sat in front of us. I wanted to extract Puck’s hand from his crossed arms, but I couldn’t figure out how. I settled for digging my hand into the crook of his elbow. My own behavior was baffling me. Why did I want to be so close to him?

“Alejandro, can I ask you a question?” I asked.

“Sure,” he said. He kept flicking his eyes from me to Puck and he looked concerned.

“Why am I in love with Puck all of the sudden?”

Alejandro laughed to himself. “Puck, would you care to explain?”

Puck glowered. “I overcompensated. You were trying to drown yourself in the freakin’ pool. I had to do something. You don’t really love me right now. Things will be different in the morning.”

“Oh,” I said and moved away from him. It felt odd to know that my emotions were betraying me. My brain told me one thing, but my emotions, they were all about Puck.

“Naomi, I know you don’t understand a lot about who we are or what we do and you deserve to know. Especially everything you went through with Kai and now the Destroyers, but Puck and I need to deal with this situation first. If I promise that you’ll get your answers tomorrow, will that be acceptable?”

“No. I need answers now. Those Destroyers or whatever you called them are out to get me and I need to know why.”

“I expect that has something to do with Kai. You will get all of your answers tomorrow. I promise. Go home and get some sleep. Puck will be on your doorstep at the crack of dawn. Tonight we need take care of the Destroyers so they don’t come after you.”

I nodded, suddenly weary. I wanted to sleep and absorb the evening.

“Very well. I’ll go get Ginny and send you on your way. Puck, meet me out on the back patio.”

Alejandro left and Puck stood up. He offered me his hand I took it, hating myself for wanting to touch it so bad.

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen,” he said.

“It’s okay,” I said, not sure if I meant it or not.

“You are only saying that because you love me right now, you won’t be so understanding tomorrow. Try not to throw anything sharp at me when I come to get you.”

Each one of my roses has its own personality. From my shy Heart Throbs to my overbearing Candy Rains, each rose is unique and feels different to me. I treat them different too. I am much gentler with my Baby Ballerinas than I am with my Dark Knights. I think I love my Guardian Angels most of all.

When we got home, there was a big Hispanic man in a black suit sitting in a chair by the front door. My stomach lurched. In all the excitement of the night I had forgotten about my father. I hung back, but Ginny gave the guy a big hug.

“Naomi, come here and meet Julio, Alejandro’s brother. He watched over me last year when I had a scare with a stalker. He’ll be your bodyguard for as long as we need him.”

I let out a huge breath of relief. I shook his hand and then went inside. He stayed outside the door.

Sleep was hard to come by. I missed Puck fiercely, but I knew that was unnatural. I tossed and turned and finally went to sit out on the porch. I could hear the cars and stared out over the people-covered sidewalks.

The fact that Puck could so easily manipulate what I felt unnerved me. He and the Destroyer, whatever that was, had me in an emotional whiplash. One minute I was in bliss, the next in darkness. Were they sorcerers or wizards of some kind? I dismissed the thought quickly. They didn’t exist and if they did, they were an abomination, at least according to my father. Servants of the devil, he would say. But Puck was mostly good. So was Kai.

Did that mean that everything I felt for Kai was a sham? I couldn’t tell for sure what was right and what was not. All those feelings of joy. They were manipulated in some way, forced upon me. Not of my own.

I felt myself drifting and I went back to my bed, climbing beneath the soft white duvet.

#

I awoke early, still feeling slightly giddy from the night before. I stumbled out into the living room ready to start Ginny’s coffee for her but found three people sitting around the counter. Alejandro sat there with Julio and Puck.

Julio pushed away from the bar and approached me. He took both of my hands in his, turned them over and inspected them. Then he laughed and held up my hands so the others could see them. “Nothing sharp, Puck, but I won’t protect you from her fists.” Then he looked down at me and jerked his head toward Puck. “He deserves it, you know. You should beat the shit out of him.” Apparently he was in on the joke too.

“So you are like them too?”

He nodded. “I’ll be your guard. Except when Ale and Puck are around.”

“Okay,” I said, like I knew what he was talking about.

He patted Alejandro on the back. “I’m going to go home and catch some z’s. I’ll see you later.”

I sat down next to Puck. I knew I should be angry with him, but instead I was angry with Kai. Puck didn’t pretend to be something he wasn’t. Nor, did I have any illusions that Puck was in love with me. He manipulated me, but at least he admitted it.

Ginny walked into the kitchen and didn’t seem surprised to find Alejandro and Puck there. She stood close to Alejandro and he didn’t take his eyes off of her.

“What brings you here bright and early?” she asked.

To my surprise it was Puck who spoke.

“I want to take Naomi camping for a few days.”

Ginny paused for a second.

“Where?”

“A beach in Santa Barbara.”

She wrinkled her eyebrows.

“Alone?”

“No, there’s a group of us going. I know Naomi hasn’t seen the ocean before so I thought it would be cool for her to go. We’ve been planning this trip for awhile.”

“I’m not sure,” she hedged.

Then Alejandro reached out and pulled her close to him. He whispered something in her ear and she giggled.

“Okay, you can go,” she said to me, but her eyes were locked on Alejandro’s.

“What do I need to pack?” I asked.

“A few shirts, shorts, and a bathing suit. Sandals and tennis shoes. We’ll be doing a lot of walking.”

Ginny extracted herself from Alejandro long enough to help me a pack a bag. I took a quick shower and then I was out the door with Puck.

He led me out to his car. Today it had two surfboards attached to the roof. He opened the door for me.

“You know, your car doesn’t fit the Goth image.”

He laughed. “I don’t like stereotypes, so I try to go against the grain.”

I smiled. “Still, this car doesn’t seem like you.”

“That’s because it’s Alejandro’s car. Mine would never make it to Santa Barbara.

Then he grimaced. “Before we leave, I need to tell you something. I wasn’t entirely honest with Ginny. I want to make sure you’re okay with everything before we go.”