Forbidden To Love (The Erosians) (21 page)

Never mind that. I don’t need any more questions if they’re coming for me tonight. I need to get out of here fast. I guess Eros did know and care about my kiss with Josh, and he was just taking his time to get things ready to take me away. Well they can’t take me if they don’t know where I am, now, can they?

Hide Whilst I Seek

~17~

I run faster than I usually allow myself. I normally keep my speed under wraps to avoid any suspicious looks from mortals but tonight there isn’t time. Holding my gown up in my hands, I constantly look over my shoulder waiting for the hands to grab me and pull me back. I round the corner and fall back against a tree trying to catch my breath and steady my racing heart. As my breathing slows I look up the street and see Josh’s grey car purring at the sidewalk.

Smoothing down my dress I cautiously walk to his car, fighting the urge I feel with every step to look over my shoulder. The driver
’s door swings open and Josh gracefully steps out. I stop momentarily taken aback by how good he looks in a tux. His smile and the mischievous glint in his eyes make me instantly forget about the coming danger. I quicken my pace desperate to be near him, to feel the chemistry sizzling between us.

As I reach him, he pulls his arms from behind him and presents me with a small cream box tied with a blood red ribbon.

“What is it?” I urge him to tell me.

“
If you open it you’ll see!” he laughs.

I smile and gently pull at the ribbon. It falls open and I slowly lift the box up, laughing at Josh
’s eager expression. Inside the box is a stunning corsage.

“
Do you hate it? I know its old fashioned but my grams said I should get you one because it was the done thing in their day and I wanted everything to be just right and, well,” he rambles on.

“
I love it.” I silence him with a kiss. His body instantly reacts placing his hands on my hips as a deep moan rises in his throat. I pull away reluctantly to admire my gift once more. It has three deep red roses, each with crystals sprinkled throughout the petals, forming a barrier around the one perfect cream rose in the centre. I smile up at Josh and he takes the corsage from the box and loops it over my fingers so it nestles on my wrist.

Josh keeps hold of my hand and laces our fingers. He brushes his free hand across my cheek and around my neck, pulling me in towards him.

“You look amazing,” he breathes and presses his lips tenderly to mine.

“
Let’s go. We don’t want to be late.” He leads me around to the passenger door and holds it open for me like a true gentleman. I almost curtsy in thanks. As he starts the car, he reaches his hand across the seats till he finds my hand and holds it tight.

“
You really do look incredible.”

I blush. He doesn’t look too bad himself. The darkness of the tux turns his usually almost black eyes a warm chocolate shade which are even more inviting. My desire for him reaches new heights and I'm quite prepared to grab the wheel and pull us over so we can spend the evening alone rather than at the dance.

Whilst I'm calculating the safest place to perform this manoeuvre, Josh pulls into the school parking lot. Damn! Maybe I
’ll try it on the way back instead. But back where?

“You ready?” Josh asks looking at me intently. It takes all my control to agree, so we get out of the car. Josh jumps out and appears at my door, holding it open and offering me his hand. I take it willingly and allow him to lead me into the school.

I can hear the music thumping as we approach and see the multi-colored lights bouncing around the auditorium. Josh guides me inside, saying hi to people we pass and smiling at me every time he does. He looks so proud to have me on his arm when really it
’s completely the other way around.

As we get further into the dance, I'm amazed at the effort the decorating committee has gone to for this one. All the tables are covered in bronze tablecloths providing backdrops for their exquisite centre pieces which are fire bowls, presumably fake. I
’ll make a closer inspection later.

The whole room has ruby-colored wall coverings, and at each side of the stage there are pits of fire. In cages behind the stage are two fire breathers performing an incredible display to cheers from the growing crowd.
“Wow!” I breathe.

Josh squeezes my hand
“Pretty nice, eh?” I nod they must have had a bigger budget than I imagined.

Josh weaves us effortlessly through the crowd of people to the drinks table and grabs us two glasses. As I take the drink, he threads his arm around my waist and holds me against him. He
’s looking around for something or someone and I try to follow his eye line to see what it is but my eyes catch Stacey and Melissa at the opposite side of the room snarling at us, well at me.

I become rigid, suddenly afraid of what scene they might cause. Josh feels me tense and looks down at me, then up to where I'm staring.

“Don’t worry about them.” He turns me towards him and takes the drink from my hand, placing it on the table next to us. “Let’s dance”.

Before I can answer he
’s twirling me onto the floor. I almost fall over but he places his hands securely on my waist. I laugh and drape my own arms around the back of his neck.

The band switches to a slower song and the lights that were a minute ago darting wildly around the room slow down and drift over the dancers on the floor, often overlapping each other fighting for space. The lights cast Josh and me in a different glow every few seconds but each new pool of light just makes him look more delicious.

“I'm so glad you came and that after tonight I’ll never have to be apart from you again,” Josh smiles.

“
Me too,” I whisper and I truly am. His arms are the safest place I’ve ever been and now I’ll never be without them. Josh spins me out onto the dance floor laughing, and twirls me back in to his waiting embrace. I laugh with him. I’ve never felt as free as this. We carry on circling around the room until the band calls over the speakers that they’re playing the school song and they want to see everyone up dancing the proper dance to it. I gulp nervously. I’ve seen this dance performed at the other two balls but I’ve never had to join in.

The school song and dance is something the relations counsellor thought up as a way to give the school a sense of unity and togetherness. Josh takes his place behind me along with the rest of the guys. I see Stacey with Blake opposite me, standing confidently ready to show the rest of the school how it
’s done. She smirks at me. My nerves are pulsing for all the school to see. I glance around, desperate to find someone as scared as I am, or for a way to get out of this, but I find something much worse.

The doors at the back of the hall creak open and in sneak Amora and two guys I haven
’t seen before. They glance around the room searching, and you don’t need to be a genius to know they’re here to find me.

The music starts up and everyone begins to dance. My mind is too preoccupied trying to plan a way out of here before it instructs my body to move the way everyone else is. Luckily though I'm performing the dance, I guess my subconscious was paying attention all the other times I
’ve watched it.

All the guys turn the girls under their arms so they are now facing each other before I can hide the look on my face as I turn to Josh.

“You ok?” Josh shouts over the music.

Anxiously I look around the hall to find where Amora has gone. I don
’t need to look far. She’s standing directly in my eye line, leaning against the back of the wall, smiling evilly. Amora sees me looking at her and gives me a slow malicious wave. As she does this, the two guys standing either side of her turn to stare at me. “That’s her,” I hear Amora instruct them and they both nod.

All three are dressed ready for a ball. Amora has on a long black dress with a plunging neckline. Her skin is glowing iridescent. She
’s been to Olympus then. The lights skim over her and the guys creating a sinister glow around all three of them. Her two henchmen are wearing suit jackets and trousers to fit in, but their shirts are open loosely at the top. They look more than dangerous.

              One of the guys has more muscles than I’ve seen in the flesh while the other is slender but still muscular. Both have deathly pale skin and menacing eyes. They’re from the Underworld; my blood turns into a raspberry slushy.

“
Acacia what’s wrong?” Josh shouts over the music. I look into his eyes mine filling with tears. This is it; this is going to be the end of us! I wish this dance, even though I wished it had never started, would never end. Josh spins me again, keeping in time with the dance and I lose sight of the three of them. I struggle to see through people trying to spot them, but it’s no use. The dance picks up pace and it’s impossible to find them.

I recognize this part of the music now. It
’s the bit where the guy swaps partners with the one next to him. Maybe I could slip out at this point once Josh lets go of me. I’ll go straight with them and tell them to leave him. At least that way I can spare his life.

Josh releases my hands and I try to make a break for it, but cool fingers interlock with mine and turn me around in time with everyone else. My bare shoulders press against what feels like a wall of ice.

“You have two choices,” a voice hisses in my ear. “We can do this the easy way; or the way I find much more pleasurable.” My left hand is released as I take two steps into the centre of the hall as the other girls do. I stop breathing when I see that the freezer holding me is one of Amora’s guests.

He raises his eyebrows at me, daring me to try and run. His hair falls around his face skimming against his sharp jaw, while his silvery eyes take in every part of me. He
’s taken his jacket off and I can see through his shirt the slight glow to his skin. It’s not the purple of Olympus though. They must radiate a different light in the Underworld.

He pulls me back to him with my right arm and rests it on his shoulder as he circles his left arm around my waist. I rest my arm on his, not wanting to raise alarm by trying to fight him off in the middle of the dance, especially when he
’s at least a foot taller than me and I can feel the strength his arms contain as my fingers lay lightly upon them. I shudder as the cold from his body penetrates me.

“
So what’s it going to be, princess?” He moves me effortlessly around the floor, his eyes never leaving mine. I can’t tear my eyes from his either. The pale grey colour of them is cased with the faintest of scarlet rings, drawing me into him so I no longer feel the urge to run.

Luckily the dance gets to the part where we swap partners back and I fall into the open arms of Josh and his warmth.

“You ok?” he asks, looking between me and the guy who just threw me back at him.

“
We need to get out of here,” I hurriedly say, no longer caring what he knows. I search for the nearest exit. I spot the fire exit doors in the opposite corner to us, right next to where Allana, and who I presume is Hercules, have just walked in. Allana is in a deadlock with Amora, both of them glaring at the other, looking ready to charge at any second. I wish all these people weren’t here, then Allana could just do her emotion trick on Amora and I could escape.

The dance has stopped and everyone is clapping for the band, everyone but Josh and me.
“What do you mean we need to go?” he asks, concerned.

“
Look, I can’t explain right now.” My eyes flit madly around the room looking for the two soldiers of doom. “You need to trust me on this and know that we need to get out of here and fast.”

My eyes are so close to spilling with tears and Josh
’s face is full of confusion, but he nods, grabs my hand and pulls me through the crowds towards the back of the stage. I glance nervously behind me but no one is following us. Josh pushes open a door at the side of the stage and the music begins to fade behind us.

“
Where are we?” I’ve never seen this part of the school before.

“
It leads to the changing rooms, which leads to the sports hall behind the school next to the car park.” Josh must get my sense of urgency. He’s gripping my hand tightly, a little too tightly perhaps. The halls are dark and it’s a good job Josh knows this route as I would be completely lost.

I keep listening for footsteps behind us but we
’re still in the clear. We reach the sports hall and Josh stops.

“What is it?” I check every part of the hall, thinking someone must be in here and that’s why he’s stopped.

“
I want to know what’s going on,” he demands. “I will protect you against anything and anyone Acacia, but I deserve to know what I'm fighting.” I go to pull away from him, I really need to get out of here and he needs to come with me. He puts his hands on my arms just below my shoulders and holds me in place.

“
Josh, please this isn’t the place to explain. Just get us away from the school and I’ll tell you everything, I swear I will, just please… ” I beg him to understand, his eyes soften as his hands find their way to the back of my neck. He pulls me in and his lips crash against mine. There’s urgency to his kiss that hasn’t been there before and I respond to it willingly. This may be our last kiss and I need to make sure it counts.