Page 57 of Unbound By Shadows
Eldridge let the words hang in the air, as though to allow space for Sam to offer more. When met with silence, he said, “What is it about her that you like?”
Sam pulled his hands out of his hair and looked up at Eldridge. “I don’t know. She’s brave and clever. Beautiful. But there’s something about her scent. It’s like it… calls to me.”
“How do you mean?”
“Her scent is like pomegranate. It’s a berry that grows only in Gaia and the Underworld. I hadn’t smelled that since I left home. It woke me up in the morning when she came through the portal before I even saw her. It affected me all day.”
“Interesting. And as you have traveled? Did your feelings wane or—”
"They grow. Every day."
“I see.” Eldridge stroked his chin. “Why are you trying so hard to fight this attraction?”
“Isn’t it obvious? She’s human.”
“So? Brunie’s people disapprove of her being with a male and a Goblyn, yet here we are.”
Sam began to pace the barn floor. “That’s different. Selene only wants to go home. It doesn’t matter what my feelings for her are. We are soon going to part ways.”
“But what if she had a reason to stay in Aurelia?”
“She’s attached to another.”
“Attachments can be broken,” Eldridge said. “You don’t think she might share your feelings?”
“No,” Sam responded flatly.
“Why?”
“I probably disgust her as I do everyone of this realm.” He gestured around his head and body. “My scars… my horns. She abhors violence. A few days ago, she asked me if I had ever killed anyone.”
“Ah,” Eldridge said. “But surely you’ve told her how we all met. Or she heard about it while at Thema’s castle?”
Sam tugged at the laces of his right arm bracer. “No. She doesn’t know, and I want it to stay that way.”
“Samael, be reasonable—”
“I don’t want her to see or hear about more violence from me,” Sam interrupted. “Not after Iriswood.”
“That’s why you think she couldn’t care for you?” Eldridge appeared thoughtful as he tapped the bottom of his cup against the table. “She may have gotten a fright at the time, but she’s not afraid of you now. In fact, I’d venture to guess she’s a bit fond of you.”
“Don’t mock me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Eldridge said. Folding his hands across his belly, he explained, “It’s all in the way she leans her body toward you when you’re near. Twirls her hair when you speak. Moistens her lips. That’s not how females act when disgusted. Females of any race.” He waggled his eyebrows.
A bud of pleasure unfurled inside of Sam at Eldridge’s assessment, but he quickly stomped it out. He turned to walk toward the horse stall. “Goblyn nonsense.”
“I don’t deal in nonsense,” Eldridge said. The joking tone dropped from his voice as he asked, “Samael, if all barriers were gone, what is it that you would want with her?”
Sam moved toward Rainsilver and began to stroke the horse’smane. “I want you to tell me how to fight this. How can I stop feeling this way?"
“You’re lying,” Eldridge said sharply. He rose to stand in front of Sam, gently pushing away Rainsilver when she bent to nibble his ear. “What do you want? Do you just want to bed her once? Become her lover? Or more?”
Sam was about to claim he only wanted to be her lover, but paused, realizing that was only partially true. There was more to it. She was the bait he needed to escape Aurelia, but the idea of leaving her behind was becoming more and more troublesome. He hated to hear the desperation in his voice when he said, “I want tokeepher. I don’t want to ever leave her side.”
Eldridge’s face cracked into a grin. He started to beat his small wings, hovering up and down with excitement. “I knew it! I knew it!”
Sam watched the bobbing Goblyn. “What?” When Eldridge began to laugh, Sam grew angry. “You think this is amusing?”
