“I was told that you wanted a place with water,” he said softly, and she nodded. “Can I teach you?”
“I’ll be pissed if you don’t.” She put her hand over his heart. “You stay with me.”
“I don’t have any other plans.”
The shadows lifted a bit and she smiled, pulling his head down to meet his lips. She let her joy that he was with her pour from her tongue to his. Forcing herself away from him, he cleared his throat.
“I might have plans now.”
She grinned at him before turning and locking eyes with Micah. All he did was hold out his arms and she stepped into them.
“Thank you for not hating us,” he whispered into her ear.
“Far from that, Micah. So far from it.” His green eyes smiled at her and she rose on her toes, meeting his lowering mouth. “I’ll see you soon.” she demanded from him.
“Yes, you will. We’re just going to catch some waves, check out the scenery, make sure no one is possessing us. You know, the typical.”
Her laugh was a little forced at this, the idea that the blond-haired asshole could have left a lingering effect on someone that belonged to her a very sobering thought. “You both have my number. Use it if you want.”
Micah nodded, slowly letting her go.
“Miss me,” she said softly, stepping away from him.
“Already do,” he replied, and she had to blink back tears.
This was killing her. This forced separation from those she loved. She turned and Sebastian’s arms were already closing around her. His warmth, his scent, his love filled her, and she held back a sob. She was going to be back with him in a few of days. It was the others that tore at her.
“I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.” Her eyes squeezed shut at his words, at his term of endearment for her. “They will be fine, you’ll see.” She nodded as tears leaked from her eyelids.
“I love you,” she muttered into his chest and his laughter rumbled around her.
“Love you.” He lifted her head and pressed his lips to her forehead.
He let her go and she turned, searching through teary eyes for Gideon. He was leaning against the small bar and his arms spread. A broken sound followed her as she ran to him.
“I hate this,” he said, voice fierce as he wrapped her up.
Her back shook, though she didn’t know if it was from tears or laughter. “You say that a lot lately.”
“Three nights, Eve.” He stared down into the green eyes that captivated him. “Three nights and you are back home with me, with us.”
“Back where I belong,” she said and he could see her belief in that on her face.
“Back where you belong.” He dipped his head, capturing her soft sound with his lips. “Then, we are going to discuss your choice of attire.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the look in his hazel eyes, the lick of heat. But it was time. Eve cupped his face. “I love you, Gideon.”
“I love you too, Eve.” His lips were on hers, hard, demanding, punishing, desperate. “Be safe,” he said when he finally pulled away.
“Same to you.”
He held her hand as she slowly walked away. Finally, she had to let go and she blinked away more tears. Fallon held an arm up and she stepped under it
“What, no kiss for me?”
Gabe’s voice had her turning. With a slight smile at Fallon, she stepped away from him before walking up to the darker blond vampire.
“I was kidding,” he said, holding his hands up.
She shrugged before raising up on her toes, her hands barely touching his shoulders and pecking his cheek. “Take care of us,” she said softly before turning from him and resuming her place under Fallon’s arm. She glanced up at him as he shrugged at his friend.
“She’s going to do what she wants. Just go with it.”
Together, they walked through the house and out the front door. Fallon already had the bike in the front. He handed her a helmet before reaching up and breaking the elastic band in her hair. “At the speed we’re going to be going, if we wreck, that could cause more injury.”
“Okay.” She smiled up at him.
“Stay with me, lean with me, follow me, no matter how scary it may seem.” His words were soft, and she had a feeling he was talking about more than riding.
“I’ll always be with you,” she said, and his beautiful dark chocolate eyes smiled down at her.
He put his helmet on and she followed his examples. He threw his leg over the machine and she did the same, sliding up behind him and wrapping her arms around him. As he kicked the bike to life, she looked back over her shoulder. So many lights burning, so many things changing.
It could be sad.
Could be heartbreaking.
She was being forced from what her heart considered her home, where so much about her life changed. So much about her changed. The place where she found so much love. But she chose to see it as a new chapter. A steppingstone to the next part of her life. Her life with those her heart chose.
“Mine,” she whispered.
Fallon gripped one of her hands, as if he knew what she was thinking. But then, maybe he did.
Mine
Epilogue
The wind blew fierce and cold across the open plain, the threat of snow heavy in the rolling clouds overhead. The frost-covered ground crunched beneath their feet as they made their way to the top of a small rise. White puffs escaped her with each breath as they stopped.
“This is where it happened,” his voice was soft as he dropped to his knees.
She stood quiet as he leaned forward, fingers brushing dirt and frozen grass from a small stone. His hands slowed, gently tracing the etching she could see.
“Topsannah, my daughter.” Something dark fell from him to land on the gray rock. “She was eight and just like her mother. Well, she took some traits from me. She lived to bully her brother.” He brought his fingers to his lips and using his teeth, he pulled the glove from his hand. Letting the glove fall, he pressed his fingers to his lips before touching the stone.
Fallon said something in a language she couldn’t understand. His language. She could feel her own tears falling but she refused to move. This wasn’t about her.
He turned, brushing off another stone. “Akando. He was six. He wanted to be a great warrior, to protect his family. Even his sister who made him help with her chores.” Two more splashes hit rock. He repeated the words he used earlier.
She could see the tremor that ran through him and everything in her yelled at her to go to him. But she couldn’t, not yet.
One more slight turn.
“Nadua. I married her when she was fourteen, as our parents wanted. That was our custom. She was so scared. So fragile. So different. We were raised to marry young. To breed young. But she… she was frightened. To ease that fear, I vowed to her that I wouldn’t touch her until she was ready. Slowly, I gained her trust and her love. That made me feel more of a man than any amount of kills I claimed.”
She could see the white of his deep breath before the wind tore it away.
“I’m sorry, Nadua. I couldn’t protect you. Couldn’t protect you from what I didn’t believe in. But I loved you. All these years, I’ve loved you.” He dropped his head as the tears flowed from her eyes.
Again, those words were spoken, low and sorrowful. This was too soon. He wasn’t ready. She could feel the pain, the heartbreak. He stood slowly, looking out over the gently rolling hills that surrounded them. His shoulders shook and she couldn’t help herself. Not anymore. She stepped behind him, her hand trembling before she touched his back. She didn’t see him turn, but she was held in his arms as he pressed his face to her neck.
“I’m so sorry, Fallon,” she whispered, hesitant to let her voice be heard here. This was his.
He said something but her skin muffled it. His hands moved over her, one arm holding her tighter, the other cupping the back of her head, fingers tightening against her scalp as he shuddered
against her. Her own arms pulled him closer as she tried to ease his anguish. After a few minutes, he pulled his mouth away from her neck. “I’m crying.” He half-laughed.
A nod was all she could manage against her own swell of emotion. She could feel the wind cool the warmth of his tears against her skin.
“Did you know, when a vampire cries, their tears are blood?” He pressed his face back against her as if ashamed by the admission.
She moved then, cupping his face and lifting it.
“I don’t care,” she said, sweeping her thumb across the smears of red.
He took a breath, his hands holding her face still. His thumbs running over the tracks of her tears. “And that’s one of the things I love about you,” he said softly before pressing his lips to her head.
Her lungs stopped as his words tore through her. That was why he came her? Why he brought her here? “Fallon.” She tried to say his name, but it broke as it left her lips.
There was a slight lift in darkness behind him and Eve looked around him. Shock robbed her of voice as she realized what she was seeing. He looked at her then over his shoulder before spinning, back ramrod straight.
Faint light illuminated the figure of a young woman, dark eyes kind, soft. Beside her were two small children and she could see Fallon in each of them. This was his family. The family he lost. The woman looked at Eve then to Fallon. Her eyes glittered with tears. Her smile warmed Eve as she just stared. There was a sense of words being spoken, ones she didn’t so much hear as felt. Fallon’s hand tightened on hers.
She pulled her eyes up in time to see him nod once then he said something. The dead woman’s smile widened, and she looked to Eve again. Another word and the ghost of his love turned away and with their children, stepped into the light before it all vanished.
Fallon looked down at her.
“She said thank you,” he finally spoke. “She—.” He stopped to clear his throat.
“What just happened.”
“I gave them rest. I let them go.” He stared at her. “I always knew that if I shed tears for them, it would be me giving them up. I never grieved. They couldn’t move on.” He closed his eyes, resting his forehead against hers. “If I hadn’t fallen so fucking deep in love with you, I would have kept them here.”
“Fallon?”
“Eve?”
“I love you too.”
He pulled his head back and looked down at her, eyes shining with emotion. An emotion she could feel.
“Let’s go home.”
She smiled and took his hand. “Fallon?”
“Eve?”
“Where is home?”
He laughed. “Wherever you are.”
####
Hi!
Thank you so much for reading Bound by Destiny. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! This is the first in a trilogy with Bound by Desire being the next release followed by Bound by Devotion.
As a show of gratitude, please continue reading for a sneak peek into Bound by Desire.
You can find me on Twitter as @Stephanieyarns. I hope to hear from you!
Thank you again for your support!
Sincerely,
Stephanie
Chapter One
“It’s not that I want her dead.” The blond man paced the room, black-leather clad arms crossed over his chest. “She has done nothing to me personally. But in order to take the throne, I need her dead. There is a difference. I’m not as bloodthirsty as some of the Unseelie can be. I don’t kill for fun. Most of the time.” He stopped and turned, giving Naiel a slight smile. The twist of the scar running from the right eye only accentuating the coldness of the dark blue eyes.
Naiel kept his silence.
“This would have all been over had it not been for your interference. You wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t be having this discussion.” The man continued his walk around the room. “You have no right to be influencing what happens in my court.”
Naiel lifted his head and opened a single bloody eye. “This is not your court.”
“Not yet. But it will be. Already, Rosewen searches for you. And she will find you, I made sure of that. Breadcrumbs will bring her to your side. But I’ll be waiting.”
“She won’t come, Kornae. She’ll know something is wrong.”
“Oh, she will. If not for you, then for her daughter.” Kornae stopped in front of him. “You see, I’ve learned something about Eve. Something valuable. Something that will bring her into the heart of the palace.”
“But you won’t share this bit of information, of course,” Naiel said.
“Of course I will.” He stepped behind Naiel and pulled on the cloth that covered his back. The hooks were still embedded deep in his back. “I mean, who are you going to tell?” He came around to look at Naiel.
“I am a captive audience.” The chained Fae refused to give voice to his pain, refused to give Kornae the satisfaction of hearing the screams echoing through his head.
The blond Fae gave that empty smile. “She loves, Naiel. She loves those you sent her to. Though she might not be pure Unseelie, it will be a shame to take one from faerie that could love those monstrosities.”
“This from you?”
“You misunderstand me. I’m impressed. And thrilled. All I have to do is take one of them. Take one and she will move heaven and earth to get him back. Ah, love. Such a wonderfully exploitable emotion. But you know this, don’t you, my friend.”
“What happened to you? You were once Unseelie’s greatest defender.”
“I know about the prophecy, Naiel. I know what her child brings. I’m still defending my home.” Blue eyes turned away and Naiel took a breath. “Take him,” Kornae said aloud. There was no one in the room but Naiel as the chains attached to the hooks jerked into motion, pulling the Fae upwards and Kornae got his screams.
#
The miles disappeared beneath the bike as Fallon sped them toward the cabin he had built for shelter from the sun. A cabin that had almost brought tears to her eyes as she realized how many times he had stayed there, searching in vain for the monster that destroyed his life. All the times he was there alone, after visiting his family’s burial site.
Unable to help herself, Eve tightened her arms around his waist. She smiled as he squeezed her hand for a moment before going back to the handlebars. He said nothing, but then, he didn’t have to. She was there when he said goodbye. She was there when he told her he loved her. She was there when he let his tears of red flow, easing the ache in his heart.
“Stop it.,” his voice came through the speaker in her helmet and she grinned.
“Get out of my head.” She laughed.
“That’ll never happen, princess.”
“If you don’t, I’ll start thinking naughty girl thoughts and then you’ll wreck us.”
“Eve…” his voice was lower than a moment ago and she bit her lip, keeping her laughter inside. “What am I going to do with you.”
“Love me,” she said.
“You know I do.”
She leaned her head against his back and pulled tight against him, thrilling in the warmth that threatened to split her skin.
“And there are the mushy girl thoughts.”
“I warned you.” She smiled as she closed her eyes, remembering the night they spent in his bedroom. The way he touched her, the feel of him pressed against her body. His growl in her ears was everything she didn’t know she wanted and while it hurt her too, she loved the fact that her mere thoughts could make him wants as much as she wanted him.
His hand touched hers again and he moved it, sliding it lower until she could feel the bulge swelling under her gloved palm.
“It’s not fair that you can do this to me,” his voice was thick as he let go of her.
She tightened her fingers around him, and he cursed. “Fuck, Eve.”
“Mmm, that’s the idea.” She laughed, squeezing him through the leather.
“Soon, baby.”
The promise in his voice set her nerves on fire.
“Not soon enough,” she muttered, gripping him one last time.
With a great deal of reluctance, she put her hand back around his waist. Not that that was a hardship. As much as she loved the teasing, the incredible amounts of foreplay, she was just as content to hold him in her arms.
Twenty long minutes later he turned off onto the narrow dirt road that would take them up to where they fell asleep the day before, wrapped in each other’s arms. But this time would be different. Butterflies filled her stomach at the thought of them being able to give in.
“Why are you nervous?”
She shook her head, stiffening her courage. “I’m not.”
“You know, I made you a promise a while back.” She could hear the smile in Fallon's voice and a hint of something that turned her butterflies into buzzards. “I couldn’t do anything about it before. I can now.”
He came to a stop and she glanced at the dark cabin. He cut the engine and she knew she needed to move, to let him go, to get off the bike, but she was frozen, heart pounding in her throat. She watched as he reached up and tugged the strap on his helmet before pulling it off. Knowing it was her imagination, she couldn’t help but think it was in slow motion on purpose.
Gently, he peeled her arms off him before he threw a leg over the bike. He turned to her and removed her helmet.
“I don’t know if you are terrified or turned on,” he said, staring into her eyes.
She licked dry lips. “Maybe both?”
He laughed as he stood. Holding out a hand, she could see the challenge in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, she reached for him.
#
Gideon slammed the door of the SUV and took a step back. Had he ever seen the house so dark? The haven he built when the endless killing became too much. The home he created with his family. But there was a new member in the family. The woman who stole his heart. Stole their hearts. Had it been necessary, he would have pulled the house down stone by stone to protect her.
Bound by Destiny Page 35