A Secret Fate

by Susan Griscom

  They ate the steaks in the living room in front of the fire, sitting on the floor at the coffee table. It was something they did frequently after she’d mentioned they’d always liked to eat there before. He had to agree, it was enjoyable. A soft tune drifted out from the speakers and he took her hand in his, pulling her up from the floor. She giggled and placed her hand on his shoulder as he twirled her slowly around the room. He stopped dancing in the middle of the song and held her close against him. It was now or never. “Addison.”

  “Hmmm …” she responded with a lazy hum.

  “I love you,” he whispered against her ear.

  “I love you too.”

  “There’s something I want to discuss …” they both said at the same time.

  “You first,” he said.

  “No, you go first, mine can wait. After all, you are the one who planned this romantic evening. It’s your show.”

  His show. Okay, he’d give her a show if that’s what it took. He sank down on one knee in front of her. Taking both her hands in his, he said, “We were once engaged, but I don’t remember that time. Even though I can’t recall asking you to marry me, I want you to know that I am hopelessly in love with you and truly want to marry you still.” He swallowed when she didn’t say anything. Was this a mistake? Carry on, play it out, he silently prompted himself. “Addison, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

  Her mouth hung open, but nothing came out. “Addison, will you marry me?” he asked, after reaching into his pocket to pull out the ring she’d once worn, the ring she’d said he’d given her. “Please?”

  She let out a puff of air as though she’d been holding her breath and nodded. “Yes. I will.”

  He slid the ring on her finger, scooped her up in his arms, then carried her over to the sofa and placed her gently on her back before pressing his lips on hers. For the first time since he could remember, he felt whole.

  “You have no idea how happy you just made me.”

  “I’ve been waiting for you to ask me again, wondering if you would. I never wanted to assume you still wanted to marry me.”

  “I love you,” he said, kissing her again. Slowly, gently, softly, until her fingers tickled the hairs on the inside of his pants’ zipper, then the kiss turned urgent, demanding, taking, needing. The jeans slid down his legs with no help from him. She’d used her mind, a very handy talent, he mused. As his hands slid up the sides of her thighs, the nightgown floated over her head and found its way to the floor beside his pants. With the clothing gone, he couldn’t resist; he suckled first one breast, then the other. She moaned, flexing her hips up against him, her hands cupping each cheek of his behind, pulling him closer. His cock had nowhere to go but in and together they rocked each other’s world. An involuntary grin affixed itself to his face as he reveled in her essence. He was getting married to the most beautiful woman in the world.

  ***

  On the floor in front of the dying fire, Cael lay next to Addison, his legs tangled in hers. “I wish I could remember the first time I asked you to marry me.”

  “Well, you didn’t. Not really.”

  “What? You said we were engaged.”

  “We were, but you never actually asked me. You just sort of told me to marry you. I believe your words were somewhere along the lines of ‘You still have a lot to learn, but as my wife you would want to help protect the Sectorium.’ And I responded with, ‘Your wife?’ At which point you said ‘If you’ll have me. Will you?’”

  “And what did you say?”

  “Well, I then asked, ‘Marry you?’ And you replied, ‘Yes, marry me.’ So you see, you never officially asked me to marry you. You told me.”

  He threw his head back and placed his arm over his forehead. “What a tool.”

  She laughed. “I didn’t mind. But now that you’ve asked me so wonderfully this time, it does seem to make the other time less romantic.”

  “Ahhh … I do wish I could remember.”

  “Let’s try something.” She got to her feet and held out her hand. “Stand up.” He did and stood in front of her. His erection pointed right at her. She sighed. “You’re insatiable.”

  “I thought you loved that about me.”

  She laughed. “I do, but this needs concentration.” She glanced around the room and saw the shirt he must have been wearing earlier that day. She snatched it off the back of the chair he’d draped it over and shrugged into it.

  “Killjoy.”

  “Put your pants on, stud. I need your mind completely clear for this.”

  “For what? What are you going to do?” He was suddenly apprehensive.

  “You don’t remember this, but you and I used to have this special bond.”

  “What sort of bond?” He bit his bottom lip, overwhelmed with curiosity.

  “You know how you and your mother can sort of read other’s thoughts?”

  “Well, we can’t read thoughts exactly. It’s more like an intuitive feeling.”

  “Yeah, a mighty strong one.”

  He gave an easy shrug.

  “Whatever. Anyway, you and I used to be able to communicate telepathically.”

  “Seriously?” Even more intrigued, he pulled up his jeans and zipped them, leaving the button undone.

  “Yeah, full conversations.” She eyed the spot above the zipper and raised her eyebrows. “Nice. But you might be way too sexy for me to concentrate.”

  He started to fasten his pants but she shook her head. “Don’t bother. Just you standing there without a shirt is enough. Buttoning your jeans isn’t going to help.”

  He grinned. “Why Ms. MacKenna, you are blushing.”

  “Because I can sense that you are reading my thoughts.”

  “Hell, woman, you don’t need to be a damn psychic to figure out what’s on your mind right now.”

  “Okay. Let’s try and be serious here.” She opened the new locket that hung from the chain around her neck and took out the crystal, holding the stone in the palm of her hand. “Step closer to me and place your hand in mine, over the crystal. Now give me your other hand.” She took a deep cleansing breath and exhaled. “I want you to concentrate on what I’m thinking.”

  “That’s not going to be very difficult, as I am always wondering what you are thinking since you seem to be the only one I can’t figure out. Your mind is always so jumbled with convoluted thoughts.”

  “So it’s just like before.”

  “Before?”

  “Yeah. When we first met, you had the same problem.”

  “Right. You mentioned that.”

  “But we overcame it.”

  “How?”

  “I’m not sure. We made love on the beach in Bora Bora after confessing our feelings for one another and it just happened.”

  “Bora Bora?” It dawned on him now why he and Finn landed there. Out of all the places he could have gone, he materialized in Bora Bora. It hadn’t been Stefan and Claire having been there that brought him to that island, it was Addison. She was his last thought before he’d lost his memory. He looked into her beautiful brown almond-shaped eyes and saw a flicker of gold as he studied them. Unwavering, she stared back into his and they stood silent for a long minute. “I think we should go to Bora Bora and try to reenact that event.”

  “Yes, I think you’re right!”

  Her voice was high with excitement and he had to laugh. “Where exactly were we?”

  “I’m not sure. We materialized on a little motu surrounded by a beautiful lagoon with a view of twin peaks across the water.”

  “I know the place.” He let go of her hands and blew out the candles around the room before taking her in his arms. “Hold on and don’t drop the crystal.”

  Chapter 36

  Addie opened her eyes after the familiar feeling of air slicing through her bones subsided.

  She blinked and looked around at palm trees swaying in the soft warm breeze. “This is it! How did you know this place? Do you remember?”
>
  “Not the way you want me to, but this is where Finn and I first appeared after Gerry wiped my memory.

  “Accidentally,” she reminded him, recognizing the slight twinge of animosity in his voice.

  “Right. I didn’t know at the time why I picked the spot to bring Finn, but I guess I must have had you on my mind.” He smiled and held her hands in his, feeling the hard bulge of the crystal between them. “Tell me about our time here.”

  “You wanted to surprise me. You joked about taking me to a different beach than the cold Oregon Coast where we almost had our first sexual encounter.”

  “I can understand why it was only ‘almost’ there and why this was a much better beach choice.”

  “You said you had something to tell me. You were nervous, like tonight when you told me you loved me.” She looked around; the moon was full and brightened up the small island just enough to make little shadows under the bushes. The sand sparkled from the reflection of the moon. “It was daytime then, but like now, there wasn’t a soul around. It’s even quieter now, no birds calling from above like before.” She glanced at the water; just like before, small waves lapped and settled into soft-looking foam as they spilled onto the sand.

  The turquoise waters she remembered from their previous visit seemed so dark at night, now they barely looked blue. She recalled how the water played off the deep blue color of Cael’s eyes. “We made love over there.” His eyes followed her finger that pointed to the old weathered palm tree backing up against the sand ridge where they’d strewn their clothes. “And afterward, we began communicating through our thoughts.” Now they stood on the moonlit sandy, palm-covered islet holding hands and swaying.

  “I should have brought you here to ask you to marry me. Again.”

  She smiled. “You brought me now.”

  “So I did.”

  “Cael, I’m going to use the crystal to help bring back that bond. I want you to concentrate on my thoughts. I’ll be thinking about how much I want you to hear my thoughts and … how much I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” He smiled and placed his forehead against hers.

  ***

  Addison closed her eyes and breathed deeply a few times before relaxing, but Cael kept his eyes open. He didn’t want to miss anything. He thought about her wanting to have what they had before and how much he wanted to give her that. She deserved to have the man she fell in love with back and he wanted so much to be that man. She pulled her hand out from his and held the crystal against his chest right where his heart was. The force of the power almost knocked them both over. He thought for sure his heart stopped beating and then sped up twice as fast as normal within only a few seconds. His breathing became rapid and the light from the crystal was blinding until she covered it with her hand.

  He wanted to be closer to her, if that was possible. There wasn’t room between them for an ant to crawl through, but he still needed to be closer. He picked her up so her legs straddled his waist and held her there. The silky wetness between her legs felt slick and wonderful against his stomach and his pants became a little tight beneath the zipper.

  He started to say something when all of a sudden he saw a truck, Addison’s truck and it came out of nowhere, heading straight for him. He jerked to get out of the way before he realized it was only a vision. He heard her calling and searching for someone she thought she hit. It was him, but he stayed hidden. He let her mind carry his as she showed him how he caught her in his arms the first time he looked into her eyes and knew at that moment he’d fallen for her. Then he saw how he saved her life when she’d been taking pictures and stepped too close to the edge of the cliff, falling, gripping on to roots as she hung helplessly, frantically, calling for help.

  He just about swallowed his tongue when several bolts of lightning shot out from the crystal, sending tiny streams of electric current through his arms and legs. Then he visualized the two of them kissing, their first kiss in the beach house, he knew, because she gave him that knowledge. The emotions were strong then. She’d been a little scared but curious about him. The first time they’d made love he’d been in awe of her beauty. Nothing different about that now—he was still in awe of her, but for more than just her body. She showed him how they’d made love; each and every time since the first so he’d have that. He wanted to beat himself over the head when he saw how poorly he’d handled trying to break up with her—“for her own protection.” She chuckled against his neck when she showed him the punch from Gerry.

  He watched the time they’d gone to see his mother and Addison learned about her own mother. He felt a tear flow down his cheek, but he couldn’t let go of her to wipe it away. He choked back the sob in his throat when the vision changed to her sitting on the bed, telling him how Eidolon had violated her the night of the fire while he had been saving the life of a little boy. His hands automatically fisted under her legs as he held her tightly against him. He smiled with pride as he watched Addison blow Eidolon up as if he were nothing more than a toothpick. Then she sighed into him as he watched himself take her and Gerry to Maia, who lay helpless along the jogging trail with a broken leg.

  Her breathing calmed and Cael saw them sitting in the bar and grill discussing their fate, how they were meant for each other, joking about it being “a secret fate” and his heart soared with a happiness he’d never known before. She showed him everything she experienced with him from the time she’d first encountered him to the moment he’d disappeared with Finn. Then the bolts of electricity stopped, the visions ceased, the warm air blew against his back and all he could think about was making love with the beautiful woman in his arms.

  “It’s time to make a new memory,” Addison said, shoving his pants down to his ankles with her feet and probably helped a little with her mind. It seemed the zipper somehow came down while the electrical currents ran through their bodies. Before he could think, her lips were on his. There was no rushing, but there was no hesitation, just smooth soft motion as tongues glided and hands roamed over soft skin. She was still wet when he slipped inside with little effort or thought of position. There was no need; they fit perfectly. With her at his hips, he sank deep inside. She moaned with delight and somehow managed to force her body tightly into his so that he was so deep he almost came from the sensation. Up until that moment, he’d forgotten about her ability to manipulate objects, including herself. But as his feet left the ground and his pants fell into the sand, he remembered the vision he’d seen just a few minutes earlier. During their last lovemaking experience on this very same beach, they’d floated. He’d seen it, and here they were again, hovering two feet above the sand and still had all the force and rhythm as if they were grounded. She controlled this and it was amazing. His pace was fast and hard as he buried himself deep within her. Addison trembled against him. She screamed with pleasure and shuddered. “I love you, Cael,” she whispered into his ear and the soft vibes of her voice sent him over the edge as he erupted inside her.

  ***

  They sat on the beach at the water’s edge in silence, mesmerized by the soft waves. Addie looked to her left. The sun was beginning its rise as the round bright orange edge peeked up from the horizon. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Yes, it is. Thank you,” he said.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “A secret fate in Whisper Cape, huh?”

  She smiled. “Yeah. It was during one of our cutesy moods.”

  He nodded. “That was incredible. I can’t thank you enough.” He took her hand and held on.

  “It was. You know, it wouldn’t have been possible without this.” She opened her hand to reveal the crystal and he fingered its smooth edge. It was back to its amber color now.

  “We still can’t seem to communicate telepathically though.”

  “We’ll have to work on that.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “You were going to tell me something, before I asked you to be my wife.”

  “Right.” Addie placed a hand over her stomach.
This wasn’t the place. She wanted to be home, just in case he freaked out. She had shown him their many conversations about babies, but still, this man with her now, the one who said he still felt twenty-five, might want to retain the carefree life-style he’d had. Yes, he loved her and wanted to marry her. She knew that, but wanting to spend your life with someone and wanting to raise a child together were two different things.

  “Well?”

  “Let’s go home first. I think I need something to eat.”

  “Okay.”

  ***

  “Do you want some breakfast?”

  Addison placed her hand on her stomach. “Um … no. I’m not hungry.”

  “But you said you needed something to eat.”

  “Oh, God.” She covered her mouth and ran to the bathroom, he guessed to lose the steak she’d eaten several hours before.

  He stood at the bathroom entrance, his arm propped on the doorframe. Something wasn’t right. She’d been hungry two minutes ago and now she was puking whatever was left from dinner the night before. Addison leaned over the sink, splashing water on her face and around the back of her neck.

  “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

  Drying her face with a towel, she straightened and faced him. Her eyes had dark circles under them and she looked extremely pale as she nodded.

  “That’s what you wanted to tell me?”

  She nodded again, as if the words were stuck in her throat or shoved aside by the stream of vomit she’d spewed into the toilet. Or was it something else?

  “Come here.” He held out his arms and drew her in. She was shaking. Was she scared? Of course she was. She was afraid of how he’d react. Damn it. He hated to know he was the cause of so much anxiety for her. “Addison, I love you and I love this.” He splayed his fingers across her stomach and she began to sob against him. “Please don’t cry.”

  “I can’t help it. So you’re okay with this?”