My Destiny

by Adrianne Byrd

  His lucid hazel eyes were focused on her. “I want to make one thing perfectly clear,” he said. “I’m not Adam. I’m the man who’s in love with you.”

  Chapter 23

  Destiny stared into Miles’s eyes while “The Man in Love With You” floated inside her head. It occurred to her a few heartbeats later that she should respond, but she didn’t trust herself to speak.

  Miles’s head dipped and his lips once again pressed against hers. During the midst of their deep sensuous kiss, the word “love” resonated in her heart. He loved her. He’d said so himself—or had he?

  Destiny was suddenly suspicious of this whole night. Was she in the middle of a dream? Maybe it was one where she kept waking, but never truly did.

  Miles’s strong hands inched up her body, and her breath thinned with anticipation. He ended the kiss long enough to pull the gown over her head. And when she lay naked beneath him, a desire to please him engulfed her.

  When he leaned over her, his bare chest brushed against her taut nipples and pleasure swept all the way to her toes. Her eyes drifted to half moons while the thrill of his soft moans throbbed in her ears.

  “I love you, Destiny,” he whispered, and then reclaimed her lips.

  His fingers slid downward, grazing her flat stomach, her firm thighs, and then dipped into the warm, moist passage between her legs.

  Destiny gasped, while Miles’s kiss became urgent and hungry.

  Miles wanted to pace himself, but his hands and body acted as if they held their own agenda. His lips moved from her glorious mouth to nibble on the lobe of her ear.

  Blood roared in his head as fire raged wildly in his veins. He hardened at the feel of the erotic rhythm she’d adopted in response to his probing fingers.

  Destiny trembled as jolt after jolt of wild orgasmic pleasure rocketed through her while Miles’s mouth continued to burn a hot trail between her breasts. With each peak, his tongue teased and flicked before drawing the nipple hard into his mouth.

  Slowly, Destiny managed to pull herself from the whirlpool of sweet oblivion to look into the face of the man who’d claimed to be in love with her and she wondered weakly what was preventing her from repeating the same to him.

  As if sensing her withdrawal, Miles deserted her breasts to hover over her. “Do you want me to stop?” he asked, in a thick, hoarse whisper that sounded nothing like his usual cool baritone.

  No matter what she was feeling, she wasn’t about to tell him to stop—she was nowhere near that crazy.

  “N-no,” she whispered, and reached to unbutton his trousers.

  He laughed softly. “Here, let me help you with that,” he said. In no time, he was relieved of his clothing.

  Destiny was fascinated by his size. Her fantasies had paid him a disservice.

  Finally, she dragged her gaze away to look up into his twinkling eyes.

  “If you tell me to stop now, you’ll definitely be off my Christmas card list,” he said, producing a condom and putting it on.

  She laughed and wrapped her arms around him as his mouth once again devoured hers. His hands returned to their sweet assault across her breasts, and she moaned softly when his mouth retraced the path his hands had taken.

  She twisted breathlessly beneath his gentle caresses, and then gasped with exquisite pleasure as he plunged full length into her welcoming softness.

  Lost in an incoherent passion, Destiny was consumed by the fullness of him. And when Miles moved inside of her, she ceased to think at all—she just responded to his every touch and movement.

  Their breathing came hard and fast as something glorious unfolded within her and spread like a warm fire that grew with each stroke until it was racing in roaring fury.

  She twisted fitfully on the cushions and arched greedily to meet his plunging thrusts.

  Miles held her hips, while his mind teetered precariously over blissful insanity. Everything about her was new to him—from the way her warm body massaged him to this growing need to possess her. Never had he felt this way about another woman.

  A cry of ecstasy tore from Destiny’s lips as a volcano erupted inside of her. Miles thwarted the cry with his mouth and held her until her tremors subsided.

  It took Destiny a while, but she slowly regained control of her breathing and half expected the alarm clock to jar her awake. However, after a few minutes, the only sound she heard was their labored breathing.

  “You could kill a man,” Miles whispered against her ear, then shifted to slide next to her.

  “Any man or just you?”

  He laughed warmly. “Probably just me.”

  Smiling, she turned in the curve of his arm. “I guess that’s good enough for me.”

  He kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose and then the soft petals of her lips. “God, you taste so good,” he whispered before capturing another long kiss.

  Destiny welcomed the kiss, mainly because it was a wonderful substitute for the inevitable talk about this drastic change in their relationship.

  With an impressive maneuver, Miles shifted, gathered Destiny and stood from the sofa.

  She broke the kiss and looked around.

  “Cramped quarters,” he answered the unspoken question. “It’s a shame to let the bed in your room go to waste, don’t you think?”

  “Good point.” Laughing, she slid her arms around his neck as he carried her to the bedroom.

  * * *

  Later that morning, Violet and Adele arrived separately at their children’s building, and then bumped into each other at the elevator bay on the first floor. They laughed when they spotted one another, and then hugged in greeting.

  “Here to see Miles?” Adele asked, withdrawing from her dear friend.

  “Of course.” Violet gently pulled at the fur collar of her jacket. “He’s supposed to be helping me shop for a new car. The Lincoln keeps having computer glitches—I swear, these modern cars are more trouble than they’re worth.” She waved a jeweled hand at her friend. “I just want something that faithfully turns over when you twist the key in the ignition. Is that too much to ask?”

  “I hear you, Vi.” Adele laughed as they stepped into the elevator. “Destiny and I are going to catch up with Lu Jin and do a little more house shopping.”

  “Sounds like fun,” Violet chirped.

  Adele nodded. “It was in the beginning, but we’ve been looking for four months and now it’s about as much fun as watching paint dry.”

  The elevator bell sounded and the ladies arrived on the fourteenth floor.

  * * *

  Destiny’s head reared back as she assumed the top position and rocked hard against Miles, all the while relishing the way he completely filled her.

  With his hands firmly on her sides, Miles pumped his hips, wanting desperately to reach the rapturous explosion that lay just beyond his reach.

  When the doorbell rang, neither of them paid it any attention because both were on a mission that refused to be compromised.

  However, when Adele’s voice floated into the apartment, all bets were off.

  “Destiny, are you home?”

  “My mother!” Destiny’s eyes grew wide as she leaped off Miles, snatching the top sheet with amazing speed and agility.

  “Destiny?” Adele questioned again.

  “I swear, I’m taking back everyone’s key to my apartment. This is getting ridiculous.”

  Miles chuckled. “If you’d done that, last night would never have happened.”

  She flashed him a warm smile and said, “Good point.”

  * * *

  Adele frowned, worried that she’d got the time wrong. She walked back to the front door with the sudden thought that maybe Destiny had slipped over to Miles’s apartment for something.

  She opened the door and was surprised to see Violet still standing across the hall.

  “Can you believe this?” Violet exclaimed. “He’s not home.”

  “Apparently, neither is Destiny,” Adele said. “Do you ha
ve a key to his apartment?”

  “Are you kidding? That boy guards his privacy like the CIA.”

  “Well, come on over here. I’m sure wherever they’ve run off to they’ll be back soon.”

  Violet shrugged and crossed the hall to join her friend. “Thanks, I really appreciate this.”

  * * *

  Miles propped up on the jumbo pillows against the bed’s headboard and watched in amusement as Destiny scrambled for something to put on. “Where is that damn robe?”

  “In the dryer,” Miles answered still smiling.

  Her gaze cut to him. “I’m so happy you find this amusing. Maybe I should let her come back and find you in here.”

  Miles’s brows wiggled at her as his hands slid behind his head. “Fine with me. I have nothing to hide.”

  Her eyes lowered to slide over his naked form and couldn’t believe that she was actually considering jumping back in bed with him.

  “See anything you like?” he asked, laughing.

  She rolled her eyes heavenward and turned back to the task at hand. “Maybe it’s slipped your mind that our mothers are good friends and if my mom finds out about this, so will yours.”

  Still indifferent, he shrugged; but his eyes narrowed on Destiny and it occurred to him for the first time that while he had confessed words of love last night, he’d yet to hear the same endearments from her. He stiffened at the realization.

  “Then Lu Jin and Wes would be next on the list,” she went on to say, finally pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt.

  “I see,” he said, as he looked around for his clothes, feeling the full force of his stupidity. How on earth had he allowed this to happen? He moved to sit on the edge of the bed, with a sudden need for air—but there was one thing preventing him from leaving.

  * * *

  Violet and Adele chatted away as they moved into Destiny’s living room when Adele’s attention was drawn to a discarded gown. She picked it up at the same time Violet discovered a pair of pants.

  Simultaneously, their gazes flew to one another.

  “Maybe, this isn’t a good time to be visiting,” Adele said, coloring with instant embarrassment.

  “I wouldn’t say that.” Violet smiled.

  Adele frowned, the meaning lost on her.

  Violet held up the pants, and then retrieved a nearby pair of boxers.

  “Violet, put those back,” Adele snapped, appalled.

  Instead, Violet laughed after further inspection of the boxers. “I think we just stumbled over a big secret.”

  Adele was beginning to suspect her friend had gone mad, when Violet spoke again.

  “These belong to my son.”

  Chapter 24

  “Destiny?” Adele called out from the living room. “Are you here?”

  Destiny raced to her bedroom door and poked her head out and yelled down the hall. “I’m coming. Give me a few minutes. I’m going to jump into the shower.” She slammed the door closed and turned to look at Miles. “You stay right there. I think I can handle this,” she said, grabbing her selected outfit and rushing into the bathroom.

  Miles shrugged. “As you wish.”

  After a record-breaking shower, Destiny swept into the living room. Her sweatpants and T-shirt clinging to her wet body as though she’d jumped into the water fully dressed. “Mom,” she greeted, breathlessly with her eyes shining, but her wide smile diminished when her gaze shifted to Violet. “Mrs. Stafford.” She blinked in surprise.

  Violet, on the other hand, brightened like a ray of sunshine. “Good morning, Destiny. How are you?”

  Heat crept into Destiny’s face as a swarm of butterflies filled her stomach. “Huh? Uh, I mean, I’m doing good.” She nodded for emphasis and worried like hell that one of them had mind-reading capabilities, or worse, could see through walls—mothers did, after all, possess unexplained powers.

  “That’s good, that’s good,” Violet said.

  Silence hung like a death sentence over the three women, before Destiny finally asked, “So what brings you two here?”

  Her mother’s brows shot up in surprise. “We’re supposed to go look at those houses you printed from the internet, remember?”

  “Houses?” Destiny repeated dumbly, but then her brain jump-started. “Oh, the houses!” She exhaled in a rush of relief, and then admitted laughingly, “I’d forgotten.”

  The women smiled.

  But that didn’t explain why Violet was there. Her confusion must have shone in her expression because Violet suddenly perked up and answered the unspoken question.

  “Oh. I, uh, was just waiting for Miles—”

  “He’s not here,” Destiny interrupted.

  Violet blinked, and then smiled. “No. I suppose he’s not.” She met and held Destiny’s gaze.

  At that moment, a loud thump came from the bedroom.

  Destiny’s heart leaped into her throat as she jerked in the direction of the sound.

  “What was that?” Adele asked.

  Eyes wide, Destiny swiveled back to face them with her mouth open for a convenient lie, but no words came to her rescue.

  Adele’s brows rose inquiringly. “Yes?”

  “I don’t know. M-maybe I should go check it out,” Destiny said, but didn’t immediately move.

  “Ooo-kay,” Adele said, waiting.

  Flashing another smile, Destiny turned and dashed to

  her bedroom.

  * * *

  Adele and Violet snickered behind Destiny’s back.

  “I think we should leave them alone,” Adele whispered.

  Violet’s smile turned smug. “Are you kidding? I say we make them squirm.”

  Destiny flew into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. “What on earth are you doing in here?” she whispered through clenched teeth.

  Wearing a towel draped around his hips, Miles hopped on one foot. He frowned and hissed back. “I stubbed my toe on the nightstand. Is that all right with you?”

  “No, it’s not. They heard you back here.”

  “They?” Miles lowered his foot, but continued frowning. “Who’s all out there?”

  “Our mothers!”

  “My mom is here?” Miles asked in disbelief.

  “Yes.” Destiny flailed her arms. “It’s like they have a damn radar gun on us or something.”

  “Well, I don’t know about your mother, but that’s definitely a possibility with mine,” Miles said. “Did she say what she was doing here?”

  Destiny paced nervously. “She said she was waiting for you.”

  “Oh.” Miles slapped his forehead and rolled his eyes heavenward. “I forgot. I’m supposed to take her car shopping.”

  “Well, she’s out there waiting for you. Any ideas on how we get you out of here without them seeing you?”

  Miles drew a blank and shrugged.

  Destiny moaned and shook her head. “I was afraid of that.”

  “I got it.” He snapped his fingers. “Tell her you just called me and I’m out with Wes and, uh, I told you to tell her to go on to the car dealership and I’ll meet her there within the hour.” He brightened as if it was an ingenious plan.

  “You want me to lie to her?” she asked in mild shock, not daring to tell him that she’d already lied to her once.

  “Fine, then. Tell her I’m back here, waiting for you to get rid of them so we can finish what we started.”

  Destiny picked up a pillow from the bed and flung it at him.

  Miles ducked and came up smiling. “Look, we can’t have our cake and eat it, too.”

  She huffed and squeezed her forehead as if she’d suddenly developed a headache.

  “Do you have a better plan?” he asked, sitting on the bed.

  “Of course I do. I just like biting my nails for fun.”

  “Well, at least hand me my pants so I can stop parading around like this,” he said, returning his gaze back to his injured foot.

  “What pants?”

  Miles’s he
ad jerked back in her direction. “You didn’t get my pants from the living room?”

  Destiny’s eyes widened as the blood drained from her face. “I—I didn’t think...” She turned toward the bedroom door, suddenly afraid to go back out of it. “They may have already seen them.”

  “Wait, wait.” He came around the bed and over to her. “Let’s not panic. Maybe they haven’t seen my pants...and boxers. Where was my mother when you went out there?”

  “Standing behind the sofa,” she admitted, then covered her mouth with her hand and mumbled, “They know.”

  “Now, calm down. You don’t know that for sure.”

  “Come on. They’ve been here at least fifteen minutes. Surely, they’ve gone to sit down in the living room by now.” She started pacing again. “Damn, damn, damn.”

  “We’re not going to get anywhere panicking.”

  Destiny turned angry eyes toward him. “I know that you’re trying to be the voice of reason but, quite frankly, you’re riding my last nerve.”

  Miles held his hand up in surrender. “I was just trying to help.”

  Destiny drew in a deep breath, and then headed for the door.

  “What are you going to do?” Miles asked.

  She turned toward him, with a blank expression. “I’m going to wing it. Wish me luck.”

  Now he drew a deep breath, as well. “Good luck.” He watched her as she slipped out of the door before adding, “Because you’re going to need it dealing with my mother.”

  * * *

  “It was nothing,” Destiny informed Adele and Violet, who were sitting at the breakfast bar, when she returned. “Just a book fell from the nightstand.”

  As they sipped from the steaming coffee cups, the women’s

  gazes rose to meet her.

  Destiny relaxed at the thought there was still a chance they hadn’t gone to sit in the living room yet. She chanced a nervous glance over into the living room and saw Miles’s clothes in a pile by the coffee table.

  “Destiny?” Her mother’s voice caught her attention.

  She jerked her gaze back to them. “Yes?”

  “I was asking you what book you were reading?”

  “What book?” Destiny asked, her mind drawing a blank.