Alexa looked confused as she tried to recall the day he was referring to. As recognition lit her expression she spoke, “I thought I saw you then, like so many other times. He asked if I was all right and when I said I was, he asked to touch my belly. He wanted to know how far along I was.”
“Yes,” Ethan husked through his clenched teeth, “you were eight months pregnant, and then he rubbed the ring finger on your left hand and asked if you were married and if he could buy you lunch when you told him you were single. I wanted to kill him as I watched him put his hand on the small of your back and lead you across the street to that cafe where you ate.”
Alexa could feel the rage radiating from Ethan at the memory. “He was kind and I was so lonely. He asked for my number before we left, if he could see me again. I refused him.” She looked into his smoldering eyes. “I don’t even remember his name. There is only you, Ethan. It has always been you.”
With that Ethan crushed his mouth onto hers. Kissing her with all of the longing and emotion that had built up over the past year and a half. Alexa returned the kiss with just as much fervor and desperation. When she parted her full lips slightly it was more than enough of an invitation. Ethan invaded her eager mouth with his skilled tongue, exploring every surface, kissing her with more passion and desire than she had ever known possible.
He reached down under her thighs, gripping her ass he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He moved them up against the wall, pressing into her forcefully and letting her know without a doubt how much he had missed her. She moaned into his mouth as she felt his unbelievable hardness press through her jeans along her sensitive core and into the flesh of her abdomen.
With his incredible speed, Ethan moved them the short distance across his bedroom. So engrossed in their kiss, Alexa hardly registered the movement until her back connected with the silky sheets of his bed and he broke their kiss to remove his shirt and take in the sight of the woman he loved in his bed at long last.
As she lay there, Alexa lifted her head and looked around the room, taking in the masculine decor that was purely Ethan. Her breath caught when she glanced over his shoulder at a large portrait hanging on the wall directly across from the bed. She blinked several times before asking, “Is, is that, me?”
“Yes, you are the only woman who has ever been in my bedroom, this one or the one in my own home, I brought the portrait with me when my father called” he growled as he once again covered her body with his and began kissing along her collarbone, up her neck and jawline. When he slowly dipped his tongue into her ear, Alexa nearly came apart from the inside out. It had been so long. In all these months, she couldn’t even muster the desire to touch herself, the only sexual release coming from the intense dreams that she would sometimes have about her time with Ethan. Now with him here, touching her with all of his masculine perfection, there was essentially eighteen months of unreleased sexual arousal thrumming through her body demanding to get out.
Completely overcome with the intensity of her feelings, both physical and emotional, Alexa clutched at Ethan’s hard body, straining to get as close as possible. Without even thinking, she opened her mouth wide and bit down on his muscled shoulder with her blunt human teeth so hard she drew blood. When the potent essence of it touched her tongue and descended back to her throat, she jerked her head back and cried out his name as a life altering orgasm ripped through her body forcing her back to arch up off of the bed as she writhed with pleasure.
The entire display was the single most erotic thing Ethan had ever witnessed in his life. His erection so hard it was threatening to shred through the denim that remained between him and his love, but he just sat back on his knees and watched intently, not wanting to miss a single second of Alexa’s pleasure.
Several moments passed before her body stilled and she jerked up, an apology on her lips as she looked to the shoulder she had just ravaged, only to find that there was no evidence of the terrible wound she anticipated.
Ethan followed her eyes to his shoulder and grinned, his sexy dimples evident in the dim light, “No te preocupes, Amor. I heal very quickly.”
She touched two fingers to her mouth and pulled them back to reveal the dark liquid that stained her lips. Her tongue reflexively shooting out and around to gather the remaining blood. She closed her eyes and savored the strangely delicious flavor for a moment before she opened them again and stared directly at Ethan as she stuck her fingers in her mouth and sucked the last remnants of his blood from them.
Under any other circumstances, the primal growl that escaped his throat would have been terrifying, but in the moment it was the sexiest sound she had ever heard.
In a couple of quick flashes, Ethan tore Alexa’s jeans and blouse from her body so efficiently she would have sworn she had been naked the entire time. He jumped back off the bed, his body shaking with the restraint as he gazed down at her exposed flesh. He would hurt her like this, he had to get control, to calm down before he could claim her. The blood he had consumed earlier should have reduced his hunger, but in this moment he felt as though he had gone without her sweet blood for a hundred years.
As he stood there, his hot gaze burning into Alexa’s skin and making her squirm with anticipation, he began to recognize how much her figure had changed since he last saw her like this. He probably should have felt it earlier, but he was so preoccupied with having her in his arms again he didn’t realize. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, yet gone were most of the soft sexy curves he loved. She had lost weight, a lot of weight, despite having a baby, and his heart squeezed a little knowing it was because of the pain he had put her through.
Seeing a touch of sadness cross Ethan’s face, Alexa felt bold. She was done with sadness and regret, so she did something that just the thought of would normally have sent her running off blushing and giggling. Staring directly into Ethan’s eyes, she trailed her right hand slowly down the side of her neck, between her breasts and down to her navel. Feeling encouraged by the heat that was reentering his eyes and how good her own hand felt against her skin, she continued lower, teasing along the inside of her thigh before moving between the soft folds of her tender flesh. As she lightly touched the sensitive ball of nerves at the apex of her thighs, she couldn’t resist closing her eyes and enjoying the sensation.
When she opened them, Ethan was hovering over her, his intense eyes boring into her so deeply she thought he could see her soul.
Neither of them spoke, they just stayed there, staring at one another, their eyes saying all the things their hearts needed to hear in that moment. The engorged tip of Ethan’s hardness was pressing insistently at Alexa’s soft, wet opening as he continued to forcibly restrain himself, just trying to take in the moment, reveling in the delight of having Alexa back in his arms.
“Ethan, please, I need to feel you inside me,” Alexa husked breathily.
That was it, he couldn’t take it any longer. In one fluid movement he pushed inside her soft warm center, squeezing his eyes shut and gasping at the sensation of her body gripping him like a tight wet fist.
Her body shuddered, already on the brink of another glorious climax. He stayed there, remaining still inside her, praying for restraint as his primal self threatened to take over.
Sensing his struggle, Alexa gripped his face with both hands, “Ethan, look at me. I love you. I trust you, I’m not made of glass, you’re not going to hurt me, so please, just fuck me baby. Make me cum again.”
Ethan’s cock grew impossibly harder at her words. Unable to stop himself, he began to move in long deep strokes inside her as she moaned in satisfaction and encouragement. It wasn’t long before he felt her body beginning to tense beneath him, her arms pulling him closer with each stroke. His fangs descended, filling his mouth as lust coursed through his veins. Sensing his need Alexa tilted her head back, exposing the irresistible flesh of her neck and setting Ethan’s throat on fire with thirst.
“Amo
r, I need to taste you,” the words coming out as a growled question, his accent thick and his speech slightly obstructed by the sharp points.
“Do it, Ethan. I’m yours, every part of me is yours. I want it. Please,” she managed to whisper through the haze of pleasure that was clouding her mind.
With that he struck, his eyes widening and the pace of his strokes quickening as her sweet taste filled his mouth.
She cried out, the sensations emanating from both points Ethan was penetrating sweeping through her and colliding within her core before exploding outward all over her body.
Ethan could taste it in her blood, feel it in the rush of liquid that coated his throbbing cock, and he was lost, spiraling down into his own delicious climax as he pulled his mouth from her neck and groaned her name over and over again in her ear as he pulsed inside her.
They laid there, tangled in each others arms for several minutes as their breaths evened out again. Ethan held himself up on his elbows and swept his tongue over the puncture wounds in Alexa’s neck sending a shiver down her spine. He stayed there for a moment, watching as the small holes immediately began to heal, before he moved to lay beside her and pulled her into his arms.
She moaned lowly, a lazy smile spreading across her face as she started to slip into a deep and much needed sleep wrapped up in the comfort of Ethan’s strong arms.
As Alexa’s breaths grew deep and even, Ethan pressed his lips to her hair and breathed in her sweet scent. “Te amo, Alexa.”
He closed his eyes tightly, making a silent promise to her and to himself. The prophecy would not rule them, he could stop it, he would stop it. He would die if he had to.
✧
As they lay there, tangled in each others arms, Alexa spoke through her sleepy haze.
“Ethan, I can feel that you’re still holding something back. I won’t push you, I know you must have your reasons. I hope someday you will trust me enough to share with me, but I am here with you now and you must promise me that no matter what happens you won’t do that to me again. You have to promise you won’t leave, no matter what happens or how hard it gets.”
He pulled her tighter and whispered into her hair as a lone tear ran down his cheek, “I promise, Amor. I will never leave you again.”
Feeling overcome with the need to show Alexa how he felt, to prove to her he meant to keep his promise, Ethan felt the words trying to burst from his heart. He had thought to ask it the first night he met her, but he knew it was too fast for her then. Now, with her knowing what he was and still accepting him, he could not contain his desire to make her his, and only his, any longer.
He sat up in bed next to her, stroking her hair as her breaths evened into the pattern of sleep. He quietly got up from the bed and retrieved his pants from the floor, removing the ring he had been carrying all these months from his pocket.
Quietly slipping back into bed, Ethan wrapped his body around Alexa’s, gently slipping the ring on her left hand and taking a moment to admire how good the large diamond looked on her finger.
He was suddenly gripped with fear. What if she refused him? He swallowed his nerves. She loved him, she was his soul mate, they were made for each other and he needed to do this as much as he needed to take his next breath.
Pulling her with him to the edge of the bed, he slid off onto one knee with her lying on her side, beautifully naked as he stroked her cheek trying to wake her gently.
“Amor, Amor, wake up, sweet Alexa.”
Her eyes fluttered quickly and then stilled, before he spoke again, slightly louder this time.
“Alexa, Amor, you must wake.”
With that, her eyes snapped open and she sat up in a panic. “Is everything okay, is Chloe okay?” she asked, her mind still clouded by sleep.
“Yes, my love, everything is perfect, but I must ask you a question.”
As the haze started to lift, she focused on Ethan, a question in her eyes until they fell upon the hand he was holding and the large diamond ring that covered her finger.
Her other hand shot up to her mouth as she realized what was happening and gasped.
“I loved you from the first moment I saw you, Alexa. There were none before you, and there will be none after. You possess me, body, mind, and soul. So I ask you, I beg you, please grant me the great honor of becoming my wife.”
Alexa couldn’t speak as the tears of joy streamed down her face. Her first thought was to pinch herself. This had to be a dream, but as she felt Ethan’s warms fingers stroking her hand, felt the cold metal and weight of the platinum band on her finger, she knew this was real.
Like Ethan, she had known that first night. Even then, his soul called out to hers, so just like that night, she gave the response that was in her heart as she smiled down at him lovingly.
“Sure.”
CHAPTER 19 - Big Announcement
They made love again, slowly reveling in each others bodies, in each detail and sensation. As she started to drift off to sleep, Alexa couldn’t help but feel like they were only enjoying the quiet before the storm. But she pushed the thought from her mind and let herself enjoy the feel of being wrapped in Ethan’s strong arms. She would savor these quiet moments, even though she already knew they would be fleeting.
Alexa woke the next morning, scared to open her eyes for fear that everything that had passed the night before had been a dream. But as she regained consciousness, she could feel Ethan’s warmth enveloping her, feel the hardness of his muscular body against hers and the fear floated away. He was hers, even if for just a short time.
Sensing the change in her breathing, Ethan smiled. “Good morning, Amor.”
She turned in his arms to face him and pressed a kiss to his full lips. “Good morning, my fiancé,” she declared, a bright smile spreading across her face.
He returned the smile as he pulled her closer, letting her feel his growing arousal at having her so close to him in his bed.
Tempted by the feel of his hardness against her abdomen, Alexa moved away. “I should go check on Chloe.”
“She is still asleep, I can hear her heartbeat and her breathing. They are steady with sleep.”
Alexa’s cheeks immediately flushed. “Oh my God, if you can hear that, oh no, your parents!” She exclaimed as he chuckled at her embarrassment.
“Do not concern yourself. We are adults and they understand. I spent far too many nights listening to them over the years, or rather trying to block them out. My mother is quite vocal,” he said shaking his head as if trying to rid his mind of the thought.
Alexa buried her face in her hands with humiliation. “This vampire hearing of yours clearly has its disadvantages,” she whispered peeking at him through her fingers.
“You learn to block things out over time,” he said pulling her hands away from her face. “Their focus last night was on Chloe, and I am sure they are not paying any attention to us now. I only hear her so clearly because I am trying to and I can assure you they are both still asleep as well, Amor.” He smiled, flashing his adorable dimples at her, clearly amused by her discomfort.
She smacked his shoulder playfully. “This is not funny!” She exclaimed as he rolled her onto her back, swiftly grabbing her hands and pinning them above her head with one of his as the other freely roamed her still naked body.
“Perhaps you should learn to be more quiet,” he said softly before claiming her mouth with his own. After thoroughly kissing her, he pulled back slightly, a mischievous grin lighting his face as he slid his hand down between her breasts, then lightly circled each already hardened nipple eliciting a low moan from deep in her throat. “I think this is a good time for you to practice.”
“How can I be expected to be quiet with you touching me like that?” She implored huskily as she closed her eyes, thoroughly enjoying this playful side of him.
Choices of Fate (Fate Series) Page 17