Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance)

by Brint, Cynthia

  Foggy, yes, that's... that's the word. Every inch of me felt like it was burning up, my belly tight.

  He wasn't done yet.

  Turning my jaw, he ran his thumb over my bottom lip. Then, amazingly, he forced it inside, gliding over my tongue. Startled by his forwardness, I tried to pull back; Nethiun wouldn't have that.

  His other hand had the back of my head, keeping me steady. Staring into my eyes, his opal orbs didn't move. The shine in them, the hint of humanity, was gone. “Shh,” he said, “you wanted to know. Let me show you.”

  I didn't struggle again.

  The pad of his finger rolled over my wet tongue, following the curve, lighting my taste buds up with citrus. “Excitement,” he crooned. “Excitement is this, buttery and soft. It's one of my favorites, if I have to admit it. Addicting, but too much of it is dangerous.”

  My chest thrummed, I was sure my heart could pop at any moment. The dizziness in my brain made it hard to think, hard to do much but sink into the wondrous feelings he was cultivating in my body.

  Nethiun slid his hand from my mouth, replacing it with his lips. That kiss was rough, his teeth nipped, asking for more from me than I thought I could give.

  He was fast, determined. For a second, as he nibbled my tongue, I had a dash of worry that he might consume me the way he'd suggested twaelin were capable of.

  I was only slightly less afraid when he pushed me down on the grass, kissing along my neck lightly. What is he... I don't know if I can...

  “Nethiun,” I gasped, eyes fluttering shut in my bliss. “Wait, slow down, I'm not—”

  He silenced me with another kiss, hands running down my ribs to follow my curves. As he pulled back, staring down at me with the night sky behind his head, I thought his wicked grin was glowing. It might as well have been the moon; it was just as sharp, just as curved. “I won't hurt you,” he said quietly. “I promise, I won't do anything you don't ask me for.”

  His confidence hushed me, sent a spark of electricity down to my very core. Squeezing my thighs together, I bit back a moan. He was too exciting, too unpredictable.

  I wanted more of it with every breath.

  Those warm lips skipped down to the indent of my collar bone, his cheek nuzzling against the cloth of my tight shirt.

  Beneath me, the ground was cold. Arching away from it, I pressed myself harder against Nethiun. I knew what I wanted, and at the same time, couldn't put a name to it.

  Agile fingers hooked under the hem of my blouse, tugging it up and exposing my boring, plain white bra. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around to cover myself.

  “No no,” he purred, gently touching my shoulders. “I want to see you, all of you.”

  Shivering, I wondered how red I was. “You already see my energy, isn't that enough?”

  His eyes shimmered, even without the light touching them. “Hardly enough. I'm not even sure, if I were to have every bit of you, that it could quench me.”

  Biting the inside of my cheek, I let my arms fall away.

  Nethiun was on me, finger tips grazing my the outside of my hips. His mouth tasted my sternum, my navel, before he reached under me to find the clasp of my bra.

  No one has ever been this close to me, seen me like this. Not even a little bit. But I'm letting him, I... I want him to do this. I never thought I would crave anything like it, but...

  But I do. Right now, it's all I want.

  The twaelin peeled my lingerie down my arms, laying it in the grass carefully. Over my head, he tugged my shirt the rest of the way, leaving my hair a mess in its wake.

  “Beautiful,” he murmured, looking me dead in the face. “You're perfect, Gale.”

  It wasn't something I believed, but with how he was looking at me, I was tempted to give in to the compliment.

  He hovered over me, chasing away my small frown with another long kiss. “Nethiun,” I said when he broke away, my voice cracking. “I've really never, I mean, I know I told you, but—”

  “I understand,” he said, all humor gone from his voice. “I should tell you, it's been a long time for me as well, being with a human.”

  So he has done this before. Of course, how could he not? He's too good, far too good to be a virgin like me.

  My fingers shivered when I reached up, tugging at his shirt. He blinked down at me, before moving to undo the buttons. “No,” I said, “let me. I want to do something.”

  Chuckling, he knelt over me, his hands giving me freedom. I was slow, clunky, but he was patient enough. Eventually, I slid his shirt down his arms, leaving his alabaster chest for my eyes.

  As if I'd peeled away the last bit of his control, Nethiun pounced down on me. His skin rubbed against mine, brushing along my sensitive breasts until I was gasping.

  Closing my eyes, I buried my face in the crook of his neck. He smelled spicy, warm, familiar.

  I'm so used to him already. I'm such an idiot, thinking I knew so much about love, so cynical... Here I am, in a field, kissing a man—no, not even a man—that I only met a week ago.

  I wanted to laugh, but I was too busy moaning against his flesh.

  Something firm pressed against my lower belly, and inherently, I knew what it was. My giggle was nervous, too school-girl for my liking. “Oh, God, so you really are as human as it counts, aren't you?”

  In answer, he sat up over me. Kneeling there, in only his trousers with that perfectly sculpted torso gleaming, Nethiun reached down to take my hand. With a devilish smirk, he pressed my palm against the obvious shape in his pants.

  My blush was full body, head to toe.

  “Indeed,” he purred. “As human as it matters. It does matter to you, then?”

  Speechless, I just nodded.

  He was fast, the sound of the zipper loud in the placid evening. His eyes were fixed on me, studying my reactions with extreme interest. I thought I had to look similar, my face hurt from not blinking for so long.

  Nethiun tugged his trousers down, revealing he hadn't been lying at all. I'd never seen a naked man before, true, but I knew what to expect.

  Or, I sort of did, anyway.

  So that's really it, well then. That—yeah, uh, that's...

  I covered my face, not sure what to do.

  This is worse, don't hide like you're scared of it!

  But I was... I was scared, and unsure, and everything but certain I was ready to take this step.

  He didn't pull my hands away. Leaning down, he kissed the backs of my wrists, then slid lower.

  Nethiun's mouth, a mouth that so often made smiles, now wrapped around the tip of one pert breast.

  Startled, I groaned loudly, covering my mouth instead of my eyes. Glancing down, catching how he looked up at me, I felt frozen.

  Then he moved his tongue, and I forgot how to think.

  “Nethiun, that—oh, God, that's...!”

  Shoving my chest higher, trying to get more of his hot mouth, I let my hands fall to the ground. My fingers ripped at the grass, held onto it like it could steady me.

  Rolling against him, I cried out, not even sure how loud I was being. My ears were deaf to me, I didn't care how much noise I made. The only person who seemed to care was Nethiun, and he was keen on making my volume rise.

  Soon, I was rocking against him, panting for more. I didn't know what 'more' even was, just that I ached deep inside.

  Him, I want him.

  “Nethiun,” I groaned, digging my hands into his back and leaving traces of dirt. “I want—can you, I mean...”

  He laughed softly, a dark whisper that trickled down my spine. Burying his lips on mine, I was vaguely aware that he was unhooking the top of my pants, pulling them down the swell of my hips.

  The
n went my panties, and I wished I could remember what color I had worn that day. Right then, it was hard to remember what day it even was.

  “You're sure?” he asked in my ear, making the tiny hairs on my neck stand like needles.

  Inhaling sharply, I pressed my lower belly up into him in answer.

  But that wasn't enough, it seemed. “No,” he insisted, words smoldering coals. “Tell me you want me to do this, I want you to be sure, Gale.”

  My lashes fluttered, everything was a fog of lust. “God, just... please, take me. Nethiun, don't make me ask again, please.”

  Kissing my throat, he breathed out in a rush of air. “I won't.” He reached between us and pushed his member against the gap between my tense thighs.

  I expected it to hurt immensely, it was what I'd always been told would happen. Maybe I was more ready than I imagined, but when he pushed into me, spreading me in a way I never thought possible, the sharp sting was brief.

  Then, it was only pleasure.

  Clenching my teeth, my body took over where my mind left off. I was hungry, I wanted all of him. Something in me was pulling, like a straw trying to steal the last bit from a soda can.

  My core, my being, it wanted to inhale Nethiun and all he was. It felt like more than sex, I wanted him. Wanted him in a way that felt... dangerous.

  If he noticed, it was hard to tell. He was all grunts, hard thrusts that matched what I desired before I could even voice it.

  What is this, is this normal? I've never done this, how can I tell?

  Tingles ran through me, my toes flexing in my shoes. Squeezing him, holding him close, I listened to the beating of our energy; of my heart, and his very being.

  It was so close, so close to being synced. No matter what, though, my blood seemed to thump just a hair faster than his own drumming sensation.

  Suddenly, he dug his fingers hard into my back, pulling me against him, shoving me into the ground, all at once.

  A thrill of fear filled me, the familiar sparks in my belly and my skull that rang with noticing Nethiun's power. He's getting so worked up, why do I... why does this feel like I'm dancing with a bunch of blades?

  He wouldn't hurt me, he wouldn't.

  If there had been a chance he would do something more than take my virginity, more than drive me to a climax that came crashing down and made me scream for the clouds to hear, I couldn't have been sure.

  The overwhelming foreboding was lost as I reached my peak, twitching with a delicious pleasure I'd never experienced till then.

  Nethiun growled, a sound like an earthquake in my ear. He, too, tensed with what I thought had to be his orgasm. I'd never felt a guy do that, of course, and I felt dumb as I realized I wasn't sure.

  Everything was so torrid, so liquid all over, how could I know if twaelin biology worked the same?

  Soon he was breathing slower, his forehead pressed to mine as he rested.

  That happened, that just happened.

  He pulled out of me, then off of me, all too soon. Laying there in the grass, thankful for the chill of it now, I watched him through half closed eyes.

  “Are you alright?” he asked softly, sliding his pants back up.

  I didn't know what else to do but laugh. “I don't know, I don't know if I am. Yes? Yes and maybe more than yes,” I confided.

  Smiling wide, the twaelin slid his shirt on but didn't do the buttons up. Following his example, I sat up enough to redress. It felt too weird to sit there naked if he had on clothes.

  He sat beside me, the two of us snuggling against the orange tree. “Did you expect that to happen?”

  “No,” I said quickly, picking grass from my hair. “I didn't... I don't know. I liked you—I mean—I like you, a lot. Currently,” I added, fumbling my words in my afterglow. “But I didn't think that would happen.”

  “You don't regret it?”

  “Not at all,” I said quickly.

  Being a bad liar didn't matter when you actually told the truth.

  Seeming pleased, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, crushing me ever closer. “It was interesting, tasting your emotions during that.”

  Making an anxious face, I tugged at the bottom of my shirt. “Oh, uh, really?” I don't even want to know what I was doing.

  “Yes,” he said thoughtfully. “Actually, there was a point where—how do I put it? I actually felt like you might consume me, how strange is that?”

  Blinking, I stared up at him. “Pretty strange, yeah.” I felt it too, I felt that!

  Together, we sat there in comfortable silence. My mind wandered, stuck in a place where my thoughts were all sex and the aspects that came with it. A question bubbled up, but one I wasn't sure how to ask.

  Breaking the silence, I looked out at the clouds. “Can I ask something that might be too forward?”

  “Always, you can ask me anything. I just don't always have an answer.”

  Ignoring his vague humor, I took a moment to gather my thoughts. “You... twaelin, I mean. Uh. You can have sex with humans, but what about... other things?”

  “Other things?”

  My face was simmering. “Don't take this the wrong way, it's just a question. Can twaelin get humans... pregnant?”

  Should we have used condoms? I don't even have any, I should have had some. I'm going to end up as some PSA about safe sex with demons.

  I thought he might laugh, but he only lifted his eyebrows very slightly. “I couldn't answer that, but my assumption would be no. I don't think we have compatible enough biology to do such a thing.”

  Rubbing my upper arms, I nodded rapidly. “Yeah, right. I sort of assumed, but you've thrown some curve balls at me, so.”

  Chuckling, he looked up at the tree branches. “Curve balls, you say. I admit, I could be wrong. However, the ability to create human life is a very complex thing.”

  The ability to create...

  His words struck a chord, making me remember something else. “Actually, speaking of that. When I talked to Valenforth a few days ago, I asked him about the one twaelin source guy that I hadn't met or even gotten a word about yet.”

  Nethiun didn't look back at me when he answered. “Ah, the Duke of Creation. I'm unsure where he is, or why he hasn't chosen to get involved in this like everyone else.”

  “So you don't know much about him, then?”

  “Very little, if I am blunt. He hasn't shown himself in many years.”

  Hm, many years. So maybe he won't show up at all, that'd be good. One less hand in the cookie jar or whatever.

  It didn't matter, not really. At that moment, everything felt so good, so perfect. It didn't matter who the last twaelin was, I didn't need to know.

  I'd learned a lot, but really, what I'd learned the most about had been something I hadn't set out to discover.

  Placing my head on Nethiun's shoulder, I closed my eyes and smiled.

  And that was when the air above us shimmered.

  I felt it before Nethiun. Sitting up fast, I jerked my eyes into the tree, spotting Ethlyn seconds before my companion did.

  Those gold eyes were burning onto us, the anger of someone scorned, someone who had been hurt deeply.

  “So,” he said stiffly, “you really didn't care that I was a twaelin when you turned me down, since you're happy enough to sleep with someone like him.”

  Gasping, I scrambled to my feet and hugged myself like it was armor. “Were you watching us?”

  “No,” he spat, hovering beside the oranges that hung so heavy. “I didn't need to. I showed up as you were finishing.”

  Nethiun rose with the grace of a dancer. “Ah, I'd never expect you to stalk us for such perverted reasons.”

  Twisting his face
into a snarl, Ethlyn narrowed his eyes on my smiling lover. “Shut up! I wasn't trying to do that, I came to make sure you weren't going to hurt her.”

  “How did you even find us?” I asked, hating the idea of being crept up on.

  “You broadcast so much energy, you leave a slight residue trail when he shifts with you. It isn't hard to track you down.” He flickered out of view, then appeared so close to me I was aghast. “Come on,” he grumbled, trying to take my hand. “Let's go, before things get bad.”

  Wrenching away from Ethlyn, remembering everything Nethiun had said earlier about the skin snatching, I didn't hide my horror. “Don't touch me, I...”

  His surprise made me twinge with guilt, especially when his voice got soft, fragile. “What's wrong? Gale, I'm only trying to help you.”

  “She doesn't need your help.” Nethiun hadn't moved, he still stood only a few feet away, watching calmly. “Especially not the help of someone so keen to kill humans, if it matters.”

  Ethlyn gaped, more baffled than I had expected. “Human killer? Is that what you...” Recognition flooded him, turning his surprise to jaded humor. “Oh, I get it now. You told her about that, then.”

  Swallowing, my mouth dry, I nodded slowly. “I know about the skin stuff, the consuming people to change your body.”

  Ethlyn didn't look at me, but his words were clear. “You don't know anything.”

  What does he mean?

  Unsure about the turn this was taking, I stepped backwards, away from him. “Just go home, Ethlyn. Please? I don't... we don't need this to become more than it is. Everything is fine, really.”

  “No.” Those gold orbs, warm as honey but searing as acid, rolled my way. “No, everything isn't fine. You think I'm worse than him, some kind of killer, but you don't have a clue about me. Fine. Fine, then.”

  The air around him vibrated, reminding me of the rage I had felt what seemed forever ago. That time in the construction site, the first time he had looked down at me in anger. “Ethlyn, don't!”

  He wasn't going to listen to me, I knew it before I said anything. His arm whipped around, ivory scarf fluttering as he aimed a blast of bright azure energy at Nethiun.