Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (26 page)

I
broke too fast, I knew I did. Flooding with disgust at my own
weakness, I let my eyes meet his in defeat. Those milky centers,
they were as flat and unshining as the first time I'd seen them.

Somehow,
I wasn't scared this time around. What I felt was much worse, far
more confusing. Seeing his intense stare, the serious line to those
decadent lips, I fought off the desire to taste him all over again.

“
Gale,”
he whispered, making me focus. “If I said I'd kissed you, only
to get a reaction, would it be so awful?”

“
Yes,”
I blurted, the word loud in my ears, escaping before I could stop
it.

I
hated hearing the truth, I hated how he smiled when I gave it up.

His
fingers slid along until they cupped my cheek. “You made it
obvious, when we first met, how much you hated my awful behavior.
Maybe it's time I try to fix that.”

“
What
do you—” My words disappeared into the luscious pressure
of his mouth on mine. Kneeling in that alley, covered in trash, I
felt myself swelling with ecstasy.

His
tongue ran across my bottom lip, expertly following the curve of it.
I didn't remember closing my eyes, but my lashes tickled my cheeks
as I swam in the darkness behind my lids.

Nethiun
was too perfect, an expert at sending the newly awakened parts of my
brain and body skyrocketing. I swam in fireworks, I tasted the
sweetness of lust...

And
I ached for more.

The
firm hold he had on my face shifted behind my skull, dragging
through my messy hair. Winding it tight, he crushed me to him, not
letting me breathe.

I
didn't want air, didn't think I needed it.

Nethiun
knew better.

Pulling
away from me, he broke the kiss. Inhaling sharply, I felt my chest
fluttering, lungs burning with relief.

Smirking
at me, he made my scalp thrill with a gentle twist of my red hair in
his hands. “You musn't forget to breathe, it'd be a shame for
you to pass out so fast.”

“
Sorry,”
I gasped, watching the air steam between us.
I'd
forgotten how cold it is out here.
“I'm—I
mean, you're better at this than me. I've never, well. Uh, you
know.”

His
brows shot up, his face awash in scrutiny. “Are you trying to
tell me that I'm your first kiss?”

It
was hard to nod, what with him holding my head so firmly. Still, I
managed a tiny wobble.

Like
a fish in a stream, his fingers vanished from my hair all too quick.
“You're not joking, are you?”

Blinking
at his sudden deadpan, I wiped my palms on my thighs. “No, of
course not. Is—is that weird to you?”

Nethiun
closed his eyes, his tone sardonic, amused. “It's more that I
understand better, now. All of your reactions, the way you always
blush so
easily...
”

As
if on cue, I felt my cheeks burning.

Squinting
at me, he cocked his head to one side. “Oh yes, just like
that. I should have guessed you were a virgin.”

Gaping,
I gave him a small shove out of surprise. “Hey! Don't just go
saying that so casually!”

Laughing,
he rose to his feet nimbly. One hand was extended down to me, an
offer of assistance.

Gazing
up into his smiling face, those frosted-glass eyes that had once
sent me reeling, I didn't hesitate to take his palm in my own.

Easily,
he pulled me to my feet. With his fingers linked in mine, attached
like they were meant to fit perfectly, I didn't want to let him go.
“Listen, Nethiun...”

“
Hmn?”
he asked, letting his arm fall so our hands hung between us.

“
This,”
I murmured, squeezing his palm for emphasis. “Tell me what it
really means. I've been running it through my head, trying to make
sense
of it, and I'm having a hard time just... believing this is real.”

Tugging
me against him, he ran the finger tip of his free hand down my
throat. “This doesn't feel real, you think?”

Skin
prickling on the path he made, I shivered; it was difficult to
express myself with him touching me. “Wait, just wait,”
I pleaded, reaching up to stop him.

Nethiun
pursed his lips, but he stopped exploring my sensitive skin.

Breathing
in, filling my chest, I forced the sentences off my numb tongue.
“Everyone keeps telling me to watch out for you. I need to
know why, just tell me what you
think
they're talking about.”

A
placidity came over his face, hard shadows creeping across his sharp
cheeks. “That has little to do with our current situation.”

“
It
has
everything
to do with it,” I responded curtly. “Please, Nethiun. I
need to know, I can't—what happened between us, tonight, it
isn't something that can go further if I don't trust you.”

“
Oh?
You want to go further?” He was deft, catching my earlobe in
sharp teeth. Instantly, my lower belly clenched, a gasp flitting
from my lips.

He's
too good at this, it isn't fair.

I
wanted to sink into the rolling warmth that built in me, to let him
hold me up as my knees gave out.

But
I knew better. Maybe not entirely, for I was still trying to make a
deal with a creature far beyond me. But I knew enough to shrug him
away.

He
wore a coy smile, the opposite of my exhausted pout. Stepping back,
I folded my arms like armor. “No, stop trying to get out of
this. Answer me, what are Ethlyn and that god damn Corpse King
warning me for? Why are you twaelin things working
against
each other, when it sounds like with so few of you, the same goal
would make more sense?”

“
That's
a lot of questions,” he sighed. “Why do humans who seem
to want the same thing fight against each other?”

“
I—what?”

Lifting
his hands indifferently, Nethiun closed his eyes. “Even if we
did want the same thing, why would we not go about it our own way?
Ego, power, fear... those things cause you humans to make many
decisions in opposition of each other, even if it would
seem
logical to do otherwise.”

Narrowing
my gaze, I dug my nails into my upper arms. “I think you're
insulting me.”

“
Not
at all,” he chuckled, letting his hazy, opal eyes fix on me
again. “No more than myself, or the other twaelin. If you
think for a moment that Ethlyn and his Master aren't watching you
because they want something, as if it's altruism, then you'd be
making a poor conclusion.”

With
temples pounding, I licked my lips, preparing my next comment with
as much nerve as I could. “And you and your
Mistress
?
Your Queen of Dreams?”

He
looked incredibly sobered. “I'm not sure how to answer that.”

“
You
answer by saying something useful! You won't tell me what she wants,
but with what everyone else is warning me about... even
if
they also don't have good intentions for me... I don't care about
them.

“
I
care about you, Nethiun. What do you, what does
she
,
want from me?” He hesitated, enough that my real, true
question exploded from me in a rush. “Am I in
actual
danger
from
you?”

“
Define
actual danger.”

That
wasn't the answer I wanted.

“
Tell
me, Nethiun.” The heat in my voice was growing, but so was the
quiver of panic. “Tell me, just tell me what she wants. She
wants something, right? She's the one making you follow me, she
knows why, she has to, why does no one—hey!”

He
wrapped me in a solid embrace, so out of character that I went stiff
with surprise. He'd already kissed me, a hug shouldn't have felt
more intimate.

But
it does, it... it really does.

“
Gale,”
he whispered, taking advantage of my silence. “You need to
listen to me, and very carefully.”

Buzzing
with how firm he was, how I could feel the very beat of the energy
inside of him, the energy that
was
him, I said nothing.

Taking
my silence as agreement to his suggestion, Nethiun continued talking
straight into my eardrum. “You're a very unique person, in
ways not even I grasp. Yes, it's true, you've figured out with the
assistance of some meddling twaelin that my Mistress is the reason
we're all observing you now. I cannot, and will not, tell you the
details of why she's asked me to follow you. I also can't promise
you you're not in danger.”

My
hands gripped into his back, feeling the thin material of his shirt.
Again, I wondered if he didn't feel the affect of the cold air.
“You're scared of her, aren't you?”

The
dark humor in his tone startled me. “Of course I am.”

“
But
I—didn't you tell me you can't die? What could she even do to
you?”

Gently,
he held me at arms length, staring me down with an odd sadness on
his handsome features. “Ah. I said that, but don't you
remember the rest?”

I
shook my head slowly.

“
My
Mistress is my source, she created me. Everything I have, it's from
her. If I were destroyed, something she could accomplish quite
easily, it'd be her decision to recreate me from the energy within
her again. If she didn't, well.”

My
eyes ached in their sockets from how hard I was staring at him.
“That's terrible. I... I get it, now. I think I do, anyway.”
Him,
Ethlyn, they really do have no choice but to obey whatever the
twaelin who created them say.