A Secret Fate (26 page)

“Start over?”

“There are things about me, about us and mostly about you that I don’t know, and you were right not to bombard me with all those details. I’ve had a little time to think about all this and with the help of some guys who, by the way, think the world of you, I understand why you didn’t tell me that we were in a relationship. Knowing me, I probably would have rejected the idea.” She sucked in a breath and he realized the way that must have sounded. As he rubbed his hands over her bare silky smooth legs, it dawned on him what she was wearing: a pair of men’s black, silk boxer shorts and a men’s navy and white striped, long-sleeved dress-shirt. He rubbed the hem of the shirt between his finger and thumb and smiled, guessing the clothes must be his.

“Let me explain. When Finn and I materialized on that beach, I thought I was twenty-five years old, not thirty. I was in no way ready for a relationship with anyone when I was twenty-five. I’d barely begun my career with the police department and I was heading toward detective with my goal being to work for and protect the Sectorium. And you’re right. If you had tried to ‘force,’” he held up his fingers, putting air quotes around the word “force” for emphasis, “a relationship between us when I first met you, I’m not sure I would have been very receptive to it. I suppose you know me better than I realized. So I guess what I’m saying is I’d like a do-over.”

She fell quiet for a few seconds, letting his words sink in. “I think, in this case,” Addison skimmed her finger over the back of his hand, making little circles, “a do-over would be appropriate.”

Cael let out a huge breath of air, suddenly aware he’d been holding it, waiting for her to say something. “Good.”

“You know, it’s usually the other way around.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s usually me holding my breath and you telling me to breathe.” She sat up and he stroked his finger down the side of her cheek, letting it linger at the top of her throat. The softness of her skin amazed him, especially remembering it had just been on fire.

“I do have one condition though,” he said, stroking his hand on her thigh.

“Condition?”

“About our relationship.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“If you don’t mind, don’t give me too many details. There are some things I still want to discover on my own.”

She grinned and skimmed her tongue over her bottom lip. “Agreed.”

He could only guess what she was thinking because damn it, he still couldn’t read her thoughts and desires like he could with others.” Pushing that thought aside, he smiled. “You’re amazing.” When she scoffed at him, he added, “The way you can control fire and have it consume you that way without it burning you.”

“Me? What about you?”

“Ha. Sweetness, your abilities are so much more potent than mine.”

“I disagree. Your ability to go anywhere you want, anytime you want, has always been a favorite of mine.”

“Oh. So are you saying you really only want me for my travel discount?”

She laughed. “Yep. That’s it.” Addison cleared her throat. “Um … without giving too much away, my abilities are only strong because of you.”

He blinked, not sure what she meant, but didn’t want to learn anymore without experiencing things with her again. Instead, he concentrated on her lips that were only inches from his. Closing the gap between them, he kissed her. A part of him half expected her lips to taste charred and burnt, but they were soft and sweet and had a slight warm tenderness to them. He stopped kissing her and let his lips linger an inch from hers for a couple of seconds before covering her mouth with his again. He groaned a little when she slid her hands up his back and parted her lips, losing himself in the sensation of her deliciousness. His tongue slid slowly over hers, tasting, exploring, as a soft moan escaped from the back of her throat. The desire to have more of her overpowered everything. The erection in his pants grew uncomfortable and he shifted so she’d feel it under her legs, hoping it was the right move, hoping desire burned inside her as it did him. “Burn” was probably the wrong choice of words, he considered, but the smile her lips made against his as he kissed her told him what he needed to know. He wanted more and picked her legs up off his lap, spreading them so they straddled his hips as he knelt between them. With his arms around her upper body, he held her close, kissing, tasting, wanting to devour every inch of her. He made little flutter kisses down her chin and neck and slipped his hands up inside her shirt, caressing and massaging her smooth firm breasts in his hands. He still wanted more. Without bothering to unbutton it, he tugged the shirt up and over her head, dropping it on the floor beside the sofa. Removing her from his lap, he lay her down on the sofa. She uttered a small, “Mmmm,” as he lifted her hips, positioning his body between her thighs. He kissed her stomach, moving his hands over her thighs before slipping his fingers up and inside the loose-fitting boxers. He skimmed over the soft hairs and grasped onto her thigh so close to the spot where she was wet and warm and oh so intoxicating.

“Oh, Cael, take me to bed and make love to me.”

“Baby, we’ve been making love,” he huffed against her neck, but pulled his hand out from the shorts and picked her up. Cradling her against his chest, he carried her up the stairs. After laying her gently on the bed, he started to unbutton his shirt, then decided that was too much work and yanked it over his head leaving all the buttons fastened. Cael quickly undid his belt and, like a frantic impatient teenager, practically ripped his jeans off. Addison lay on the bed, her hips gyrating in such an inviting way he could barely contain an orgasm as he watched her. Good thing he’d always had the ability to recover quickly, he mused. Just in case.

Straddling her, he tugged down the boxers, exposing the beautiful treasure awaiting him there. Her hips rose as his fingers tantalized her, and she shivered under him. Addison’s fingers raked though his hair as his tongue glided down her skin, over her stomach to her most sensitive spot, a taste as sweet as the first apricot of summer.

She hummed with pleasure and he delighted in knowing how much he aroused Addison as her pulse raced and throbbed against his tongue while she trembled under him. He watched as he brought her to climax after climax, each one more intense than the last.

He tuned in his senses to hers, and yes, it was there, her orgasm intensifying his erection, making it throb.

He didn’t think he’d be able to last much longer. The excitement this woman induced in him was too strong, too intense. “I need to be inside you,” he begged, the ability to control the urgent, desperate sound in his voice completely gone.

“I want you so badly. Please, Cael.” With her fingers wrapped tightly around him, urging, he let her guide him to the spot leading to heaven and he wanted to be inside her like he’d never wanted to be inside another woman before.

When he thrust into her, he thought he would explode right then as her tight walls surrounded him. His mouth covered hers with the heat of his passion as her hands latched onto his buttocks. She pulled him in, deeper and deeper, sending him into an orgasm unparalleled by any he’d ever experienced before.

***

Addie lay on the bed, Cael’s legs intertwined with hers as she stared out the huge picture window, watching the surf, listening to the waves pound against the cliffs. The sun was almost touching the horizon making a quick descent as it met the sea. The sky’s red-orange hue mingled with a scattering of clouds of various fluffy shapes and sizes. One caused her to smile, appearing like a rabbit running at lightning speed across the sky. She loved this floor-to-ceiling window and the view it afforded—spanning from the sandy beach to the heavens above. Addie couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. It would be dark soon, though still early in the evening. Wouldn’t life be perfect if she could just lay here with Cael for all eternity? Their lovemaking was intense and always special, but this time was even better than the last time. That had been great, but something was missing, not from the sex part, but from the connection they’d once shared. He’d confessed his love and she confessed hers. Why couldn’t they resume the mental connection they’d had? Addie considered the idea that maybe it was because the crystal was missing. She was stunned when out of the blue and almost as if Cael
had
been reading her mind, he asked, “So, was it the same?”

At a loss for words, Addie wasn’t sure how to answer him. If she said yes, it was the same, or no it was different, would it really matter? Never wanting him to feel self-conscious about what they used to have compared to what they had now, she went with, “I think maybe that sort of question falls under the category of one of those details you’d rather discover on your own.”

“It sounds like I have my work cut out for me then,” he said, disappointment dripping from each word.

“Cael, you can’t expect me to reveal something like that. If I told you it was better, you’d wonder what made it better. If I told you it wasn’t as good, you’d wonder what you did wrong.”

“I did something wrong?”

“See? This is exactly why I didn’t tell you about us before. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was perfect. You were perfect.” She turned over on her side to face him, her eyes drinking in his gorgeous unshaven face. She skimmed her finger down the dark stubbles, the tiny hairs prickly, but not too stiff. She wondered if her thighs were chapped and reddened from when Cael’s face rubbed against them not so long ago. He closed his eyes at her touch, shielding the beautiful sapphire color from her as his long dark lashes graced the tops of his cheeks.

“Cael, I’m just so happy that you’re here with me. Let’s not dwell on the past. Let’s keep our focus on the future.”

He opened his eyes and smiled. “I love you.”

It wasn’t so much that the words shocked her, because he’d said them earlier when she’d been on fire, but that he said them now, this time, with such conviction and without the added stress of thinking she might be dying. She couldn’t keep her eyes from tearing up.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” she said, sniffling and shaking her head. “It’s just that … I waited so long to hear those words from you again. There was a time not too long ago that I thought I’d never see you again, and now here you are back in my arms, telling me that you love me.”

“I do.” He wiped an escaped tear from her cheek.

“You didn’t want to though.”

“No. You’re wrong. I’ll admit, I had a hard time coming to terms with it, thinking I was only twenty-five years old and all.” His frown suggested he hadn’t come to terms with his age yet. “I didn’t think relationships were something I had time for or wanted at twenty-five.”

“But you’re not twenty-five.”

He sighed. “No, I’m not. And that really pisses me off.” He gave her a sidelong glance, raised his eyebrows and added, “But still, whether I was ready at twenty-five or not, if I had met you then I think I probably would have changed my outlook or at least given you
some
thought.” He gave her a crooked smirk. “Addison, I know this is difficult to believe but I do love you. It bothered me when Aiden told me about us, because, well, I’m not usually a jealous man.” Now Addie made an uncontrollable scoffing noise. The Cael she knew was most definitely a jealous man and when he caught her best you’ve-got-to-be-kidding expression, he laughed. “Okay, maybe things were or are different with you, but something about Aiden telling me about our history when you hadn’t told me is what bothered me the most, I guess. I hated the fact that
he
knew something about you and me, something that I didn’t.”

“I can understand that, completely, but, Cael, you have to believe me when I tell you there was not, and never will be anything between Aiden and me except friendship. He was …” she paused, not sure how much she should tell him. Although nothing ever happened between them, she knew Aiden wanted there to be something more. “… kind to me, that’s all. Sort of like an older brother.”

“Addison, men do not seek out beautiful women just to be kind to them. Maybe you didn’t see it or didn’t want to, but I’d bet my left nut the guy wants more than to just be your friend.”

She laughed. “I think you should keep your nuts in place. I like them there.” She reached down and cupped his package in her hand. “Just like this.”

“Oh, you are treading into some heated territory.” Cael grinned as he took hold of her shoulders, shoving her back down on the bed and straddling her prone body, pinning her arms above her head. “So, tell me, Addison MacKenna, whose bed are we in?”

“Your bed.”

“My bed?” He looked around the room. “And just whose house is this?”

“This is your house.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“So, this is my house, my bed, and you’ve been letting me sleep in that God-awful tiny bed at my uncle’s all this time while you’ve been here enjoying this king size bed and spectacular view?”

If she hadn’t noticed the half grin on his face, she would have been worried. “Um … yes,” she giggled.

“Is that all you’ve got to say about it?” The pressure on her hands under his strong ones increased a bit and she wiggled under his larger firm body.

“Um … no. Um … sorry?” This Cael, this twenty-five year old version of her former lover had a bit more playfulness to him than the one she lost that dreadful day at Maia and Gerry’s wedding and she decided she liked it. He wasn’t so different, just more relaxed. Maybe it was the fact that there was no Eidolon looming over their fate this time or anything else life threatening, except maybe the missing crystal. But they would tackle that problem as they discovered more about each other. She had a second chance to love the man and she wanted to make the best of it.

Chapter 23

“I am so glad you and Cael are good now and that his memory is slowly coming back. We need to have a party at your house to celebrate.” Addie glanced up as Darcy casually strolled closer to the bar with a huge smile on her face. Today, Darcy wore a pink see-through lace top over a white tank with jeans, tight as usual, accentuating her well-formed derriere. Darcy set her tray down on the bar next to where Maia sat sipping a club soda and waited for a response from Addie. A party? Addie hadn’t thought of that, but it sounded like a good thing.