Choices of Fate (Fate Series) (21 page)

CHAPTER 18 -
A Proposal

When Alexa finally emerged, with Josephine following closely behind, Ethan kept his eyes down, taking a deep breath to prepare himself for the fear and rejection he expected to see in her eyes.
 

Steeling his nerve, he looked up and met her gaze. Instead of fear and rejection, all he saw was love and understanding. His glance immediately moved to his mother whose face revealed nothing.

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief.

She didn’t tell her. I still have time.

In an instant he was down the hall sweeping Alexa into his arms and wrapping her in a warm embrace. “Te amo, Alexa,” he whispered in her ear casting a grateful glance at his mother who looked back at him with a knowing smile.

He placed Alexa back down on her feet and pulled her necklace from his pocket, quickly placing it back around her neck with a kiss. He then took her hand as they walked back to the kitchen to where Elijah, Barb, and Chloe were waiting.

“I take it it was a good discussion,” Elijah said, a broad smile covering his handsome face as he approached his wife and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Yes, an excellent discussion, mi vida,” she stated casting a quick glance at Alexa. “Hold on to this one, my son. She is a remarkable woman.”
 

“Mother, father, I think you two should spend some time with your granddaughter tonight,” Ethan said, his eyes on Alexa. She blushed slightly under his gaze which was already darkening with desire at the thought of being alone with her.

“An excellent notion, my son,” Elijah added as Josephine scooped Chloe up into her arms. “My dear wife has been dying to get to know our sweet Chloe for quite some time.”
 

Alexa looked uncertain. “I’m not sure if that is such a good idea just yet. Chloe still needs to eat, and she has never slept away from me before.”

“We already fed her, child,” Barb chimed in, “and she looks mighty happy in her grandma’s arms don’t you think?”

As if to ease her mother’s mind, Chloe giggled and wrapped her arms around Josephine’s neck.

“So, it is settled then. Chloe will sleep with us tonight,” Josephine stated as she turned to walk towards the bedroom she shared with Elijah. “We even have a crib ready for her in our room, Alexa. Every mother needs a night off,” she tossed over her should as she disappeared around the corner, brooking no refusal of the arrangement.

Seeing that she had no choice in the matter, Alexa conceded and turned to Ethan for direction as Elijah followed Josephine and Barb chuckled heading away from them down another hallway.

✧

Ethan led her down yet another hallway, to a separate wing of the large home where his bedroom was located.

As they stepped through the doorway to Ethan’s room, Alexa felt like her body was buzzing with emotion and anticipation. There was the fear and confusion of the prophecy and what was happening with Chloe, the excitement and hesitancy about Ethan being back in her life, the fear of losing him again, and the love for him that was once again consuming her heart and soul. But now that they were alone, something far more urgent began to take over. Pure, unadulterated, lust.

Alexa contemplated simply attacking Ethan and ripping all of his clothes off, but before she could fully form the thought he had sped across the room faster than her eyes could register. As her mind processed his action, the room filled with a beautiful sexy beat that was all too familiar. Alexa’s eyes widened in surprise.
 

“I searched everywhere for this song. I can’t believe you remembered. How did you find it?”

Ethan looked at her from across the room, his eyes smoldering. Even from such a distance his intense stare took her breath away. In a flash he was beside her, his arms around her waist pulling her against his body.

He whispered in her ear, “How could I possibly forget the first song we ever danced to, Amor? I found it the day that I-,” he closed his eyes and sighed heavily, “the day that I left. I am sorry, you must know how truly sorry I am.”

Alexa’s heart ached at the pain and regret evident in his voice. She placed her hand on his cheek, pulling his face towards her and forcing him to look into her eyes. “Ethan, I’m not going to pretend that I fully understand why you decided to go and I won’t deny that it was a very dark time for me. At first, I drove myself crazy trying to find you, I was convinced if I could just see you I could make you see that we needed to be together. After a few days I-“

Ethan placed his finger against her lips.

“I know, Amor. I was always there, I saw it all. Please do not speak of it. Every day, watching you in so much pain, it broke my heart into a million pieces. So many times I wanted to rush to you, to hold and comfort you.” He gently stroked her cheek as he spoke.

Her eyes widened in surprise. “You were watching me?”

“Yes, Amor. I wanted to do what was right, to keep you safe, but I could not stay away. I had to see you even if I could never have you.” He leaned down and gently placed a chaste kiss on her lips. “As hard as those first weeks were, it became so much worse as I watched your belly swell with my child. You looked so beautiful, so alive. I would have given anything to touch you, to feel our child moving inside you. Then there was the day downtown that you tripped and fell on the curb. It took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to run to you. Then that man appeared to help you. When he reached out and grabbed your hand, I was at once grateful to him and filled with rage that he dared to touch you.”

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.
 

“Amor, 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.