Bound by Destiny

by Stephanie Yarns

  As he turned away, a flash of green caught his eyes. A flash from what was Eve’s room. Someone was in there.

  He knew it was unimportant. They could have the place. Burn it to the ground and dance in the ashes.

  He knew that it was a mistake to go back in. He knew it. But the rage that filled him washed that knowledge away and he could feel his teeth descend, his claws emerge from his nail beds. His shouted name barely registered as he ran into the home. In the door, through the rooms, down the hallway and her door was open. As soon as he stepped inside, he realized his mistake. Spinning, he held up a hand.

  “Stop!” he yelled at Sebastian and his best friend pulled up right outside the door. “It’s a trap,” Gideon said. There was a thickness to the air that he could feel. He touched the open space of the door and green sparks danced over his skin, burning and shocking him.

  Snarling, he spun and grabbed the frame of her bed and flipped it. Nothing. He pulled drawers from the dresser and still nothing. Opening her closet, a soft green light filled the space and he cursed. Those fucking stones.

  “What can I do?” Sebastian asked, looking enraged and helpless.

  Gideon just smiled and shook his head. The air was changing, becoming cooler with the distinct smell of blood Fae blood. “Keep her from coming after me.”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  His friend’s voice was growing distant and his image started to fade.

  Gideon gave a slight laugh. “Tell her I love her.”

  Sebastian nodded. “We’ll get you back, Gideon.”

  “Just… Be careful. Take care of her.”

  The new room solidified around him and his friend was gone.

  #

  Silently, Fallon led her into the single room that he built when he was drowning in guilt for something he knew he would never have been able to prevent. She taught him how to forgive himself and helped him to heal from the scars of his past.

  Closing the door, he let go of her hand long enough to shove kindling in the fireplace and get a small fire started. He turned to find her staring at him, eyes wide and her bottom lip in her teeth.

  “Eve, you know I would never hurt you, don’t you?”

  “Of course.” She gave him the barest hint of a smile.

  “Then why are you afraid?” He moved closer to her and took her hands, peeling the leather from them.

  “I don’t know.” Her laugh was soft. “Maybe I’m afraid of how much I want you.”

  Again, not what he expected her to say and he laughed. “I give up trying to figure you out, princess.”

  Her now bare hands cupped his face, thumbs stroking his bottom lip. “Fallon?” she said.

  “Eve?”

  She smiled, wider this time. “Kiss me.”

  She didn’t have to ask again as he pulled her to him, mouth hard on hers, demanding and possessive. She couldn’t keep in the moan as his arms tightened around her. Her lips parted beneath his and he delved deep, tongue dancing with hers, building the desire in her. Her hands gripped the leather that covered his chest and his chuckle was sinful. He held her waist with one arm while his hand pulled the zipped down on her jacket, the sound of the teeth deafening in the silent room.

  Fallon stepped back, enamored with the way she looked at him. Her lips were parted and even though her eyes were half closed, he could see the reflection of the fire in them, mirroring the need within him.

  He pushed the heavy leather from her shoulders. “I love how you want me,” he said, voice rough.

  “Show me,” she said and the challenge in her voice wouldn’t go unanswered.

  He shrugged out of his own jacket before holding her hands over her head. A quick tug and her sweater was gone and he was back, mouth hot on her flesh. Lips and tongue. Breath and teeth.

  Her hands roamed his body, sliding beneath his tee shirt, caressing his flesh. This was the first time he felt her hands on him like this and to his shock, his scars didn’t stop her. “Eve,” he groaned as her nails ran over his chest.

  “I want to see you, Fallon.” She shuddered against him as he pulled her closer, feeling his erection against her hip. “Please.”

  Scars be damned, he could only do as she asked. He stepped back from the woman staring at him like he was the only thing that could put out the fire in her blood. Pulling the shirt over his head, he tossed the offending material to the side and this time, her mouth was on him, setting fire to his flesh.

  His hands shook as he cupped her head as it moved over him. Her small kisses on the remnants of his past life pouring fuel on the flames. In a second, he had her on the bed, pulling her leather pants from her body. She lay quietly, watching him with hooded eyes. The fire cast her skin in gold, and he knew he would never see a more divine sight.

  Having to remind himself that these were his only cloths, he was finally bare and he joined her on the bed.

  Eve was mesmerized by the look in his eyes as he caged her with his body. “My Fallon,” she whispered, running her hands through his hair, pulling his lips down to hers.

  The sound of Highway to Hell broke the quiet of the room and Fallon muttered a curse against her lips. She laughed, running her nails down his back. “Get it. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Why do I feel like the whole fucking world is conspiring against us?” He nipped her bottom lip before leaving her. He stood, giving his erection a sad look and she laughed again. He grabbed his phone from a pocket of his pants. “It’s Sebastian. I’m going to kill him.”

  “Don’t you dare.” Eve sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees.

  “Yeah.” Fallon grinned at her as he answered the call. As she watched, his face lost all expression. “When?”

  “Fallon, what is it?” Eve asked, a knot of worry springing out of nowhere. What could make him look like that?

  “Where am I going?” He turned his back to her, but it didn’t matter. She could feel the anger and concern in him. She could also feel her bond to Micah start to warm.

  “On our way.”

  He hit end on the call and just stood there. How was he going to tell her what happened? How was he going to break her heart?

  “Fallon, please. You’re scaring me.”

  He could hear her, could smell the fear, but he couldn’t pull back from the rage that filled him. His friend was gone. Taken.

  Her touch on his back was soft, hesitant. He closed his eyes and forced his teeth to recede. He was already scaring her. He didn’t need to push her into terror.

  Turning to her, he ran his thumb over her cheek. “They took Gideon.”

  #

  Gideon kept his rage in check this time. Kept quiet as he watched the blond man that was trying to kill the woman he loved. Losing his head got in this mess. Losing it again wouldn’t help now.

  “I’m Kornae,” the Fae said after a while.

  Gideon said nothing and the other tilted him head.

  “I don’t expect you to talk to me. I’m simply curious about you. How did she do it? How did she fall for a dead man?”

  Crossing his arms over his chest, Gideon simply looked at him, fantasizing about ripping his head from his shoulders. Could he do it? It seemed safe enough, but he was learning that the Fae were tricky.

  “I have to admit, I am quite surprised by your demeanor. But then, I know next to nothing of the vampire race. The only thing I’m certain of about is that we are a delicacy for you.” The blond head tilted to the side. “How did you not give in, vampire? How, with all that blood, did you not succumb?”

  Could he get in Kornae’s head?

  He tried a light touch, just to see if he could get an idea of what the man was thinking.

  “That’s a bad idea,” Kornae said and before Gideon knew what hit him, he was on his knees, blood dripping from his nose. “Interesting. Had you been anything else, that would have killed you.”

  Gideon looked up with a low growl.

  “Relax. Answer my questions. Or don�
��t.” Kornae shrugged. “I’ll get what I want regardless. It’s simply up to you as to how much you want to bleed.”

  “I’m going to drink you dry.” Gideon rose to his feet, letting the blood flow.

  “Torture it is.” Kornae sighed. “You can’t touch me. The magic of this place protects me, and the walls of the palace alone would rip you apart. But you…” His eyes turned cold. “I’m going to do so much more than touch. When I’m finished, I’ll know you inside and out.”

  #

  “Who?” She was confused. Gideon was strong. Powerful. Who could have possibly taken him? “Who took who?” She sat on the edge of the bed while Fallon dropped her sweater back over her head.

  “Eve, you need to slow your breathing. You’re going to pass out.”

  She glanced around as he pulled her jacket on, zipping it up. “Who took him, Fallon? How?”

  The lost look on her face tore him apart. He could have dealt with anger, rage. He would have welcomed her fury. But this, this killed him. Her phone rang and she stared at it like she had never seen it before. He saw Micah’s name and took it from her hand.

  “Do you know what happened?” he asked Micah, turning away from her.

  “Yeah, I just got off the phone with Sebastian when my hand lit up like the bloody bat signal. I’m guessing she knows as well?”

  “I told her that he was taken, but I don’t think she is understanding what is going on.”

  “Shock?”

  “Probably. Which sucks, because we are heading back there.”

  Micah was quiet for a moment. “Do you think that’s wise?”

  “When she gets through this, she is going to want to be there with us all.” Fallon ran his free hand through his hair.

  “You can tell her no, you know.”

  “You know that doesn’t work.” He took a breath before asking what he didn’t want to know the answer to. “How are you and Alex?”

  “Like junkies looking for their next fix.”

  “That’s an image.” Fallon almost smiled.

  “Don’t worry about us. You’ve got bigger problems. When we are sure we can look at Eve without thinking about a snack, we’ll rejoin you guys. You’re going to need help getting boss man back.”

  Fallon, for once in his life, held back the sentence that wanted out. Would they get him back alive?

  “We’ll keep in touch.”

  “Later.”

  He pressed end and turned back to find Eve looking up at him, tears streaming down her face.

  “The Fae took Gideon,” she said, voice thick with the tears she wasn’t letting out.

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t know how, but we are going to get him back.”

  He couldn’t answer that with words, not without hurting her, so, he simply nodded.

  “You are taking me back home.” She ran the back of her hands under her eyes, wiping the tears away.

  “Of course.”

  She stood and he took a slight breath. There was nothing. No sadness, no anger, just an absence of emotion that worried him more than anything. “Eve…” He started to say, but the flat look in her eyes stopped him. “Let’s go get him.”

  ####

  Thanks for reading and if you liked this chapter, be on the lookout for Bound by Desire, coming soon to Amazon!