Destiny's Shift

by Fall, Carly

  He rubbed his head and decided he was going to let his hair grow out. It would be pretty ugly while the black grew back, but maybe he could make the whole blond-on-black thing work. Or maybe he should just have Faith and Liberty dye it back black. That was probably the best course of action.

  He thought about the females of the house. They seemed like a happy bunch, and he liked that each had their own thing going on. He learned Abby just had a book published, Faith was doing fundraising for her tribe, and Beverly served as a back-up doctor for the Warriors, and, of course, she was a new mom.

  He wasn’t quite sure how Annis and Liberty were going to fit in to everything, but they seemed to get along with everyone.

  Annis.

  That was one attractive woman. Female. Whatever. She was pretty during the day, and he felt bad for her that she couldn’t see, but it didn’t seem to dampen her spirit. She moved around the house with an intricate knowledge of the layout, which she must have studied when she had her sight at night.

  When her eyes lit up, she was gorgeous. He loved watching the ridges of her heavily muscled body move under her dark chocolate skin.

  The phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. He jumped and quickly strode over to the phone.

  “Your fate will be determined by how fast you can get your ass up here,” Noah said.

  Blake didn’t bother with the formalities of goodbye; he had on his Nikes and was ready to make a run for it. He hung up the phone, threw open the heavy, wooden door, and didn’t bother with the elevator, glad he only had three flights of stairs to go.

  Chapter 61

  Jovan sat at the black marble table staring at the shine in the middle of it from the lights above. Hudson sat across from him staring at his Rolex, timing how long it would take Blake. It was hard to take the male seriously while he sat with a burp rag over one shoulder while absent-mindedly playing with a pacifier.

  Jovan supposed he should have offered up a little more support and reasons for keeping Blake, but he didn’t have it in him.

  He really missed Liberty, and she would be coming home today. He hadn’t seen her in eight days.

  Glancing over at Cohen and Talin, he noted that both of them stared off into space, their thoughts elsewhere as well. Both still looked as though they weren’t sleeping or eating much, and like something was crushing them on the inside.

  A SR44 male without his mate; it wasn’t pretty.

  He had been thinking about what he would say to Liberty. Sorry just didn’t seem like enough. He had to make her understand exactly what she meant to him and how he couldn’t lose her.

  He would grovel, beg, and plead to get her back. He couldn’t let her go. But he also wouldn’t smother her. He would see if her words were still true and she didn’t want anything to do with him.

  He heard Blake before he saw him as the male ran down the hall.

  “Two minutes, fifteen seconds,” Hudson said when Blake came into the room.

  Blake sat down in the chair next to Jovan with a nod to everyone.

  “So the good news is we aren’t going to kill you,” Noah said with a smile.

  “Excellent. That is good news,” Blake said.

  Noah sat forward, the leather creaking under his weight. Putting his arms on the table and clasping his hands together, he studied Blake. “I guess the question is, what do you want to do, Blake?”

  Noah gave Jovan a nod, and Jovan reached forward and grabbed the back of Blake’s neck.

  Blake turned slightly. “Checking me for truth?”

  “Yep.”

  “Well,” Blake said, looking around the table, “I would like to stay here. I know I’m part of the very thing you were here to kill, but I’m not a bad guy.”

  Jovan looked around the table. No one said anything, but all stared at Blake.

  “I did take two bullets for your sister, Noah,” he said.

  “I know, and for that, and I’m eternally grateful.”

  There was a long stretch of silence.

  “Look, I get it if you want me to go, okay? Just give me a few days to get a new life put together and figure out where I’m headed. I’m thinking that for my safety, out of the country is best.”

  Noah sat back in his chair lacing his hands behind his head, and glanced at Jovan.

  “Nothing but the truth, man,” Jovan said, letting go of Blake and sitting back in his chair. “Dude wants to stay.”

  Noah nodded. “Well, here’s what we’ve come up with, Blake. We figured that if you do want to stay, you’d make a good addition to the crew. We’ve got room for you to live with us, which would probably be smart since you’re probably a wanted man. We think you’ll be a good asset to us with your FBI background, and anyone who takes a bullet or two for my sister is solid in my book.”

  Blake turned and smiled at Jovan, offered a fist, and Jovan bumped.

  Noah began talking about exactly what type of role Blake would play in their band of merry Warriors, and Jovan tuned out.

  He glanced over at Hudson’s watch and saw that only three minutes had passed since the last time he checked. It was hard waiting to beg your female to take you back.

  Chapter 62

  The plane touched down, and Liberty looked out the window and saw Noah and Hudson standing with baby Killian on the runway next to the large, black vehicle. She was giddy at the sight of them.

  Her heart sank a little when she noted Jovan wasn’t there, but what did she expect? She had told him that she didn’t want anything to do with him.

  “Okay, we’re clear to let you off now,” the flight attendant said with a radiant smile. “Welcome to back to Reno.”

  Liberty stood up and exited the plane.

  She was dying to know where Jovan was, but didn’t have the courage to ask. Her anger had ebbed while in San Francisco, and now she just wanted to be in his arms, and felt envy as Beverly and Abby were greeted so warmly with bone-crushing hugs and passionate kisses. When Faith asked where Rayner was, Hudson said he stayed back at this silo to prepare a little surprise for her.

  “I love surprises!” she exclaimed.

  The hour ride back to Fernley was uneventful, and as they pulled off the dirt road, Liberty felt her stomach lurch. She was so exhausted, yet she needed to clear the air with Jovan. She shouldn’t have gotten so angry with him, but she couldn’t help herself at the time.

  The first gate slid open, and a minute later, a second one, and she stepped out into the frigid air. Noah and Hudson grabbed their bags from the back, and they made their way through the snow to the stairs.

  Liberty stared at the ground, never having seen snow before. She reached down to touch it, the coldness making her shiver and the tips of her fingers numb. If she hadn’t been so tired she might have played around in it a little bit.

  Their boots clanked up the metal stairs, and Noah put in the code that opened the thick, steel door. They went down two flights of metal stairs as the door swished to a close behind them. Noah went to the second door, where he punched in another code on another keypad, and the second steel door opened.

  As they walked into the kitchen area, Liberty had the distinct feeling of being home.

  As the couples headed for the elevator to go to their respective quarters, Liberty found herself alone. She longed for Jovan’s arms, and she wondered if he would ever hold her again. Her anger had gotten the best of her, and she now regretted her words.

  Sighing, Liberty went back to the elevator and got in. Taking a deep breath she hit the button for Jovan’s floor. The elevator lurched a bit, and then dinged quietly a moment later, the doors opening.

  The heavy wooden door of Jovan’s quarters stood before her. She took a couple of steps and brought her fist up to knock.

  She couldn’t do it. If he hadn’t come to greet her, he obviously didn’t want anything to do with her. Pushing the button to the elevator, tears stung her eyes.

  Suddenly, the large wooden door opened behind her.

  “Hey
, Blake, I heard the elevator. Why—”

  She turned. Jovan stood before her wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and some sneakers. Her heart beat wildly, her temperature spiked, and heat exploded in her cheeks and her core.

  “Liberty,” he said in a quiet voice. He looked tired.

  “Hello.”

  He didn’t say anything, just stared at her, which made her terribly uncomfortable.

  “I–I see that you are expecting Blake. My apologies for the intrusion.”

  She turned and pushed the button for the elevator again, wishing it would hurry.

  “We were going to work out,” Jovan said.

  Looking over her shoulder, she gave him a slight smile. “I hope you enjoy yourselves.”

  Blasted. What was taking this elevator so long?

  “Um . . . would you like to come in, Liberty?”

  She turned around and faced him. They stared at each other for a beat, and then she heard the door to the elevator slide open behind her. If she took a couple steps backward, she could escape.

  But the question was, did she want to?

  The elevator door closed, giving her the answer.

  “Yes, I would like that, Jovan.”

  Chapter 63

  Jovan heard the elevator arrive on his floor just as he was finishing tying his shoe. While he looped and pulled, he wondered what was taking Blake so long to knock on the door. They had made plans to do a little hand-to-hand training down in the gym.

  Saying he was surprised to see Liberty standing there would not be accurate. He had been floored.

  He hadn’t gone to the airport to get her, and he hadn’t waited around upstairs for her to arrive home. Going back to being the crabby child, he decided she could come find him.

  And she had.

  She stood before him, the same Liberty, but different. She wore a blue sweater, jeans, and boots. Nothing new there. However, he noticed some physical differences, such as her brown hair was tinted with . . . blue highlights? Her ears were also pierced now with small diamond earrings, and she even had a small diamond stud on the side of her nose.

  But the way she carried herself was different as well. When he had last seen her, she had been confident, but now it was though her confidence soared. Her shoulders were pushed back a little farther, and she met his gaze head on without any hesitancy.

  He loved the physical changes, as well as the personality transformations, and that only made him want her more.

  Like he needed that.

  When she said she would come in, he felt like he had just won the lotto.

  Shutting them in, he went to the phone and dialed Blake. “Hey. Yeah, I’m going to be a while.”

  He glanced at Liberty. She was standing in the middle of the room looking around as if she was seeing the place for the first time.

  “I don’t know how long. Go down without me if you want, and I’ll catch up with you later.”

  He hung up the phone and Liberty turned around. “I don’t want to keep you from your planned activities,” she said.

  “It’s fine. Just me and Blake rolling around on the mats downstairs. There’re about a thousand other ways I’d like to spend my time.”

  Liberty smiled.

  Jovan walked over to the overstuffed chairs and motioned her to follow. When they were seated, he asked, “How was your trip?”

  “It was wonderful, thank you for asking.”

  He couldn’t do the small talk. He had to get down to business.

  “Look, Liberty, I’m sorry. I was a complete jackass. It’s just that . . . it’s that I’ve never put myself out there and cared about anyone before. I’ve always kept to myself, held fast and strong on the boundaries I set up for myself.”

  He stopped talking and met Liberty’s gaze. She stared at him expectantly, and he could see she wasn’t going to make this easy. She was going to make him say everything.

  So, onward.

  “I’ve seen a lot of ugly shit in my life, Liberty,” he said quietly, running his hand through his hair and shifting his gaze to the floor. “I’ve seen what the Colonists do, and I’ve seen what the humans are capable of. It’s an ugly world out there, and the thought of the one I love, the one person who understands me, out there without me to protect her, made me sick with worry. And fear. And so . . . yeah, all that worry and fear came out with me acting like a complete asshole.”

  There was a small stretch of silence.

  Finally, Liberty said, “And I apologize for becoming so angry. I should have realized why you were acting the way you did, but I had this voice screaming in my head that I’m not in servitude any longer, and no one is going to tell me what to do.”

  He nodded, and their eyes met. She stood and came over to him, kneeling at his feet. Placing her hands on his knees, she stared up at him.

  He felt her trying to probe his thoughts and feelings, and he fought it.

  Let me in, Jovan.

  Damn it. Her gift was so much stronger than his.

  Sighing, he let down his shield.

  If you will have me, I would very much like to become your mate again.

  Jovan stared at her, unable to believe what he was hearing. He wondered if his brain was making all this up.

  No, it’s not. Just like when you were in that truck, what you’re hearing is real.

  “What changed?”

  Liberty shrugged and looked around the room as though she was searching for answers written on the walls or carved into the carpet.

  Finally, her gaze came back to his. “I love you, Jovan. I believe we can work together to find a common ground where I am able to do as I please, and your protective side is satisfied with my comings and goings. Perhaps we can even find ways to explore this world together.”

  He imagined her on a motorcycle and realized Christmas shopping was going to be a snap this year.

  “Well, then,” he said. Liberty wanted to be his, and he sure as shit wanted to be hers. He’d just spun all cherries on the slot machine. His body roared and his mind reeled with one thought. “I want to make love to my mate-to-be.”

  Liberty laughed. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  He bent down and kissed her gently, and her arms snaked around his neck. Lifting her up, her legs circled his waist, and he marched over to the bed. Setting her down, he kneeled before her and brought the sweater over her head and tossed it to the floor. Expecting to see some colored silk, he was surprised to lay his eyes on black. And what was this made out of? Holy shit. No. Was she . . . ? “Is this leather?” he asked as he cupped her breasts.

  “Yes.” She sounded like she was purring.

  His sweet, little, Liberty was wearing a black leather bra, and he hadn’t seen anything so fucking erotic in all of his time. His shaft quivered in his pants, begging for release. Yeah, he liked the bra, but he liked what it housed better. Let’s get the party started, for God sakes.

  Noticing something on her breast, he flicked the bra open and brought it down her shoulders, throwing it to the floor. He stopped, unable to believe what he was seeing.

  On her breast, right where her heart was located, was a tattoo of a red heart with J in the middle of it. It was still a little red, so this was some fresh ink.

  He sat back on his heels, stunned. “You got a tattoo.” His brilliance really knew no bounds.

  “Yes.”

  As he stared at the tattoo, he wasn’t certain what to say. The J wasn’t some pretty, flowery letter, it was a strong font, something that looked old worldly with thick lines and strong curves.

  “San Francisco was so much fun. We passed a tattoo and piercing parlor, and I thought of your tattoo and what you said about most tattoos having meaning. I wanted your initial over my heart. Remember when you kissed me there and told me that you could feel my heart fluttering beneath your lips?”

  Oh, hell yeah. He remembered. Males didn’t forget stuff like that. He still didn’t know what to say, but he gently brought his mouth down
to the tattoo and felt her heart jump.

  “Do you like it?” she asked.

  “I do like it, Liberty. I like it a lot.”

  His tongue flicked over her nipple, and he stood up while pushing her back on the bed. He pulled off her boots, and his hands shook as he undid the button of her jeans, but he had them off her quickly.

  Again, he was greeted with black leather.

  Oh, man.

  “You’re killing me here, Liberty,” he said through a constricted throat. Gazing over her from head to toe, he took it all in. The blue highlights in her hair. The diamonds in her ears, and the small one at the side of her nose. That damn sexy tattoo. The leather underwear.

  Shutting his eyes, he decided he had never been this cranked before, and he thought about the football game he had watched a few days ago to prevent coming right then and there.

  “Jovan?”

  He looked down at her.

  “Why are you still clothed?”

  Wasn’t that a great question?

  He quickly disrobed and laid on top of Liberty, her skin feeling soft to his touch.

  “Jovan, please remove my panties!”

  How the hell had he forgotten that? Hell, his brain felt like Jell-O.

  He kneeled before her again. He tried to rip the string, but the leather was too strong.

  Liberty laughed as he slid them off her legs. “I guess these are one set of panties I’m going to be able to keep!”

  He chuckled and came back up on the bed. Lying down next to her, he picked her up and put her on top of him. He watched as she stood him up and he slowly disappeared within her.

  Closing his eyes, he allowed his body to feel every sensation as his hands gently traced over her skin and she moved up and down his pulsating shaft.

  He looked up at her and opened his mind, feeling her emotions, the sensations she was experiencing, and sharing his with her. It was the most intimate that he had ever been with another, and bonded together in body and thought, they truly became one.

  I love you, Liberty.