by Jane Hinchey
“You know how I feel about secrets and lies, Jase,” I muttered, hurt that he’d been holding out on me.
“I know, and I’m sorry. But the timing…it's important I get the timing right.”
“Spit it out.”
“You’re the key,” he blurted.
“Jase what are you talking about?” I sighed.
“You are the key. You absorbed the medallion—that tattoo? It isn’t a tattoo. It is literally the medallion.”
“No. The medallion got sucked up into the storm like I did.”
He shook his head. “It wasn’t the storm that sucked you up, it was the power of the medallion. That power is now in you.” He pressed his thumb against my tattoo. “It became a part of you. And with it, more magic, more power, than you can imagine.” His face glowed with excitement and I tugged, trying to pull away from his grip. Why hadn’t he told me this before now?
“Why me?”
“I don’t know. You were holding the medallion when all three pieces came together. The medallion isn’t a static object, it can change, adapt to its situation. When it was at risk of discovery, it broke into three parts. This time, it chose to become one with you. It wouldn’t have chosen just anyone. It had to be someone worthy. Strong.”
“You could have told me this before.” I scowled, not liking that he’d been holding out on me.
“I waited because you needed time to deal with all of this. You were bouncing between elation and devastation—it was a lot to take in and I wanted to give you space and time to do that. Plus the Police Investigation into Father Sullivan’s and Billy’s death took a toll on you. Don’t try and argue with me, I know you, I know how hard you took it when they couldn’t identify who Detective Logan really was, how there was no record of him arriving on the Island. Or leaving. How, if it wasn’t for my testimony, you could have been on the hook for murder.”
“They thought I made him up,” I muttered, remembering.
“I know. But I saw him too, I corroborated your story. And they did discover his fingerprints at your house.”
“Well, fingerprints that weren’t yours or mine. But still, he got away. I get the feeling we haven’t seen the last of him. He didn’t die at the cabin, I’m sure of it.”
“If he turns up, we’ll deal with him. This is what I mean, it’s been so full on for you, I wanted to wait.”
“You know I don’t like people making decisions for me.” It was true. Even though he thought it was for my own good, it annoyed me that he’d made the decision to withhold the truth until he felt that I was ready to hear it.
“I’m sorry.” His apology was an unexpected as his kiss. His mouth came down on mine, hot and needy. Immediately my lips parted and his tongue swept inside. Heat surged through me, fire raced through my veins, and I felt like I’d go up in flames any second. Pulling me flush against him, his hands ran down my back, pressing against my lower back. I wound my arms around his neck, threading my fingers through his hair, and held on for dear life. The kiss went on for an eternity but ended all too soon. Pulling back, he breathed heavily and forehead resting against mine.
“You could have kissed me before, Jase,” I gasped, heart hammering.
“No, I couldn’t. You wouldn’t have believed me. I had to wait.”
“Believed what?”
“That I’m in love with you. And I’m pretty sure you feel the same way. But I’d only just broken up with Wanda and you’d have told me I was on the rebound.” I opened my mouth to protest but realized he was right. If he’d made any sort of move after breaking up with the annoying blonde, I’d have dismissed him. He really did know me well.
“I could afford to wait.” He smiled gently, brushing his thumb across my cheek. “And now I can show you this too.” Eyes on mine, he loosened his tie and began to unbutton his shirt. I couldn’t stop my sharp inhalation of breath or the way my eyes left his to follow the movement of his fingers. I waited. Was he going to take it off? But he made no move and I dragged my eyes up, past the tantalizing glimpses of his chest, to his face. His grin was one of pure masculine pride.
Then he pulled the top part of the shirt aside, and my eyes dropped to his flesh. I froze. Was that a tattoo? Not the same as mine, not exactly, but similar.
“What the hell?” I leaned forward, touching my fingertips to the skin over his heart.
“I’m part of this too.”
“Oh my god,” I breathed, speechless. “How did you manage to hide this from me for all this time?” Six weeks. He’d kept his tattoo secret for six weeks.
“I just had to keep my clothes on.” He grinned.
“And now you don’t?” I scoffed, unable to stop my fingers from exploring him, tracing across his chest to his collarbone.
“Now I don’t.” Wrapping his hand around my neck, he tugged me forward, his mouth coming down on mine, hot and hard. I drowned in him, in his touch, his taste. I wriggled closer. Mouth not leaving his, I climbed into his lap, my dress hiking up around my waist to accommodate my position. I felt the tug when he undid my halter, groaned into his mouth when his hot palm cupped my breast.
“You’ve no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” he growled, voice ragged, dragging his lips across my cheek to tug on my earlobe before dropping lower to nibble on my neck.
“Not as long as me,” I whispered. I was coming apart in is arms, all my defenses smashed into pieces.
“Longer. The day you walked into my clinic, fresh off the ferry with a scrawny, terrified, pup in your arms. Both of you looked at me with pleading eyes that day and I knew I was a goner.”
“Since then?” I gasped, jerking when his mouth brushed against the swell of my breast.
“Since then,” he agreed nipping at me. The rumble of his voice against my skin was as erotic as his touch.
“But why…” I trailed off, my head tilting back, hair coming loose as desire flooded me in waves.
“Why what?” he whispered, hands busy, pushing my dress down, exploring my flesh.
“Why wait? Why date—Wanda?” The other woman’s name sobered me a little and I sat up straighter, moving my hands to his shoulders, pushing him back.
“You weren’t ready for a relationship. I could see that. You were in so much pain, Del, it hurt to just look at you. What your mother did to you, trying to have you committed? It all but destroyed you. All you could offer me was friendship and I took it with both hands. Call me selfish, but it wasn’t enough. So I took refuge in Wanda. I thought dating her would squash the feelings I had for you. Looking back I can’t believe I was so stupid, and by the time I realized what I’d done, I was in too deep. I couldn’t break it off with her without hurting her. So I tried to make it work.”
“But it didn’t. In the end,” I whispered.
“It didn’t stand a chance because all along, I wanted you. And she knew it. I never said it, but she knew, but she wouldn’t let me go. And being a stupid male, I stayed. I wanted her to fall out of love with me, to leave me of her own accord. When I finally woke up to myself that it wasn’t going to happen, I had to make the break. It was unhealthy for both of us, and I did end up hurting her and I feel like a dickhead because it’s what I should have done all along. By waiting I made it worse.”
I mulled over his words. He was right. When I’d arrived on the island I was fresh out of the doctors’ appointments I’d been forced to attend to defend my mental health, to prove that I wasn’t crazy or a risk to myself or anyone else. Instead, they’d diagnosed me with depression, provided me with drugs to dull my brain, and sent me on my way. I’d dumped the meds, bought a ticket to Fury Island, found a puppy, and started my new life. There was no way I would have even entertained the idea of a relationship, with anyone, when I’d first met Jase. The one person I’d trusted the most, the one person who should have kept me safe, didn’t. My own mother had tried to have me locked in an asylum, but the thing that had hurt the most was she’d waited until Dad died before she did it. That had br
oken my heart.
“You are a stronger person than I,” Jase whispered, cupping my face in his hands, knowing where my thoughts had gone. “Coming here today, celebrating her birthday? After what she did to you? I’m proud of you.”
Tears welled in my eyes. Seeing them, he crushed me to him, tucking my face into his neck. He held me tight, his big hands warm on my bare back. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“It’s not that.” I sniffed, my voice muffled against him. “I’m just happy.”
“I’ve seen you happy and this isn’t it.”
“No, really.” I chuckled and sniffed, raising my face to look at him. “You mean the world to me, Jase. At some point, my feelings for you changed. You were my best friend for so long that when I started to want to be with you in—other ways —I was really confused. You were with Wanda. Out of bounds. So I loved you from afar, thinking you could never be mine and telling myself I needed to be satisfied with your friendship and nothing more. To hear you say you feel the same way is kinda overwhelming and joyous and unbelievable.”
“You can forgive me for Wanda?”
“You did what you thought was right. And you were right. I wouldn’t have dated you. Not then. I was surviving; I had nothing left to give. Not to you, not to anyone. I’m sorry Wanda got hurt though. It’s not fun to love someone and not have them love you in return.”
“I know.”
“And this.” I placed my palm over his medallion tattoo. “What does this mean? Why do you have one? Do you feel different?”
Capturing my wrist and pressing his lips to my similar marking, he spoke against my skin. “I don’t know what it means. That we’re linked somehow? As for feeling different, yes. I feel—powerful. I feel like there’s an energy buzzing in me, although I’m not entirely sure that isn’t just my reaction to you.”
I smiled. I’d had the same thoughts over the last six weeks. I’d noticed that I didn’t need to see someone’s aura to read them; I could sense what people were thinking and feeling. I didn’t need my tarot cards to read people either; I could do it by looking at them. And it was always stronger when Jase was with me.
“I think we’re two parts of one whole,” I said.
“Actually-”
“What? What haven’t you told me?”
“You know the medallion was broken into three parts, and after you brought all three pieces together and we were all caught up in some sort of cosmic storm and woke up with the tattoos…”
“Yes.” Where was he going with this?
“There were three of us. You, me and Duke.”
“Duke’s a dog,” I protested. “He can’t have a tattoo.”
“I checked him over.” Jase’s voice was soft, gentle.
“And?” I glanced over at my dozing black Labrador, his coat shining in the overhead light.
“His tattoo is more like the shard. On the inside of his ear.” I was silent, digesting his words.
“So.” I eventually managed to put words together. “The three of us, together, are the key?”
“Something like that. We’re going to have to work it out as we go.”
“You know what?” I turned my attention back to him, sinking back into his arms.
“What?” His hands were getting busy again, running up and down my spine, making me shiver.
“Let’s worry about all of that later. Right now I’d rather be doing this. I think I’ve waited long enough.” Clasping his head between my hands, I kissed him, pouring all my love into that kiss, pouring my very being into it. His groan was music to my ears. Closing my eyes, I saw starbursts and knew, on a deep intrinsic level, that this was where I was meant to be all along. In his arms. Whatever the future held, we’d face it together, for together, we were stronger. The medallion had brought us together for a reason, and while I was excited to find out what, nothing was more exciting than the man in my arms, the man who’d stolen my heart and saved my life.
The End
Secret Fates is a side story to my Hells Gate series. Get info on Book One, Straight to Hell, here:
My Book
Notes from the Author
The story of Del, Duke, and Jase was a joy to write – although it took a while for it to fully reveal itself to me, once it did it all came together as if by magic!
For those who don’t know me, I’m a panster. That means I don’t really plot out my books. Instead, I’ll get the spark of an idea and just run with it. This also means that some days my writing flows like water from a tap, and other days, the faucet is well and truly off. When I started writing Secret Fates I didn’t know what was going to happen, but somewhere in my subconscious the story that was evolving linked itself to my new series, Hell’s Gate – when this sort of thing happens I’m as surprised as anyone else lol.
I’m looking forward to finding out what future adventures are in store for Del, Duke, and Jase, especially when they come face to face with Lucifer herself!
Now you may have noticed that Secret Fates is book two in the Hearts on Fire Series and isn’t part of the Hell’s Gate series. Why is that you ask? Well, it’s like this. My Hearts on Fire Series is a collection of novellas and novels initially written for boxed sets. Now that the sets are finished I decided I’d re-release the stories in their own series. They all take place – or are connected to – the town of Redmeadows. Redmeadows came into creation with my Awakening Series. So pretty much every book I’ve written to date is connected!
If you enjoyed Secret Fates, please consider leaving a positive review or rating on the site where you purchased it. Reader reviews help my books continue to be valued by resellers and help new readers make decisions about reading them.
You are the reason I write these stories and I sincerely appreciate each of you!
Many thanks for your support!
~ Jane Hinchey
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More books by Jane Hinchey
The Awakening Series
#1 First Blade
#2 First Witch
#3 First Blood
Hell’s Gate Series
#1 Straight to Hell
Hearts on Fire Series
#1 Shadow Shifter
#2 Secret Fates
Standalones
Returned
Heart of Darkness
Destiny’s Touch
About the Author
Aussie Author, Jane Hinchey writes sexy, snarky, badass, paranormal romance and suspense.
Living in the City of Churches (aka Adelaide, South Australia) with her man, two cats, and turtle, she spends her days writing fantastical stories full of dark sexy vampires, hot shifters, sexy aliens, jaw-dropping demons, sinful angels, and magical witches – and while they can be snarky and swear a lot, they mean well and you’ll grow to love them. Honestly.
When she’s not in her writing cave she’s usually playing the Sims, Civilizations or something similar, binge watching Netflix or upping the ante in the crazy cat lady stakes.
Read more from Jane Hinchey
