Forged by Fate (Entangled Embrace)

by Reese Monroe

  “Good. Now talk,” she ordered.

  “Direct. Just what I like.” He wove his arm around her waist, pulled her back against him, and sneaked his other arm beneath her head. He touched as much of her skin as possible since they weren’t completely naked.

  Yet.

  “Halena,” Sadie said.

  “Another Shomrei. Stationed in France. She’s in charge of the European section.” He rested his head on her pillow, absorbing the delicious scent of her hair. “She checks on Justin quite a bit.”

  “She sounded pissed.”

  “She doesn’t agree with my brother’s lifestyle. Thinks his recklessness will bring attention to the supernatural world.”

  “Reckless, huh? She mated?”

  “No.”

  “Hmm,” Sadie said.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. How old is she?”

  “Eight centuries. Very strong.”

  “Why is she coming here? She can’t leave her post, can she?”

  “We don’t normally leave our stations, no. She sent word as I slumbered that she was coming, yet didn’t tell me why.”

  Sadie rolled slightly and captured his gaze. “Sent you a message?”

  “Gatekeepers can talk telepathically among one another no matter the distance. She sensed my healing slumber, alerted me to the phone conversation, and said she’d be coming.”

  “How can she marry us? Is she a priest or something?”

  He laughed. “Gatekeepers are the direct line to The Great One. Since we were created by Him, we have quite a bit of authority. She can bind us much like a priest here in earth’s contemporary churches. We’re already bonded, though, Sadie.”

  “Call me old-fashioned. But, Theo, I—er—well, what’ll happen? I mean, when we marry?”

  “I love that you said ‘when’, love.” He touched a kiss to her temple. “I’m not sure you’re ready to hear it.”

  Her body tensed, but she said nothing. He caressed her stomach, already wanting to be close to her again. To touch her all over.

  “I accepted your ring, your fangs, and your bed.” She let out a breath. “Please, tell me. I’m ready to know.”

  He brushed away her hair and rested his chin on her shoulder so their cheeks met. “You’ll shed your human self. And if what Aggie spews is true, then you may shed whatever other half you might be. Or it will merge with your new Shomrei being.” He held his breath, waiting for a response. So far she hadn’t moved.

  “I’ll become a Shomrei? Like you?”

  “In a sense. When we mate, our beings will merge. So yes, in a sense, you will become a Shomrei Gatekeeper with me. You’ll no longer require food and water to remain alive. Though you’ll still eat when you can as it fuels healing. Like your skin energizes me, I, too, will energize you. We will sustain each other.”

  “Our Marks.” Her voice was faint. Tight. “They changed.”

  “You got your Mark when it was time to call your Mate to you. I felt a ripple in my being, and I knew my Mate was being prepared for me. I followed the sense here. I was in another state at the time, closing a splice. Once in town, getting closer to you, it drew me in. I found you at the diner.”

  “My last night working there since I was getting set to graduate and start Bendz Chem in a couple of weeks.” She laughed.

  “I saw you early on in the day and decided to get things set up here for you right away while I worked up the nerve to approach you.”

  “You were nervous?” She tapped his nose. “I can’t picture you nervous.”

  “Very.” He gulped. “Even had to go get Justin to come with me to the diner.” He shook his head. “I’m strong and know a lot, but with you…this is all new.”

  “New for me, too.”

  “I didn’t think you’d be here, in my bed, this soon. I’d hoped, but I wanted things ready immediately, regardless.” He laughed at the memory of throwing money around to make things happen quickly. “Another reason I brought Justin with me was so he could meet you and begin watching over you if I got called away.”

  “If you two were created, how are you brothers?”

  “A Gatekeeper is created with a Companion. What the world perceives as brothers. He’s created to assist me. He’s a Shomrei and has great power, but he’s not bonded to both worlds.”

  “Hades and Heaven.”

  “He told you.”

  “A little.”

  “Companions are bonded to their Gatekeepers. If we perish, so does the Companion.”

  “And if the Companion is killed?”

  “We survive. But…we’re different. Imbalanced. We’re unlike anything ever created, and it can be lonely. Our Companions fill that void with loyalty and dedication, and help us stay centered.” He kissed her shoulder. “Until we join with our Mates.”

  “Then what happens to the Companions?”

  “They assist us both. And, eventually, find their own Mates. Though Justin insists he’ll never be mated.”

  “Yeah, I asked him about that once. He didn’t much like that.” She smiled. “How can he deny it if every other Companion gets a Mate?”

  “He can’t. Justin’s just stubborn.”

  “But sweet in his own way. Especially when I kinda freaked out about your fangs.”

  “I’m glad he was there for you. He always will be, you know that, right? You can count on that.”

  She shifted within his grasp to face him. “Can I see your fangs again? How do they work?”

  Theo closed his eyes and held his breath at her request. The fangs. The part of him he despised. It was necessary to dominate the demon world—conquer it—but still, it made his gut churn. But another part of him was relieved she’d asked to see them. That meant she accepted them.

  Accepted me.

  “So, you’re part demon?” She gazed up into his eyes. “That’s why you have fangs?”

  “I’m not literally part demon. I have a connection to evil only so I can master it. And they are wicked fighting weapons as well.”

  She kissed his chin. “I can’t believe how strong you are.”

  “I get my strength from The Great One and you.”

  “Can I see them?” she asked again.

  He drew in a deep breath. Might as well show her since she, too, would get them. What would she think of having fangs? A Shomrei never to die unless beheaded? Constantly facing evil. Traveling.

  He opened his mouth and ordered the teeth down. The familiar cracking sounded, and a slight pulse of pain as the lethal tips broke through the gums. Slowly, so she could see.

  “They’re thin.” She propped herself up on her elbow, watching. “Just above your eyeteeth. Over them and longer. Oh my God.” Her eyes widened. “I can’t believe this. It’s amazing.”

  The weapons finished their dramatic entry under her scrutiny, and he lowered his top lip.

  “Does it hurt you?”

  “Not much. Only a brief minute when they breach the gums. They slide down from the root, over the tooth.” He brushed his knuckles along her cheek. “You like information, don’t you? Helps calm you down about things that scare you.”

  “Always has.” She smiled. “Though this is testing my logic for sure.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “They don’t cut your lips, but they cut my finger before when I touched one.” She cupped his cheek with her hand, still staring at his mouth.

  “No. You learn to work with them.”

  “What do you mean ‘learn’? You’ve always had them, right?”

  “Yes. But still…” He leaned into her, a breath between their lips. “It takes time to control. And even after nine centuries, when things are intense, they have a mind of their own.”

  She glanced at his mouth and licked her lips. “Intense?”

  He rolled her beneath him, savoring the silky feel of her bare skin against his. Energy pulsed through him, replenishing what was drained healing Justin. “I don’t enjoy them coming out. Even now, I don’
t like it. And when we were first together…”

  “They came out,” she whispered. “That next morning you were such a jerk—er—distant.”

  “I was a jerk. I’m sorry.” He inched closer to her lips, wanting to devour them.

  She dropped a kiss on his chin, then another closer to his lips, as if testing the waters. He held perfectly still, allowing her time. Maybe she wouldn’t be too upset she’d have fangs. Maybe he’d been wrong rejecting this side of himself all this time. The Great One had equipped him with these. They had a purpose.

  “Have you ever bitten a human? You know, like a vampire.”

  “I don’t drink blood, love.” Though he’d tasted his fair share in battle while ripping out throats.

  “Good. Because that’d be entirely too gross for me to handle.”

  He smiled, and she froze, her eyes fixed on his mouth. A wave of fear swarmed her blue irises, but only for a flash. Soon the information-seeking genius returned. Constantly analyzing, learning, figuring out.

  The Mark on his neck pulsed. He settled into the warmth between her legs, and she smiled. Her heart hammered through her chest into his. Did he dare kiss her with his fangs extended? He sensed she wanted to try, but a hint of fear mingled through that held him back.

  Then she lifted her head and sucked on his bottom lip. Slowly, with calculated movements, her tongue slid into his mouth. She brushed against the fangs. On instinct, they softened slightly as if they knew they’d injure her.

  “Not so sharp,” she whispered into his mouth, then her tongue stroked a fang.

  It felt more like she was licking the Mark on his neck. A jolt of heat flooded his chest and tightened his spine. His breath whooshed from his lungs.

  Another stroke.

  He nearly came undone.

  “They’re softer. Not so pointed now.” She kissed him harder. “God, you feel so good.”

  “I don’t know what you’re doing, but don’t stop. Just don’t stop.” He moved against her, and she held on as she deepened her kisses.

  She broke away, gasping for air. His fangs retracted all the way. “See, they’re not so bad.” She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. “A little dark and sexy.” She kissed the corner of his mouth.

  He stilled his movements and framed her face with his hands. “I hope you feel that way when yours come.”

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Sadie leaned into the mirror and lifted her upper lip to see her full gum line. She tongued her eyetooth, trying to envision fangs like Theo’s coming down.

  A shudder coursed through her, and she released her hold on her lip. The fangs freaked her out more than the idea of not being human anymore after sex with Theo.

  “When.” She huffed, knowing it would happen. After how intense things got last night, it was just a matter of time. That should scare the crap out of her, but it didn’t.

  She stepped back and smoothed her hand over her T-shirt and black shorts. Flip-flops topped off the outfit she’d chosen to meet this Halena chick. Theo hadn’t spoken much about her other than to say she was young—eight centuries was young to him. She shook her head and combed her fingers through her hair until it was all gathered at the back of her head in a tight ponytail.

  She whirled around and stepped into the bedroom again.

  No Theo.

  The bed was a jumbled mess of covers. Her stomach fluttered at the memory of them together, tangled limbs, discovering each other. He was so amazing. Though never having even kissed a woman, he seemed so experienced. Like he knew what he was doing.

  Maybe he had an instinct about these things. She, on the other hand, not so much. She felt like a clumsy fool in bed, but she was a fast learner, and she enjoyed the lessons with Theo more and more.

  What would actual sex be like with him?

  She reached for the door handle to head downstairs, and the ring on her finger caught her attention. She brought it close to her face for a better look and noticed a surge of light. Orange to match the swirl in Theo’s eyes when things got intense between them.

  She held her breath and watched the ring. The light pulsed in time with her shoulder, a flash with each beat of her Mark.

  How’d he do that? She ran her finger over the jewel. She was engaged. The word echoed through her brain. Just turned eighteen, engaged to a nearly thousand-year-old Gatekeeper of Hades, and about ready to jump into the losing-her-virginity stage of the relationship.

  It would be nice, though, to try to find her parents first. She knew it was ridiculous to think Theo could quickly find them, they’d get all friendly, and she could ask her father to walk her down the aisle.

  It’d always been a dream of hers to have a big wedding despite how unlikely it was.

  She stepped into the hallway and went left, toward the stairwell leading down to the main floor. Was she ready for all this? To give up her job, marry Theo, have sex with him, and turn into a Shomrei?

  But what was her nonhuman part? She was more curious about that. Well, not more curious than having sex with Theo, but close.

  “Sadie?” Dasha shrieked.

  “Dash.” She bolted down the stairs.

  Literally.

  “Holy shit,” she said as she told herself to stop. She grabbed the ball at the top of the railing and steadied herself. In a flash, Theo was before her, Dasha following shortly after.

  “What happened?” he asked, gripping her shoulders.

  “Um. Nothing?” She glanced up the stairs.

  “Your heart pounds. You were scared.”

  She frowned at him. “You told me I’d get fangs, but you didn’t mention I’d be getting your speed, too. Um—even before we—you know.”

  “You sped?”

  “Sadie, are you okay?” Dasha sidled up next to Theo, breathing heavy. “Mr. Fang dude here buzzed by me like a maniac.” She smacked his shoulder. “’Bout plowed me over.”

  Fangs? She looked at Theo and, sure enough, they were down. He looked ready to take on an army. And wow, she hadn’t even noticed them.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Sadie pinched his chin between her finger and thumb. “I’m okay. Just freaked out at the speed for a sec.”

  “You’re growing, too, girl.” Dasha smiled. “You’re like two inches taller. No fair.”

  “How?” Sadie asked Theo.

  “Your body prepares itself for me,” he whispered. “For once we unite.”

  Her shoulder pulsed. So did his neck. She visibly saw it, and his pupils ate up the beautiful hazel irises she’d become addicted to. She brushed her thumb beneath his bottom lip and once again his fangs softened beneath her touch.

  Amazing.

  The elongated teeth retracted, and Theo drew in a deep breath through his nose. At eye level since she was still on the bottom step, she leaned in until their noses met. Was it because she was this fated Shomrei Mate that she wanted him so fiercely? Or was it just because she was a woman wanting to explore? Was it love?

  Regardless. She knew she wanted him. In every way.

  “Wow.” Dasha stepped back. “The energy between you two is crackling. I can almost see it.”

  “You might, later,” Justin said as he came in from the kitchen. “Once they’re mated. I’ve seen it before. You don’t ever want to get between Mates, let’s just put it that way.”

  Dasha sighed.

  Sadie held Theo’s gaze for a long breath and then smiled as she brushed against his hard body. “I’ve always wanted to be six feet tall.”

  His laughter rang out under the cathedral ceiling. It sounded like music. He rarely laughed a full from-the-gut laugh. In fact, she’d heard it only once or twice. She vowed to try to hear that at least once every single day.

  He deserved at least that after all these years alone. Constantly serving this Great One. Protecting everyone else.

  “Halena here?”

  Theo shook his head and guided Sadie down from the last stair. She stepped into him and cupped his ne
ck. His eyes flared orange again, another thing she was completely addicted to already.

  She brushed her cheek to his and slid her hand into his back pocket. A quick nip at his earlobe and a squeeze of his tight butt had him sucking in a sharp breath.

  “I’d carry you upstairs right now if we didn’t have company,” he whispered.

  She gave him a wink and another quick squeeze, then faced Dasha as Theo let out a little growl. Oh yeah, they’d end up in the bedroom soon enough.

  “Dash.” Sadie pulled her into a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “Justin came and helped me move us out of our dorms. I’m with you guys for the summer, I guess.” She dug into her back pocket. “You got a letter from Bendz. Looks like a check or something important. So I grabbed it from your mailbox when I emptied your room. Hope that’s okay.”

  “Yeah. Fine. I need to contact them right away.”

  “What are you going to tell them?” Dasha asked.

  Sadie looked to Theo and said, “Not sure yet. I mean, I can’t really start a new job when I have demons all up in my business, now can I?”

  Justin laughed.

  “When were you scheduled to start?” Theo asked.

  “Two weeks. Told them I needed time after school to relax, get settled into my apartment, things like that.” She glanced around. “Though, I never expected this would be my apartment.” She laughed.

  “You could fit fifty apartments in this place.” Dasha spun, arms out. “Can I live here? Justin, you’ll be my sugar daddy, right?”

  Another laugh bounced off the walls. Yes. This was what Sadie wanted. Relaxing time with friends. Even though she’d just met two of them.

  “You could tell them you’re still on for the two-week thing, and maybe we’ll get this Aggie business closed up by then,” Theo said.

  “I want this, Theo. Really bad. Is there a way to make this work? I mean, if I’m a Gatekeeper’s chick.”

  Dasha laughed. “Gatekeeper’s chick. Leave it to the genius to think up a new word for your little gig there.”

  “Let’s just see, okay?” He winked. “I get what this means to you.”

  He really did understand her and wanted to see her happy, didn’t he? “Okay. I’ll buzz them later. Hey, Dash, where’s all my stuff?”