Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (32 page)

The
twaelin just smiled, watching me.

Reaching
up, I tugged an orange off of a low hanging branch. “Is it
really okay for us to eat these?”

“
I
don't think anyone will notice,” he mused. “It's a
rather empty field, after all.”

“
I
guess,” I mumbled, fighting the guilt of thinking I might be
stealing with my hunger. In the end, my stomach won out.

Sitting
on the grass, the sky above was still grey with clouds, but it
wasn't anywhere near cold outside.
Wherever
we are, it's warm enough for oranges to grow.

Digging
my nails into the skin, I peeled the fruit eagerly. Nethiun sat down
beside me, studying me as I broke through to the flesh of the
orange. A spritz of juice hit him in the cheek, making me giggle.
“Sorry about that.”

“
Maybe
I shouldn't get so close,” he said, wiping his face.

Together,
we sat under the trees, peeling out segments of orange and stuffing
them in our mouths. It was perfect, it took my mind off of the
horrifying news from before.

Grinning,
tart sweetness on my tongue, I offered him another slice. “So,
do you like oranges?”

He
took it from me, eating it slowly before speaking. “I like
savory things better, I think. But, these are still very good.”

“
By
the way, I was wondering.” Carefully, I peeled the pith of the
fruit from under my nails. “You 'eat' emotions. But, um, you
do
have
emotions
yourself, right?”

“
Certainly.
Did you think I didn't?” he asked, amused.

I
studied the texture of the orange peel too intently.
Now
I feel kind of silly.
“Alright,
okay. But why absorb human emotions at all? Is it needed, like,
water to living things?”

“
Not
exactly. Servants utilize the energy from human emotions to...
recharge, in a way. We expend our own power through shifting,
flying, attacking. It's a way to feed it back in without draining
more from our source.” Shrugging, he reached for another bit
of orange. “In theory, we could go without. But it's
invigorating to taste emotions, addicting sometimes.”

I
don't understand, really. Why do the twaelin even exist, do they
have a purpose?

“
Is
it much different, eating food compared to eating... you know, that
stuff?”

Nethiun
licked his thumb, giving me a curious look. “They're not
anything alike.”

Blinking,
I inched closer to him, the outside of my thigh touching his. “Tell
me, I want to know.”

His
chuckle was low, a smokey sound. “Are you sure? You didn't
seem so keen to learn about the skin changing earlier.”

I
grimaced, then wiped my hands on my pants. “After that, I
think I can handle anything.”

The
twaelin considered me for a very long time. I didn't break the
silence, though. I thought if I waited, I would be rewarded with the
information I wanted.

In
a way, I was right.

Reaching
out, Nethiun took my hands. Turning them over, he exposed the inside
of my arms. “I'll try to explain, but I admit, it is difficult
with words. Do you mind if I use touch to help express what it's
like to sense, to eat, emotional energy?”

My
heart jumped a mile. “Sure, go ahead.”

With
intensity deep in his frosty-white eyes, Nethiun dragged his finger
tips lightly down my flesh. From inside my elbow, down to my wrist,
he took his time. My goosebumps were immediate. “When you get
nervous around me, your energy... it feels like this, a sort of
tickle. It itches, in a way, makes me desire more.”

I
swallowed around my tongue, too stunned to say anything. I just
nodded, encouraging him to keep going.

His
thumb traced over my palms, sliding between each nook of my fingers,
one by one. “Here, anxiety, similar to nervousness. It tugs at
me more, like being tapped over and over.”

This
is... this getting a little...

Leaving
my arms alone, Nethiun grabbed my chin, forcing my head to the side.
It was so fast, so intense, I only vaguely heard my sharp shout. His
breath washed over my throat, light and hot. “This,” he
whispered, “is your fear. It pulses, when I taste it. It's
warm, it makes me foggy.”

Foggy,
yes, that's... that's the word.
Every
inch of me felt like it was burning up, my belly tight.

He
wasn't done yet.

Turning
my jaw, he ran his thumb over my bottom lip. Then, amazingly, he
forced it inside, gliding over my tongue. Startled by his
forwardness, I tried to pull back; Nethiun wouldn't have that.

His
other hand had the back of my head, keeping me steady. Staring into
my eyes, his opal orbs didn't move. The shine in them, the hint of
humanity, was gone. “Shh,” he said, “you wanted to
know. Let me show you.”

I
didn't struggle again.

The
pad of his finger rolled over my wet tongue, following the curve,
lighting my taste buds up with citrus. “Excitement,” he
crooned. “Excitement is this, buttery and soft. It's one of my
favorites, if I have to admit it. Addicting, but too much of it is
dangerous.”

My
chest thrummed, I was sure my heart could pop at any moment. The
dizziness in my brain made it hard to think, hard to do much but
sink into the wondrous feelings he was cultivating in my body.

Nethiun
slid his hand from my mouth, replacing it with his lips. That kiss
was rough, his teeth nipped, asking for more from me than I thought
I could give.

He
was fast, determined. For a second, as he nibbled my tongue, I had a
dash of worry that he might consume me the way he'd suggested
twaelin were capable of.

I
was only slightly less afraid when he pushed me down on the grass,
kissing along my neck lightly.
What
is he... I don't know if I can...

“
Nethiun,”
I gasped, eyes fluttering shut in my bliss. “Wait, slow down,
I'm not—”

He
silenced me with another kiss, hands running down my ribs to follow
my curves. As he pulled back, staring down at me with the night sky
behind his head, I thought his wicked grin was glowing. It might as
well have been the moon; it was just as sharp, just as curved. “I
won't hurt you,” he said quietly. “I promise, I won't do
anything you don't ask me for.”

His
confidence hushed me, sent a spark of electricity down to my very
core. Squeezing my thighs together, I bit back a moan. He was too
exciting, too unpredictable.

I
wanted more of it with every breath.

Those
warm lips skipped down to the indent of my collar bone, his cheek
nuzzling against the cloth of my tight shirt.

Beneath
me, the ground was cold. Arching away from it, I pressed myself
harder against Nethiun. I knew what I wanted, and at the same time,
couldn't put a name to it.

Agile
fingers hooked under the hem of my blouse, tugging it up and
exposing my boring, plain white bra. Instinctively, I wrapped my
arms around to cover myself.

“
No
no,” he purred, gently touching my shoulders. “I want to
see you, all of you.”

Shivering,
I wondered how red I was. “You already see my energy, isn't
that enough?”

His
eyes shimmered, even without the light touching them. “Hardly
enough. I'm not even sure, if I were to have every bit of you, that
it could quench me.”

Biting
the inside of my cheek, I let my arms fall away.

Nethiun
was on me, finger tips grazing my the outside of my hips. His mouth
tasted my sternum, my navel, before he reached under me to find the
clasp of my bra.

No
one has ever been this close to me, seen me like this. Not even a
little bit. But I'm letting him, I... I want him to do this. I never
thought I would crave anything like it, but...

But
I do. Right now, it's all I want.

The
twaelin peeled my lingerie down my arms, laying it in the grass
carefully. Over my head, he tugged my shirt the rest of the way,
leaving my hair a mess in its wake.

“
Beautiful,”
he murmured, looking me dead in the face. “You're perfect,
Gale.”

It
wasn't something I believed, but with how he was looking at me, I
was tempted to give in to the compliment.

He
hovered over me, chasing away my small frown with another long kiss.
“Nethiun,” I said when he broke away, my voice cracking.
“I've really never, I mean, I know I told you, but—”

“
I
understand,” he said, all humor gone from his voice. “I
should tell you, it's been a long time for me as well, being with a
human.”

So
he has done this before. Of course, how could he not? He's too good,
far too good to be a virgin like me.

My
fingers shivered when I reached up, tugging at his shirt. He blinked
down at me, before moving to undo the buttons. “No,” I
said, “let me. I want to do something.”

Chuckling,
he knelt over me, his hands giving me freedom. I was slow, clunky,
but he was patient enough. Eventually, I slid his shirt down his
arms, leaving his alabaster chest for my eyes.

As
if I'd peeled away the last bit of his control, Nethiun pounced down
on me. His skin rubbed against mine, brushing along my sensitive
breasts until I was gasping.

Closing
my eyes, I buried my face in the crook of his neck. He smelled
spicy, warm, familiar.

I'm
so used to him already. I'm such an idiot, thinking I knew so much
about love, so cynical... Here I am, in a field, kissing a man—no,
not even a man—that I only met a week ago.

I
wanted to laugh, but I was too busy moaning against his flesh.

Something
firm pressed against my lower belly, and inherently, I knew what it
was. My giggle was nervous, too school-girl for my liking. “Oh,
God, so you really are as human as it counts, aren't you?”

In
answer, he sat up over me. Kneeling there, in only his trousers with
that perfectly sculpted torso gleaming, Nethiun reached down to take
my hand. With a devilish smirk, he pressed my palm against the
obvious shape in his pants.

My
blush was full body, head to toe.

“
Indeed,”
he purred. “As human as it matters. It
does
matter to you, then?”

Speechless,
I just nodded.

He
was fast, the sound of the zipper loud in the placid evening. His
eyes were fixed on me, studying my reactions with extreme interest.
I thought I had to look similar, my face hurt from not blinking for
so long.