Page 15 of Bound By Destiny

But it’s not small, at least in my world it isn’t. Making love to Dane was one of the most mind-blowing, epic experiences in my thirty-three years… and probably one of the stupidest as well.

Because even nearly a week after our wild fling by the Santa Catalina mountains, my heart beats a little too fast. A hint of adrenaline still flows in my veins – the same dangerous excitement that made me throw caution to the wind when I was seventeen, and that turned my life upside down.

Countless times, at school or at work, I’ve been told that my brain is my best asset. And it’s true, I can pore over cryptic data sheets for hours, spend weeks finding the last decimal in a lift equation.

But what nobody knows, is that the reason I put so much time and effort into analyzing my every decision, is because I know I can’t trust myself. It’s become commonplace to say you need to ‘trust your gut feeling’, that intuition is mostly right where calculations can go wrong.You just have to trust your instincts, Dane said to me that day he tried to teach me to fly.

But I don’t have a drop of intuition, and my gut feeling is all mixed-up. How else can I explain the fact that I killed eighty-seven–

No, I interrupt myself.Don’t let your mind go there.

“You grazed me with your elbow!” Dane accuses in a rasp. “What do you want, another fun romp in the mountains?”

Indeed, after an awkward and very quiet drive back home the evening after my flying lesson, Dane and I made a couple of promises:

Never touch each other again. Not once, under any circumstance.

And no mentioning the “incident” in any form or fashion.

Any breach means an immediate trip to the shower – cold water helps cool down all kinds of fires, Dane says, even for phoenixes.

The two rules suit me just fine, especially since I have hazy memories of myself riding Dane like the Playboy Bunny I’ve never been. As a side note, what face would Caleb make if he knew?

I agreed with our new guidelines so much, I even wanted to make Dane sign a paper version. Unfortunately he grumbled something about how his word of honor should never be doubted and stomped away to sleep on my sofa.

The worst part is, I spent the night reminding myself of all the reasons why I shouldn’t join him.

“Well you rushed over here when I told you not to. And besides, that was mentioning.”

Dane’s handsome face turns a ruddy red, and his scowl deepens. “That wasnotmentioning.”

“You made an indirect reference in the form of a threat,” I retort tartly, before pointing to the door. “Cold shower for you.”

But of course, in my attempt to kick him out I accidentally shove a finger against his chest. Dane yelps as if he’s been burned.

“See!” He barks, capturing the offending index within his grasp. “You keep putting your hands all over me!”

Heat flows from the extremity of my arm to my core, and I can feel my cheeks turn even more red. My gaze drops to our joined hands.

Dane’s eyes widen in horror. He begins to pull back… only to jerk me forward the moment after. For a fraction of a second I worry about the shards on the floor, but soon I realize that’s the least of my worries when a pair of enticing, utterly kissable lips are coming my way.

“Dane!”

But by the fogginess in his slate depths, I can tell I’ve lost him. He pries me open, searches for my tongue. Ticklish warmth gushes to my temples, a wonderful haze floods my brain. Dane somehow feels even more incredible than the first time because it’s happening here and now, because his thick knee nudges my legs apart, because I pry them open to better accommodate him, because his hand slides inside the gap of the loose shirt I wear to sleep…

“Damn it!” Dane cries out as he kneels in the shards.

I gasp in horror at the blood pouring from his torn jeans. Out of pure reflex I shoot to my medical cabinet, but he catches my hand before I can escape. Without another word, he jerks towards his wound.

Understanding dawns upon me. Tiny flames burst around the gash, dancing frenziedly until in the matter of seconds, his skin is flawless as ever.

“Guess that can serve as a lesson,” Dane mutters with something between a frown and a grin.

I nod, eyes still fixed on the miracle I just witnessed.

The past week has been a whirlwind, shaking up the very foundations of my existence. Suddenly I became some sort of hybrid monster straight out of a fairy tale. Ever since I woke up from my transformation I’ve been working on grasping the basics of my new life, but I know once the storm has settled, once Dane has left, I’ll need time to process this madness.

“I can’t wrap my head around the physics of it,” I whisper shakily.

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