Page 12 of Bear Your Fate

“Yeah,” she sighed.

Now that I thought about it, I could swear that I’d seen her look at her wrist in much the same way before. “This isn’t the first time, is it?”

“No, I’ve felt the strangest tingling there many times when you’ve been near,” she admitted softly. “But this time...”

“It was different. Unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.” She tilted her head back and peered up at me, her eyes filled with curiosity. But I could’ve sworn there was also a hint of fear, and maybe even some jealousy. I swept the hair off her forehead and rubbed my thumb across her furrowed brow. “Whatever it is you’re thinking right now, ask me.”

“Was it like this for you when you mated Annora’s mother?”

The mix of emotions swirling in her eyes and the tension in her body suddenly made sense. If I thought she’d taken a consort before me, I’d be feeling jealous too. It was difficult enough to wonder about the relationship she’d had with Selene’s father, even though I knew he hadn’t been a part of their lives for as long as my daughter-in-law could remember. “I never mated her.”

Her green eyes widened. “You didn’t?”

“No, although she was fated to be mine, she was already mated when I found her. We never reached that point. Considering how everything turned out, I have zero doubts that it was a lucky escape for me even though it meant going through life knowing I’d never have a fated mate of my own.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I reassured her. “If things had happened differently, I wouldn’t have my sons. My children might never have met their fated mates. Then I wouldn’t have all my grandchildren. And I wouldn’t have met you.”

8

Audra

Oh my Goddess, it was no wonder I couldn’t resist Carrick McMahon. He was wildly attractive with his tall, muscular frame, dark hair and dark eyes. He also had this way of looking at me as though I was the only woman in the world when we were together. Then he went and gave me the biggest compliment I’d ever received, including meeting me with the reasons why he was okay with how things went down with the woman who had been fated to be his mate. I’d never met her, but I’d already hated her for what she’d done to his family.

Hearing the pain in his voice, my hatred turned into outright loathing. I offered up a quick thank you to the Goddess that she was already dead. If she hadn’t been, I would’ve been sorely tempted to use my magic in a manner in which it wasn’t intended. I needed to remember to buy Tahlia a drink at some point in the near future as a thank you for taking care of that situation. The intensity of my reaction to her was a big warning sign of how deep I already was in this thing with Carrick.

“What’re we going to do? How in the world is this going to work if I can’t manage to stay out of your bed the very first day I’m here?”

“Not just the first,” he corrected. “I earned at least two additional nights with you. Maybe more.”

“Two.” I lifted up my hand and held up my index and middle fingers. “Two orgasms. Two nights.”

“If it hadn’t been so damn long since the last time we were together, I would’ve had enough patience to give you plenty more than that,” he grumbled.

My heart leapt at what that might mean. “Really?”

“Eh, maybe.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not as young as I used to be.”

“That’s not what I meant,” I groaned, slapping my hand against his chest. “Has it really been that long for you?”

“Of course it has! The only woman I wanted was traveling the world, trying to avoid me.” His body went rock hard underneath mine, and his hold on me tightened. “Are you surprised because—”

“No,” I interrupted, pressing my fingers against his lips. “There hasn’t been anyone else for me either, not since long before we met.”

He heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank fuck.”

Being with Carrick was both a blessing and a curse because it was so good with him, but I knew it wasn’t meant to last forever. No matter how possessive he acted towards me while we were together or how jealous I felt thinking about him with another woman.

I rested my head against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart under my ear. He ran his fingers through my hair, and my eyes drifted shut. But no matter how relaxed my body was, my mind was still obsessing over the situation we found ourselves in.

“What’re we doing, Carrick? We’re old enough to know better than to risk pain for our families when this ends.”

He slid his palm along my jaw and tilted my head back until I met his gaze. His dark eyes gleamed with a hint of his bear when he asked, “Who says it has to end?”

Although what we wanted to make of our relationship was ultimately our decision, I thought the answer to his question was obvious. “Are you okay with knowing that someday I might meet the man the Goddess intends for me? That no matter how good things are between us, I’d have an instant connection with him?” Because if our roles were reversed, I sure as heck wouldn’t be.

“That depends. Would that connection mean that you’d be guaranteed to leave me? Do all witches end up with their consorts? Or is it more like shifters, where sometimes there are exceptions?”

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