Page 21 of Secrets & Curses of Fate

Haden was smiling at me, and it knocked some sense into me. I stopped talking and tried to dash for the shoreline, wanting to run away from my embarrassment. But Haden easily grabbed me and pulled me back.?

“Are you falling in love with me, Storm?”?

“Yes,” I whispered.?

“Good,” he whispered back. “You’re finally catching up to me.”?

Letting all of my anxieties go, I leaned forward and kissed Haden. He kissed me back while slowly pulling me farther into the water. Realizing I could no longer touch the ground, I gripped onto him as he tried to pull me off of him. He laughed softly.?

“One day you may need to know how to swim, and you’ll be glad I’m teaching you.”?

I took a deep breath to fortify myself and let my legs fall away. Haden took a few steps back until his arm was the only thing keeping me up.?

“Kick your legs like I showed you.” I did what he asked. “Good girl, now move your arms like I showed you.”?

Haden had to repeat himself because I was stuck on the praise. For some reason, hearing him call me a ‘good girl’ sent shivers through me. I started doing what he had showed me, wanting to hear him say it again. I felt ridiculous, though. Until Haden smiled at me, that is, and then I felt a little less ridiculous.?

“You’re doing such a good job.”?

Gods, if he kept praising me, I was going to jump him. I looked over at him, and I realized that his arms were both out in front of him, empty. He wasn’t holding me. I panicked and slipped under the water. Haden’s arm wrapped around me and dragged me back up.

“Fuck, Storm, you don’t need to panic; you were doing great.”?

“Sorry,” I coughed up water and laughed. “I won’t drown though; my magic would save me.”

“I’ll save you if you need saving.”?

My laughter died out because Haden’s words made me realize that he had already saved me. He gave me a purpose, a new meaning to life, and saved me from a meaningless existence.

“Careful, Storm, you look like you might be falling more in love with me.” He half-joked. I nodded and leaned my head against his shoulder as he carried me out of the water. He set us on the blanket, and we both lay together in the sun. Once we were dry, Haden started getting our food ready. I just sat and admired him, wondering how I had lived so many lifetimes before knowing him. It seemed wrong to exist in a reality without him for so long.

Fear trickled into my mind at the thought that Haden would grow old. He would leave me one day, and I would be shoved back into the lonely life I had before him. My mating bond would not grant him the immortal life that I possess to let him live an existence with me, and that thought terrified me. How could I exist if he did not? Haden glanced up at me and paused.?

“Why do you look like you are going to cry again?”?

“I don’t want you to ever leave me. I do not want to exist unless you are next to me.”?

He looked at me with understanding.?

“One day, I’m going to die, but it will be so far from now that you will have a lifetime of memories to comfort you. But I won’t be gone forever, Ardella. I believe with everything in me that I will belong to you in every life I live. The stars can’t keep two halves of the same soul apart for long. I vow I will always find you. You own me now, and in every reality in the future.”?

I lunged at him, hugging him to me, desperate for the bond to magically transfer to him so I did not have to live any amount of time without him. I wanted him exactly how he was now. I pleaded silently that the heavens would make him my mate in this life and the next.

Chapter 6

Della

“Where are you sneaking off to?” Mikel asked as I got dressed for dinner with Haden and his parents tonight.

“I met a friend,” I lied.?

Mikel seemed surprised.

“That’s great.” He smiled and stepped into the room where I was trying to fix my hair. “What’s her name?”?

I stilled as I raked my fingers through my curls. I couldn’t tell Mikel that it was a man. He would tell me that men had ill intentions. But Mikel shouldn’t worry about Haden’s intentions; he should worry about mine. I had been going to see Haden every day for two months. Usually at his house while he worked on building it. Haden was nothing short of a gentleman, only giving me a few lingering kisses but never going for more. I was hoping he would tonight, and if he didn’t, maybe I would be brave enough to move it to the next level.?

“Penelope,” I said quickly when I realized my mind had wandered for longer than necessary.

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