Page 67 of Secrets & Curses of Fate

“And you came running.” He grinned. Always.?

I nodded as his dark eyes traced over my face and down the length of my body. Gods, I had forgotten how he could make me feel with just a look.?

“I make you nervous.”?

“Yes.”?

“Why?” He sat up more so he could shift closer.

“I think you know why.” I smiled.?

"I'd like to hear you say it, Storm,” he challenged.?

“Because I like you.”?

He nodded and moved an inch closer.

“You don’t know me.”?

I smiled as Haden’s words from all those years ago flooded my mind.?

“I don’t know why, but the phrase seems wrong. I feel like I’ve known you for my entire existence.”?

Haden moved so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. His eyes pinned me to their spot, and he stared at me oddly. I wanted him to say he liked me back, but the truth was, we didn’t know each other. I knew him, but he didn’t actually know me.?

How many nights had I begged the stars to do this with him—just be near him? It was everything I remembered and more. My gaze traveled down his body, pausing on a scar in the middle of his chest. It was in the shape of a lightning bolt. I reached out instinctively and traced the mark, knowing that is where I had slammed the mating bond into him.?

“I was going to ask if you wanted to touch, but I like a woman who takes the lead.” His voice was teasing.

But I yanked my hand away when I realized what I was doing. I stood up. I needed to remember that he did not know me well.?

“Where are you going?” He stood up.?

“I should leave.”?

“Why?” He stared down at me.?

“Because I feel like I will mess this up by saying or doing the wrong thing.”?

He didn’t say anything, so I turned around to leave, but his hand gripped me, pulling me so my back was pressed against his warm, bare chest. His hand sprawled over my stomach and pulled me into him, his mouth brushing my ear and making my eyes flutter closed.

“You can’t mess up something that feels like it was written in the stars,” he whispered. “You can’t run from me. I’ve seen the monster that lurks inside of you, Della, and my monster has already laid claim to it.”

I sighed heavily. He really was a confident bastard when he was like this, and I liked it a lot. He chuckled softly in my ear.

“You like that, don’t you?”?

“Yes.”?

His hand ran up my body, between my breasts and up to my throat, gripping it enough that I couldn’t move.

“I’m sick of you hiding from me,” he confessed. “I’m not letting you leave until you promise to start showing me this pretty face every day.”?

Gods, he was going to make me do something unladylike.?

“I promise to visit you every day.”?

He squeezed slightly.?

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