Choices of Fate (Fate Series) (7 page)

Come on Alexa, get it together, you’re twenty-five years old, you can ask a man to go upstairs.

As they got closer to her apartment building she was pulled from her thoughts when he asked her to verify the directions coming through the speakers from the computerized GPS voice.
 

A few moments later they arrived at her apartment building and he pulled the car into a space right in front of the entryway that was miraculously vacant. She usually had to park on the other side of the lot by the dumpsters. As Ethan removed his seatbelt, but left the car running as he reached for the handle to get out and open Alexa’s door, she blurted, “Do you want to spend the night with me?”

Her cheeks immediately flushed with color. She’d never done anything like this before and she had certainly never been so bold with a man.
 

Ethan took a deep breath and sighed. “I don’t think that is a good idea tonight.”

“Oh, ok. Well…goodnight then.” Alexa struggled to say the words as her voice cracked in embarrassment. She was mortified. After feeling so confident, the disappointment was immense.

She reached for the handle to flee to the safety and comfort of her apartment. Before she could make her escape, Ethan hit the door locks and reached over to grab her hand as she struggled to unlock the door, again trying to fight back the tears of humiliation.

“Alexa, please wait.“ He took another deep breath, struggling to restrain himself yet not wanting her to leave feeling like he didn’t want her when that was so far from the truth. He wanted her so badly he could hardly stand it, but if he was going to take this chance he had to be sure. “Listen, you have to know how much I want to come up. I do not think I have ever wanted anything more in my life, but it is best if we wait. There is so much we need to talk about, learn about each other before taking such a step. I do not want to rush you and I want you to know me, to really know me and what you want before we go further.”

He moved his hand up to lightly grip her chin and turn her face towards him, seeing a lone tear sliding down her cheek.

“Oh, Amor, please do not cry. You must trust me. Please trust me, I only wish to protect you. I do not wish to see you sad.” As he said the words, Ethan knew it was not only her he was protecting. He had guarded his heart his entire life, determined to be the master of his own destiny. So when he left Alexa tonight, he would visit the place he had avoided for many years. He would go see…her.

He leaned over and kissed away the tear on Alexa’s cheek and lingered there breathing shallowly and she closed her eyes. Before he could think better of it his mouth was slanting over hers again. She immediately opened to him and his tongue slipped inside, lightly teasing hers. He kissed down the line of her jaw to her neck, then abruptly pulled away and pressed himself back against the door of his car panting, as if he couldn’t get far enough away at the moment.
 

She opened her eyes to see him looking as if he was in pain. Not knowing what to think or say, she instinctually opened her mind and was met with a feeling of struggle like she had never felt, but once again she couldn’t hear any clear thoughts. As she reached out to him, his face changed and the torment that she felt was replaced with what she could only describe as conditioned restraint.

“I am sorry, Alexa. Please understand this is incredibly difficult for me.” He leaned in and placed his forehead against hers. “I want you so badly right now, in this moment, but I want you forever more. That is why we must wait.”

Well, shit. Hearing that just made her want him even more. Maybe it was all just a line of bullshit, some kind of reverse psychology to get her in bed. It was working.
 

Forgetting her embarrassment she leaned her face up and pressed her mouth against his yet again, then pulled away and said, “Please, Ethan,” another kiss, “please, I want to be with you tonight.”
 

Before she could blink he was over the center console kissing her fervently as he pressed his knee between her legs sending a jolt of arousal through her.
 

And just like that he pulled back, hovering over her and looking into her eyes while she panted with desire.

“Alexa, I cannot come up with you tonight.” Her expression became one of hurt and confusion, until he continued, “But, I am going to make you cum with my mouth, I must taste you.”

His words and the hunger in his eyes were almost enough to send her over the edge.
 

And then he crushed his mouth against hers, sliding his tongue inside as a promise of what was to come when he moved between her legs.
 

Ethan gently teased her breasts through her shirt, rubbing his thumbs over the hard nipples, circling, then gently pinching each one before he slid his hands down under her skirt. He grabbed ahold of her lacy black panties as he pulled her body towards him and slowly slid them along the trail of kisses he was placing along her inner thigh. Once he reached her knee he lifted slightly and pulled her panties all the way off before returning to kiss his way back up her thigh while she trembled in anticipation.
 

Then he hovered above her, so close that she could feel his hot breath on her sensitive flesh as he stared down at her sex which was glistening with her arousal. He stayed there for what seemed like an eternity, intimately admiring her perfection before he finally swiped his tongue up along her wet lips, relishing the taste of her sweet juices like a desert soaking up a first rain after a long drought. The intense, unfamiliar sensation made her buck her hips up pressing harder against his skilled mouth. In response, he reached one arm underneath and around her waist, laying the other across her stomach to pin her down as he sucked relentlessly on her sensitive clit while she squirmed with pleasure.
 

It wasn’t long before she started to feel flushed all over her body as an intense pressure was building in her core. She had touched herself, many, many times. It never felt anything like this. She tried to back away, to ease the intensity, but Ethan was relentless. He held her even tighter as he sucked on her delicate flesh and then slid his tongue down and plunged it inside her as her body exploded around him pouring her sweetness out into his eager mouth.

He continued to hold her and lap up her delicious nectar as her body quaked with her orgasm.
 

He stayed there, savoring ever tremor until her body finally stilled. Then he shifted her back into her seat, grabbed her panties off the floor and tucked them into his pocket before he hopped out of the car and jogged around to open her door.
 

He held out his hand as Alexa grabbed ahold and stumbled out on very wobbly legs.
 

He led her up to the doorstep and pulled her towards him as he leaned down and gently kissed her as if he hadn’t just ravaged her with his mouth.

As he pulled back she licked her lips and felt her arousal building again as she tasted herself on her lips.

“Goodnight, Alexa. I’ll be in touch soon.”

And with that, he turned and was gone.

CHAPTER 5 -
The Doctor's Call

Alexa was startled awake by Tilly barking insistently at the patio door. She had apparently dozed off for quite a while nursing Chloe since it was nearly dark and had started to rain. Chloe seemed unaffected by the racket and remained asleep as Alexa transferred her to her crib, covered her with a pink chenille blanket and flipped on the baby monitor before she made her way back down the hallway to the kitchen.
 

She slid the door open for Tilly who rushed in and shook off spraying water all over before dashing to curl up in her bed in front of the fireplace. The shivering dog looked at Alexa expectantly, causing her to chuckle as she walked over and flipped the switch to ignite the gas fireplace. Though it was the middle of summer, the rain had really cooled things down so she decided she’d give Tilly a couple of minutes to warm up as penance for leaving her outside in the rain.

Locking the door and positioning the dowel rod, Alexa leaned her back against the wall and took a deep breath. She both hated and loved dreaming about him. Despite her best efforts the only dreams she ever remembered seemed to be about him. Most of the time they were more like memories from the limited time they were together, occurring in such vivid detail she could smell his delicious scent when she awoke. Some were so real she would awaken in the throes of an intense orgasm, panting and dripping with sweat. Even in her sleep she was powerless to control her body’s response to him. Other times she would dream of him watching her as if she was looking over his shoulder seeing herself go about her day. No wonder she couldn’t stop thinking about him, he had hijacked her subconscious.
 

Her stomach growled and she glanced at the clock on the microwave. It was almost nine, probably a little too late to eat, but she was suddenly starving and realized she hadn’t had anything since her light breakfast consisting of some fresh fruit and toast with almond butter.

I’ll just have something really light,
she thought strolling to the refrigerator.

Avoiding the temptations of the other shelves, she immediately pulled open the vegetable crisper and took out a head of lettuce, a tomato, and a cucumber. She grabbed a knife from the counter and got out the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and some herbs to make a light dressing.
 

She removed a large salad bowl and placed it next to the cutting board in the middle of the island countertop and began slicing up the vegetables. Halfway through the cucumber, the phone rang, startling her and causing the knife to slice into the top of her left thumb. She instinctually stuck it into her mouth and began to suck as she reached for the phone. Her mouth was flooded with the metallic taste that she had never really minded, letting her know the cut was fairly deep.

Before she could read the display to see who it was she heard Chloe whimpering over the baby monitor. Taking the phone with her she headed for the nursery still sucking her bleeding thumb and glanced down at the display. It was Dr. Kline’s office.
 

Her heart started to pound.
 

Oh God. Please.

She paused in the hallway, bending over and placing her hands against her knees still holding the phone that she was terrified to answer. It was well past office hours, a call at this time could only mean something bad.
 

No, maybe it’s just an automated call to confirm our appointment tomorrow.
She tried to reason the panic away, but before she could fully convince herself she looked down and saw the drops of blood accumulating at her feet.

Chloe’s whimpers were rapidly evolving into a full blown cry and the phone continued to ring.
 

Alexa attempted to remain calm and made a detour into the bathroom on her way to the nursery. She would have to let the call go to voicemail. If it was an appointment confirmation she could listen to it once she got everything under control. If it was something worse, well, she didn’t really want to think about that right now.

She quickly rolled out a few sheets of toilet paper and wrapped them around her bleeding thumb, applying pressure to the rather deep cut with her index finger. The makeshift bandage would have to do until after she attended to Chloe.

The phone stopped ringing just as she entered Chloe’s bedroom. It was dark enough outside that the automatic nightlight had come on, though there was still enough natural light coming through the open blinds for her to see Chloe standing in the crib with her arms outstretched as she continued to wail.

Alexa scooped her up and swayed her back and forth, singing softly as they moved to the rocker.
 

She started to lift her shirt for Chloe to nurse and cursed under her breath. She forgot about the supplement. Hoping that Chloe was tired enough to simply nurse and go back down for the night, Alexa decided against taking the time to retrieve a bottle of Dr. Kline’s special elixir.
 

She sat back attempting to get Chloe latched on to her left breast, but Chloe seemed to find the makeshift bandage on her thumb far more fascinating and kept trying to pull on it and get it into her mouth.
 

Just as Alexa decided to just switch her to the right side, the phone started ringing again. Taking a breath, she looked down at the display. It was Dr. Kline’s office again and there was no voicemail from before.
 

The panic returned and started to overcome her, but she decided in that moment, no matter what it was, no matter how awful or hard, she would be strong for her sweet baby.
 

With that, she swallowed the large knot in her throat, hit the on button and said in her most calm and cheerful tone, “Hello, this is Alexa.”

“Alexa, hello, it’s Elijah.”

“
Um, who?” She replied, slightly confused.

“Elijah, Dr. Kline. I’m calling about Chloe’s test results.”

She had forgotten that he asked her to call him by his first name. She should have realized immediately when there was no telepathic chatter coming over the line.
 

“Of course. Doctor, I’m sorry, Elijah, please tell me, how bad is it?” Before he could respond she continued. “It’s really bad isn’t it? I mean it’s late, your office has to have closed hours ago and you’re calling personally, so just spit it out!” So much for remaining calm.

“It’s all a matter of perspective, Alexa. In my opinion, it is miraculous considering her age.”

“I don’t understand. What does that mean? Is Chloe sick? Is she, oh God, is it something,” she paused almost afraid to ask it out loud, “ life threatening?” Alexa was on the edge of the chair, gripping Chloe tightly with her left hand as she waited for his reply. Her entire life hung on his next words.

“No, she is not sick, Alexa, not in the slightest.”

Alexa sighed as she let go of some of the tension she was feeling and leaned back.