Fates Altered: A Halven Rising Prequel

Last night, Alex had put his conscience aside and buried the body near the shed. He’d killed a man—or what he thought to be a man. But it was either kill him, or lose Theda to who knew what fate.

He’d slept curled around her on his bed, both of them fully clothed. He’d been too afraid to ask her where the man had come from. Afraid her answer would make what was building between them impossible.

He held her and kissed her forehead before leaving for work. “Will you be okay?”

“I think so. No one else has come, and they would have by now if the tracker were working with others. It’s unlikely he told anyone he’d found me. They get paid per job. He wouldn’t have wanted to share the spoils.”

“Jesus.” Alex scrubbed a hand down his face.

“How did you know?” she asked.

“Know what?” His shoulders were tense with worry. Maybe he should stay home. Call in sick.

“That I was in trouble.”

Good question. “I heard you.”

“Heard me?”

“You were calling me and I heard you.”

She shook her head. “I wasn’t able to use the powder. I didn’t call to you.”

He lifted his eyebrow. “Powder?”

“Alex, the things I can do… It’s complicated. Will you trust me that it’s better if you don’t know?”

“I wish you trusted me enough to share it.”

She twined her fingers with his. “I trust and admire you more than anyone. I would tell you if I could, but it’s safer for both of us if I don’t.”

He kissed her softly again, this time on the lips. A shot of electricity zoomed down his spine, lighting up his body with want. She swayed into him. “Should I stay home today?” he asked, hoping she’d say yes and give him a reason to skip responsibility and spend the day with her.

“Go to work. I’ll visit Leti. Everything will be okay.”

Reluctantly, Alex left, but he worried about Theda the entire day. He called Leti to check in, but really, he just wanted to know Theda was safe.

When he got home that evening, Theda was already in the kitchen, and the scent of meat filled the room. Burnt meat.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

She glanced over her shoulder, looking harried. “I—No. I’ve been cooking, but it seems I’ve done something wrong. The meal doesn’t smell right.”

He toed off his boots and moved into the kitchen, opening the oven door. A rush of steam and smoke hit him in the face and he shut the door partway and opened the kitchen window. “I think I see what the problem is.” He pointed to the stovetop where the oven knobs were, and switched them off. “You set it to broil, when you should have turned it to bake. What were you trying to make?”

Theda licked her lips nervously. “Leti said you liked steak. She showed me how to bake, and I thought…”

He smiled gently. “Thank you.” Theda hadn’t said as much, but he got the sense she wasn’t a big fan of meat. Yet she’d tried to make him a steak because she knew he loved it.

He pulled out the pan, now that the smoke had wafted away, and set it on the stove, scratching his jaw. “We could still eat—”

“No.” Theda shook her head, laughing. “Please. I don’t think I could.” She scrunched her nose.

He smiled, chuckling, because she had an adorable belly laugh.

After a moment, she looked over and her smile faded. Her eyes dropped to his mouth.

He swallowed and looked away. Didn’t matter her past or what she could do; she had an effect on him he couldn’t deny. “I’ll go out. Get us something to eat.”

“May I come with you? I don’t want to be alone after last night, if that’s okay?”

“Of course. I’d rather you not be by yourself until we’re certain no one else will come. That is, if you want to stay here? You’re not trapped at my house, or with me, Theda.”

A sultry smile spread across her mouth before he could blink—before he even thought she knew what she was doing. “I’m here because I want to be with you.”

Alex gripped his neck. “Come on. Let’s get some air.” A lot of cold, cold air. What was he going to do with her?

He didn’t recognize himself anymore. The lengths he was willing to go to protect and be with her were extreme.

They drove into town and stopped at the local pizza joint. Theda glanced around nervously, her hand wrapped around the gold bangle she wore on her wrist. Now that Alex thought about it, she never seemed to take it off, along with the necklace she wore. “You okay?” he asked.

She tried to give him a reassuring smile. “Yes. Fine,” she said, but he sensed her nervousness. He was nervous too. Would more people like the tracker come looking for her?

They got out of the car and he put his hand on her lower back, guiding her to the restaurant. They put in a to-go order, but it would take thirty minutes to cook. He should have thought about that before they’d left the house. He could have called it in. But at the time, getting out of the confined space, where Theda was looking at him with sultry eyes, seemed more important for his self-control.

He didn’t want Theda to leave. That was why he was so adamant about knowing her past. He wanted to know how to protect her. But as long as she was safe, and the man who’d found her last night would never again return, why not forget the past and move forward?

They took a short walk down the block while they waited for their food. An evening farmers’ market and small art exhibit were set up in one of the parking lots. They walked through and looked at the displays, and Theda seemed taken by what she saw, a smile on her face.

“What will you do? Will you move on after last night?” He dreaded the answer, but he needed to hear it. To know whether she’d leave him, now that he realized he didn’t want her to go.

“I—haven’t thought about it. Do you want me to leave?” Her voice was soft, vulnerable.

Alex stopped near a tiered fountain and grabbed both of her hands. “I want you to stay. I thought I needed to know where you came from, but that’s bullshit. I don’t care about that. I mean, I do, if you want to talk about it or why that man came after you last night. But it’s not necessary. I’m here for you. I don’t need the past. I just need you.”

Theda bit her lip. “I can stay?”

He pulled her to his chest, his hand on the back of her head pressing her near. “Please stay. Be my girlfriend in truth.”

“In truth,” she repeated. “I’ve always been yours.”

Alex pressed his lips to hers. He could do without just about anything—a home-cooked meal, knowing her past—shoot, he’d even live in that damned shed as long as she was at his side.

He’d never felt this way about a woman.

Somehow they made it home and he even remembered to bring the pizza, but it didn’t get eaten. At least, not right away.

Alex was kissing and touching Theda before they made it inside the door. She tugged off their jackets as he tossed the pizza box on the table. His aim must have been off, because he heard it land on the floor.

He didn’t care. He wanted her, and this time it wouldn’t be him pushing on the brakes.

She was wiggling her way into his heart with her attempts at cooking and the purest, sincerest admission: I’ve always been yours. It was all he’d needed to hear.

If she wanted him to stop, he would, no questions asked. But he was going to show Theda how much he cared, and how she made him feel—the electricity that had sparked from the moment he first saw her.

He cradled her head in both of his hands and leaned back. “You won’t leave me, will you?” He felt his brow furrow as he tried to figure out what he was saying. “You fell into my life out of nowhere, and I suddenly have the worst fear of losing you.”

She swallowed. “I will never leave you willingly.”

That wasn’t an answer. It left too many alternatives, but her mouth was back on his, and he forgot what he wanted to say next, because she started unbuttoning her top, revealing pale, silky flesh.

Alex swept his hands over each section of skin Theda exposed, helping her ease her top off, and revealing the large purple gemstone surrounded by diamonds at the end of her necklace. Wherever she came from, she hadn’t been poor. Then he took in the rest of her and his mind blanked.

Seeing her in nothing but her jeans and bra—her delicate shoulders, the swell of her breasts—his mouth went dry.

Reaching behind her, he quickly removed the last piece of clothing hiding her from his eyes.

She leaned back a fraction, surprise filling her face. “You did that very quickly.”

“Shhh,” he said, not wanting to explain how he’d come by that talent. His new motto: Leave the past in the past. “Nimble fingers.”

Theda tried to unbutton his jeans, but he undid them for her, and had her jeans halfway down her creamy legs in seconds.

He stood back in his boxer briefs and took in the beautiful woman in front of him in nothing but tiny underwear. “You’re stunning.” His voice sounded deep and rumbly even to his ears. He wanted Theda. All of her.

She looked away, as though embarrassed, her arms rising to cover herself. “All of us are attractive.”

“I don’t know what you mean by that, but I think you believe I’m talking about your body.” He eased her arms to her sides and touched her collarbone, trailing his hands over her breasts and the slight swell of her lower belly. “Your body is beautiful, but so are you. The way you care about animals, the friendships you’ve built with Leti and even my dad. They love you, Theda. I’m falling in love with you.”

He kissed her with all the pent-up passion that had been gnawing at his insides since she’d stepped into his life. And she seemed to have the same thing in mind, because her mouth was just as determined to prove her affection for him.

He eased her back and her legs hit the mattress. They tumbled down until he was lying over her, bracing his weight on his arms.

“Are you sure you want this?” He couldn’t believe he was even thinking about stopping, but this was her first time. He wanted to make sure she was ready.

In answer, Theda reached down his back and slid her hands beneath his boxer briefs, squeezing his ass.

That was a strong sign, but he needed to hear it. “Theda, answer me,” he said gruffly, his control slipping.

She reached between them and tentatively touched the length prodding her soft thigh through the thin material he wore. And then she slipped her hand beneath the fabric and ran a finger down him, then two, and then her fist gripped him.

He inhaled sharply and counted to five. She was killing him. In a good way.

“Theda?” His voice came out on a choke.

“Yes, I want this. I want you.”

And then her panties flew off. Not really. He tried to act the gentleman, but he was a lot excited and a bit overeager to press her naked body to his.

She pushed his boxers down with her feet—which he found extremely sexy and good improvising for someone who’d never done this before.

His mind paused on that thought. He was going to be her first.

And somehow that was just fine. He would never hurt her. He only wanted to love her.

Their naked bodies finally touched and a gust of breath whooshed from his lungs. He savored the sensation of her skin and soft curves. Nuzzling her neck and running his lips along her hairline, he breathed in her light wildflower scent. And then his mouth was on hers.

Alex wanted to take things slowly, but she was giving him breathy sighs and little moans that had him gripping the blankets beside her head. He didn’t want to rush her. He’d touch her all night and be content if that was all she wanted.

But he didn’t need to worry, because the second his hand grazed her outer thighs she parted her legs just enough for his hips to slide between those silky, long limbs.

You would think he was the virgin the way his arms quaked. He told himself it was because he’d been holding his weight over her for a good long while, but he was pretty sure it was because he’d never experienced this before. The connection they had was more powerful than love—deeper, stamped in granite, and never to be removed. As though they were always meant to be.

As though he’d simply been waiting for her, biding his time, until his real life could begin.

At this moment, he was damn near ready to propose, but one thing at a time. He didn’t want to scare her off.

Theda shifted, and that was all it took for him to penetrate the first inch that had them both moaning. He moved gently with her body, waiting for her to relax and allow him entrance, kissing her and touching her breasts and the sensitive spot at the juncture of her thighs. Her fingers gripped his hair and she shivered. He inched further with each short thrust, until he was fully seated.

“I love you,” he whispered.

She rocked her hips, and Alex moved at the feel of her grasping his shoulders and holding him to her, urging him on.

He kissed her neck and squeezed her breast, thumbing her nipple.

Soon, her breath hitched, and her body clamped on his, her back arching as a loud, sexy moan came from her. He held back just long enough until her body stopped quaking before his control slipped and his own orgasm hit him.

He shut his eyes as he caught his breath, because for a second he went blind with the power of his climax. Which was crazy. And wonderful. And all Theda.

He lifted his head and looked at her beautiful face and sated smile.

Kissing her eyelids, her cheeks, he savored the moment. He gave her one last kiss on the lips, assuring himself she was okay, and went to remove the condom. Shit. And realized he hadn’t put one on.

He’d never forgotten before.

Whatever voodoo that had him racing through the dark last night, hearing Theda’s voice from miles away, must have also strung him too far out with lust to think clearly. He’d experienced a moment of complete stupidity.

Alex collapsed beside her and tucked her near. Their relationship was fast, but in the end, it wouldn’t matter that he’d forgotten protection. He felt in his heart that Theda was the woman for him.

And what were the chances she would get pregnant the first time anyway?