Page 13 of Forsaken Fate

No! I couldn’t want that. That wasn’t the plan. It would ruin everything. My one chance to take back what belonged to me.

Theo arched his back. He bit his own lip, and I knew he was fighting back an explosive howl the whole house would have heard.

He finally took his hands off the desk and wrapped them around me, pulling me down on him even deeper as I let him fuck me on Diana’s desk. He came inside me. I bit him just above the nipple as he finished. He threw his head back and let out a wild laugh.

Slick now with his seed and my own juices, he planted his hands on the desk again. He arched his back and gave me a wicked smile. It was my turn. I angled myself backwards. I braced myself with one hand on the edge of the desk and curled my fingers around his hard left bicep with the other. I pumped and thrust wildly, trying to find the right angle and friction to drive me to my own release. Theo clenched his buttocks, driving himself in even deeper. When he did it, he hit me in just the right spot to send shock waves of pleasure from my deepest core. I came hard, coiling myself around him even tighter. I bit my lip to keep from crying out. Someone might hear us. The dark, wicked part of me wanted them to.

As the last of my orgasm sent shudders through my body, Theo drew me close to him. He whispered my name against my ear as he smoothed a hand down the curve of my head. I collapsed, boneless against the desk and he held me there. If he hadn’t, I don’t think I could have supported myself. As I finally let my legs slide down from around his waist, my muscles ached and trembled.

Finally, Theo rose and took a step back. He kept his eyes on mine, his face still lit with a smile as he buttoned his shirt and tucked it into his waistband. For an instant I felt shy, but Theo’s face was kind. I smiled back. He reached down and found my black lace panties. I took them from him and slid them up over my hips. I was still slick with Theo and the idea of walking back out there with him knowing it sent a fresh wave of heat through me. The skirt of my silk dress was wrinkled but it was black and most of the guests out there were drunk. I doubted anyone but Theo would notice.

Theo held out a hand and helped me pop off my perch on the edge of Diana’s desk. My bare feet sunk into the plush white carpeting and without my heels, Theo towered over me by about a foot. He was tall and strong and looking at me with sexy eyes and the secret we held.

“I meant to ask you something,” he said, his smile still broad.

“Go ahead.”

“Your earrings,” he said; reaching a hand out he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Did Grayson give those to you?”

For the first time, I realized that’s why Theo had touched me in the first place. The earrings. I felt a slow blush creep into my cheeks but there was no turning back now.

“More or less,” I said. “He told me they were Diana’s.” I fingered the matching teardrop pendant and held it out for him. Theo’s eyes widened and darkened. “They aren’t, are they?” I said, the truth slowly dawning on me as I remembered the argument I’d overheard just before I stole away for Diana’s study.

“No,” Theo said; his voice had gone flat.

I thought about taking them off and giving them to Theo then and there. It made sense now why that simple teakwood jewelry box with the broken latch looked so out of place with Diana’s flashier things. They weren’t her things at all. They must have belonged to Theo’s mother. I had the fleeting, unbidden thought that I wished I’d known her instead.

“Don’t say anything to him,” Theo said. “About the jewelry. Not yet. Just ... don’t let him do anything with it.”

“I won’t,” I said. And then it dawned on me what he meant. Grayson could be spiteful. Unpredictable. It would be like him to get rid of whatever else was in that jewelry box if Theo wanted it. “I’ll keep it safe.”

So now we had a second secret between us. That slow smirk came back into Theo’s face as he realized it too. His hand rested on the doorknob, and he shot me a devastating wink just before he opened the door and walked away.

CHAPTER 6

Theo

When I closed the door, I took a moment to lean against it. God. Her heat. My pulse still raced. I felt her. Felt her! Her heartbeat. It slowed in time with my own. I knew what it meant. My wolf hovered just below the surface. A single word roared within me.

Mine!

The hallway was dark. Whatever was left of the party was going on at the other end of the house. It’s the reason I came down here. I thought I’d be alone. I slid my hand into my pants pocket to make sure the ring was still there. With shaking fingers, I pulled it out and held it in my palm.

It was just a simple, one-carat round diamond on a thin gold band. It had been in my father’s family for generations. My dad had promised to get her something bigger, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She loved the one she had. She said it reminded her of how they started their life together. Simple. Just the two of them against the world. She had no idea how true that would end up being. I’d forgotten how small my mother’s fingers had been. I couldn’t slip it past the first knuckle on my pinky.

I heard voices further down the hall and stepped away from the door. I couldn’t wait for Brynna. I wanted to, but we shouldn’t walk out together. Besides, she might not have yet found what she was looking for in Diana’s study. I hope she did. Fuck you very much, Diana. I closed my fingers around the ring and put it back in my pocket. What other things had she kept from me after my father died?

“Where the hell did you go?” Doyle put a hand on my shoulder as I walked back into the dining room. He was my date for the evening. I figured if I had to suffer through the night, why shouldn’t he?

“Just needed a break from the Grayson Show,” I said, thumping him on the back.

Doyle raised his scotch glass and pointed toward the corner. Grayson was standing next to Lieutenant Governor Jeffries, making an ass of himself, if his wild gesturing and bloodshot eyes were any indication.

“Is he fucking hammered?”

“Getting there.” Adam Burnett came up behind me, shaking his head. “He’s taken something. A potion maybe. Or he’s using dark magic and it’s making him drunk. He’s masking. Trying to make himself seem more powerful than he really is. It might be working with anyone human. He’s lucky we’re the only shifters here tonight.”

“You think he’s blown it already?” Doyle asked. “Tonight was kind of important for him, wasn’t it?”

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