Destiny Redeemed Page 15

  How much Gethen had changed in his time away from his people, though. Shunned for his crimes, Gethen had been a wild, young Sidhe when he’d taken him. Since then, through each lifetime, Gethen had found him, each time older and wiser after their separation.

  With a stab of shame, Amon admitted to himself that he knew little of what Gethen did in the years apart from him, other than safeguard his homes and wealth. Had he spent all those years alone?

  As he walked down the stairs to prepare to travel with Gethen one last time, he selfishly wished he’d change his mind and stay. But he’d made his choice.

  He found Gethen alone in the study, still pensive as he’d been before. With sadness, he tried to imagine this home—a home he’d only had in his current lifetime—without Gethen’s presence. Remembering what he’d thought about his homes being empty, lonely places without a destined one to share them with, he quietly chuckled at his mistake.

  “Sit and talk to me, Gethen.”

  As the two men had done so many times before, they took their customary seats facing one another. Knowing he may not have another opportunity to say his goodbye alone with Gethen, Amon swallowed hard and readied himself to bid farewell to the one being who he’d spent more time with in the past seven lifetimes than any other.

  “Gethen, I need to know you’re sure about this.”

  A look he hadn’t seen for lifetimes passed over the Sidhe’s face, and Gethen said in a measured voice, “It’s better for everyone involved if I return to my people...safer.”

  Immediately, Amon understood his friend’s choice. No reason for Gethen’s murder of the women before Aine had ever been given, and Amon had long considered whatever had been the reason to be a part of his friend’s past. But he had to admit that Thea’s being his destined one had given him pause recently and had brought those long forgotten crimes back into his thoughts.

  As he stared at the scar on Gethen’s face, proof of his past savagery, Amon’s protective nature reared up inside him.

  Gethen saw the change in him and quickly explained. “I’ve felt nothing of the urges I once had, Amon. My loyalty to you simply makes me want to leave before anything possibly changes in me. Please know I would never harm your destined one.”

  Pushing down his concerns, Amon nodded. “I know, friend. Your loyalty to our friendship was never in doubt.”

  Silent again, Amon began to say his goodbye to his friend the best way he knew. When he was finished, Gethen smiled. “It has been the joy of my life to know you, Amon.”

  Thea’s descent from the floor above ended the meeting, and by the time she entered the study, both men were standing and ready to leave. Gethen left to find Markku, and Thea stepped next to Amon and put her arms around him. “Everything okay?”

  Half lying and his stomach in knots, Amon forced a smile. “Yes. Are you ready?”

  Thea nodded. “Exactly where are we going?”

  “Ireland.”

  Tilting her face up toward him, she laughed. “You and I have different ideas on just what the word exactly means. I was looking for a little more specificity than the name of a country.”

  Amon, charmed by her way of bringing him out of his sadness, smiled. “Specificity?” he asked in a mocking tone.

  “Yes, as in maybe the name of the town we’re going to. Or since it’s Ireland, a county name would work,” she teased.

  Amon looked up to see Gethen and Markku walking down the hall toward them. In her ear, he whispered, “It’s a surprise, but I think you’ll like the house.”

  Thea’s face looked surprised. “What house?”

  “Our house. Or to be more specific, one of our houses.”

  “One of our houses?”

  Winking at her, he joined Gethen to discuss what Markku was to do upon arriving. With one final look, Amon held Thea as they disappeared from his study, followed by Markku with Gethen.

  Amon watched as Thea slowly opened her eyes to see the beautiful countryside of southern Ireland. The charm of the land here amazed even him, and the wonder in her expression told him she was just as impressed.

  “Welcome to your home in County Cork, my lady.”

  Thea stepped back away from him, opened her arms, and began to spin around, her long blond hair fanning out around her.

  “This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been!” she squealed as she continued to spin.

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  “Like it? I love it!”

  As Thea slowed her turning, she staggered and tumbled to the ground, landing on her back. Amon held out his hand to help her up, but she pulled him down to the ground next to her, giggling her delight. The sound of her happiness thrilled him more than he thought possible, and there, on the grassy hillside, he pulled her close to him and stared up at the cloudless blue sky, for the first time believing everything would be fine.

  Softly, she whispered in his ear, “Amon, I only hope I make you as happy as you make me.”

  Kissing her, he showed her just how happy she made him, but moments later, he heard Gethen’s voice in his head warning him of trouble. Looking up, he saw the bounty hunter walking toward them up the grassy hill.

  “Thea, get to the house now.”

  Frightened, she jumped to her feet and saw the man Amon was now staring at. “Who is he?”

  “Thea, he’s a bounty hunter. I need you to get to the house. I’ll be there when I’m done with him. Go now!”

  Thea ran as fast as she could toward the large Georgian home a few hundred yards away. In horror, Amon watched as Ryu turned to chase Thea instead of him. He was faster than she and would catch her before she reached the house!

  In seconds, Amon had teleported in front of Ryu, and he stopped him dead with a fist to his chest. From behind him, he heard Thea scream and when he turned to see if she’d made it safely to the house, Ryu disappeared from sight.

  Enraged, Amon stormed into the house behind Thea, bellowing for Markku. “Find out why the fuck the bounty hunter sent for me just went after Thea. And find out fast. Go!”

  Markku quickly obeyed Amon’s orders and vanished. Still in a rage, Amon sat down on the couch in the living room to figure out what had happened. Why would the bounty hunter attempt to take an innocent woman? The Council is a bunch of bureaucratic bastards, but even they don’t take women hostages. But Kiril isn’t opposed to doing that and worse.

  Amon dismissed the idea that Kiril Gault and the Soren would be behind Ryu’s attempt to take Thea. He and his group had always been allies of Amon’s, so it made no sense that they’d want to make an enemy now, after they’d just helped him escape from Nil. And the bounty hunter worked for the Council, not the Soren.

  Thea’s voice broke his focus on the question of who had tried to take her, and he looked up to see her standing in front of him. The fear that remained in her expression caused the anger to melt away from him, and he pulled her down onto his lap.

  She nestled her face in the space between his neck and shoulder. “What happened back there?”

  Amon stroked her hair and back, sensing how frightened she was. “I don’t know, but I told you what I’d do to anyone who even made the mistake of thinking of hurting you.”

  “Will it always be this way, Amon?”

  That was a question he couldn’t answer. Until now, he’d only thought about how he’d need to evade the Council, but now he saw that they intended to make his destined one a target too.

  Kissing her softly on the lips, he quietly said, “Don’t worry. I told you. You’re safe with me.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Hours later, Thea lay in bed, still shaken from what had happened earlier. Quietly, Amon entered the room and slid into bed next to her.

  “I missed you,” Thea whispered softly.

  Amon wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “I don’t ever want you to feel that way. I’ll always be here with you.”

  “But what if the bounty hunter gets you? Or me?”
/>
  Shaking his head, he kissed her. “No more about that.”

  “But,” she began and was interrupted.

  “Obviously, I’m going to have to do something with your mouth so you can’t talk any more about that,” he teased.

  Kissing her, he sensually flicked his tongue over hers and moaned into her mouth. Near her hip, she felt his cock begin to harden.

  “Got any ideas about what else to do with my mouth?” she whispered seductively.

  “A couple,” he said before kissing her again. “But for right now, I like where it is.”

  Thea felt like time stopped when Amon kissed her like this. His tongue created sensations that raced straight to between her legs when he teased the inside of her mouth. As if he knew how she felt, his hands slid under her clothes, and he pulled her on top of him.

  Tugging at her pants, he slid them off her and ran his hands over her skin before rolling her back onto the bed. In seconds, he’d stripped out of his clothes and returned to her. He looked like a hungry man whose eyes devoured the sights of a banquet laid in front of him. Removing her shirt, she lay back naked, waiting for him.

  “Open up for me,” he groaned as he gently pushed her legs open and began to stroke her soft flesh.

  Thea closed her eyes and waited in sweet anticipation for him to press his lips to her. Before he did, he slid a finger down her wet slit and into her, groaning, “Angel, when I make love to you, it’ll be slow, but now I need to taste you on my tongue and feel you explode into my mouth.”

  As he spoke, he moved his finger slowly in and out of her, stroking the spot she so desperately loved him to touch.

  “Please....hurry, Amon.”

  Dipping his head between her legs, his mouth kissed every part of her core as his finger continued its slow torture. In no time, Thea had her hips off the bed, her body begging for release.

  “Amon...”

  “Come for me, Thea,” he commanded.

  From deep inside her, it began as a tendril of need blossomed into her orgasm. When she came, his tongue replaced his finger, and as he fucked her with his tongue, she whimpered into the spasms his mouth caused.

  When he sat up to face her, he sucked his still moist finger into his mouth with a grin. “I love the taste of you on my lips.”

  Thea moaned. “Roll over. Turnabout is fair play.”

  With Amon on his back, Thea kissed down his stomach and lingered on the spot near his hip that was one of her favorite parts on his body. So silky soft, yet so powerful and strong. Wrapping her hand around his long, thick cock, she slowly began to stroke him. His groans told her he loved what she did to him as much as she loved doing it. She teased the tip with a flick of her tongue, tasting the salty dampness that waited for her, making him moan more. As she stroked, she teased the length of him with tiny flicks and kisses but never took him in her mouth.

  “Don’t tease me, angel. You’re playing a dangerous game,” he growled seductively.

  “Dangerous, huh? You don’t seem to have a firm grasp on who’s in control here,” she said smiling up at him.

  Before she knew what had happened, Thea found herself under him with him pressing into her from behind. Leaning over, he nipped at her ear. “I think your assessment of control was flawed, love.”

  Teasing her, he slid through her moist folds to her excited nub and back, not quite ready to give in to her pushing back toward him. “Let’s work on that idea of control,” he groaned as he turned her onto her back.

  *

  Looking down at her, with her half-closed eyes and face that looked almost too innocent for what he had in mind, he bent down to kiss her. “If I do anything you don’t like, just tell me. We’re only playing, Thea.”

  He knew she was unsure of what he meant, though she agreed with silent nod.

  From the closet, he took two red silk neckties and returned to the bed to dangle them over her, dragging them over one breast and then the other.

  “Do you know what these are for, angel?”

  Thea’s eyes grew wide, and she shook her head as she mouthed, “No.”

  “A little lesson in control.”

  Carefully, he took one hand and tied her wrist to the bedpost. “Do you trust me?”

  “Of course.”

  As he made his way over to her other hand, he stopped to kiss her, slipping his tongue sensually into her mouth as he held himself over her. With her free hand, she pulled his head to her, wanting so much more than teasing.

  Pulling away to focus on tying her hand, he said, “Good things come to those who wait, angel.”

  When he’d fastened both hands to the wooden posts, he returned to hovering over her and began kissing her again. After a few moments, he rolled off the bed to return to the closet to retrieve another tie.

  “Amon, I don’t have three hands,” she joked.

  He returned to the bed and kneeled over her. “Three hands. You’re going to get it for that,” he said sweetly. “Lift your head.”

  Thea did as he ordered, and he slipped a third tie around her head as a blindfold. When he’d finished tying it, he knew she couldn’t see a thing through the black fabric.

  Immobilized and effectively blinded to his next move, her voice suddenly showed her fear. “Amon?”

  Kneeling over her, he bent down to softly tease her lips with his. “Yes?”

  “Please, don’t do...”

  “Don’t worry, love. I would never hurt you. Trust me.”

  “I’ve never done this,” she said in a worried voice and then bit her lower lip nervously.

  Next to her ear he whispered, “Then I’ll have to make sure you love it enough to want it again.”

  Standing next to the bed, Amon watched as her breasts rose and fell and wished it was more because of desire than fear. But he’d soon change that.

  Thea turned her head toward the side and seemed to search for him. “Amon?”

  “Yes?”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Just looking.”

  He placed his finger on her lips and began to lightly trace a line down over the column of her neck and between her breasts. Slowly, he slid his finger around one nipple and then the other, loving how they hardened into excited peaks. Thea arched her body to gain more contact with his touch, but he pulled back and watched as she lay back down on the bed, waiting in anticipation for him to make his next move.

  He knew she’d be waiting for him to touch her breasts again, but instead he reached over to her right thigh and lightly grazed it with his knuckle. Instinctively, she opened her legs for him, eager for him to touch her more.

  “Not yet, love,” he said as he leaned next to her ear. “First, we have to get back to where we were before.”

  Amon crouched next to the bed and gently turned her head toward him. “Remember, if you don’t like something, tell me and I’ll stop.”

  Leaning against the bed, he guided his cock to her mouth. Tentatively, she licked her lips and then parted them, wrapping them around the head to gently suck him into her mouth.

  Amon watched as Thea took him in slowly and then released him when he retreated from the sensual feel of her mouth. He knew she must be anxious as she was entirely dependent on the pace he set, but as she eagerly pleasured him she gave no sign of this fear. He reentered her mouth and slowly pushed his cock in toward her throat, ready to back out quickly if she began to struggle. Inch by inch, he gently leaned in until he felt the smaller passage of her throat push up against the tip. The feel of her taking him so far into her mouth almost made his knees give out, and he slowly backed out of her. Empty again, she licked her lips and waited for him to return once more.

  He stood there for a long moment just watching her and noting how sensual she looked as she waited to taste his cock again. From somewhere deep in his memory the vision of Kiril’s slaves helplessly chained and shackled rushed into his mind, and suddenly he felt sick at the scene in front of him. Slowly, he leaned down to kiss her cheek.


  “That’s enough for now,” he said quietly.

  “Amon, is something wrong?”

  “No. Nothing,” he said as he reached over to untie her hands.

  When she was free, she sat up and began to unfasten the blindfold. He quickly stopped her, and she let her hands fall to her sides as her body sagged with a look of disappointment.

  “Did I do something wrong?” she asked in a voice full of dejection.

  Pulling her onto his lap, he placed her above his rigid cock and entered her as he whispered, “Not a thing.”

  Thea wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body close to his. With his hand, he braced her lower back as she began to ride him, his cock filling her. Still blindfolded, she kissed his neck as he moved inside her, murmuring softly against his skin. Her tenderness touched him, and he responded with a gentleness he hadn’t known for a long time.

  As she moved against him, he watched her blond hair, still bound by the black tie, bounce almost playfully over her shoulders. As he edged closer to his climax, he slid the blindfold from her head. For a moment, Thea stopped in surprise, her eyes wide as they readjusted to the light of the room.

  “Hi,” she said sweetly, her smile reaching all the way to her eyes.

  Amon couldn’t help but kiss her when she was being so cute. She had no idea that the memories of Kiril and his women had nearly ruined this for him. A darker thought crossed his mind. She had no idea of many of the memories that threatened to ruin their life together. Holding her close to his chest, he hugged her tightly as he silently swore to not let his past touch her.

  “I love you, Thea. Don’t ever doubt that.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Thea awoke feeling wonderful about life after making love with Amon. She had a destined one who loved her and whom she loved. And it appeared he came along with houses, in addition to incredible looks, tremendous sex appeal, and everything else he was. After forty-five lifetimes, she finally had what so many other women she’d known had been given, and no bounty hunter was going to take it away from her. Not if she had anything to say about it.