Page 5

Chapter 5

Della

I looked up from my book and smiled at Haden when he came inside. My smile dropped, though, as I looked over his sweaty, bare chest. Fuck. I tried to look away, but Haden grinned at my gawking. He set the wood down and came over to me, giving me a hard, lingering kiss. I moved so he could deepen the kiss, but like always, he stopped.

I frowned as he walked back into the kitchen. I didn’t know when I became so desperate for the touch of a man, but I was. Haden never made a move on me, even though I had been coming to the house every day for two weeks. He would always have some delicious food waiting for me. He just seemed to be happy that I was keeping him company.? Which I was thankful for, but I would also be thankful for an orgasm or something. Maybe he didn't find me attractive in that way.

I swallowed hard as I watched him over the top of my book. He lifted a giant piece of wood over his head, making the muscles on his back flex. Heavens, forgive me and my dirty thoughts, but I could not stop them. I wanted to feel him under my fingertips. I closed my eyes tightly. For fuck’s sake, Haden was working innocently, and I was looking at him like a piece of fucking meat.?

“So, do you have parents? How does a god come to exist?” Haden asked as he kept maneuvering the wood. I closed my book.?

“No, I don’t have parents. Gods are created from a star. When they settle down, they can have children, but most children will not go on to be gods.”?

Haden gave me an odd look.?

“What determines if they will or not?”

“How powerful the god and their partner are,” I said. “It’s almost like a tiered system. On the top are the heavens, then the old gods, then the stars, then gods like me, the elite magic, regular magic, and no magic.”

“Old gods?” he asked.

“The first gods that were created. They hold the most power.” I wasn’t sure I should have told him about that. Something flickered in his eyes, and I wondered if he knew about any of this before. "But they hide from everyone."

“So, you don’t have a family?” He changed the subject.

“I have a twin brother, but that is all there is to my family.” I smiled. I loved Mikel; he had always been good to me.?

“We’re both twins.” A small smirk played across his lips. “When we have kids, then we have a high chance of twins.”?

I dropped my book. When, not if, we have kids. Haden laughed at the look on my face.?

“Is that too forward of a thought?” he asked.? His eyes traced over me as he tried to hold his smile back.

“No.” I blushed. “How many children are you picturing?”?

“As many as you are willing to give me,” he said casually.?

“Gods, Haden,” I breathed.?For a man that never made a move on me, he had me blushing. So he had thought of me in an intimate way.

“Sorry, I just like seeing you flustered for me, Storm.”?

That wasn’t helping. He was such a tease. I grabbed my book off the floor and opened it again, pretending to read it. Haden worked like he was doing the easiest job in the world, and I admired that about him. He was a hard worker and creative.

“Are you artistic like your father?” I asked.?

Haden didn’t look away from what he was doing.?

“Yes, but I prefer drawing houses, but every now and again I get inspired to draw something else.”?

“What was the last thing you drew that wasn’t a house?”?

“You.” He turned quickly to see my reaction. “It was after the second or third time I saw you. I was worried you would disappear, and I would forget how pretty you are.”?

I smiled to myself.?

“Well, I hope our children inherit your artistic abilities, because I have none,” I said just to tease him, but Haden lost grip of the wood he was holding, and it hit him in the head.

“Fuck.” He held his head as I rushed to him.

“I’m sorry. I was just trying to tease you like you were to me.” I panicked when I saw blood on his hand. Haden watched me as I grabbed him and shoved him onto the stool. “Lean down so I can see how bad it is.”?

Haden listened, and I noticed that the gash started dripping blood. Immediately, I used my magic and sealed his wound.?

“There, all fixed.”?

Haden lifted his gaze to mine. His hands wrapped around the back of my thighs and pulled me forward, so I was standing between his legs.?

“Kiss me, Storm.”?

He didn’t need to tell me twice. I pressed my lips to his, and he kissed me softly. Then he tugged me into him for a hug.?

“I’m sorry I made you get hurt.”?

“I started it with the teasing; you don’t have to apologize.”?

Haden just held me, and I couldn't help but think how perfect this was. I thought of him when I woke up in the morning, and he was the last thing I thought of when I went to bed. Even my dreams were of him, and still it did not feel like we saw each other enough.?

“I’m glad it was you,” he whispered. “I’m glad the stars decided that you were the one for me. I don’t think I could have picked anyone better.”?

That damn guilt pierced into my heart.

“You are everything,” I answered back.

I pulled back and kissed him again before moving so he could get back to work. Haden hesitated for only a moment before he stood up and went outside for more wood. I read my book in silence for a while before I noticed that Haden hadn’t come inside for a long time. I stood up and went looking for him, finding him at the tree line, bent over doing something. I waited for him to turn around.?

When he did, he held up a giant bundle of flowers and began running over to me. I smiled at him as he got closer.?

“I thought you might want some of these.” He handed them to me.?

“I love wildflowers.” I smelled them.?

Haden watched me for a moment before looking around.?

“I’m done working for the day. Do you want to go somewhere with me?”?

I nodded eagerly. He grabbed my hand and led us into the house to grab the food he had brought with him, smiling at me as I followed him closely with the food in one hand and my hand in the other; we took off into the woods.?

?★★★?★★★?

We walked for a long while before the sound of rushing water faintly reached my ears. It grew louder as we gradually got closer to the source. I was so excited to just spend the day with Haden that I didn’t even wonder what we could be doing. I looked around and noticed that the familiar birch trees were mixed with a different type of leafy tree here.?

“There is a town in that direction.” Haden nodded to the right. “Raynor, I think. I’m not sure; I haven’t been there before. But I stumbled upon this one day.”?

We broke through the tree line and stepped into what felt like another world. A babbling stream ran through the trees and fell over the nearby rock wall as a small waterfall, emptying the mountain water into a large lake below. A hazy mist filled the air around us, causing rainbows to form when the midday sunlight tried to shine through it. Near us, the edges of the stream were covered with wildflowers, displaying varying colors to mix with the rainbows from around us in an overload of color and sweet perfume. My mouth fell open at how beautiful it was. I dropped Haden’s hand so I could run toward the water’s edge for a better view. The waterfall was not very large, but it fell from such a distance that it created the loud roaring noise we had been hearing.

“You like it, Storm?”?

I turned toward him and nodded.?

“This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” I smiled.?

“I can think of something a bit prettier.” Haden gave me a flirty grin when I looked at him. “But it's up there.”?

My cheeks flushed with heat as he watched me closely. After a moment, he grabbed the blanket he brought and laid it on the ground before slipping off his boots and tunic.?

“What are you doing?” I asked.?

“Swimming.”?

I glanced at the water for a moment in disbelief before looking back at him.?

“It’s going to be freezing.”?

Another smile overtook his face.?“Go feel it,” he said mischievously.?

I hesitated for only a moment before leaning down and gliding my fingers through the water, pleasantly surprised by its warmth. What the hell? I dipped my hand in again and smiled at the temperature of the water. It was almost… soothing. I turned back toward Haden and gasped to see that he was practically naked. My eyes dragged down his body slowly before coming back up and meeting his.

Heat crept up my neck when I saw him watching me stare. “Why is it warm?” I asked, looking for a reason to change the subject.?

He shrugged.?

“I have no idea. But it makes for the perfect temperature to swim. Are you coming in? I will turn so you can get undressed.”?

I glanced at the water before swallowing hard.?

“I don’t know how to swim.”?

Haden stepped forward with an odd look.?

“Gods don’t know how to do everything?” he asked seriously.?

I gave him a pointed look.

“Of course not. We have to learn how to do pretty much everything you do. We are just older when we learn it because we are never children.”?

“Never children?”?

“When we are created, we are formed mentally and physically around the age you are now, between two hundred and fifty and three hundred years old. I was never a child.”?

Haden glanced at the water before looking back at me.?

“So, I can teach you things?”?

“Yes.”?

“Storm, this is exciting.” He smiled as he walked closer to me. “I’m going to teach you so many things.” His eyes seemed to darken for a moment, and my stomach clenched when I realized what he was thinking about. I licked my lips as I tried to get my brain to start working and not think of how good Haden’s skin would feel under my hands.?

“Do you want to touch?”

My gaze snapped up to his eyes, not realizing that I was staring so aggressively at his bare chest.?

“Yes.”?

Surprise flashed in his eyes before he smiled.?

“Then you need to take your clothes off and meet me in the water so I can teach you how to swim.”?

I didn’t realize that the idea of swimming would make me so anxious. What was under the surface of the water?

“It’s alright. I won’t let anything happen to you. Do you trust me?”?

I nodded.?“Yes.”?

“Good. I am going to get in the water, and I’ll keep my back toward you until you tell me to turn.”?

“Alright.”?

Haden kissed my forehead on the way by. I watched him walk out into the water until everything but his head was covered. Slowly, I started undressing. I kept my camisole and underwear on, though, so I wasn’t completely naked. I took a step into the water and sighed at how good it felt on my feet.

“You can turn,” I said with a pounding heart. I was not in the water yet, but I wanted him to see me. Haden turned, and his eyes widened as he stood up, the water rolling off his chest.? Gods, he was a fucking sight. I smiled as I walked toward him. Once I was close enough, he grabbed me, and I wrapped my legs around him as he kissed me.

The feelings I had for him were overwhelming, and I could feel the tears burning in my eyes. Gods, this was stupid. I released my legs from around him and turned away so he wouldn’t see that I was getting emotional. He wouldn’t allow it, though, and paddled around me in the water so that I was once again facing him. ?

“Are you crying?”?he asked suspiciously.

“No,” I lied as glowing tears fell down my cheeks.

He sighed. “You know that your tears are literally impossible to hide. What’s wrong?”?

I stared at him for a moment and felt everything bubbling up again. I tried to shove it back down so I didn’t embarrass myself, but I couldn’t help it.?

“Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed when I see you.”?

He frowned.?

“No, not like that,” I said quickly. “I mean, I do feel overwhelmed, but in a good way. It is like all these feelings start swarming in my chest when I look at you. I am overwhelmed with how much I like you.” I was babbling, and I knew it. I stopped talking, and Haden stared at me with a bemused expression on his face. I panicked. “And we’ve only known each other for a short time. Can you imagine how much more I will love you in a month? A year? Hundreds of years from now? It's going to swallow me whole. It is swallowing me whole already, Haden. I think of you when I wake up in the morning; I spend all day with you, and then I think of you as I fall asleep, and it still feels like I am not with you enough. I did not expect you to be so… perfect for me.”?

Haden was smiling at me, and it knocked some sense into me. I stopped talking and tried to dash for the shoreline, wanting to run away from my embarrassment. But Haden easily grabbed me and pulled me back.?

“Are you falling in love with me, Storm?”?

“Yes,” I whispered.?

“Good,” he whispered back. “You’re finally catching up to me.”?

Letting all of my anxieties go, I leaned forward and kissed Haden. He kissed me back while slowly pulling me farther into the water. Realizing I could no longer touch the ground, I gripped onto him as he tried to pull me off of him. He laughed softly.?

“One day you may need to know how to swim, and you’ll be glad I’m teaching you.”?

I took a deep breath to fortify myself and let my legs fall away. Haden took a few steps back until his arm was the only thing keeping me up.?

“Kick your legs like I showed you.” I did what he asked. “Good girl, now move your arms like I showed you.”?

Haden had to repeat himself because I was stuck on the praise. For some reason, hearing him call me a ‘good girl’ sent shivers through me. I started doing what he had showed me, wanting to hear him say it again. I felt ridiculous, though. Until Haden smiled at me, that is, and then I felt a little less ridiculous.?

“You’re doing such a good job.”?

Gods, if he kept praising me, I was going to jump him. I looked over at him, and I realized that his arms were both out in front of him, empty. He wasn’t holding me. I panicked and slipped under the water. Haden’s arm wrapped around me and dragged me back up.

“Fuck, Storm, you don’t need to panic; you were doing great.”?

“Sorry,” I coughed up water and laughed. “I won’t drown though; my magic would save me.”

“I’ll save you if you need saving.”?

My laughter died out because Haden’s words made me realize that he had already saved me. He gave me a purpose, a new meaning to life, and saved me from a meaningless existence.

“Careful, Storm, you look like you might be falling more in love with me.” He half-joked. I nodded and leaned my head against his shoulder as he carried me out of the water. He set us on the blanket, and we both lay together in the sun. Once we were dry, Haden started getting our food ready. I just sat and admired him, wondering how I had lived so many lifetimes before knowing him. It seemed wrong to exist in a reality without him for so long.

Fear trickled into my mind at the thought that Haden would grow old. He would leave me one day, and I would be shoved back into the lonely life I had before him. My mating bond would not grant him the immortal life that I possess to let him live an existence with me, and that thought terrified me. How could I exist if he did not? Haden glanced up at me and paused.?

“Why do you look like you are going to cry again?”?

“I don’t want you to ever leave me. I do not want to exist unless you are next to me.”?

He looked at me with understanding.?

“One day, I’m going to die, but it will be so far from now that you will have a lifetime of memories to comfort you. But I won’t be gone forever, Ardella. I believe with everything in me that I will belong to you in every life I live. The stars can’t keep two halves of the same soul apart for long. I vow I will always find you. You own me now, and in every reality in the future.”?

I lunged at him, hugging him to me, desperate for the bond to magically transfer to him so I did not have to live any amount of time without him. I wanted him exactly how he was now. I pleaded silently that the heavens would make him my mate in this life and the next.