Choices of Fate (Fate Series) (3 page)

I can’t believe she is wearing that at her weight, though it would look amazing on me. Doesn’t she own a mirror? Shit, I’ll need to do an extra hour on the treadmill to work off all this food and alcohol tomorrow. At least sitting next to her makes me look hotter. Oh my god, that guy staring over here is so fucking hot. Is he looking at me or Sarah?
 

Alexa rolled her eyes. She loved her outfit. The gray v-neck blouse with a hint of lace trim showed off just the right amount of cleavage and the flirty black skirt hugged her ample bottom perfectly. The wide red belt and red and black open toed pumps added an ideal splash of color. She couldn’t really blame Jenny. It’s not like she would have ever said those things to her face. How could she know Alexa could hear her thoughts?

She normally kept her shields up to keep from being bombarded by the thoughts of everyone around her. That skill had developed out of necessity shortly after her strange ability had emerged when she was a teenager. Strangers were the easiest to filter. It took a considerable amount of concentration for her to block out people she knew, particularly those she had spent a lot of time around. The better she knew a person, the easier their inner voice registered. With the cloud of alcohol covering her mind, it was damn near impossible to block close acquaintances. Especially with a loud broadcaster like Jenny whose drunken thoughts were blaring loud and clear over the thump of the bass coming through the speakers in the crowded club.

This is why I don’t drink,
Alexa thought as Jenny’s mind continued to interrupt what would have otherwise been a very pleasant buzz. At least Sarah was there.
 

I’ll probably have to drag Jenny out of here tonight and get stuck paying for the cab again. I love Alexa’s blouse, I’ll have to ask her where she shops sometime. Better make sure Jenny isn’t around, I don’t know what her problem is, Alexa is so nice.
 

Sarah’s sweet thoughts made Alexa smile. She didn’t get those two being friends. Jenny was mean spirited and overbearing. She wondered if she had only befriended Sarah in adhering to the old wisdom of “keep your friends close and enemies closer.” Based on her thoughts, she was even more jealous of Sarah than she was of Alexa. Sarah’s sweet nature and exceptional beauty made her very popular with men, which Jenny couldn’t stand since she was desperate to be the center of attention at all times. If it wasn’t for Jenny, Alexa thought she and Sarah would probably be much closer.
 

Of course, Alexa never got too close to anyone. She knew better. Anyone who really got to know and spend time with her would eventually notice she was different. It was so hard to hide all of her emotions when she could hear every thought going through her companion’s head. Even if they didn’t notice anything strange about her, she would ultimately push them away as their innermost thoughts betrayed their true character.
 

Having a boyfriend was practically an impossibility. Alexa usually found herself completely disgusted within the first twenty minutes of any date she had ever been on. Either the guy was mentally fucking every other woman that walked by, or he was critiquing her body and all of the things that he could ignore just to get laid, just not if he wanted to seriously date her.

Holy fuck! He’s coming over here. Does Sarah see him? Maybe I should get up and go to him before he gets all the way over. If I stake a claim it would be a violation of girl code for that little cunt to try anything. Shit, he’s so hot!
 

Well, Jenny certainly wasn’t wasting any time tonight.
 

Oh wow, he’s really cute. I wouldn’t mind dancing with him tonight.
Sarah’s thoughts were considerably tamer.
 

At this point Jenny was staring past Alexa practically drooling as she flipped her thin, shoulder-length blonde hair while Sarah played with her straw nonchalantly, trying her best not to look at whoever had captured their attention from across the room. Alexa rolled her eyes and sighed.
 

She could have been at home, curled up on her comfortable old couch with a nice glass of pinot and her best friend lying beside her. So what if that friend had bad breath and liked to chew on her socks from time to time. Tilly was a great roommate and the faithful Great Dane made Alexa feel safe.
 

Taking the opportunity to make her escape unchallenged while her companions were busy ogling some stranger, Alexa stood making her excuses about having to get an early start the next morning even though it was obvious the two women weren’t hearing a word of it.
 

She grabbed her clutch and turned to make her way to the coatroom, walking right into someone in her hurry to get away.

✧

“Excuse me, I’m really sorry,” she blurted without even looking up.

“I am the one who is sorry, if you are leaving. I spent the last ten minutes gathering up the courage to come and ask if you would let me buy you a drink.”

Her breath caught as the stranger’s accented voice registered in her mind and tingling warmth gathered in her core and washed over her entire body. She turned to look up at him and felt her knees start to buckle as he swiftly wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her on her feet.
 

Where his voice had made her feel warm, his touch set her body on fire. Unable to speak, or remember her own name for that matter, she drank in the physical perfection of the man who seemed to be quite at home holding her.
 

His nicely tousled chestnut locks made him look like he had just rolled out of bed in the best way possible and were just long enough to make her think how good it would feel to run her fingers through them while he was pressed up against her so closely.

Moving her shameless stare down to look into his beautiful eyes that fell somewhere in between green and grey, she almost melted as the darkness of desire clouded them while he stared down at her lips.

Following suit, she gazed down to his full lips and felt her lacy black panties moisten as he wet his lips with his tongue and held on to the bottom one with his teeth.
 

Oh. My. God. She thought he was going to kiss her. A complete stranger whom she had bumped in to literally fifteen seconds ago was going to kiss her in a crowded bar and God help her, she had never wanted anything so badly.
 

As she held her breath, waiting, hell, practically praying that he would lean down and press his mouth to hers, he turned and pulled out the chair that she had vacated just a few moments earlier and eased her onto it effectively snapping her back to reality.

The flood of Jenny’s less than kind thoughts, which she had been oblivious to moments before, hit her like a slap to the face.

Why the hell is he talking to that fat bitch? Is he fucking blind? He must be looking for an easy lay. Lucky for him, he can do better than her if I have anything to say about it.
 

With that, Jenny patted the seat next to her on the end of the booth between her and Alexa.

“Why don’t you join us?” She purred suggestively.
 

Without taking his eyes off Alexa, he slid into the seat.
 

“I’m Jenny and that’s Sarah over there, what’s your name, handsome?”

Still looking at Alexa and clearly addressing only her he replied, “I am Ethan, what is your name, beautiful?”

Still a little thrown and feeling a bit embarrassed about her reaction a few minutes ago, Alexa kept her eyes averted as she mumbled, “Um, Alexa.”

Not to be dissuaded by Ethan’s inattention, Jenny continued in what was obviously her “sexy” voice, “I feel like moving my body, come on, uh, Ethan, was it? Dance with me.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I was actually just about to ask Alexa if she would dance with me.”

Alexa looked up at him through her thick black lashes. Was he serious? This guy was definitely out of her league. Not that she was unattractive, she was actually fairly confident about her appearance, despite constantly hearing how she has such a pretty face, if she would just lose some weight. Sure, she could probably stand to lose twenty pounds, but Alexa loved food and she was not the kind of girl who would starve herself just to fit some mold people tried to force on her. She was a real woman, with curves that she embraced and liked to show off from time to time.
 

Trying to get a read on what this guy’s game was, Alexa relaxed her shields a bit, but she couldn’t hear his voice. That was a first. She could feel his mind and the wave of desire that seemed to genuinely be directed at her, though his thoughts felt just out of reach, like they were covered by some sort of veil. Lowering her shields a bit further in an attempt to hear him, the cacophony of all the minds in the room started barreling in forcing her to snap her shields back in place.
 

Her face flushing slightly from the exertion, Alexa felt a tiny bead of sweat trickle over her temple just as Ethan reached up and gently brushed it away with his thumb as he cupped her cheek.

With him touching her like that, everything else fell away. She could no longer hear Jenny who was staring at her murderously or Sarah who simply watched curiously with a slight smile on her face.
 

“So, how about it, Alexa? Will you dance with me?”

Overwhelmed by his touch and unable to find her voice, Alexa nodded as Ethan’s hand left her face and slightly grazed over her neck before he took her hand and led her through the crowd to the middle of the dance floor.

✧

Just then, the upbeat song that had been playing ended and was replaced by a much slower song that Alexa had never heard before, but in that moment, she thought it was the sexiest song she had ever heard. The lyrics weren’t being sung in English. It sounded exotic, African maybe.
 

Ethan twirled her around, wrapped his arm securely around her waist and pulled her body tightly against his as they began to sway slowly along with the music.
 

Alexa was overcome with the sensations his nearness evoked. She had never experienced anything so intense or consuming and she felt incredibly embarrassed at how strongly her body was responding to this stranger. She kept her head turned to the side, pressed up against his hard chest with her eyes closed in a vain attempt to get ahold of herself. Ethan brought his hand up and lightly traced the outline of her ear, continuing down along her jaw until he gently lifted her chin to bring her eyes up to his. The uncertainty she felt only a few minutes earlier was completely erased as she looked up into his smoldering eyes. She might not be able to hear his thoughts, but the attraction radiating between them was like a tangible force that surrounded them and shut out everything else.

“Are you single, Alexa?” God she loved how he said her name.

She replied without hesitation, her voice barely above a whisper, “Yes.”

He grinned down at her. “That is good, I would hate to have to break up a happy couple.” The confidence implied by his statement was such a turn-on.

Her gaze shifted from his eyes to take in his sexy grin and she once again found herself wanting to kiss him.

Finally gaining some semblance of composure, Alexa stuttered, “Um, what about you?”

Ethan cocked an eyebrow at her. God, was everything he did sexy? “What about me?” he asked.

“Are you dating anyone?” She held her breath waiting for his response.

“No, of course not. I have not been with anyone in a very long time and I would never have approached you if I was not free to do as I pleased.”

Something about the way he said that last part sent a tingle down her spine.
 

He leaned down and buried his face in the crook of her neck. His hot breath grazed her skin as he breathed her in.

“You smell amazing, delicious even,” he whispered.

He brushed the tip of his tongue faintly across her neck as if he just couldn’t resist one little taste. Alexa shivered as goose bumps spread all over her body.

Lifting his head to look into her eyes again Ethan whispered, “You are so beautiful, Alexa.”

Not really accustomed to compliments, a blush colored her cheeks as she glanced away from his intense stare.

He brushed his thumb over her heated cheek. “This makes you look even more beautiful, but why do you look away? Have I offended you?”

Alexa couldn’t help but giggle a little. Of all the liberties he had taken during their extremely short acquaintance, calling her beautiful had to be the least offensive.

“No, of course not, it’s just, I’m not used to compliments I guess.”

“Well that breaks my heart. Feel it, it is breaking as we speak.” He pulled her hand up and placed it over his heart, then leaned down and whispered in her ear. “You should hear how beautiful you are everyday of your life.”

Alexa had never felt so turned on in her entire life.

Just then, the song ended and another up tempo number started.

✧

“How about I buy you that drink now?” Ethan suggested.

“Sure, but I actually just want some ice water.”

Ethan pulled away from her and started toward the bar, still holding her hand. Her body felt the loss of his nearness immediately and she unconsciously stuck out her bottom lip in a little pout.
 

As they neared the bar, he turned to her with a knowing smile on his face as he asked, “Why do you look like someone just stole your lollipop?”

The reference made Alexa think of all the things she could be licking, causing her to stumble and fall into someone sitting on a stool at the bar.
 

“Hey watch it you fat cow, you made me spill my beer!” He spat as Alexa jumped back a few feet.

Before Alexa could even process the vile words the drunken asshole had just spat at her, Ethan had him by the throat down against the bar.
 

“Apologize. Right. Fucking. Now.” Ethan’s voice remained calm, but the rage pouring off of him was palpable. The man struggled against his grip, gasping for air that wasn’t coming, though to look at Ethan he could have just been casually leaning against the bar based on the amount of effort he seemed to be putting into it. Wow, he was strong.