Free Escaping Destiny by Amelia Hutchins Page A

the perfect temperature. I turned my head until
it rested against his shoulder, and our breath mingled.
    “He saw us having a child, one that would be
of the two strongest Castes of Fae. One that would eventually heal
much of the damage done to this world. But he also saw the alliance
we would make that would begin healing the damage my father had
inflicted across this world.” He paused and pinched my nipple until
it puckered into a hard pebble beneath his touch. “For most of my
life I watched my father ruin everything he had touched. I plan on
fixing it, but in order to do so, I may have to do things that you
won’t like.”
    “Like?”
    “I’m the Horde King, Synthia; we earn our way
by being brutal. If I don’t show them my strength, I will be
challenged incessantly by every king and lord that believes he is
stronger.”
    “I had a feeling about that; I don’t
understand where I fit in, Ryder,” I said honestly. This was the
root of what was bothering me. He pulled me closer and nuzzled his
nose in the soft column of my neck.
    “You fit in right here,” he rumbled softly as
he wrapped his arms around me. “Everything else we will figure out
as it comes.”
    The rest of the night went by slowly. There
was no sex, no rushing through it with fighting, and no words were
used. We just lay together in the bed, holding each other as if
nothing else mattered. It was refreshing, and even though I had a
million questions to ask him, I ignored it. Tonight, I would accept
his comfort.

Chapter Eight
     
     
     
    The next morning I awoke to an empty bed.
Ryder had left either sometime in the night or early in the
morning. I ran my hand over the pillow where his head had been, the
indent from it still visible, as well as the heat from his body. I
groaned.
    These freaking hormones were something else.
I felt like my emotions were starting to come unhinged, but at
least now I had a reason for them to be this over-active. I’d been
through hell, and at least now there was a light at the end of the
tunnel. I was safe, and while my situation was not ideal, I could
manage it.
    It was odd. I felt like I could breathe
better now that I knew he was the reason I’d been through hell. If
he was what this had all been for, I was willing to make it work
between us. I needed to find a foothold, and figure out how to
break through his hard exterior. I just had to find a crack in it,
and force my way through. It wasn’t like I could walk away now. I
was in too deep and pregnant with his child. No, leaving wasn’t an
option right now, even though I missed being in the human
world.
    I missed home and Alden. I missed the
cemetery and the midnight dances inside of it. I missed Adam and
Larissa.
    I had been through so much in such a short
time, and was learning who I was and what I was. I knew my feelings
for him, but even with knowing, it still baffled me how I’d come to
love him in so little time. I loved him, even after everything he’d
done. But life was funny. I’d figured out what I wanted. Go figure,
I wanted the one man who drove me batshit crazy and over the edge
in one single word.
    Man, I was emotionally screwed. I was crazy
to think I could stay here with him and his harem of women that
he’d already said he wouldn’t give up. And then there was Claire,
who obviously hated my guts; not that I blamed her, since I’d be
pissed if someone took Ryder away from me, too.
    I had a choice to make, and it couldn’t be
made inside this room. I sat up and looked at the door to where one
hot Demon stood smiling with a gorgeous red cocktail dress held up
to his frame. “I’d go with blue. It would make your hair stand out
and show off the highlights,” I said smiling.
    “Ahh, what if I like red?” He grinned.
    Go figure, my one friend in this place was
the Demon I’d planned to hate. There it was again, another thing
I’d failed to do. I’d planned on hating Ryder, yet every time he
touched me, I caved like some weak-knee