Choices of Fate (Fate Series) (6 page)

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The next thing she knew they were speeding along Washington Street heading for the zoo. As they were driving, he reached over and took her hand without saying a word. She couldn’t help the euphoric smile that spread across her face as she looked out the window, hiding her face from Ethan, trying to appear unaffected.
 

I can’t believe it! Oh God, it’s all happening too fast, but he is just so amazing, and the way I feel, it’s like my soul has been crying out for him my entire life and now that he has answered I am lost. He is different from anyone I have ever met. I am different just being near him. Maybe this is it, maybe this is my chance. He is what I have been waiting for, what I have been missing my whole life.

Her heart started to race as she considered the implications of her thoughts. She had been waiting so long, convinced she would never meet anyone, yet here was this gorgeous man whose mind was gloriously silent. Her unsuccessful romantic past wasn’t due to a lack of trying. There had been several men in previous years. No, they were boys in comparison to Ethan. Boys who had clumsily pawed at her, trying to lift off her shirt or pull down her pants while they thought about how big her ass was or what excuse they were going to give to escape as soon as they had gotten what they wanted. At first, those types of thoughts caught her off guard. After a time she came to expect it and as a result, no guy ever made it past second base. Eventually, she started to avoid dating altogether.

“Hey. Are you still with me?” Ethan asked noticing her dazed expression.
 

Alexa turned to look at Ethan and she was struck all over again with how attractive he was.
 

“Yeah, sorry, guess I was daydreaming.”

A crooked grin lit up his face as he looked at her. For the first time she noticed his dimples. How had she missed those before? Maybe she hadn’t really seen him smile anywhere with enough light for her to notice. As if he wasn’t already the most ridiculously appealing man she had ever seen. He had to have dimples, too.
 

She was thinking about kissing each of those dimples when Ethan announced their arrival at the zoo.
 

Though feeling uncertain about the speed with which everything was happening between her and Ethan, she was truly excited about their little excursion. Just a few weeks ago she read about a new addition to one of the exhibits, a dolphin named Orin, and she kept telling herself she would finally make the effort to visit the zoo and see him. She had fallen in love with dolphins as a child, but her interaction with them was limited to what she saw in books and online. The guardians at the group home rarely took any of the children outside of the compound, especially Alexa.
 

They approached the admissions window where an attractive young blonde sat. She looked up and her mouth nearly hit the floor as she gawked at Ethan. Her expression quickly changed when she noticed Alexa next to him. Alexa didn’t telepathy to know exactly what the woman was thinking. What was a man like Ethan doing with a woman like Alexa? She couldn’t blame her, since she sort of wondered the same thing, but never being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Alexa was going to enjoy as much of Ethan as she could get. When they reached the window a man stepped up behind the clerk and greeted Ethan personally.

“Hello, Mr. Kellar. Please come through this way. It’s such a pleasure to see you again. If you or your lovely guest require anything during your visit, please let me know.”

Alexa looked up at Ethan, curiously. He smiled down at her shyly and whispered in her ear.

“I donated some money to the zoo this year.”

The feel of his warm breath flowing across her skin made her shiver.

He gave her a quick smile and released her hand to step over and speak privately with the gentleman. It must have been a lot of money because Alexa was fairly certain this man was the president of the zoo based on a photograph she had noticed in the news a while back. She let down her shields just a bit to hear the man and confirm her theory. Oh yeah, it was a lot of money and he was indeed who she suspected. She couldn’t help but wonder how a man as young as Ethan had the means to donate so much. If it wasn’t for the expensive car, she wouldn’t have guessed him to be wealthy at all.
 

While he looked great, nothing about his appearance really indicated money. In her profession, Alexa had come across a lot of men who liked to flaunt their wealth and she had learned to spot some of the obvious signs. Flashy watch, expensive shoes, dropping not so subtle hints, etcetera. As he continued to make small talk with the man who greeted them, Alexa took a moment to survey Ethan’s appearance. Under his black leather jacket he wore an open charcoal button-down over a plain white t-shirt tucked into gently frayed designer jeans which rode low on his trim hips and hung down over a pair of black bike toe loafers. Her pulse began to quicken as she stood there evaluating him.

As if he sensed the change in her demeanor, Ethan looked over and caught her staring. His eyes darkened as his perfect lips formed a sexy lopsided grin. Alexa looked away laughing at herself for being so easily affected and pulled out her iPhone to keep herself occupied while she waited.
 

As she scrolled through posts and information on the zoo’s website it dawned on her that Ethan would probably have similar thoughts about her if he ever found out about her finances. She lived on the salary from her job and nothing more, everything else had remained an untouched secret, but it was there and she would have to deal with it someday.

It occurred to her that she had no idea what Ethan did for a living, or anything else about him for that matter. She was definitely curious, she wanted to know everything there was to know about the gorgeous man that had unexpectedly walked into her life. They would have to get to all that later. Right now, she wanted to try something different, to live in the moment for a change. So she pushed all of her questions and concerns aside and made the decision soak in and savor this whole experience with him.

While she was lost in thought, Ethan slipped up behind her and slid his arms around her waist. “So which animals would you like to see first?”

“The dolphins.” Alexa replied without hesitation.
 

“Sounds like a plan,” Ethan said before he turned to the zoo president and asked. “Can you set up an up-close visit with the dolphins?”

“Of course, Mr. Kellar. If you’d like we can even arrange for you to get in the water with them. I believe we even have wet suits that you can use.”

Alexa squealed with excitement.

Ethan laughed, “I guess that means we definitely want to get in the water.”

Alexa couldn’t even begin to hide her enthusiasm. She was absolutely thrilled. Ethan grabbed her hand as they followed the gentlemen down several pathways and into an employee entrance of the Marsh Dolphin Theater.

“If you could wait here a moment Mr. Kellar, I’ll fetch one of the trainers to get you suited up and escort you to the enclosure.”
 

Once they were alone, Ethan turned to Alexa who was fidgeting enthusiastically. “This is just a guess, but I get the impression that you are a little excited,” he smiled warmly as he teased, admiring her sweetness.

“I’ve always wanted to swim with dolphins. It’s kind of silly, but when I was a little girl, I found this book about them in the library where I grew up that I checked out and sort of, uh, never returned.” She glanced at him nervously realizing that she just admitted to being a thief, even if it had been when she was little. Seeing only amusement and warmth in his expression, she continued. “I hid under my bed and would take it out at night and look at all of the pictures whenever I had a bad day or was feeling lonely. I didn’t really have the best childhood, and whenever things got really bad I would imagine that I lived alone on a deserted tropical island with a beautiful lagoon. I would swim there with a pair of young dolphins that got separated from their family, just like me.”

Surprised with herself, Alexa looked over at Ethan. “I’ve never told anyone that before. It’s a little embarrassing, but that dream got me through some hard times.”

“Do not feel embarrassed, you have a beautiful imagination. I am sorry that you ever had to feel so alone.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, placing a chaste kiss on her lips. “You can tell me anything, Amor. I want to know everything about you.”

Alexa felt a rush of elation hearing his desire to know about her and the term of endearment, even if it was in another language. She had taken some Spanish classes in high school and though she wasn’t entirely fluent, she understood a lot of the language. Her elation was quickly followed by a twinge of guilt knowing there was one thing about her he could never know. Her ability had to remain a secret. That was a lesson she had learned the hard way and it was one she would not soon forget.

Just then, the trainer walked in and they were suited up and climbing into the dolphin enclosure before she could give it another thought. They spent nearly an hour feeding and interacting privately with the dolphins. Alexa felt as giddy as an eight year old as they were introduced to each dolphin and learned the commands to get them do to a wide variety of tricks. She looked over at Ethan several times during the experience, feeling awed at how much his enthusiasm seemed to match her own and grateful to him for allowing her the opportunity.
 

She couldn’t believe how much her life had changed in the matter of a few hours. Though it was overwhelming and quite surprising, she had never been happier.
 

They climbed out of the water and went into their designated areas to change back into their clothes. Alexa couldn’t stop smiling as she stood there ringing her hair out with one of the towels the trainer provided. It was well past the zoo’s closing time by then, so Alexa rushed to get ready to leave, not wanting to further inconvenience the staff that had been so kind and accommodating. As she exited the women’s locker room, Ethan surprised her by grabbing her around the waist and lifting her into his arms as if she weighed no more than a leaf. That was most certainly a first for Alexa.
 

As he cradled her in his arms, she smiled up at him with her arms around his neck and boldly pulled herself up to press her mouth against his as he moved them towards the exit.
 

Ethan smiled inwardly at her forwardness and at how good it felt to have this woman next to him. After all this time, he felt a glimmer of hope. This was his chance to escape the fate that had been forced on him the day he was born. This was his choice, she was his choice.
 

Gently setting her down without breaking the contact, Ethan deepened the kiss as he backed her up to the door. He ran his hands up her sides and she tightened her arms around his neck, struggling to get closer to him. A desperate moan escaped her throat as he outlined her lips with his tongue. He growled lowly in response and pressed his hips against her making her aware of how much he was enjoying their time together.

Feeling how large he was against her, Alexa felt a twinge of fear which was quickly replaced by excitement. She had waited so long and now, after just a few hours with Ethan, she knew why. She had been waiting for him. Realizing that, she began to kiss him more fiercely, running her hands through his hair and grinding her hips against his thigh. Just as she started to contemplate making love to him on the floor where they stood, someone cleared their throat behind them.

“I’m terribly sorry Mr. Kellar, but it is well past closing and we need to lock up this building and set the alarm.”

It was the same gentleman that had greeted them earlier in the evening.

Seemingly unfazed, Ethan pulled away from Alexa before briefly pressing his mouth against hers again.

“Of course, we really appreciate the extra consideration you have given us tonight. It was an amazing experience.” He winked at Alexa and smiled broadly as she felt a blush creep across her cheeks realizing he wasn’t referring to the time with the dolphins.

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They made their way to the exit and stepped outside to begin the walk back to Ethan’s car. With wet hair, the already cold air was almost unbearable and Alexa’s teeth began to chatter just a few steps out the door. Ethan took off his leather jacket as they kept walking and tossed it around Alexa’s shoulders. She opened her mouth to protest, but he beat her to it.

“Do not worry about me, I have on two shirts and my hair is already dry.”

He grabbed her hand and held it the rest of the way, not letting go until after he opened the car door for her and she was seated inside. He hurried around to the driver’s side, hopped in, started the engine, and reached over to turn on Alexa’s seat warmer. As the car warmed up, Ethan just sat there watching Alexa for a moment before he asked, “Did you enjoy our date, Amor?”

Feeling incredibly nervous and totally lost in thoughts of all the things she hoped would happen between her and Ethan, she didn’t even hear his question as she turned and looked into his beautiful green-grey eyes. Before she could talk herself out of it, she took a breath and leaned in to press her lips to his, taking the lead for the second time that night, determined to take things where she desperately wanted them to go.

As she started to kiss him with greater passion, he pulled away slightly as he brushed her cheek with his thumb, “I will take that as a yes. Am I driving you to your car or your home?”

Getting ahold of herself enough to consider his question she replied, “Oh, yeah, home. I took a cab to the club tonight since I knew I would be drinking.”

Ethan smiled, pleased with her caution and sense of responsibility. Those were qualities she would need to be with someone like him, to survive in his world.

“You will have to tell me where home is, or at least give me the address to enter into the navigation system.”

Most of the short drive to her home was spent in silence as she tried to work up the nerve to actually ask him to spend the night. She felt pretty confident that was where things were going since she could sense his lust with her ability, and she had felt the physical evidence of it more than once, but she had no intention of leaving it to chance.