A Promised Fate by Cat Mann

couldn’t stand the thought of making her endure her
sadness alone. She kicked and I only pulled her closer, she choked
out cries and I kissed her tightly shut eyes, her pinched lips and
deeply creased forehead. I talked to her all night, whispering in
her ear that I loved her and that I was there for her. I would
always be there for her.
    Just as quickly as her nightmare hit, it ended, and
Ava’s eyes blinked open in shock.
    “You’re here,” she murmured.
    “I am here.”
    “I need you.” Ava’s breath was ragged and her heart
thumped in her chest like a ticking bomb. Her hands moved down my
body in a frantic, desperate pursuit. “I need you, Ari.”
    “Shhh … I’m here.”
    Her fists clutched at the hem of my shirt and she
yanked it off me.
    “Whoa. Ava, slow down.”
    She smashed her lips against mine and thrust her
tongue in my mouth. Her fingers knotted in my hair and she pulled
my head back, keeping me in place.
    “I need you now ,” she panted.
    “I am yours. Take me. Every part of me belongs to
you.”
    She pushed me back against the mattress and took
whatever she needed from me. Her wet cheek pressed against my own
and new tears lined the brim of her long, dark lashes. She made
silent and verbal demands from my body like never before. Her body
moved against mine in a perfectly measured rhythm and her gasps
became more labored and intense. Her nails scratched down my chest,
my palms cupped her warm curves and I kissed the soft skin around
her shoulder to the dip of collarbone. We were one body and one
soul. Her eyes stared into mine, our hands clasped together tightly
and the flesh just above our hearts met so closely that no light
could ever push through. Our passion exploded into a gentle wave of
emotion and pleasure, my teeth clenched down with the intensity of
my desire and Ava collapsed into my arms, hot, breathless and
replete.
    She eased down onto her side, slid into the nook of
my arm and propped her hardened tummy onto mine. Our hearts pounded
together in unison.
    “Holy shit, Ava! Where the heck did that come from?”
I puffed out my words and tried to catch my breath.
    Ava is a flirt – she can seduce me with a simple look
– but she has always relied on me to me to make the next move. As
coquettish as she can be, she is twice as shy and truly
introverted. Getting her to tell me what she wants from me in bed
is usually a challenge. This night had been a historical event.
    The very tops of her cheeks turned a darker shade of
pink and she drew on my bare skin with her fingertip. Her touch was
gentle and made my nerve endings dance and crave even more of
her.
    “Seriously?” Rolling slightly to my
side, I moved to face her and wound our legs up together.
“After that you're going to be self-conscious?”
    She chewed on the corner of her mouth and gave a
small shrug. “I don’t know what overcame me. I just really wanted
you. All of you.”
    I twirled my wedding band on my left ring finger.
“Baby, I am yours. My body belongs to you and you can have it
whenever you want for whatever you need.”
    Her fingertip continued to trace a path on the skin
just above my heart. One jagged line formed that rose into two tall
pointed cliffs with a deep v-shaped valley between them. Like the
line that follows the bleeps on a heart monitor. She traced her
design on my skin, erased the lines with her palm and then did it
again and again and again.
    “What is that?”
    “Hmm?” She blinked up at me and her finger continued
its path.
    Line up. Line down. Line further down and then back
up. Line up. Line down and down again. Line back up again.
    “Your doodle?”
    “My name. A ...” she said and drew the first
tall pointy cliff, “ V ,” her finger sank down low into the valley and
“ A ,” she finished
the line with another mountain top.
    “So you're branding me?” I teased.
    “Mmm. You’re mine.” Her lips curved upward, but the
smile didn’t reach her eyes. My own fingers traced the