Destiny Found (Epsilon Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  Natalie’s head cleared a bit at the question. Would she let him come inside her? Of course. But should she? Wouldn’t that mean, “Can’t I get pregnant if you do that? I’m not on any birth control or anything. Are you?”

  Taavi shook his head slowly, searching her face.

  “No, I am not on anything to prevent pregnancy. I would love to have children with you, but I will find something, if you want to wait.”

  Natalie searched inside herself, at turns concerned and relieved that she wanted nothing more than to start a family with this man.

  Yes, she had only known him for over a month, but she knew him. Knew his heart, his mind, his soul; they were connected more than anyone else had ever been.

  No, the real question was, “Are we ready to become parents? I mean I know we haven’t known each long, but I love you, and I want to have a family with you. I miss having one,” her voice broke, “but I want to start a new one, with you. My problem is, do you think we are ready for that? What about marriage?”

  Taavi’s smile lit up the room before he gave her a deep kiss. He broke the kiss and leaned his head into hers.

  “I don’t know if we are ready. I don’t think we ever will be; but I love you too, and I want a family with you. I have your heart, soul and mind, but I want a physical connection to you, and not just what we were about to do.” He grinned playfully before turning serious. “I know it’s a huge step, but is there anything really stopping us? After the bond is sealed, we will be as good as married, but there is a ceremony for newly bonded mates. What do you think?” he asked as he rubbed his nose against hers.

  She really loved when he did that. She just really loved anything he did, just really loved him. “I think… I think I’m ready, if you are.”

  “Thank Tavanni,” he quipped.

  During their little chat, both of their arousal had cooled into something deeper; a connection that held them fast and made them stare into the each other’s eyes as they got into position.

  Taavi lay on his back, his hands on her hips as she positioned herself over top of him. She looked into his eyes as she grabbed his shaft and lifted onto her knees to put it at her opening. They stared into each other’s eyes as she slowly lowered onto him.

  Natalie caught her breath as the first inch went in, curling her fingers on his chest, gripping him. There was an enormous pressure inside her, verging on the point of pain.

  “Here,” Taavi said, bringing his finger to her clit and rubbing it slowly.

  At the touch, the pain went away, leaving only pleasure and pressure.

  She lifted up a little before falling back down, taking another inch. Taavi kept his hips still, one hand clutching the top of her thigh, his other circling her clit, making her muscles relax and accept him.

  After a couple more rises, she decided to just go for it.

  She let herself fall all the way down on Taavi, stopping abruptly when a moment of intense pain stole her breath. She wondered briefly if he had split her in half, or if she should get off of him and call it a night.

  Obviously Taavi knew what she was thinking.

  “Breathe, alaila. Relax and just breathe. You’ll adjust, just give it a minute,” Taavi breathed out, his expression tense as her muscle clenched around him. “I’m sorry I hurt you, but it’ll feel really good shortly.”

  After just sitting there, breathing, Taavi’s fingers still playing with her clit, she started to feel her arousal grow again. The pain had faded, a pressure – almost more than she could bear – taking its place.

  As she grew wetter, her muscles clenched on Taavi again, making him stop his manipulations and grab her with both hands.

  Natalie decided it was now or never.

  Well, here I go.

  She slowly lifted up, his shaft rubbing sensitive nerve endings she never knew she had. She looked between her legs, transfixed by Taavi’s glistening shaft and tip disappearing inside her. She and Taavi made eye contact as she slowly lowered back down onto him.

  At the end of the stroke, they both moaned as she bottomed out.

  Natalie did it again and again, gaining speed. The wetter she became, the easier it was to glide on him, and the faster she could go.

  Taavi’s groaning and clutching of her thighs made her go faster, wanting them both to lose control.

  “That’s it, alaila. Go faster. Natalie,” he groaned on a particular hard slam.

  She was chasing that inexplicable pleasure, unable to go faster, but unable to reach the pinnacle. She sobbed, trying to go harder, anything to reach what felt unreachable.

  “Taavi, I can’t. I need more,” she cried.

  Taavi gripped her waist when she slammed down on him and flipped them so he was on top.

  “I’ve got you, alaila.”

  As he started thrusting into her, slamming home, she could feel something growing inside her; something different than the orgasms she had had before. Something that was coming from a place deep inside of her that recognized Taavi on a cellular level.

  She started burning up, an intense heat, reaching for Taavi, as she felt an answering heat coming from him. Her head started to feel fuzzy and when she looked at Taavi, she couldn’t see him, just a brilliant green light surrounded by gold, shining above her.

  Even though she couldn’t see him, had no way of actually knowing, she knew she was seeing Taavi’s soul. A pinprick of the emerald green light reached toward her, more following as it seemed to encompass all of her.

  She felt Taavi reach between her legs, pumping harder and faster, as he pinch her clit. The pressure, both in her head and in her body, released, exploding into a storm of light, her body convulsing. She could hear Taavi give a shout and felt him release inside her.

  It was an experience she would never forget.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  What the heck was that? Natalie thought, amazed at what had just occurred.

  Not only had she had an even more intense orgasm then any of the other times, she could now feel a presence in herself that hadn’t been there before.

  That is a soile-miena bond, my love. The bond is now complete.

  Natalie looked up, startled, wondering if she had just imagined that.

  You didn’t imagine that. I really did read your thoughts, just as you can now read mine.

  Taavi looked at her, his heart in his eyes as he brushed her hair away from her face, wrapping his hand around her throat.

  “Are you serious?”

  Yes.

  He chuckled when her eyes widened. “Don’t worry, we don’t have to use the bond. But it does allow us to telepathically communicate should we choose.”

  “I’m sorry. That’s really cool, but also super weird. We can do either, but I like to hear your voice.”

  His eyes softened and he leaned forward to kiss her. “I like to hear your voice, too.”

  They lay there in silence, just gazing at each other before Natalie lay her head on his chest.

  “Did anything… strange happen when you, when we, when you, you know…” she trailed off in exasperation. She was having a hard time getting over her embarrassment when it came to dirty talk.

  She gave a sharp sigh and said, “When we came, something happened to me. Just before and during. Did anything… unusual happen to you?”

  She thought about the lights, about how she was almost positive she was seeing his soul.

  Taavi gave her a squeeze as he chuckled. “Yes, when I came in you, just before that I couldn’t see you anymore. You were just this beautiful light. I swear, Natalie, that I was seeing your soul.”

  “Me too! You were this beautiful, stunning emerald green light – this essence – surrounded by a golden light. It was amazing. And then when I came, you reached toward me, and we became one.”

  “I saw it too, except I saw your soul – your essence. You were this brilliant, pure blue light surrounded by a pure white light. It was,” he narrowed his eyes, searching for the right word to describe the e
xperience, “transcendent. Like I was in a whole different dimension. And then when you reached to me and we merged? I can’t even describe it.”

  “Me neither, but it was beautiful, wasn’t it?”

  He hugged her tight as he whipped the covers over them both. “Yes, it was. Now sleep. Tomorrow we will plan the ceremony,” he looked over at her uncertainly, “if you are still okay with that?”

  Natalie smiled, tenderly cupping his face. “Of course it’s still okay. I’m actually really excited. You’ll be my husband, and I’ll be your wife.” She sighed wistfully. “I only wish that Kayla and Ben could be here for the ceremony.”

  Taavi lay on his back, bringing her with him so she lay on his chest. “I know this has all been very hard on you, and I’m sorry there isn’t anything we can do right now. Do you want to wait to see if we can contact them? We still have the bond, regardless if we have the ceremony just yet.”

  Natalie felt her eyes tear up and overflow, down her cheeks, onto his chest.

  “You would do that? I would like that very much.” She turned her head and kissed his chest above his heart. “Thank you. I love you.”

  I love you so much, other half of my soul.

  Taavi kissed her hair, murmuring, “I would do anything for you, alaila. Anything.”

  I love you, too, soile-miena.

  “Now, let’s sleep. You still have training tomorrow,” Taavi said, laughing when Natalie groaned.

  “Yeah, that is going to suck. Good night.” Natalie snuggled down into Taavi, closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.

  The next morning the sun seeping through the window awoke Natalie. She stretched, giving a small groan when the muscles in her back and arms protested. Clearly training yesterday had turned her body into a mass of sore goo, but spending the night in Taavi’s arms had been heavenly.

  She looked over at his face, peaceful in sleep, and smiled.

  I wonder if I can hear what he’s dreaming.

  Natalie stared at Taavi, trying to focus her thoughts on him and only him. There was a gentle murmur at first, gradually transitioning to actual words.

  Natalie blushed as she heard his thoughts; apparently he was thinking about last night.

  She inched toward the edge of the bed, intensely aware of the ache between her legs. She got off the bed and grabbed her kimono, tugging it on and making her way to the bathroom.

  She got down to business, took a quick shower and was brushing her teeth when she heard, Good morning, my alaila, followed by a pair of arms wrapping around her stomach.

  She had been so lost in her world that she screamed, spitting foam everywhere.

  “Taavi,” she garbled before spitting and rinsing her mouth. “What the heck? We’ve already had this conversation. You need to announce your presence before you touch me. You’re lucky I’m not good at self-defense yet, otherwise I’d have kicked your ass.”

  Taavi chuckled, watching Natalie in the mirror before giving her a quick kiss on the back of her neck. He rubbed his hands along her kimono, until it stopped at mid-thigh where he touched skin.

  “I love this thing, you know. It’s so silky. We need to go shopping to get you some night clothes in a similar material.”

  Natalie snorted. “You just want to feel it against your skin, you weirdo.”

  He took her wet hair down from the bun and pulled until she was looking up and back at him. “True.” He stared into her eyes intently before asking, “Are you sure you want to wait until we find your friends before telling anyone we completed the bond? I’ll support whatever you choose.”

  “How…” Natalie trailed off, confused and then understanding. “You read my mind, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.” He said it without shame, his face completely blank.

  Natalie shook her head. “I don’t know if I am ever going to get used to that. As for if we should tell anyone, I don’t think we shouldn’t not tell them, but I also want to keep my mouth shut so we can see if they will notice a difference.” Natalie reached up to tug her hair away from him, turning to face him. “Who do you think will realize first? My money is on Tali. I swear she’s telepathic.”

  Taavi shook his head. “As much as I agree, I think it will be Andris or Aaden. They are more observant than anyone I know.”

  Natalie raised her eyebrow. “You can’t pick two people. You have to actually choose one. Andris or Aaden.”

  “Fine, I’ll say Aaden. Andris has been withdrawn lately, so I don’t think he’ll be the first to notice.”

  Natalie stuck her hand out and waited for Taavi to grasp it. She gave it a hard pump before wrapping her arms around him.

  “Winner gets to choose the prize. And if it’s someone guessing who wasn’t picked, I still get to choose.”

  “That’s not fair, but fine. Because I love you, I’ll accept those terms. Now hurry up.” He slapped her on the butt and walked to the shower, undressing on the way. “You’ll be late for training. I’ll meet you there.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  “Again.”

  Natalie wrapped her arm around Tali’s neck while the other woman was on her knees.

  They had been practicing how to get out of different chokeholds, with Andris as their teacher. He had been yelling at them for the past hour. Frankly, he wasn’t all that helpful when they were already feeling stressed.

  Tali leaned forward and flipped Natalie over her shoulders, scrambling to pin her to the mat when she was flat on her back.

  “Good. Natalie, your turn. Hurry up.”

  Natalie glared at Andris, wishing for nothing more than to kick him in the nuts.

  He just watched them and bossed them around, being a real pain. She wished Aaren would take over again.

  This time Tali got into position behind Natalie, her arm across her neck and Natalie tried to flip her.

  It wasn’t as if they were sparring, they were just practicing the moves, but it was harder than Natalie was anticipating and she struggled to throw the other woman over her shoulder.

  “Stop. Natalie, you aren’t doing what I told you.” Andris marched over to them, a scowl on his face.

  Natalie got up, brushed her hair from her face, and poked him in the chest.

  “Well, you didn’t show us how to do it, so we are kind of working blind. And stop being such a jerk, I’ll ask Taavi for someone else if you hate it so much.”

  Is everything alright? Do you need me to kick his ass?

  Natalie looked over to Taavi, who was sparring with Hannan and Aaden on the other side of the gymnasium. He was alternating between sparring with his men, and watching Natalie.

  Natalie smiled, sending calm toward Taavi, knowing he was agitated watching her fight. The only thing that made it bearable for him was being able to hear her thoughts.

  No, baby. I’m fine. Andris is just making me angry, nothing out of the ordinary.

  Natalie looked back to see Andris was watching her, giving her a strange look, his head cocked to the side and his eyes squinted.

  He looked over at Taavi, who was still watching them, and his eyes widened before a smile broke over his face.

  Natalie watched, stunned, as he laughed and swooped her up for a hug.

  What the heck is wrong with this man? And why does he have to be so gorgeous. I’ll take the scowling Andris; he’s too pretty otherwise.

  He spun her around, quickly putting her down when he heard Taavi run over. He took a step back, hands in the air, still grinning.

  “What are you doing? Get away from her.” Taavi grabbed Natalie and brought her into his side.

  Tali and the other men moved closer to them, knowing something was up. Tali looked at the grinning Andris to Taavi and Natalie.

  “Why is he smiling?” She looked at Andris. “What’s wrong? Why are you smiling?”

  Andris didn’t take his eyes off Natalie and Taavi, but answered Tali. “Nothing is wrong. It’s not so weird to see me smile, so don’t annoy me. And I’m smiling because I know something appare
ntly none of you have figured out.”

  He knows.

  Taavi’s thought hit Natalie, making Natalie blush as she met Andris’s eyes.

  Tali and the men asked in unison, “Know what?”

  “They completed the bond. Haven’t you been curious as to why they would randomly stare at each other and then smile? They were speaking with each other.”

  Taavi narrowed his eyes. “How do you know? That was supposed to be a secret.”

  Andris rolled his eyes. “I lived with you for a long time. You really didn’t know I found that journal? Plus, you and I talked about it a few weeks ago.”

  “Oh, right. I forgot about that.” Taavi looked around the group, smiling. “Natalie and I have completed the bond. But we are going to wait for the ceremony until we know if Natalie’s friends will be able to attend.”

  Amidst the whoops and hugs, Tali drew Natalie close, hugging her tightly, sniffling. “I finally have a sister. Thank you, Natalie.”

  Natalie felt her eyes tear in happiness. “Thank you, Tali; for being my friend and sister. Not to get all mushy, but I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you and Taavi.”

  You okay, love? Need me to kick Tali’s ass?

  Natalie looked over at Taavi, finding him in the middle of a man huddle, smiling at her and Tali, his eyes soft.

  No, I’m okay. Just overwhelmed. And you need to stop threatening to kick everyone’s ass. She squinted her eyes at him, a smirk pulling at her lips. I won, you know. That means I get to call the prize.

  Taavi’s mouth pulled into a mock frown. You do not. Tali didn’t guess, Andris did. That means I won.

  No way! You chose Aaden remember? And we agreed that if someone who wasn’t chosen guessed, I still won. I have something very… intriguing in mind.

  “Get a room. Quit looking at each other like that, it’s making me uncomfortable,” Hannan complained, pulling away from the man huddle. He grabbed Taavi, pulling him toward the hanging bags. “Now, congratulations and all, but I want to get out of here on time. I have a hot date I need to prepare for.”