Inevitable Detour (Inevitability Book 1)(63)

When I step across the threshold, it’s into near darkness. All the lights are out, but there are slim streams of moonlight coming through the blinds. Farren is asleep, so I step around the room carefully, trying to get ready for bed as quietly as possible so as not to wake him. I throw on an old tee and strip down to my undies. After a quick pit stop in the en suite bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face, I return to the bedroom. Gently, I start to climb into bed, but Farren wakes up immediately.

“Hey,” he says drowsily as he rolls onto his back. “What time is it?”

The sheet has slipped down, and it’s clear he has on no clothes.

“Um,” I reply. I hate to tear my eyes away from his buff, beautiful body, but I do when I quickly check the time on the clock by the bed. “It’s after three.”

Despite the late hour, a wave of lust washes over me. I slip off my tee, tug my undies down my legs, and lie down next to Farren, completely nude.

Farren slips his arm under me, while I lean over and drop tiny kisses across his wide, smooth chest. When I weave my hand under the sheet, I wrap my hand around his hardening length.

He sucks in a breath. “Essa…”

I start to stroke him. “Do you want me to stop?” I ask coyly. “It is awfully late,” I add, my tone light and teasing. “And you were sleeping so soundly.”

“Don’t you dare stop,” he warns.

Farren suddenly flips me onto my back and settles between my legs. I’m so ready for him already. I shift my hips so he can feel just how much I want him.

“What do you want, Essa?” he asks as he holds off on entering me. I look into his eyes. This is no longer about lust only.

I say, with emotion choking my voice, “You.” One loaded word.

“You have me,” he replies, slowly slipping inside of me. Three loaded words.

Do I? I think to myself.

Farren moves in and out of me so slowly, so sweetly. Our eyes never leave one another. He smiles, pulls out, plunges back in. And I know then and there that I’ve gone and fallen completely in love with Farren Shaw. There’s no going back now. This is no longer a fantasy. This is no longer maybes and perhapses—this is for real.

The intensity of my realization chokes me up, and when I release a stuttered cry, Farren places his palm on my cheek. Stilling inside of me, he asks, “Are you okay, Essa? Do you want to stop?”

“No, no, no.” A tear slides down my cheek. He wipes it away. “Don’t stop, Farren,” I beg.

“Okay,” he whispers.

“Please, don’t leave me,” I add. Four loaded words.

He starts to move again, but now he cups both sides of my face. “I’ll never leave you, Essalin,” he says tenderly. He takes my hand and touches it to his chest where his heart is. “You’re in here,” he tells me. Three more loaded words.

All these words, all these emotions, I am blown apart at the seams. I come. And I cry. And though nobody utters the words, I know Farren loves me, just as I love him.

Yeah, the mighty, strong Farren Shaw can fight most anything. But he can’t fight what is destined. He can’t fight his own inevitable detour—me.





The next morning, we wake early. Farren holds me in his arms, stroking my hair. We don’t speak for the longest time. Instead, we allow ourselves to enjoy the feel of each other’s bodies pressed close, held close, held tight. We linger, holding on to each other like this might be the last time we’re together.

Thing is, I know in my heart that something is about to happen. Maybe Farren knows it, too.

Like a precursor to this unknown something, he says, “I have to leave later today, Essa.”

I sit up, the sheet tumbling to my waist. “What? Why? Where are you going?”

He looks up at me, his face angelically beautiful. “You saw what they did to my sister.”

I nod, and he says, “Well, that will absolutely not go unpunished.”

“You’re going to search out Eric?” My shaky voice betrays my rising panic.

“Yes. And anyone else who hurt her.”

I don’t know why, but I feel compelled to make sure Farren knows Vincent didn’t do all the awful things Eric did to Haven. I guess I don’t want Farren killing the wrong guy.

“For the record,” I say, “Haven claimed Vincent never touched her.”

“Is that so?” Farren replies, his expression thoughtful.

I bite my lip and bravely inquire, “Is he, by chance, with you guys?”

“No.”

“Well, in any case, he left Haven alone. She said he even tried to protect her when Eric got too…out of hand.”

I feel Farren’s hand, at my lower back, clench into a fist. “I’ll keep all that in mind,” he says tightly.

I trace circles on his chest. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

He pulls me down to him and kisses me softly. “I’ll be careful, Essalin. I promise.”

“It seems we’re always making promises,” I say.

“It’s the nature of the beast, babe.”

“I suppose.” I lower my body so that my head is resting on his chest. I listen to his strong heartbeats and ask, “Will you be gone long?”

I feel him breathe in deeply and then exhale. “I don’t know,” he says. “If things go well, I’ll be back in a couple of days.”