Destiny Redeemed (3 page)

Callia
was a source of regret and loss for him, even a year after seeing her for the
last time just before he’d been taken from her to Nil. The betrayal in her eyes
still stayed in his memory, and it made him wince. He’d truly loved her—maybe
still loved her—but as he lay there now, he knew for certain she’d only cared
for him because she hadn’t known about her destined one and no matter of
manipulating time would ever have changed that.

And
what of his own destined one, Sevine? He thought of her refusal to even remain
with him and wondered what her existence had become after turning him away as
her destined one. So much he’d done wrong in his lifetimes.

And
Victoria. Her death after what he’d done had tormented him during his time in
Nil, when he’d had nothing else to think of other than the actions of
forty-seven lifetimes and the torture that awaited him for three more. Her
death, more than anything else, was the true indictment of him as a selfish,
cruel man.

Pushing
these memories from his mind, Amon reopened his eyes to look at Gethen. He
remembered the moment they’d met and felt vindicated by at least this one
action. Perhaps he wasn’t a complete monster.

His
freedom from Nil presented him with many opportunities, however, and he had no
intention of sitting around regretting his past. A new world awaited him, and
he planned to grab it with both hands.

“What
do you plan to do with Markku, Amon?”

“Markku’s
the least of my concerns. In fact, I plan on keeping him around for a while.”

Gethen’s
face clearly showed his displeasure at the prospect of spending more time with
the magickian, and Amon smiled at the thought.

“I’ll
make sure he’s kept busy away from you, my friend. I know how you feel about
him.”

“If
you could just keep him silent, I’d praise the gods.”

Nodding
in agreement, Amon explained, “I know, but we’re going to need his talents if
we want to enjoy any of the things life has in store for us. The Council isn’t
going to let me stay free if they can help it. I’m too big a prize for them not
to try their damnedest to return me to that hellhole. And he’s going to prove
very useful in my plans for Varek.”

As
Amon spoke, the pain from his leg spiked and he grimaced. Gethen’s expression
became clouded with worry, but as the pain subsided, Amon waved away his worry.

“Gethen,
I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I just need a few
days to heal. Did you have Markku make sure we couldn’t be found?”

“Yes.
But your leg is going to need more than a few days, Amon.”

“That’s
what the healer’s for. Don’t worry. Everything will be back to the way it was
in no time.”

They
sat quietly for a while, but as Amon rested, he saw the look of concern that
had settled onto his friend’s face. “Gethen, what’s on your mind?”

“Amon,
I’ve served you these seven lifetimes, attending to your estates, your money,
everything you’ve commanded of me. I’ve watched as...I wonder if now isn’t the
time to change the past?”

“Change
the past?” Amon asked as he raised both eyebrows in disbelief.

“Yes,
in a way. I’ve served you faithfully as your servant, a willing slave in return
for your saving me all those years ago. But now that you’ve freed me, I hope I
may speak freely.”

Amon
sat up in his bed intrigued by his friend’s words and bothered by the use of
“slave” to describe him.

“Gethen,
you were always more than a servant. If you have something to say, then speak
what’s on your mind. You’re my friend and have been for longer than you
believe.”

Swallowing
hard, Gethen hesitated and then began slowly. “You’ve been alone for lifetimes,
Amon. Perhaps it’s time to consider why.”

“I
haven’t been alone, as you yourself can attest to. Think back to where you
found me this lifetime. I wouldn’t call how you found me that day alone.”

Before
Gethen had a chance to explain, Amon continued. “And the lifetime before that?
I don’t think alone would be the proper description for that either.”

“You’re
intentionally misunderstanding me,” Gethen answered in exasperation. “Having
French farm girls service you and manipulating time to abduct another man’s
destined one don’t count as proof you aren’t alone.”

Amon’s
flashed an annoyed look at him, letting his eyes change to almost black to
signal to Gethen that he’d gone too far.

“I’m
sorry. I’m out of line,” he said quietly as he lowered his head.

Amon
breathed deeply and considered what his friend had said. While his words had
stung, they hadn’t been untrue. Slowly, his eyes changed back to their original
blue as he accepted Gethen’s point.

“So
what do you suggest, my friend?”

“Perhaps
it’s time to seek out your destined one?”

“Sevine?”
Amon answered in disbelief.

“She
is the woman you’re supposed to be with. Your destined one. Even as a Sidhe, I
know that means something.”

Amon
thought back to the last time he saw his destined one—the day she formally
refused to continue to act as the woman destiny had chosen for him. He
remembered the cold look in her eyes as she told him the man he’d become was
enough to make her turn her back on seventeen lifetimes. And he remembered her
threat to use a witch’s spell to bind his powers.

“My
destined one wants nothing to do with me, Gethen.”

“And
why is that?”

“What
are you getting at, Gethen? Speak your mind.”

Gathering
his courage, the Sidhe answered, “You’re alone, unwanted by your destined one,
because of your actions. Perhaps this new chapter after Nil offers you a chance
to repair your past.”

“To
regain the love of Sevine?”

“Yes.”

“That’s
lost to me forever. All I have is the future now.”

Amon
closed his eyes and tried to remember a time when he’d simply been happy with a
woman. Even though he’d tried with Callia and had truly loved her, the
knowledge that she was another man’s had haunted every day of their time
together. He had to go back lifetimes before that—even before his destined one
had forsaken him—back to the last lifetime his destined one and he had truly
loved one another as Basir and Neylan .

As
he remembered his time as a humble Turkish trader, Amon thought back to the day
he married his destined one in that lifetime so long ago.

Dishes
of food sat scattered along the tables as the wedding guests began to say their
goodbyes and wish them well. He felt Neylan’s hand slip away from his as she walked
around the tables to clear away the guests’ dishes. Walking up behind her, he took
them from her hands as he nuzzled her neck.

“Leave
them for the servants. We have better things to do now.”

Neylan
turned in his arms to face him and smiled. “Basir, you’ve known me as a woman
before. I’m afraid I’m the same woman I was yesterday.”

“No,
today you became my wife. Now you are different.”

“And
am I different from the destined one you’ve had for thirteen lifetimes?”

He
took her hands in his and squeezed them. “Neylan, you are forever Sevine who
rescued me from loneliness and solitude all those lifetimes ago. No matter
whatever occurs, you are the woman destined for me.”

She
wrapped her arms around his strong body and held him close to her, as he
comforted her with the fact that once again she was safe with the one meant for
her. As the last of the wedding guests left, the couple stood in the cool grass
outside their new home together, more in love than either of them could ever remember
feeling.

Basir
looked at the house they were to spend the rest of their life in—in truth,
little more than a shack—and wished he could give Neylan more than the meager
life of a trader. He’d had more to offer her in past lifetimes and feared her
memories of those homes and belongings.

“I
may not have much now, but I promise to work hard to give you everything you
deserve.”

“Please
don’t worry, Basir. I have everything I need in you. I don’t need anything else
to be happy. Just you.”

He
dipped his head to kiss her and smelled the warm spiciness familiar to her. Her
lips met his, and he tasted the remnants of wine on her tongue when she teased
the inside of his mouth. He felt dizzy from the feelings she created in him.

Unable
to contain his desire for her after waiting hours for wedding guests to leave,
he took her hand and led her to the bedroom inside the house they’d now share.
In the moonlight that streamed in through the shutters, she looked like an
angel sent just for him.

Gently,
he undressed her, removing the simple dress she’d worn to become his wife just
hours earlier in front of friends and family. As she stood naked in front of
him, he couldn’t help but stare as his eyes drank in the beauty of her.

“I
love you with all my heart, Neylan.”

“And
I love you, Basir,” she said sweetly as she helped him remove his leggings and
tunic. Beneath them awaited a body she’d adored before their marriage, but the
thought of her mouth and hands exploring him now excited him even more.

He
watched as her hands traveled thought the black hair on his chest that narrowed
to a thin, dark trail down to even darker hair nestled around his erect cock.
The feel of her fingers as she took him into her hand aroused him even more,
and he moaned softly.

Before
he gave in to the feel of her hand surrounding him, he led her to the bed and
laid her down. Feathering kisses over her breasts and softly rounded stomach,
he let his desire lead him to the dark triangle between her legs. With his
fingers, he gently opened her and traced a single finger down her seam to the
waiting wetness below. The soft moans he heard above him told him she enjoyed
his attention as much as he loved giving it.

He
fought back the urge to take her, instead touching her softly with his tongue
and tasting just a sample of the sweetness that would soon be his. Slowly, he
caressed her soft skin with his tongue, licking from her swollen nub to her wet
entrance that begged him to taste her.

Each
flick of his tongue excited her more than the last until the moans he heard
from above told him she was close. With one last gentle suck on her excited
clitoris, he felt her go over the edge and eagerly inserted two fingers into
her to prolong her pleasure.

When
the final spasms of her release trailed off, he slid up her body to kiss her
and show her his appreciation for what she’d just given him. As she rolled him
over onto his back, he waited for her to give him that same release.

“Neylan,”
he whispered and thought how true her name’s meaning—fulfilled wish—was.  She
was everything he could ask for in a destined one, a gift he treasured.

He
felt her mouth begin to tentatively suck on the swollen head of his cock,
creating sensations that nearly took his breath away. Lifetimes together had
made her touch perfect. She knew every spot that excited him.

Over
and over again, her lips slid down his shaft and then back to the tip as her
tongue danced over each sensitive area. When he was unable to hold back any
longer, he exploded into her mouth as she took all he offered.

Amon
shook his head to dispel the memories from his mind. But they remained, and
thoughts of his destined one’s sweet surrender later that night haunted him
instead of soothing him for those times, when he happily lived a modest life as
a trader in western Turkey with a woman who loved him with her very being, were
long gone. Lifetimes of actions Basir could never conceive of, much less
commit, had sealed Amon’s solitary fate.

And
didn’t he deserve it? He’d acted selfishly when the choices of kindness and
generosity were readily available. He’d hurt his fellow Aeveren without a
second thought, often with no concern even when he’d seen the terrible effects
of his actions.

Could
he ever regain the love of his destined one? Gethen’s suggestion had planted
the seed in his mind, but Amon forced himself to admit that choice had been
taken away from him and rightfully so.

No,
he’d spend the remainder of his lifetimes without the love of his destined one.
But he didn’t seek to change the past as Gethen did. He’d made his choices, and
he’d live with them.

For
now, he needed to focus on getting healthy enough to travel. When he could, the
world and time would both be his oysters. There would be no place or period
unavailable to him once he was well and his powers were restored.

His
time in Nil had shown him the value of not only freedom but his powers. Now
he’d use both to their full extent, with no regrets. Until fate showed him a
reason to think of the past, it would stay right where it belonged. 

In
the past.

Amon
turned toward Gethen and grinned. “Thank you for caring about me, friend, but
I’ve thought about it and decided the future is where my focus should be.”

“I
understand,” Gethen said somberly, “but just as I must deal with my past, you
too must face yours someday.”

“Well,
I’ll let you deal with that, but don’t let your need to repent get in the way
of our future. The world is waiting, my friend. There are good times to be
had.”

Gethen
cocked his head and quietly disagreed. “The past can’t be that easily
dismissed, Amon, no matter how much we wish it could.”

Chapter Three

From
the floor below a terrible pounding noise broke the silence, and Gethen jumped
from his chair to find out the source of the racket. As he left the room, he
shot Amon a reassuring look to tell him he would handle things.