Destiny's Shift (29 page)

smile. “Welcome to back to Reno.”

Liberty stood up and exited the plane.

She was dying to know where Jovan was, but didn’t have the courage to ask. Her

anger had ebbed while in San Francisco, and now she just wanted to be in his arms, and

felt envy as Beverly and Abby were greeted so warmly with bone-crushing hugs and

passionate kisses. When Faith asked where Rayner was, Hudson said he stayed back at

this silo to prepare a little surprise for her.

“I love surprises!” she exclaimed.

The hour ride back to Fernley was uneventful, and as they pulled off the dirt road,

Liberty felt her stomach lurch. She was so exhausted, yet she needed to clear the air with

Jovan. She shouldn’t have gotten so angry with him, but she couldn’t help herself at the

time.

The first gate slid open, and a minute later, a second one, and she stepped out into

the frigid air. Noah and Hudson grabbed their bags from the back, and they made their

way through the snow to the stairs.

Liberty stared at the ground, never having seen snow before. She reached down to

touch it, the coldness making her shiver and the tips of her fingers numb. If she hadn’t

been so tired she might have played around in it a little bit.

Their boots clanked up the metal stairs, and Noah put in the code that opened the

thick, steel door. They went down two flights of metal stairs as the door swished to a

close behind them. Noah went to the second door, where he punched in another code on

another keypad, and the second steel door opened.

As they walked into the kitchen area, Liberty had the distinct feeling of being

home.

As the couples headed for the elevator to go to their respective quarters, Liberty

found herself alone. She longed for Jovan’s arms, and she wondered if he would ever

hold her again. Her anger had gotten the best of her, and she now regretted her words.

Sighing, Liberty went back to the elevator and got in. Taking a deep breath she hit

the button for Jovan’s floor. The elevator lurched a bit, and then dinged quietly a moment

later, the doors opening.

The heavy wooden door of Jovan’s quarters stood before her. She took a couple of

steps and brought her fist up to knock.

She couldn’t do it. If he hadn’t come to greet her, he obviously didn’t want

anything to do with her. Pushing the button to the elevator, tears stung her eyes.

Suddenly, the large wooden door opened behind her.

“Hey, Blake, I heard the elevator. Why—”

She turned. Jovan stood before her wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and some

sneakers. Her heart beat wildly, her temperature spiked, and heat exploded in her cheeks

and her core.

“Liberty,” he said in a quiet voice. He looked tired.

“Hello.”

He didn’t say anything, just stared at her, which made her terribly uncomfortable.

“I–I see that you are expecting Blake. My apologies for the intrusion.”

She turned and pushed the button for the elevator again, wishing it would hurry.

“We were going to work out,” Jovan said.

Looking over her shoulder, she gave him a slight smile. “I hope you enjoy

yourselves.”

Blasted. What was taking this elevator so long?

“Um . . . would you like to come in, Liberty?”

She turned around and faced him. They stared at each other for a beat, and then

she heard the door to the elevator slide open behind her. If she took a couple steps

backward, she could escape.

But the question was, did she want to?

The elevator door closed, giving her the answer.

“Yes, I would like that, Jovan.”

Chapter 63

Jovan heard the elevator arrive on his floor just as he was finishing tying his shoe.

While he looped and pulled, he wondered what was taking Blake so long to knock on the

door. They had made plans to do a little hand-to-hand training down in the gym.

Saying he was surprised to see Liberty standing there would not be accurate. He

had been floored.

He hadn’t gone to the airport to get her, and he hadn’t waited around upstairs for

her to arrive home. Going back to being the crabby child, he decided she could come find

him.

And she had.

She stood before him, the same Liberty, but different. She wore a blue sweater,

jeans, and boots. Nothing new there. However, he noticed some physical differences,

such as her brown hair was tinted with . . . blue highlights? Her ears were also pierced

now with small diamond earrings, and she even had a small diamond stud on the side of

her nose.

But the way she carried herself was different as well. When he had last seen her,

she had been confident, but now it was though her confidence soared. Her shoulders were

pushed back a little farther, and she met his gaze head on without any hesitancy.

He loved the physical changes, as well as the personality transformations, and that

only made him want her more.

Like he needed that.

When she said she would come in, he felt like he had just won the lotto.

Shutting them in, he went to the phone and dialed Blake. “Hey. Yeah, I’m going to

be a while.”

He glanced at Liberty. She was standing in the middle of the room looking around

as if she was seeing the place for the first time.

“I don’t know how long. Go down without me if you want, and I’ll catch up with

you later.”

He hung up the phone and Liberty turned around. “I don’t want to keep you from

your planned activities,” she said.

“It’s fine. Just me and Blake rolling around on the mats downstairs. There’re

about a thousand other ways I’d like to spend my time.”

Liberty smiled.

Jovan walked over to the overstuffed chairs and motioned her to follow. When

they were seated, he asked, “How was your trip?”

“It was wonderful, thank you for asking.”

He couldn’t do the small talk. He had to get down to business.

“Look, Liberty, I’m sorry. I was a complete jackass. It’s just that . . . it’s that I’ve

never put myself out there and cared about anyone before. I’ve always kept to myself,

held fast and strong on the boundaries I set up for myself.”

He stopped talking and met Liberty’s gaze. She stared at him expectantly, and he

could see she wasn’t going to make this easy. She was going to make him say everything.

So, onward.

“I’ve seen a lot of ugly shit in my life, Liberty,” he said quietly, running his hand

through his hair and shifting his gaze to the floor. “I’ve seen what the Colonists do, and

I’ve seen what the humans are capable of. It’s an ugly world out there, and the thought of

the one I love, the one person who understands me, out there without me to protect her,

made me sick with worry. And fear. And so . . . yeah, all that worry and fear came out

with me acting like a complete asshole.”

There was a small stretch of silence.

Finally, Liberty said, “And I apologize for becoming so angry. I should have

realized why you were acting the way you did, but I had this voice screaming in my head

that I’m not in servitude any longer, and no one is going to tell me what to do.”

He nodded, and their eyes met. She stood and came over to him, kneeling at his

feet. Placing her hands on his knees, she stared up at him.

He felt her trying to probe his thoughts and feelings, and he fought it.

Let me in, Jovan.

Damn it. Her gift was so much stronger than his.

Sighing, he let down his shield.

If you will have me, I would very much like to become your mate again.

Jovan stared at her, unable to believe what he was hearing. He wondered if his

brain was making all this up.

No, it’s not. Just like when you were in that truck, what you’re hearing is real.

“What changed?”

Liberty shrugged and looked around the room as though she was searching for

answers written on the walls or carved into the carpet.

Finally, her gaze came back to his. “I love you, Jovan. I believe we can work

together to find a common ground where I am able to do as I please, and your protective

side is satisfied with my comings and goings. Perhaps we can even find ways to explore

this world together.”

He imagined her on a motorcycle and realized Christmas shopping was going to

be a snap this year.

“Well, then,” he said. Liberty wanted to be his, and he sure as shit wanted to be

hers. He’d just spun all cherries on the slot machine. His body roared and his mind reeled

with one thought. “I want to make love to my mate-to-be.”

Liberty laughed. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

He bent down and kissed her gently, and her arms snaked around his neck. Lifting

her up, her legs circled his waist, and he marched over to the bed. Setting her down, he

kneeled before her and brought the sweater over her head and tossed it to the floor.

Expecting to see some colored silk, he was surprised to lay his eyes on black. And what

was this made out of? Holy shit. No. Was she . . . ? “Is this leather?” he asked as he

cupped her breasts.

“Yes.” She sounded like she was purring.

His sweet, little, Liberty was wearing a black leather bra, and he hadn’t seen

anything so fucking erotic in all of his time. His shaft quivered in his pants, begging for

release. Yeah, he liked the bra, but he liked what it housed better.
Let’s get the party

started, for God sakes.

Noticing something on her breast, he flicked the bra open and brought it down her

shoulders, throwing it to the floor. He stopped, unable to believe what he was seeing.

On her breast, right where her heart was located, was a tattoo of a red heart with J

in the middle of it. It was still a little red, so this was some fresh ink.

He sat back on his heels, stunned. “You got a tattoo.” His brilliance really knew

no bounds.

“Yes.”

As he stared at the tattoo, he wasn’t certain what to say. The J wasn’t some pretty,

flowery letter, it was a strong font, something that looked old worldly with thick lines and

strong curves.

“San Francisco was so much fun. We passed a tattoo and piercing parlor, and I

thought of your tattoo and what you said about most tattoos having meaning. I wanted

your initial over my heart. Remember when you kissed me there and told me that you

could feel my heart fluttering beneath your lips?”

Oh, hell yeah. He remembered. Males didn’t forget stuff like that. He still didn’t

know what to say, but he gently brought his mouth down to the tattoo and felt her heart

jump.

“Do you like it?” she asked.

“I do like it, Liberty. I like it a lot.”

His tongue flicked over her nipple, and he stood up while pushing her back on the

bed. He pulled off her boots, and his hands shook as he undid the button of her jeans, but

he had them off her quickly.

Again, he was greeted with black leather.

Oh, man.

“You’re killing me here, Liberty,” he said through a constricted throat. Gazing

over her from head to toe, he took it all in. The blue highlights in her hair. The diamonds

in her ears, and the small one at the side of her nose. That damn sexy tattoo. The leather

underwear.

Shutting his eyes, he decided he had never been this cranked before, and he

thought about the football game he had watched a few days ago to prevent coming right

then and there.

“Jovan?”

He looked down at her.

“Why are you still clothed?”

Wasn’t that a great question?

He quickly disrobed and laid on top of Liberty, her skin feeling soft to his touch.

“Jovan, please remove my panties!”

How the hell had he forgotten that? Hell, his brain felt like Jell-O.

He kneeled before her again. He tried to rip the string, but the leather was too

strong.

Liberty laughed as he slid them off her legs. “I guess these are one set of panties

I’m going to be able to keep!”

He chuckled and came back up on the bed. Lying down next to her, he picked her

up and put her on top of him. He watched as she stood him up and he slowly disappeared

within her.

Closing his eyes, he allowed his body to feel every sensation as his hands gently

traced over her skin and she moved up and down his pulsating shaft.

He looked up at her and opened his mind, feeling her emotions, the sensations she

was experiencing, and sharing his with her. It was the most intimate that he had ever been

with another, and bonded together in body and thought, they truly became one.

I love you, Liberty.

She smiled down at him and brought her mouth to his.
I know. I can feel it.

As he stared up at Liberty, Jovan smiled at the changes in his life. He had gone

from someone who was truly alone, to a male about to mated. His destiny had been

changed dramatically, as had Liberty’s. She had gone from a docile female born into

servitude, to a strong, confident female.

In fact, both of their destinies had been completely shifted.

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