Page 63 of Fated to Her

“Anywhere but this room. It’s been hours, Eli.”

“Come on, then,” he says, holding his hand out to me, and I excitedly jump up.

I grab his hand, and he jerks me toward him, his other hand going to my hair as he makes me look up at him.

“You stay by my side,” he says.

I nod.

I’ll agree to anything if it means getting out of this dusty room. He kisses my forehead, then opens the door. He snatches a shirt and pulls it on. He then pulls a holstered knife with a strap on it and lifts my pant leg up before tightening the strap and securing it.

“Just in case,” he says, pulling my pant leg down. He kisses my thigh, then stands up, taking my hand. Trotting outside, the sun lights up the village. Being surrounded by trees keeps the place pretty shaded except at this time of the day when the sun is high in the sky.

“Want to go swimming?” he asks me.

I look up at him. “I have no bathing suit.”

“You won’t need it,” he says before tugging me around the back of the house and toward the tree line.

I stop, and so does he, looking back at me.

“It’s not far. Do you want to go out or not?” he asks, and I glance back at the house before nodding.

Surrounding the small village are grain fields people are tending with baskets. Eli continues to tug me along until we come across rows and rows of solar panels explaining how the pack gets power out here. Just past the solar panels is the tree line—the dark, ominous forest that gives me the creeps. It’s the middle of the day and not a speck of sunlight penetrates the high trees, leaving it just as dark of a day as it is at night. However, I can see outlines of the trees instead of just darkness.

“Come here,” Eli says, holding his arms out to me. I place my hands on his shoulders and he grasps my hips and lifts me. I wrap my legs around his waist before resting my chin on his shoulder.

“How far?” I ask him.

“Ten minutes tops, promise,” he says, pressing his lips to my cheek.

I tighten my arms around his neck as he starts moving. The forest smells damp, like mold.

I don’t like it.

Eli, though, is right, and it doesn’t take long before he slows. Opening my eyes, I see we are on an incline. Eli continues to walk up the hill before it turns flat, and the sound of rushing water meets my ears.

Looking over my shoulder, there’s a waterfall, and this part actually has sun; though even with the sun, the water looks black, and you can’t see the bottom like I would have expected.

“Clarissa used to bring Emery and me here when we were kids in the summer,” Eli says, putting me down. He grabs my hand, pulling me toward a rock that sits on the edge. He places his hand in the water.

“It isn’t too cold,” he says.

“Said the man who can’t feel heat,” I tell him before reaching down and touching the water. “Oh, you’re right. It isn’t too cold.”

“Yeah, I figured it couldn’t be too cold since I felt nothing at all.” He chuckles and tugs on my shirt. He peels it off, then unclips my bra. I cover myself, glancing around at the trees.

“Addie, no one will come out while we are out here, I promise.” He takes my hands and pulls me to my feet.

I unbutton my jeans, pulling them off, and Eli, unbuckles the strap on my leg, removing the knife. He places them on the rock that hangs over the water.

“I feel very exposed,” I tell him.

“No one will come out here. Not from the pack, anyway,” Eli tells me, pulling my hands away from my body as I try to cover myself. He strips his pants then tugs me closer to him, his hand gently caressing my bump.

He then steps off the rock, splashing water on me as he lands in the water.

“It’s deeper than it looks,” he says, holding his hand up to me.