I looked into his face and wasn’t surprised to see that his eyes were dilated and filled with intense longing. His mouth hovered over mine, waiting for me to close the distance of an inch. I stretched up on the balls of my feet, but I sunk into the sand when I felt something else seep through our connection.
Deception.
Even after his confession, he was still purposely hiding things from me.
“Don’t fight it, Ellie,” he groaned, and his mouth covered mine.
It was all too much for me to resist. Getting lost in the intensity of the experience, I wrapped my free hand around the back of his head as his tongue coaxed my lips apart and explored my mouth.
I wanted him. All reason fled and my only thought was to be with him in every sense of the word. Nothing made me feel so complete as when I was one with Collin, and I was desperate to feel whole again. I reached for the button of his shorts . . .
Suddenly I felt myself falling into a dark abyss.
I was in the valley where I’d seen my father weeks ago, only now the sky was overcast, tinting the scene a dingy gray. The flowers were wilted and dying, and the air was thick and heavy and difficult to suck into my lungs.
“I wish we were meeting under different circumstances.”
I’d recognize that voice anywhere. I spun around, my heart racing. Okeus sat on a tall-backed wooden chair that resembled a mini throne. The tall grass was trampled flat underneath the chair and in a three-foot circle around it. He was dressed in modern clothes again—a pair of dark gray dress pants and a pale-gray dress shirt tailored to fit his toned body, the first two buttons of the collar open. His black hair was cropped short, and his piercing, dark, almost black eyes were pinned to my face. “Ellie, come speak with me.” He gestured to the path of flattened grass that led from me to him.
“I don’t want to be here. Send me back.” I spun around in a circle, looking for an escape. The last time I’d met Okeus like this had been in a dream. The only reason I had escaped was because I’d screamed for David, who had woken me up and saved me. Who would save me now?
Okeus crossed his legs, his mouth twisting in irritation. “There’s no need to be so dramatic, Ellie. I don’t plan on stealing your virtue today, although I have to wonder how much virtue you actually possess.” He placed both hands on the arms of the chair and grinned. “You were about to fuck Collin on a public beach in front of families with children.”
Horror flooded me. He was right. What had happened to me?
He shook his head and tsked. “No need for shame, Ellie. It’s not surprising. You and Collin were handpicked for one another. The perfect match in every way.” Okeus stood and took a step toward me. “Did you know your mother had five miscarriages before giving birth to you?”
“No.” I knew my parents had experienced infertility issues, which explained why Momma was in her late thirties and Daddy in his forties when she got pregnant with me. But I didn’t know about the miscarriages.
“Do you know why?” He looked amused.
I shook my head. But the truth hit me as soon as he opened his mouth to gloat.
“Those pregnancies were unacceptable. Three were boys, which automatically ruled them out since Collin isn’t gay. One of the girls was deemed incompatible. She would have been too meek and Collin wouldn’t have given her the time of day. The second would have developed leukemia at age six, then died ten years later. Finally, there was you.” He grinned and took several steps toward me, stopping two feet in front of me. “And you were perfect. A fire that would catch his interest. A stubbornness to keep him on his toes.” Okeus lifted his hand to my cheek, running his fingertips down to my jaw. “A beauty that would draw him to you. The fact that you are a witness to creation was a lucky coincidence.”
I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around myself. My thin sundress was soaking wet and clung to every curve of my body. “There are no coincidences in any of this.”
His gaze fell to my right hand. “Take that ring on your hand. If only you knew its history, its intended purpose.”
I curled my fingers into a fist.
A devious grin spread across his face. “No coincidences? Are you so sure of that? Granted, many things have been finely orchestrated, more nuanced than you can imagine, but even Ahone can’t control the Manitou. It is a force greater than all of us.” His knuckles slid down my bare arm. “He could control your characteristics. Your personality. But he couldn’t bestow you with your pure soul. That was out of his control, as hard as it must be for the creator god to accept. But you can be sure that once he realized his good fortune, he chose to use it to his advantage.”
“For what purpose? I could have been anyone and all Collin had to do was grab my hand to break the curse.”
A grin spread across the god’s face. “Now there is a good question. But there’s no arguing that you were meant to be Collin’s, Ellie.”
This was surreal. “I thought you wanted me for yourself.”
“What I need from you is easily enough given. I’ll impregnate you. You’ll gestate my child, then give birth. If it’s successful, we’ll repeat the process.”
Disgust nauseated me. “You’re such a romantic. A girl needs a little wining and dining, you know.”
He lifted his eyebrows with a half shrug. “I tried that last time and it didn’t work. I’ve decided to take a more direct approach.”
“Sorry. Still not interested. And why would you care if Collin and I get together?”