Raiden (Sons of the Fallen, #6)

by Jaclyn Osborn

More. More food, more muscle, more sex. I could never get enough. It was like being parched, but no amount of water could ever quench my thirst. No amount of food could fill the emptiness in my stomach. And an infinite number of touches still wouldn’t cure my hunger for intimacy. My insatiable appetite threatened to consume me most days. But I got by. I had to. Pizza helped.

A weird prickling zapped at my chest. More than once, I’d caught myself looking at Titan. And maybe a part of me had been hoping he’d approach. But he never did. I guess he’d had nothing to say. I could’ve approached him, but just the thought made my stomach do flips. Made my palms sweat too. I didn’t know why. Best not dwell on it.

“Destined mates.” Baxter scoffed. “Fate is a bitch, isn’t it?” A pang hit me square in the chest and bounced around my rib cage. A bond. Fate. A connection you couldn’t fight. And now I’m thinking of Raiden. Again. “I wouldn’t know.”

Attraction had always been different for me. I very rarely found myself smitten with someone. Sex was one thing, but feeling a genuine spark with another person—crushing on them—was about as rare as me seeing pizza and not eating it. But there was no mistaking it. I was drawn to Titan. Attracted. He was my uneaten slice of pizza. And damn did I want to devour him.

The beginning of a laugh tried to work its way up my throat, but I stopped it before it could fully form. Anything involving Raiden was a slippery slope. Laughing. Smelling the musk of his skin. His goofy, endearing personality. Finally claiming his lips like I’d done so many times in my dreams. What stopped me? Why did I keep my distance and fight this connection? Fear of the unknown, mostly. I’d never felt this way before about anyone.

He winked at me. “I ain’t scared of you.” The laugh I had worked so hard to hold back finally burst free. It was unstoppable, just like my growing affection for the muscled Nephilim by my side with the goofy, dimpled grin. Raiden was like a burst of color on a gray canvas. His bright, sunny personality was wholesome. His smiles were genuine, never contrived. Maybe that’s why I was so drawn to him—and why I couldn’t stay away.

“I find it sad, watching the sun fade and darkness take its place. Saying goodbye to another day.” “It’s not goodbye,” I said. “It’s just ‘see you later.’ Because the sun will rise again.” Brow wrinkled, he focused on me. “Are you always so optimistic?” I shrugged. “I just like to focus on the good in life and not dwell on what I can’t change, ya know? I can’t stop the sun from setting, but I can greet the stars and embrace the night as I wait for the warmth again.”

“More,” I whispered against his lips. Always more. Nothing was ever enough. I was forever starving. For food. For intimacy. For this moment right now.

“I feel something. Right here.” He touched the middle of his chest. “I felt it when you… well, when you came inside me. Like an achy pressure. I’ve got butterflies too. Big ones. They’re just flappin’ away in my belly. Sounds silly, huh?” “No. It doesn’t.” I linked our fingers. Nerves, butterflies, call it whatever, but what he described? “I feel it too.” “Maybe we’re both just hungry.” I lowered my head to his shoulder, fighting a laugh. There he went being so oblivious again. “Yeah. Maybe we are.”

“We’re at war, Raiden,” Titan said, voice soft as he caressed the side of my neck. “That should be our sole focus. But.” His other hand lifted to the back of my head, his metal fingers threading through the short strands of my hair. “I’ve fought this for so long. I thought pursuing you was pointless. Because even if you shared my feelings, how could this ever last? But whether it lasts for one day or a thousand, I think I’m finally willing to take that chance.”

“Do you think everything happens for a reason?” I touched the edge of his mouth and traced the curve of his bottom lip. “Like every moment is guided by fate’s hand, leadin’ us where we need to go?” “I’m not sure what I believe,” he answered. “But if it’s true and fate does guide us… where is it leading you?” Closing my eyes, I rested my forehead against his. “I think I’m already there.”

“It’s a fated mate thing. Once they fuse their life force, they’re able to feel when each other’s close. They become attuned to every part of their mate. Their breaths. The beating of their heart. It’s a connection of their souls.” My heart beat faster. Something had passed between me and Raiden earlier while in the shower. A tug from someplace deep inside my body, like a tether had shot from my core and attached to him. What he mentioned about being attuned to someone? I felt that with him. I wanted to feel even more.

“I prefer the term ethereal.” “Sucks to be you, then, Sparkles,” Raiden said. “’Cause I don’t know what that means.”

Titan was marking me as his mate, just as I’d marked him as mine. Our connection strengthened as he took deep pulls from my vein. Every supernatural being would know who we belonged to now. It was possessive and strong. A bond that defied reason. But feelings weren’t exactly logical. There was no doubt in my mind anymore. Fate really had claimed another victim. But I didn’t feel like a victim in Titan’s embrace. I felt… complete. Like I’d been waiting for him my whole life.

I had never felt so whole. So sated. After a lifetime of never having enough, of always wanting more, I held Titan close and knew I needed nothing more than him by my side.

Love was like that, I guessed. When you loved someone, they became more important than anything. My knuckles brushed against Titan’s. He had a way of calming Gluttony. Sometimes a kiss from him fed me just as well as a cheeseburger. Was that love too?

“A sleeping Titan is holdin’ me prisoner in bed.” “He was worried about you,” Alastair said. “You found yourself a good one.” Technically, fate had found Titan for me. I’d have to cook something special as an offering to thank the fates. Maybe pork roast with potatoes, carrots, and celery. Homemade bread too.

“Someone once told me the best way to end a book is for everyone to come together as a family and eat delicious food.” Penemuel’s honey eyes creased at the edges as he smiled. “I have to agree.” “Yeah.” I mirrored his smile and gently squeezed Titan’s hand. I looked around the table, at all the faces I loved. “Me too.”