Page 90 of Dark Gambit: The Play

Clever woman.

"She's right. I did a bad job of it. Hell, I made a mess out of everything. I was not blessed with the gift of gab." He led her to the couch, sat down, and pulled her into his lap.

"What's that?"

"Gab? It's the ability to express oneself eloquently, which I don't have. Everything I say sounds as if I'm reading an instruction manual."

Sofia chuckled. "I kind of like that about you. It makes you different."

"I am different, but not necessarily in a good way."

"Tell me about fated mates, and I don't mind how dry you make it sound. I'll add embellishments in my head."

"You see, that makes you my perfect mate. What other woman would have said that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Enough preamble. Just get it out already."

He nodded. "We believe that those who’ve earned the right, whether through sacrificing for others or suffering greatly, are rewarded by the Fates with a truelove mate. It's not what humans refer to as falling in love, and it's not like other loving relationships that the immortals might have. The attraction is immediate, resisting it is impossible, and once the bond is formed, it's unbreakable. Fated mates never look at another person with desire in their eyes. They love each other exclusively and forever."

"That sounds beautiful. Is it real?" She looked doubtful.

"I've seen it happen time and again to people I know, people who are not prone to flights of fancy, and who are not romantics at heart. The best example is Kian. He used to be a jaded, grumpy man who devoted his life to leading the clan and cared nothing about his own happiness. Then he met Syssi, and he fell in love with her right away. The same is true for her, and they are incredibly happy together. She changed him for the better. They also have a little daughter, who's the cutest little girl you'll ever see. She's beautiful like her mother, but at seven months old, she already has Kian's domineering personality, and on her, it's adorable. On him, not so much."

"I would love to meet her," Sophia whispered. "She sounds endearing."

"She is. But that's more or less what a truelove mate is. The thing is, I never sacrificed a lot for others, and my suffering was my own doing. I don't deserve a boon from the Fates."

"Neither do I, and besides, I'm not one of their subjects. I'm under the Mother of All Life's jurisdiction."

"The Fates do not belong exclusively to the clan. They are a universal force, and so is the Mother you speak of. Who knows, maybe they sit around a table in another realm, sipping on wine and coordinating their moves. They might be in cahoots."

Sofia laughed. "I love the image you're painting. What do the Fates look like?"

He caressed her back. "They can take any form they want, but I imagine them as three portly, human grandmothers with kind smiles and cunning eyes. How do you imagine your goddess?"

Sofia closed her eyes and rested her cheek on his chest. "Like an older Kra-ell pureblooded female who is ethereally beautiful and severe. She doesn't smile kindly, and her eyes are angry."

Marcel shivered. "Not my kind of deity. I prefer the three older ladies with big, soft bosoms."

"I bet." She chuckled. "Eleanor told me that immortal males are a lot like human men. You like soft females who treat you with love and kindness like your mothers."

"Perhaps that's the type other men prefer, but it's not mine."

She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. "Am I your type?"

"You are, but with a twist. I'm a sucker for delicate damsels in distress. That's my Achilles' heel. But you just look the part. On the inside, you are strong, assertive, and you are self-reliant, and I admire that."

"What about your ex? Was she a damsel in distress?"

He let out a breath. "She played the part to perfection, and I fell for it. Back then, the myth of a truelove mate was just that, a myth, but I was a romantic at heart, and I chased after it in all the wrong places. That's how I got in trouble."

"Are you ever going to tell me what really happened?"

"Do I have your consent to induce you?"

Sofia rolled her eyes. "Do you always answer a question with another question?"

"Not always, but this time I have to have the answer to that first. I will not tell this story to anyone other than my truelove mate."