Read Tempted by Fate (The Fate Trilogy Book Two) for Free Online Page A

up. Before he could speak, Catherine shrieked with delight. “Oh how
lovely! Pedro is a graduate student in painting at San Francisco State.” She
looked at Pedro. “I’m sorry, where are my manners? Victor and Dove, this is
Pedro.”
     
    “Nice to meet you,” Pedro said, in an accent
thick enough that I figured he probably wasn’t from the United States. He shook
Victor’s hand firmly. When he shook mine, he looked directly into my eyes. His
were a coffee brown.
     
    “Pedro, honey, why don’t you go talk to Dove
about painting for a few minutes while I talk privately with Victor? We have
something important to discuss.”
     
    We all looked at Victor, whose mouth turned
in conflict for a moment before he shook it free. “Of course,” he said, giving
my back a quick squeeze. “Dove, I’ll come find you in a moment.”
     
    He turned and walked across the room,
Catherine in tow. Pedro offered me his arm. “We can walk in the garden,” he
said. “It’s much prettier outside.”
     
    I took it and grabbed a glass of white wine
from a passing waiter with my other hand. Pedro wasn’t as attractive as Victor,
but it felt good to know I could get attention from other men too. It made me
feel beautiful.
     
    Feeling the wine working through my system, I
decided to be bold and speak first. “So where are you from, Pedro?”
     
    “Santiago, Chile,” he said with pride. “It’s
the capital. I just came here to study painting last August. It’s nice being
here, but I’m going to return home when I’m done.”
     
    His accent made following his words a
challenge, but I felt exotic talking to him, as if I were back in Paris. “And
where did you meet Catherine?”
     
    He shook his head and smiled, his teeth
bright white. “Did you learn to paint in school?”
     
    So he didn’t want to talk about Catherine.
“No,” I said. “It’s just something that seems to come naturally to me. To be
honest I’m not sure where it comes from.”
     
    “Ah yes, I know what you mean. It’s beautiful
when it just comes like that. To be a natural. I am jealous. What do you like
to paint?”
     
    “Everything, but especially people.”
     
    “I see. Maybe you can paint my portrait some
time.”
     
    I laughed with pleasure. That did sound fun,
and it would be great to have another friend in my life. Before I could ask him
what he painted, I heard a familiar voice from behind us.
     
    “Dove, there you are!” Victor said, a little
too eagerly. He grabbed my arm holding the wine roughly so I almost spilled it
on my dress.
     
    “Victor!” I cried. “Pedro and I―”
     
    “We have to go,” Victor said before I could
finish. “Pedro, it was wonderful meeting you. Catherine just went to the ladies
room. You should probably wait for her there.” We turned and left.
     
    “Victor, what’s going on?”
     
    He took my half-finished wine glass from my
hand and put it on an empty tray. Still holding my arm tightly, he steered me
through the rest of the party and out to the waiting car without a word.
Confused thoughts tumbled in my head the entire way. Had I said something
wrong? Was there an emergency having to do with Catherine? Could he actually be
jealous of me talking to Pedro for a few minutes?
     
    The last thought made me fume. I had a right
to talk to people other than him. When we got into the car, he let me in first
then followed close behind and shut the door. I turned to confront him.
“Victor,” I started, “what―”
     
    Before I could continue, his mouth sealed
over mine, his tongue invading my mouth and caressing my own with lush slides.
The kiss was slow and sensuous, not like the kisses he had given me after he
had seen his wife. That night he had been a lightning ball sending off sparks
everywhere. This time he had control.
     
    With one arm, he picked me up from where I
sat and turned me so I was lying across the seat on my back. My arms went up
and my hands interlocked behind his neck. He