Fate Forgotten by Amalia Dillin

way—to even think of it, at all—was unforgivable.
    He stumbled out of the room, for he had promised Evaline he would join the family for their morning meal, and he had never been gladder to take up his duty.

    When he returned to the room to sleep off the remainder of his fatigue, Athena was gone. But he missed her warmth in the bed and the sound of her heartbeat, and his body did not forget how perfectly she had fit against him. How desperately he had wanted her closer, skin to skin and hardened need sinking deep inside her welcoming heat.
    Thor lay awake, staring at the ceiling. Clearly, he had been too long alone if he could be tempted so easily by a warm, soft body in his bed. And it was very good, he thought, before sleep finally claimed him again, that Evaline was married.

Chapter Eleven: Present

    “Are you certain you’re well, Abby?”
    She opened her eyes. Garrit was propped up on one elbow in the bed, watching her. She sighed and sat up, giving up on the pretense of sleep, and pulling her knees to her chest. “Adam didn’t do anything to me, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
    He rubbed her back, and she could feel his eyes on her still. “I’m worried about you . You’ve been distant and distracted all night.”
    She glanced over her shoulder at him. The room was dark except for the light coming from the street. How long had she been lying in bed pretending to sleep and thinking about Thorgrim, and Lars, and Adam’s curses for a man long dead. And how long had Garrit been lying beside her waiting for her to talk. Hoping she would. She had been too wrapped up in memories to notice.
    She laid a hand on his chest, over his heart. She could feel the steadiness of its beat. “I’m sorry.”
    “What’s bothering you?”
    “Everything and nothing. Past lives, a future of avoidance.” She shrugged.
    He sat up and brushed her hair from her shoulders, kissing the bare skin there and pulling her against him. His body was warm and comforting. She loved the heat of him when he touched her. The dry warmth of his skin against hers. When she was honest with herself she thought it might have something to do with those first days, and the way Adam’s skin had burned against hers in the Garden. It was as if he had set a flame on her heart, though at the time his touch had been more discomfiting than anything else.
    “ Dis-moi tout ,” Garrit said.
    It was getting increasingly difficult for her to focus, with his lips against her skin that way, and his palm flat against the curve of her waist, his fingers not quite digging into her body, but gripping her with just the right amount of pressure. “I’m not sure there’s anything to tell.”
    He sighed and kissed her behind her ear. “If there’s nothing to tell, Abby, why is it keeping you up? What happened today? Did he resurrect the memory of some abusive husband?”
    His breath against her ear made her shiver. “No.”
    “Then what?”
    She hesitated, but he was kissing her again. The length of her neck back down to her shoulder, while his hand inched up along her ribs. “That man, Lars. I think he’s one of my many-times-great-grandchildren, three thousand years after the fact.”
    “Oh?”
    She twisted to face him, placing her hands on either side of his face. “Would you like me to show you?”
    “Can you do that?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t see why not. It isn’t any different from what Adam can do, to get people to do what he wants them to.”
    He arched an eyebrow. “ Vraiment? ”
    Eve flushed. “That isn’t what I meant, and you can hardly believe I’d meddle with your free will, Garrit.”
    His lips curved just slightly. “ Fais-moi voir .”
    She closed her eyes and found the image of Thorgrim as she had known him, gently setting it in his thoughts. “Do you see that?”
    “Yes.” His voice was rough.
    She removed herself from his mind and opened her eyes again. “They look very much alike.”
    “He was your