Gabe's Destiny (Alien Mates Book Three) by Serena Simpson

what if you were truly meant to be together and it got it wrong? Maybe you were just having a bad day.
    “I’m divided on whether I think these test are good or not.”
    “It doesn’t really matter, they are there just like a marriage license, either you do it or you don’t.”
    That made sense. Lots of people choose to live together without ever taking the next step and many were happy.
    “So you’re saying people can live together without soul-bonding?”
    He shook his head. “This is more than a physical relationship. When a couple soul-bonds, they are able to enter each other’s minds. Like we did earlier but more. It’s a connection that goes so deep it cannot be cut. To tamper with it could mean their lives. It’s forever, Taya. There’s no coming back from it.”
    “What would I get out of soul-bonding with you?” She sounded like a spoiled child or something worse and she knew it. For some reason she needed to know everything, even the parts that sounded bad.
    “I could tell you that you would gain greater access to your power, that together we would become a powerful couple. I could tell you that you’d be faster. Find out that you would recognize evil easier and defend yourself against it quicker. I could tell you all that and it would be true. Yet, in the end what you get out of soul-bonding with me, is me.”
    He looked her in the eyes, reached out and touched her cheek, caressing it. Then he stood and strode out the room leaving her staring after him.

Chapter Eight
     
     
    Taya stood on the porch looking out over the front yard. It was wide and beautiful; it sparked a feeling of homesickness within reminding her of the view off her parent’s porch.
    With a sigh, she sat. Her life was becoming more complicated with every breath she took. Gabe had essentially asked her to marry him. Say that three times fast and her head may just explode. He saved her life but did that mean she owed him eternal fidelity. Wouldn’t a simple thank you and a gift card to some music store suffice?
    That was an easy no. Look Gabe, it’s me not you. Yes, you saved my life, but I think marriage is a little too much of a payment for it. Although my life is worth more than that. Gah, she was rambling in her thoughts. No, she wouldn’t marry Gabe as a thank you for saving her.
    Everything after that got harder. He wasn’t asking her for a pity marriage or even a pity roll in the hay. When he looked at her he saw her. Taya, past, present, and future. It was there in the weight of his stare. He saw something in her she couldn’t begin to describe. That kind of transparency was enough to make her shudder and run.
    If only it was simply that, but her body reached for him. She couldn’t keep her hands to herself. She needed to touch him, like the connection was the only thing that would keep her going. It was insane; people didn’t connect at such intimate levels. She needed a shrink.
    “Yes ma’am.” She could picture lying on her shrink’s couch answering her questions.
    “You heard his voice in your head telling you what to do?”
    “Uh huh.”
    “You say he’s an alien and you were accosted by another alien? One that’s an enemy of the one you’re attracted to?”
    It was official; she had lost her ever loving mind, but she wouldn’t be turning herself in. Strait jackets weren’t her style. Not knowing what else to do she picked up the burner phone she swapped out every few weeks and made a call.
    “Hello?” Tears came to her eyes at the sound of that voice.
    “Mom.”
    “Taya,” the woman on the other end screamed before her voice choked up with tears. “Bob, get in here now! Where are you, baby? Please come home or we’ll come to you. Taya’s on the phone.” There was a shuffle in the background and then her father’s voice was on the phone.
    “Where are you, Princess? I’ll come get you. We’re so worried about you. The police found your car at the bus station. They said there was no foul