Page 63 of Smoke and Lure

“Fine.”She pursed her lips but understood that she didn’t know everything about the Vampire world and some things would take time.And she had plenty of it now.“Mark?You said I had a mark.”

“Yes.”His hands flexed on her hips as his ash-gray gaze held hers.

“Where?”

He took one of her hands in his and slid it down her side over her hip, then slipped it toward the center of her thigh.

She allowed him to guide her, resisting where he led her never crossed her mind.After the intimate night they had shared, she probably would not bat a lash if he placed her hand over her sex.The night before, he’d systematically peeled away any shyness she would exhibit with him.

Once her hand was inside her robe, he laced their fingers together and pressed them against the top of her thigh.He continued until they brushed the side of her sex.Below her fingertips, her skin was only soft and smooth.

Her breath caught at their touch, and she thought of the scientist touching her skin in such a way.All she could do was hope that Amaros moved their fingers somewhere else.

“Keep your hand there.”When she remained still, he moved his hand to the outside of her leg, then lowered it to grasp her behind the knee.He began to lift her leg.“Bend your knee and set your heel against the counter edge.”

Michaela did as she was instructed.

Once she was in position, he flipped one side of the robe away, revealing the full extension of her pale-brown skin.

Her heart was racing.She feared what she would see.Now, there was no doubt where the mark had been placed.

“Open,” he commanded.His body behind her helped steady her.Not because her balance was off; as a Vampire, she’d discovered situational awareness of everything around her, even the air movement as it passed her.

She leaned her knee out just a little, nervous of what she would see.Perhaps one of the heinous scientists had defamed her body and written his name into her flesh as if she belonged to them.And she’d always see it and never truly rid herself of them.

“Wider,” he demanded.Even though his hand remained behind her knee, he allowed her to move her body.

Fortifying herself, she let her leg drop wide and bared not only the slick folds of her sex but the white etching beside it.It was not black like the ink most used in dispatch to design their skin with pictures or names of lost loved ones, but white ink.

Ghostly-white.

Her gaze locked on it.It appeared stark and haunting against her brown skin, making her tone seem darker than it was in contrast to the white pattern marring it.She didn’t understand what she saw: two lines unevenly sliced two halves of a whole circle.A shorter line that didn’t extend beyond the circle, while the other was longer and spear-like.

She knew the interpretation of the design and had seen it all her life.Now, seeing it engraved into her skin, the only thing she saw was the vulgarity of her government’s declaration of how unequal things were between the Dispatch and the Consumers and how the shorter line was the barrier that kept those in the district away from the providence area and held back from any way of succeeding.The longer line, a spear, brought thoughts of war; it seemed violent and excessive.

“They are rejoicing in our failure.”Her body began to tremble, and she couldn’t ignore what she saw.The back of her eyes burned, but no tears came.

Amaros released her knee, brought his hand to her face, and cupped her cheek, forcing her to meet his gaze instead of the mark.“You have not failed, little angel.”

She shook her head.“They are monsters.They’ve done so...so much to us in there.They didn’t care if it caused us pain or took us days to recover.But we couldn’t complain because we had volunteered for the experiments...for the money.And they used it to steal everything from us...me.”

Anger and rage heated her core as her new teeth lowered into deadly points.She wanted to return to the lab and rip each one of the scientists’ throats out.

He pulled her away from the mirror and held her body against his.Amaros held her so tight that the layers of fabric between them seemed to vanish.“You are alive and thriving in a way they never comprehended.But I promise you, they will pay.I promise you.”

Gripping the material of his shirt in her hands, she stared at him and saw the truth of his words radiating in the depths of his ash-gray eyes.“I’ve always been alone in this world, Amaros.I’ve never had anyone.No one with me to fight for me.”

You have me.Amaros cupped the back of her neck with one hand and drew her to him.He rested his forehead against hers but never broke their eye contact.“You have me.And together, we will raise an army at your side.”

At first, she thought he referred to the Prime who served them until she felt his other hand between them, inside of her robe, pressing against her flat lower belly.She understood.

“But they put them inside me.”Why wasn’t he denying the babes?

“They may have placed them there, but now they are created anew in my venom and grow stronger daily from your blood.”

Warmth spread from where his hand caressed her and rose to surround her heart.Even though she’d never had one, she knew the sensation and the emotions she felt: family.

She no longer suffered as she had in the days that followed the horrible procedure, even though there were only snatches of memory she had about that day.But there was one horrible thing she’d never forget.

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