Page 23 of Marked
His arms curled around me, holding me tightly against his chest. With minimal effort, he lifted me right off the floor and carried me over to the bed. I held onto him as hard as I could, hoping he was real, terrified he wasn’t. Once he was seated, I curled my arms around his neck and wound my legs about his waist.
I couldn’t even look at him for fear he was just a figment of my imagination.
His fingers traced up and down my naked spine, his touch tender and comforting. After a few minutes, he cleared his throat before using a finger to hook under my chin and lift it.
“Look at me,” he demanded, but I shook my head.
“You’re not real. You’re just in my head,” I whispered, my voice shaky with panic.
“If I have to put you over my knee and prove to you that I’m very, very real, baby doll, you’re going to regret not being obedient in the first place,” he said firmly, and a shiver raced down my bodystraight to my core. It sounded like him. He smelled like the man I remembered. Even his heart pounded rapidly in my ear, just like it had the last time he’d held me in his arms. Using as much bravery as I could muster, I finally lifted my head and stared into his dark blue eyes.
Alaric. It was him. He was here, right in front of me.
“I thought the chances that my mark would take in a tiny little human like you were extraordinarily slim, but here you are,” he said softly as he studied me. He pushed back the dark brown hair from my face and smiled.
“What do you mean when you call me human?” I asked.
“It means you’re my mate, sweet girl. The single woman that’s meant to be mine, fated to be by my side for the rest of my life,” he answered.
I narrowed my eyes, not really understanding what he could mean.
“You’re talking in riddles,” I accused him, although my voice still shook with my own uncertainty and confusion.
He sighed. I could feel anger brewing deep inside me, but it was strongly muted by my intense desire for the man who was currently pressed against me. A desire for the massive cock that was nestled against my pelvis, hidden away only by the thick fabric of the jeans he was wearing. He was hard for me. I could feel it.
I licked my lips, quickly losing my train of thought.
“What’s important for you to know is that you’re mine. You will come to understand everything else in time, but first your coming heat needs to be satiated and put to rest,” he purredsoftly, taking a moment to brush a finger over my nipple. I cried out softly, the feeling of his skin on mine nearly overpowering. It hurt, it felt good, but most importantly, it felt perfectly, perfectly right.
A drop of moisture trickled down the folds of my pussy onto my inner thigh.
“How do you know that is what’s wrong with me?” I asked in a soft whimper.
“Because it’s happening to me too, my little human. Ever since I left you, all of my thoughts have been consumed by you, by your moans of pleasure and your cries of pain, but most of all, by the memory of your tight little holes surrounding my cock,” he said quietly, and I felt the effects of his words straight down to the tips of my toes.
“What would make it stop?” I whispered, almost afraid of the answer.
“I will make it stop, baby doll. Trust in me,” he murmured. He pulled me none too gently into a kiss, and I greedily returned it. His tongue traced along my lower lip and then tangled with mine. My arousal returned once again with such force that it left me reeling. My world spun around him and only him, and I had to hold onto him as I felt myself losing balance. His arms were strong around me, keeping me close to him so that I didn’t fall. He firmly pressed me down onto my back and used his knee to push my thighs apart.
I didn’t fight him this time. In fact, I opened my legs wider for him.
I’d been wanting this for what felt like ages. I was burning for him, and the only thing that would put out the fire was his cock slamming into my tight little pussy.
His palm pressed my shoulder down, and he took one of my ultra-sensitive nipples captive with his fingers. He pinched it hard, and I cried out as a flash of pain jolted through my body.
“I want to hear you say it, baby doll. Tell me that you’re mine,” he growled, and my pussy clamped down hard with need.
“I’m yours. Please. I’m yours,” I answered, thrusting my hips up toward his clothing-covered pelvis. I could feel just how hard he was for me through the fabric.
“Fucking right you are,” he purred, and my liquid heat practically poured down my thighs. I moaned softly as pleasure buzzed just underneath my skin. He leaned down to kiss me once again, and I lifted my lips to meet his.
Everything in that moment was so perfect.
Then it all fell apart.
The oversized window burst into the room with a deafening explosion. Thousands of tiny little shards of glass bounced off the floor. Alaric roared and threw himself over me, trying to protect my naked body from the sharp edges. He grunted painfully, leaving little doubt in my mind that he hadn’t come out unscathed.
Instantly, Alaric wound his arms around me and practically flung me toward the clothing I had discarded onto the floor when I’d stripped upon entering the studio apartment.
