Page 45 of Marked By the Dark Lord
“Is the food okay?” Korr’ok asked, looking as if he were ready to summon the server to berate them if I said it wasn’t.
“No, no, it’s fine,” I said, shaking my head to clear my lingering thoughts.
I had promised Korr’ok two dates where I would have fun, which meant giving him my full attention. Notthatkind of attention. If he thought I would do that, well, he’d missed that opportunity when I offered it to save Lily. Instead, he’d wanted dates. So, he was getting dates. Just dates.
Not that he needs an opportunity, I thought, reminding myself of the orgasm he’d ordered me to have in public. My cheeks burned anew at the humiliation—and perhaps something akin to arousal came with it. Itwaskind of hot. If I ignored the mile-high red flags.
“Is there something else the matter?” he asked, leaning over the table until he was just outside of my bubble of personal space.
“I’m just distracted,” I admitted, looking up at him.
The red glowing eyes were back, returning the instant we stepped into the passage behind the falls. So were the horns, his thick hair parted in rivers of black strands around them, the locks floating down the back of his head and behind his shoulders, stirring in the unceasing breeze passing over us.
Skin creased in his cheeks as he smiled, a gentle look that would have seemed wildly out of place to me a few days ago. The more I got to know Korr’ok, however, the more I picked up on nuances most were oblivious to. He might be a monster, but it was quickly becoming clear he wasn’tjusta monster.
“By what?” he asked, watching me with studied intent.
My chest rose and fell. Only a slight stiffness in the area reminded me of the mark I carried. His mark.
“Everything,” I admitted with a sigh so heavy it bordered on dramatic. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to dining next to apair of werewolves or that there’s a centaur birthday party going on outside. Including tiny children centaurs. The elves have an entire ‘quarter’ to themselves in the city. Dwarf bars exist. I’mtoo tallto be allowed in. I’m tiny. It’s just a lot to get used to, Rokk.”
I wrinkled my lip in disdain at having to use his fake name.
“You will adjust,” he said with a conviction I didn’t possess. “You are strong, tiny witch. Stronger than many and in ways that most humans will never possess. This will pass as you get used to the true world around you.”
“Maybe,” I said, noncommittal. “Maybe. But I just don’t know anything about it.”
“What would you like to know?” he asked, spreading his hands, inviting me to ask questions.
“Who are you?” I asked with a shrug. “Shoot,whatare you?”
He pursed his lips, considering the question. It seemed like he wasn’t going to answer.
“I am one of the Fae,” he said, startling me with honesty. “Which I have mentioned. Fae are … Fae. You have heard the term ‘fairy,’ I’m sure. It is derived from us. Faerie is my home. Well, it is where I come from. Where my people live.”
There was a slight undertone to that last sentence.
“Your people?”
Korr’ok grimaced as he nodded. “Your people come from Earth. Your people live there. I come from Faerie. My people live there.”
That didn’t sound right. But it also didn’t have the vibe of a lie either. I wasn’t surewhatit was.
“Why do you live there, then?”
He smiled, his eyes empty. “Opportunity. Freedom.”
Whether he meant it or not, some of his façade slipped just then, and my heart stilled at the intense depths of pain that peeked through the opening. Korr’ok was hurting and hurting badly. It was something he had buried deep within him that he didn’t want anyone to see.
But I’d glimpsed it.
“Have you been back?” I asked, eager to peer deeper, to learn more about the mysterious Fae-man who controlled my body and my mind more and more. He certainly dominated my thoughts. And I wasn’t just having dreams about being on top of him, grinding my hips—
“No,” he said with a sternness that jerked me back to reality. “I have not. Nor will I. It is where I am from. But my home is here. The Place Behind.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Long enough,” he said, chuckling.
