Page 55 of Marked for Execution
“I-It wasn’t a dream, was it?”
Eliseo brought his nose down to mine and rubbed them together, sighing in defeat. “I wish it was.”
“What happened?” My eyes looked around, and it was already nightfall; the flames of a campfire behind us emitted a subtle glow. I could hear the soft sound of snores from some of the men.
His hand pushed my hair back, and my own face scrunched up in concern. He was being extra gentle with me for a reason.
“D-Did I die?” I choked out.
The snores disappeared, telling me that the men were quietly listening to us at this moment.
“You did.”
That was it? That was all he would say to me? Why weren’t his eyes condemning me? A spike of irrational fear coursed through my veins—a fear of finally caring enough for someone to want to stay. I didn’t want them to leave me behind. I didn’t want to face another rejection. It would break me at this point in my life.
Eliseo filled the silence with his voice as if he knew my mind was running a mile a minute. The way his thumb played along the line of my jaw made me ache for something I probably didn’t deserve.
“We made it back to the car and drove until it ran out of gas. It took us back to the lake where we all washed off. We were too coated in blood to not attract the attention of animals and enemies.”
His eyes searched mine as he explained this. We were both still lying on our sides on the ground. I lifted my hand in front of my face to see that my skin had been scrubbed clean, too, not a trace of blood on my skin or under my fingernails.
“You cleaned me,” I stated, rather than questioning.Of course, he did.Eliseo always had a way of barging into my life and taking control of things.
“Why wouldn’t I? I’m not about to be stopped by random groups of humans who're concerned about the blood coated goddess in my arms like a damn sacrifice.” The smile at the end made me flush.
I shoved at his shoulders. He was so full of it. Turning away from him, I put my right arm under my head and mulled over what he just told me. I couldn’t even remember him cleaning me at all.
I could feel his lips against my exposed shoulder, kissing along my skin. Sighing, I closed my eyes and tried to play back what happened earlier, but it came in fragmented, pissing me right the fuck off.
“Sili.”
I bit my lip and tried again.Why couldn’t I remember?
His hand gripped my upper arm firmly, stealing my attention, snapping my eyes open.
“Sili, if it wasn’t for you, we’d all be dead.”
“What are you talking about? It was probablybecauseof me we were in that position in the first place. We should have taken a different route, chosen a different location to check out. We should have—”
His fingers trailed along the curve of my shoulder and goosebumps rose on my flesh. “It was your skin this whole time.”
I had no idea what the hell he was talking about.What was wrong with my skin?I lifted my left arm up in front of my face and examined it. It was smooth like it usually was, not a scar or marr in sight.
“It was only when I washed you that the truth revealed itself. My hands were numb, my fingers fell slack after a period of time. I had to ask the guys to catch you before you dropped into the waters and potentially drowned.”
“What?” Looking over my shoulder, I tried to see if he was messing with me.
He grabbed the back of my head and slammed his mouth against mine, his tongue invading me between my lips like he belonged nowhere else but here. I whimpered in confusion but surrendered to his dominance, nonetheless. I didn’t want to think about all this craziness. I just wanted to feel something good to wash away all the bad that had covered my life.
“I almost lost you…again,” he growled against my lips.
His other hand caressed and grabbed my breasts over my shirt. Scissoring my legs, I realized I didn’t have any pants on, and the heat building between them was too fast for me to comprehend. How could I feel this way after the horrors that just happened? Because my nightmares had to be that—fragmented memories of a time just passed. He nipped my bottom lip and down my chin, pushing my face forward while his hands lifted my oversized shirt and pulled my hips back, grinding it against his erection behind his pants.
The fire behind us crackled and the sound of the night started to increase—insects singing their tune, calling for mates and everything else. The crisp air to my front did nothing to cool the flames he stoked.
The soft sound of clothing scraped against the ground came right before the heat of his hard cock slid between my legs, rubbing against my folds. Eliseo wrapped my hair in his fist, lifting it away so he could pepper my neck with kisses, panting against my skin as his hips began a steady, slow rhythm.
“I’ve been dying to bury myself inside of you, knowing you’d come back to me. Your temperature cooled, and fuck if my dick didn’t get the message, because it’s been straining against my pants the whole time I’ve been lying next to you,Sili.”