Page 16 of Marked

“Well, anything other than fuck you or anyone else here kind of anything,” I retorted with a deep frown, and he chuckled.

“No. Not like that. Why don’t you work here for a little while? Maybe until we get word that he’s coming back. You could even use his room,” Richie offered.

“It’s available?” I asked.

“Yeah. I usually keep it vacant unless he’s around,” he answered.

“It’ll make my commute shorter if I can live up there,” I mused, and he looked strangely pleased with himself. I stared hard at him for a moment, but he gave away nothing.

God. What a slime ball.

“The room’s yours then, if you take the job,” he pressed.

I should have listened to my instincts, but I didn’t. Instead, I caved.

It was the only thing I could think to do at that point.

Maybe the distraction of work would be good for me, though I knew that wasn’t it.

The truth was, I wanted to see if there were any of Alaric’s possessions left behind.

Maybe curling up with a discarded shirt would give me some sense of relief.

Maybe his scent would allow me to orgasm. My hope surged anew.

I was grasping at straws right now, but didn’t care. My overwhelming desperation made me willing to try anything.

“Yeah. I’ll take it. I’ll crash upstairs tonight if you don’t mind, since it’s late and all,” I pressed, hoping he would agree.

“Of course. Here’s the key, Kendra,” he murmured as he tossed me a keychain. “Hope you find whatever it is you’re looking for.”

I smiled, my lips tight as they betrayed just how tense I was.

“See you tomorrow night at seven p.m.?” he called out.

“Sure. See ya later, boss,” I agreed, hastily tearing out of there and into the alley, wanting to get up into the studio apartment as fast as possible.

I sprinted up the stairs to the third floor.

Then I tentatively opened the large metal door before walking into the dimly lit hallway that I only remembered vaguely.

I knew which door he’d taken me through, though.

I pressed my palm against the wooden surface, remembering how it felt to be tossed over his shoulder and carried across the threshold.

My body throbbed just thinking about it.

Slowly, I slid the key into the lock and twisted it to the side.

Hearing it click, I turned the door handle, letting it swing open as I just stood there.

I stared into that room for what felt like forever before finally walking inside. Memories of his touch and the feeling of his burning seed painting my skin and his belt lashing my bare backside washed over me.

It still smelled like him.

I closed and locked the door behind me before shrugging off my jacket and kicking off my boots.

Wanting to get every stitch of fabric off my body, I stripped as quickly as possible.

Once I was bare, I made my way over to the bed.

I leaned over the soft surface first, running my fingers across the sheets.

He’d lain here. We’d fucked here. Bringing one knee up after the other, I climbed onto the mattress and pressed my nose into the blankets to smell him.

Woodsy. Spicy. Hints of lemon and citrus along with something else.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t quite identify what that other element was, but found myself beginning to grow even more aroused the more I breathed it in.

My fingers curled tight around the blankets as I laid my body down on the sheets.

My nipples felt so tender that the simple act of scraping them against the sheet hurt.

I whimpered at the pain, but didn’t stop.

Instead, I rolled over onto my back and pressed my fingers in between my thighs. I circled and pinched my clit while at the same time I played with my nipples, working myself up to a frenzy of unreleased pleasure.

I pushed myself farther than I had since the day that he’d used my body hard, but what I wanted wasn’t coming.

Even though I was more turned on than ever, there was still some sort of barrier keeping me from orgasm.

I tried to push myself past it, again and again, until my moans of pleasure slowly turned into cries of agony.

My nipples felt hard as iron, painful little buds that ached at the simplest touch.

My clit felt even worse, and finally I couldn’t even touch myself anymore because the pain was too great.

Eventually, I just gave up altogether and curled up in a tight little ball, a twitching mass of painful sensation that made it impossible to focus on anything else. I sobbed as I struggled with this torture and eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

I tossed and turned, the sounds of the city incredibly loud through the single pane windows of the old building.

Several hours later, the sound of a squeak at the window woke me from my light slumber.

Yawning, I lifted my head and opened my eyes, looking out toward the window across the room.

Just then, I realized that there was a balcony outside, and that if I swung open the window, I could probably climb outside.

This place wasn’t exactly in the best part of town, but I’d ignored this access point when I’d come here in hopes of finding Alaric. A dark shadow passed over the glass, and I stilled until I saw it again.

Slowly, I reached for my knife on the nightstand and flicked it open.

I pushed myself up to a seated position and quietly placed my bare feet onto the floor.

I was still naked, but it didn’t matter.

There was no time to rectify that. The old balcony creaked loudly again, and I doubted that I’d ever be brave enough to climb out there myself.

The shadow fell over the window once more.

Someone was definitely out there. Maybe someone had come home in the middle of the night and lived in another room of the building. Or maybe someone knew I was here and was trying to break in.

I stood up and crouched by the bed, using it as cover as I maneuvered toward the end that was closest to the window.

A pair of thick fingers pressed underneath the ledge of the frame and propped it open.

Lifting my knife to guard my chest, I prepared myself to attack.

A breeze blew in through the cracked window, and the scent of the intruder washed over me.

My entire body reacted with visceral heat, but I did my best to push it away. In the dark of the night, the stranger in the shadows moved smoothly, climbing in through the window and closing it quietly behind him.

I crouched and used the power in my legs to burst forward toward the man, but he was ready for me. It was almost as though he could sense me coming for him.

A low growl rumbled throughout the room, and my core twisted painfully hard.

I cried out and tried to hold myself up, but the agony was too great.

A strong pair of arms reached out to grab me, stopping me from falling to the floor as my legs gave out beneath me.

My knife would have clattered to the floor, but the stranger seemingly caught that too.

“Did you miss me, baby doll?” a gruff voice asked in the dark and my heart pulsed hard. No. It couldn’t be him. Maybe I’d finally lost my mind completely. I was probably just hearing and seeing things that weren’t there now. What other explanation was there?

He purred and I felt my thighs slicken with arousal.

Yup. Still naked.

“Alaric,” his name was a sigh on my lips.

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 body straight 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.