Marked By Him

Chapter 6

I don’t see Mace the next morning.

“Boss is at work, Ms,” Dominic says when I ask him that morning as we make our way down the curved staircase with marble steps to breakfast.

When I ask what Mace’s job is, Dominic says, “I can’t tell you, Ms.”

And so, like the day before—not that I mind—I eat breakfast alone, with Dominic standing guard by the door to the dining room. As I take a bite of my cranberry pancake, I think about how Killian must be eating breakfast alone. Or maybe he’s not eating breakfast at all. He must be worried and stressed. And that thought alone is enough to make my stomach coil. I swallow the bite I’d taken, and it falls into my stomach like a rock. Suddenly feeling nauseous, I place the fork and knife down on the table and push my plate away.

“I’m done eating now,” I say, standing up.

“Right this way, Ms,” Dominic says, walking behind me as we walk to the living room.

“Do you have a library here?” With a mansion for a house, Mace must have a library. And I hope he does because, as much as I love watching TV, there’s no way I’m spending another day in front of the television.

“Yes, Ms,” Dominic replies. “Do you want me to take you there?”

At least he’s not stopping me from going to the library, so I nod and say, “Yeah.”

*

Mace finds me at the library later that day with my face buried in a book.

I don’t see him, nor do I hear him when he walks in, but it’s that baritone voice of his that makes me look up from the book when he says, “Glad to see you enjoying yourself today.”

He’s leaning against a bookcase, arms crossed, his amber eyes staring down at me. He’s wearing a black suit today too, but he’s not holding a briefcase. And his hair is a bit rumpled. He looks… hot with his hair like that.

I don’t allow myself to think about how hot he looks right now; instead, I roll my eyes and close the book and push it to the side. “When are you taking me home?”

He pushes himself off the bookcase and takes a seat from across the table. “I will when it’s safe.”

“And I’m safe here?” I snort. “I don’t even see any security or bodyguards, except for Dominic.”

“You haven’t been outside, that’s why.”

“Why do you keep saying I’m not safe? You said you killed the vampire, so what could be so threatening to my life? Why am I not safe?”

“It’s because you’re my mate.”

Ugh, that word again. “And what does that have to do with me not being safe?”

“I can’t tell you,” he says. When I open my mouth, he adds, “But I will soon.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

He leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “No.”

“Can you at least tell my brother that I’m okay?”

“No need.” I raise a questioning eyebrow at that. He leans back in his chair. “I wrote him a letter.”

“A letter?” I ask, bewildered. “Who did you say wrote it?”

“Me.”

I laugh because what the hell? “Killian is definitely gonna call the police on you.”

Mace gets up, looming over me. He shoves his hands into the pockets of his pants. And with a smirk, he says, “Well, we’ll just have to wait and see, Little Angel.”

*

Mace and I eat dinner together that night.

Dominic, as usual, is standing by the door. That has got me thinking about when he eats. He follows me around all day, and I’ve never seen him eat. Mace eats his food in silence and manages to keep his eyes on me. He seems to be following every movement I make with those sharp amber eyes of his. His eyes, though, seem to focus on my mouth more than anything else.

Feeling wicked, and a tad bit tipsy from all the wine (I probably shouldn’t have drunk a lot of wine), I decide to tease him a little. On the table, there’s a bowl full of strawberries. I take one and bring it to my mouth, slowly. Seductively. I slowly wrap my lips around the strawberry, biting into it slowly, the strawberry’s sweet juice running down my lips.

Mace’s grip tightens around the glass of wine in his hand; his grip is so tight, I fear the glass will break. His eyes seem to darken. So intense, those eyes.

Taking the half-bitten strawberry out of my mouth, I place it down on my plate. Then I wipe the juice off with my finger and bring it to my mouth, sucking and licking. Mace’s eyes have turned red now, burning with the desire to tear my clothes off and take me right here on the dining table. Weirdly, I can feel his lust, and it so strong that I press my thighs together, moaning.

Mace gets up then, walks around the table to where I’m sitting. He grips my chin so hard that I gasp, mouth slightly parted. “Don’t start something you can’t finish, Little Angel,” he says, voice rough and deeper than usual.

And then he runs his thumb over my lower lip, and I can tell he wants to push it into my mouth, but he doesn’t. Instead, he brings his thumb to his mouth, licking it. “Sweet,” he says.

And, oh my god, I moan again.

Mace pulls away from me and says, “Goodnight, Little Angel. I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow morning.” And then he leaves, leaving me a blushing and horny mess.

I sit there, staring at nothing for what feels like forever, disbelieving what happened. It isn’t until Dominic clears his throat and says, “I have to take you to your room, Ms,” that I snap out of my stupor.

And then I realise—s**t, Dominic was there the whole time.