“Welcome to the family,” Abby whispered, jerking Liz from her silent musings, and she gave them a nervous smile. Abby gave her a wink before the two women disappeared through the door, leaving Liz to wonder what that could actually mean.
Liz slowly got up from the bed once the door had closed and walked over to the mirror, looking at her reflection closely. She looked exactly the same. Her face might be a bit smoother and her hair a little shinier–but she was still Elizabeth. She didn’t know what she had been expecting, but other than the fact that the thought of drinking blood didn’t make her want to toss her lunch, she felt exactly the same. Maybe, a little more…energized, but the same.
Yes, everything seemed amplified, more intense, louder…but she found that it all felt…good. She felt strong. She worried at her lip as the thought of living for eternity hit her hard. That word that had haunted her for what seemed forever, once again whispered across the recesses of her mind and she shivered. Damaged. Marcus had made her feel beautiful, and perfect, yet… Liz’s hand went to her stomach and she lifted the t-shirt that she wore, hoping to get a quick dose of reality. Her mouth dropped open when she saw that her scar was gone! Her stomach was completely unmarked!
“It can’t be…” she whispered, her voice shaking as she studied the smooth, unblemished skin in stunned amazement, her hand skimming over that place that had shamed her for so long.
“It happens once the change is complete,” Liz spun to find Marcus standing in the doorway and her gut clenched. He looked so beaten down and exhausted, and yet, all she wanted to do at that moment was to launch herself into his arms. She needed so much to touch him. “Are you all right?” he asked, his voice low and tentative, and she physically ached for him. He approached her slowly, as if afraid to get too close to her, and she felt a tightening in her chest. Oh, God, he looked so broken.
He held out a glass, his eyes locking with hers, and she swore that she saw his hand tremble. There was so much pain in his eyes that it had her body shaking. Oh, God help her, but she loved this man. She hated seeing him like this. It was like a knife to her heart.
They stared at each other for a long moment, neither one making a sound. Finally, Liz couldn’t take the silence any longer. She couldn’t stop herself; her heart was too raw. She was much too desperate for him and she just couldn’t fight it any longer.
“Damn it,” she ground out before catapulting herself through the air and against his rock-solid frame, knocking the glass from his hand in the process as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and her legs around his middle.
Marcus’s arms went around her instantly, and he buried his face in her hair, breathing in her scent greedily…desperately, as if this was nothing more than a dream and he was afraid that reality would come crashing down on him at any moment.
“Liz,” he husked, the feel of her in his embrace nearly knocking him to his knees. “I’m so sorry,” he said, his voice sounding so pained.
Liz shook her head quickly, her eyes filling with tears. “Don’t,” she rasped, her voice filled with everything that she was feeling. “You saved me. Please, Marcus…you can’t feel guilty. I couldn’t bear that.”
She felt his entire body shudder as she wrapped herself around him like a damned monkey! She just needed to feel him, so damn bad. No matter where this went, she needed this contact more than anything at the moment. Marcus meant so much to her that it was tilting her world on its axis.
Liz felt him walking over to the bed and only a moment later, he was lowering her down. Still, she wouldn’t release her hold. She held on tight. “Baby, you’re going to have to let go,” he chuckled sadly, and she knew that that was not what he really wanted. Somehow, she could feel it. “We need to talk.”
She finally relented with a small grumble of protest and released her hold. She pulled herself up against the headboard and waited for him to sit beside her, his glorious eyes holding hers, eyes that she loved, so damned much!
“Liz, I need to say this,” he began, and again she saw that sorrow flash across his perfect features, ripping her heart to shreds. “I know you could never forgive me for turning you without your knowledge, but you need to know why.” He looked down when she grabbed his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. She wanted to tell him that it didn’t matter, that she would learn to exist as she was now. She had adapted to whatever came her way her entire life. This was no different. “I did it because…I couldn’t lose you. As selfish as it was of me…I just couldn’t lose you.”
Liz could see the anguish in his eyes and it just about killed her. She just wanted to take it away. “Why, Marcus?” she asked softly, needing to know the answer to that question more than anything else at the moment. “Is it because of you losing your fiancée? Is it because you feel guilty?” She wanted more than anything for him to say that he couldn’t lose her because he cared for her, not because of some misplaced sense of failure for not saving the woman that he had loved, or because of the guilt he felt for having to turn her. All that she could hope for was that he cared for her just a little.
Marcus shook his head, his gaze once again locking with hers. “Elizabeth, there is so much I need to tell you. Josephine…my fiancée, she wasn’t dead. She faked her death and because of her, she…” he broke off, trying to find the words. “Because of her, I was forced to turn you. Because of her…your charge was murdered.” He heard her gasp of surprise, and watched as her eyes shimmered with tears. “I’m so sorry,” he choked out.
Liz swiped the tears from her eyes with the backs of her hands, her heart breaking for a woman whom she had never met, but somehow felt a connection to. Dear God. Marcus’s fiancée was behind this? She was alive? She felt her heart breaking in to a million little pieces. Poor Angie. Now that his fiancée was back…she shook her head, trying hard not to let her hurt show. She couldn’t let him feel that he owed her anything. He deserved a life of happiness.
“I’m…I understand,” she husked out, feeling as if her throat was closing.
“No, Elizabeth, I don’t think you do. Josephine was an evil bitch who used you to get to me. She’s…gone, thankfully. Forever. But I can’t change what she did. I didn’t realize…”
“What?” she urged, completely confused. “I’m sorry you had to turn me,” she whispered. “But, you have no responsibility to me. I don’t blame you for what you did.”
“Jesus, Liz! Don’t you understand? I did it because… Christ, Elizabeth…I love you! And the thought of losing you scared me senseless. I couldn’t…” He shook his head in desperation. “I wouldn’t exist without you. I just wouldn’t. I have never loved anyone as much as I love you.” The words were spoken so softly…so filled with genuine emotion, that Liz found herself once again throwing herself into his arms, a sob breaking free as she did.
Not familiar with her newfound strength, she knocked them both to the floor, their arms and legs tangling, and Liz burst out laughing through the tears that were rolling down her face as she lay there on top of him.
“Sorry,” she choked out, her eyes suddenly clashing with his, and she recognized the heat in his gaze instantly. She recognized it because she knew that it mirrored her own. She wanted him so very much. “Marcus,” she whispered, her mouth turning up in a small smile as her eyes once again filled with tears. “I love you, too, so much.”
She felt him relax against her and suddenly she was flipped over onto her back and his mouth was crashing down on hers, hot…hungry…amazing. He kissed her senseless, making her body heat in an instant. Wild, deep, he had her body pulsing with a deep, desperate need.
As they lay there, the scent of the spilled blood reached her nose and she gasped when she suddenly felt fangs descend in her mouth. She pulled back from Marcus’s kiss and looked at him in absolute fright, not having the slightest idea how she had even done that, but worried that she might hurt him.
Marcus gave her a knowing smile and stood, holding his hand out to her. He settled her back down on t
he bed and glanced to where the spilled glass of blood lay on the carpet. With a slight chuckle, he sat down beside her once again and cupped her face in his hands.
“Baby, you need to feed.”
Liz’s eyes went to the carpet a moment before snapping back to Marcus. Her tongue poked and slid over her fangs, trying to grasp the reality of it all. She was actually a vampire! She wasn’t repelled by the coppery smell assaulting her senses; she actually craved it! She looked at him in embarrassment when her eyes slid to his throat, and she found that growing hunger rise up in her belly with the force of a tidal wave. She saw something flicker across his eyes as he caught her gazing hungrily at his neck, and a grin twitched at the corners of his mouth.
“Stay here,” he instructed, although his voice was low and husky and she felt her need for him only intensify. “I’ll run downstairs and get you another glass.”
“Not yet,” she begged, grabbing hold of his hand. She pushed back her craving and gave him a nervous smile. “It can wait. I…I just need you for a little bit longer.”
Marcus pulled her onto his lap and hugged her to him, his entire body enveloping her in an embrace that was all Marcus. Liz sighed happily, burying her face against his neck. He loved her!
“Your restraint is amazing,” he whispered in nothing less that stunned amazement. “I can’t believe that you aren’t climbing the walls.”
Liz laughed softly. “Probably because while I was growing up, I went without eating quite a bit, so food was never really a priority for me.” She snuggled closer to him. “I guess it carried over.”
Marcus hugged her to him a moment, his heart breaking for all of the pain that she had had to endure in her life. He kissed her temple, promising himself that he would do whatever it took to make sure that the rest of her existence was filled with happiness…and more love than she could have ever imagined. Not to mention a family that would protect her with their very lives.
“Marcus?” she murmured against his skin, her mouth beginning to water from the sweet scent that was purely him. She swore that she could almost hear the blood rushing through his veins, and she unconsciously licked her lips.
“Yeah, Baby,” his voice held a dream-like quality that had her body aching for him in an instant. Food be damned, she thought with a wicked grin. She needed him! She needed that connection that only the two of them could achieve.
Liz placed tiny kisses against his neck and felt him shiver. She kissed her way up to his jaw and then hovered over his full lips, her eyes meeting his. “I’m sorry that I ran from you,” she husked, her beautiful eyes sparkling with moisture. “I was just so shocked that I…”
“Shh, Baby,” Marcus replied, pressing his fingers to her lips and giving her that heart-wrenching smile. “I understand. I do. I was just so scared of losing you. I wanted so much to tell you, but…” he shook his head with a sad little chuckle. “It never seemed the right time. And, then when that bastard…”
This time it was Liz who silenced him with a finger to his lips. “It’s over.”
“The thought of what he did to you…” he choked out, and a tear slid down her cheek, hating the pain in his expression. Yes, that monster had beaten and bled her practically dry, but none of that mattered now. They were here. They were together. That was all that mattered…or ever would matter.
“I’ve been through worse,” she joked half-heartedly, trying so hard to ease his guilt. “But, it was all worth it,” she stated adamantly, holding his gaze so that he saw the truth, “as long as I ended up here with you, everything that I have ever had to deal with was worth it. I love you, Marcus… so very much.”
Marcus squeezed her against his chest once again, unable to find the words to explain to her how much she meant to him. This woman had come into his world and made it a better place, made him a better man. Showed him what love actually was. What it was like to feel again, and not just go through the motions of existing.
“Elizabeth,” he breathed against her ear, his voice soft, yet she swore that she detected a hint of nervousness in it. “I want more than anything to make you my mate. I want us to bond and to be together forever.” He leaned back so that he could look into her eyes, which were wide with surprise. “Please, Sweetheart. Please…be mine…for eternity.”
Liz was silent for a long moment as she stared back at the man she loved more than life itself. She chuckled softly at the irony of that thought and pressed her lips to his, gently. “I would love nothing more,” she finally murmured. “Although, I’m not exactly sure what all that means, I would love to be yours. You own my heart, Marcus–and will forever.”
Marcus deepened their kiss, his tongue sliding between her parted lips to meet hers, dancing and stroking against hers–igniting that ever present flame between the two of them like dry kindling, and with a grin, Marcus realized exactly what his brother and best friend had felt when they had found their mates. It was an unbelievable peace and happiness.
Marcus eased Liz onto her back and broke their kiss, his eyes locking with hers in amusement, but unable to hide the desire that also resided there. It was strong and demanding. “This saves me from having to go downstairs and face the thousand and one questions from our family,” he said, grinning. Liz felt a little jolt when he called them our family. She had never had one of those.
“What does?” she asked, but he merely captured her mouth once again and sucked at her bottom lip a moment before moving down her neck, to her collarbone, and finally to her breasts, where he suckled a hardened peak between his lips over the thin t-shirt that she wore, and brought a soft groan of encouragement from her throat.
In just a second, her shirt was ripped away and tossed across the room, billowing to the floor like a cloud. Marcus quickly shed his own clothing with record speed and his mouth went back to her breast, needing to taste her sweet skin. His hand traveled down to her thigh and he skimmed his fingers along her satiny flesh, loving the way she opened for him so willingly.
When his fingers touched her at her core, he found her warm, and wet…and so damned ready that he was hard pressed not to take her right that moment. She arched her back at the contact, a sigh passing her lips as if she had waited a lifetime for this and he felt a shiver of need race up his spine.
“Marcus, please,” she begged, grinding her hips against his hand, needing so much to have him fill her.
Liz’s hands dove through Marcus’s thick hair and she fisted her fingers, pulling him closer as she whispered his name. My God, she thought in wonder, how had she ever survived his touch before? He had her aflame with such a deep, aching need that she felt as if she would surely combust right there on the spot. It was as if everything in her body was alive and humming–right down to her very skin.
His mouth moved down, placing a soft kiss where her scar had once been, and she closed her eyes, reveling in the feel of his lips on her skin. When his mouth met his hand at the apex of her thighs, she gasped at the pure sensation rushing through her veins, feeling as if every cell in her body was alight and charged with adrenaline, snapping and popping around her like fireworks.
When his fingers slipped inside her it was her undoing. She couldn’t have held back the climax rushing through her if she had tried, and she came crashing down around him in a burst of colors that had her calling his name, over and over again.
He moved up her body slowly, kissing his way until his mouth hovered over hers. Their gazes locked and held as he moved to slide inside her, feeling as if he had finally come home. He rocked into her to the hilt and paused, his eyes sliding closed as he just took a moment to feel her surround him, to enjoy that feeling of being joined with the woman that he loved. When he was certain that he couldn’t hold back a moment longer, he began to move, slowly at first, but with a growing, urgent need to make her his.
Their bodies moved against each other with smooth precision, flesh to flesh, and Marcus knew that he wouldn’t last long, he needed her much too badly. He moved their bodies
so that he was sitting up and Liz was straddling his hips, never breaking the connection of being joined with her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she took over the rhythm of their bodies, her body moving against his perfectly.
“Baby,” he ground out against her neck, his arms tightening around her as he moved his hips up against hers, “feed from me.”
Liz had a moment of confusion, but it was as if some instinct was taking over and she felt her fangs descend once again. She hadn’t even realized that they had receded in the first place–but here they were again, slipping down. She turned her face towards his neck and bit down, amazed at the wonderful flow of blood that filled her mouth. Warm, earthy…Marcus!
She drank greedily as Marcus moved faster, and a moan rushed past his lips. She felt him shudder a moment before his own mouth clamped down on her neck. As soon as she felt his fangs pierce her vein, she trembled from yet another mind-blowing climax as it barreled through her and made her body quake against his with all the power of a freight train, shaking her to her core. She moaned as she continued to drink, her body convulsing around him in all the splendor that was Marcus. She felt him reach his own peak and a growl passed his lips and vibrated against her neck as his body stiffened against hers.
Much too soon he rolled on to his side, pulling her with him as he tenderly licked her throat. She followed suit and was amazed to see the two tiny puncture marks disappear immediately. She snuggled up against his chest, feeling completely content and sated like never before.
She leaned back slightly when she saw the mark above his heart. It was small, red, and shaped almost like a star. Why hadn’t she noticed that before? It was beautiful.
She traced her fingers over it and heard Marcus’s chest rumble with his laughter. “What?” she asked, looking up into his face. “When did you get this?”
Marcus' Mortal Embrace (Book 3) (The Supernatural Desire Series) Page 21
