14. Chapter FourteenDaria
Chapter Fourteen
Daria
I ’d taken a nap on top of Marcus. He was quite cuddly for an orc. But the big news was that when I woke up, his knot was gone, and we were unlinked. He didn’t seem to want to let me go but didn’t fight it when I jumped off him. I was craving a shower. Although I was still in my heat, I needed a moment to clean myself before diving back in. I was sure once that was done, I’d be back on top of him.
I ran to the stairs but paused before I climbed them. I lied. I couldn’t wait. The tell-tale cramps were rounding the ends of my core. I turned to look back at him sitting on the couch. He looked a little dejected, with me gone from him, a slightly lost frown on his face, and it hurt to see him like that. Although I understood the feeling. A coldness was creeping inside of me.
“Marcus, I’m still in heat. Want to take a shower together?”
He actually straightened up and gave me the sweetest lopsided grin I’d ever seen.
Heart pull.
We’d had the longest shower in the world, doing more than just cleaning ourselves. After I got orgasm round number who-knows out of my system, I grabbed my bottle of co-washing conditioner from the side of the tub. “I need to wash and detangle my hair. It’s time.”
He took the bottle from me, his massive back to the spray of water. He had to have this place renovated because there was no way a normal showerhead would cover the top of his head, yet this one did. “Let me wash your hair.”
“Marcus, washing my hair isn’t like how you do your hair. You have to make sure you don’t tangle the curl as you work the lather in your hair. Then, I need to comb my hair from the tips up instead of from the roots down. It’s a whole thing.”
He shrugged, giving me the bottle back. “Show me. Then I’ll take over.”
I shook my head and poured the co-wash in my hands before rubbing it in my drenched roots. “Why do you want to learn?”
“Because I want to know how to take care of you.”
My core fluttered, and I dropped my hands so that he could take over. His hands felt amazing on my scalp, and I decided this might be better than any romance novel I’d ever read. I could feel how he felt. I was treasured. He was treasuring me, and it felt amazing.
***
My heat lasted until the next morning, and I was thankful it was only two days. I was still on edge about the gang and didn’t need the added stress of being in heat when they called. While I got dressed, Marcus went downstairs to make breakfast.
Upon leaving my bathroom, I found Angie standing and staring at my still very messy bed with a look of judgmental disgust. “Looks like you guys had a good time. Heat over?”
I moved to the dresser and pulled out some extra bed sheets. “Yup.”
She stood back as I began to pull the sheets off the bed. “So, he wasn’t mad at you for escaping again?”
“I think, and I’m just now realizing this, he was scared for me. I could feel it now that we’re mates. And it wasn’t because he thought he lost his bargaining chip with saving his brother.”
Angie crossed her arms giving me a skeptical look. “How do you know that?”
I then relayed to her the first twenty-four hours connected to my alpha orc as I made up the bed.
Angie put her hands to her lips, raising her brows as if in disbelief. “Gives the saying stuck together a whole new meaning. My mind won’t even let me go into the mechanics of it all for that length of time. I’m very disturbed. So, wait, he was hard the whole time?”
I shrugged, not meaning to get into the details of our sexcapade.
“Wow. That had to be painful for him. How does being knotted feel?”
I gritted my teeth, uncomfortable with this line of questioning. “Full, and I think I’m done talking about this.”
Angie placed her hands in a prayer form in front of her chest. “Oh, give me this, I’m dead. I need some form of entertainment.”
I sighed. “How long are you going to use that excuse?”
She reared back in fake shock. “Eternity, bitch.”
“Really?”
She waved a hand out to the side. “I’m just saying, while I was walking in circles, bored to tears in ghost purgatory, you were in orgasm heaven. Life is not fair.”
I pouted, understanding her frustration. I never stopped feeling bad for the plight of my friend’s existence, and I wanted to make her world as comfortable as possible. But spilling stories about my sex life wasn’t going to be it. “Please find something else to entertain you. I beg you.”
Angie tapped her chin. “So, you aren’t going to run away again?”
I shook my head. At this point, it seemed futile and probably the least successful course of action.
Angie sighed. “He still has the main ward up, so I can’t leave.”
I wasn’t surprised. “He barely trusts me. He definitely doesn’t trust you.”
“So, you’re going to give in?”
I sat on the now newly made bed. “No, I’m going to fight back. With Marcus.”
“Huh. I would call you insane, but clearly, you are still in heat, so this doesn’t seem like a good time to argue.”
“Ang, I can feel his emotions. He’s not lying about wanting to protect me. And he’s… more sensitive than I first thought.”
She nodded slowly. “I suppose I believe that. It doesn’t make me less scared for you.”
Before I could respond, I heard a knock at the door. “Come in,” I called.
Marcus opened the door with a grim expression and instantly my heart sank. I already knew what he was going to say. “They’re ready for us.”
I pressed my lips together, worry tightening my stomach. “What is your plan? I could resurrect a cemetery of zombies, and we can bulldoze our way in, snatch your brother, and bounce. I’ve really been thinking about this, and it could work.”
He tilted his head, considering me. I already knew he wasn’t going to take me up on my offer. He was stubborn. “Have you ever resurrected a horde of zombies before? That’s very different from just one person. You’d have to control them all.”
I scrunched my face, not wanting to admit the answer. “I mean, no, but how hard could it be?”
He walked over to the bed and sat down next to me. “Well, we don’t know how hard it could be, but uncontrolled undead are problematic. One, we don’t know how it would affect you, and two, it’s too risky of a variable for what I already have planned.”
I grumbled. “Yeah, a plan you haven’t told me about. You’re such a control freak.”
He kissed the side of my head, placing a warm hand on my back, and I instantly felt any annoyance recede. The trickery. “That may be true, but it hasn’t failed me yet. I was so successful in my work because of the details. But I’m not sure we should do my plan either.”
“Okay, so where does that leave us?”
He tossed his head back, looking up at the ceiling, and I could feel the utter loss burning through him. This wasn’t good. “I’m not giving you to them. You’re mine, and I don’t want them even breathing on you, even for one minute.”
Angie clasped her hands together. “Aww, that’s so sweet. I mean, his brother will die so that part’s not so sweet.”
I understood where this was coming from. We were newly claimed, the fear of being apart and increased possessiveness was all a part of the package. The idea of snuggling with him in this beach house, minus Angie, for a few more weeks felt like a dream. I placed my hands on both sides of his face and gazed into those worried blue eyes. “Marcus, I know you don’t want to risk me getting hurt, but you love your brother. And when this haze of our new claiming wears off, you’ll regret not getting your brother. Might even resent me. I don’t want that.” I dropped my hands, placing one on his thigh. “Let’s go with the plan you made.”
He grasped my hand, and I understood his need to touch me. I felt the same way. “You’re right. I would never be able to leave him there. The claiming has confused me, I’m sorry.”
“You were worried.”
His eyes steeled. “I don’t get worried.”
I raised a brow. “That confident?”
“I had to be. It’s why I’m so thorough.”
“So, I’m a distraction?”
Angie, who I’d forgotten was still there, cleared her throat. “If he hadn’t claimed you, he wouldn’t be distracted.”
Marcus shook his head, lifting my hand to kiss it, and I released a breath, enjoying the warmth spreading through me from the contact. If anything, he was my distraction. “You are an addition. Although I hate the idea of taking you to them, even for a small while, continuing with the plan is the best option. You and I go. I have some people who are undetectable that’ll be in the background to help get the three of us out. You’ll have to do the resurrection. I’m sure they won’t turn over my brother until you do, but I won’t let you do the resurrection until I have eyes on him.”
“Why can’t we just take him before I do anything?”
“Because there might be a possibility that they’ll let him walk out easy if you do your part. If there’s an option for peace, I’d like to try it, although I doubt it’ll happen.”
I smiled up at him, although I felt anything but confident or happy. “Ok, I trust your plan. And if it’s looking bad, I’m reanimating whoever gets killed and having them attack.”
He opened his mouth as if he would object but then stopped. “Fine, little flower. You’ll get your zombies if we need them. But you follow my direction when we’re in there. We’ll speak telepathically now that we’re claimed. I’m going to get you and my brother out safely.”
He sounded certain, looking more resolved than earlier. I decided believing him was my only option, and so I would.
Finally.