Chapter 8 Abel
Abel
Ifelt gentle kisses on the back of my shoulder and smiled. My face was smashed into the pillow below me, and I realized it felt a bit wet. I moved my head out of the wetness and realized that I was leaving a trail of saliva everywhere and groaned.
“Buongiorno, mio angelo.”
I knew that one and smiled again. “Good morning,” I said, my voice harsh and raspy. My head popped up, and I groaned at the ache that was everywhere in my body.
Marcello started kissing down my spine, and I wiggled because it tickled. I froze when he sent me a memory. I closed my eyes and buried my face in the pillow.
Marcello chuckled, and after giving my lower back one last kiss, he lay down beside me, his arm wrapping around my waist. “How are you feeling?” I moaned into the pillow. “That good? I would have expected you to hurt everywhere.”
I turned my head and narrowed my eyes. “You know I do. I felt you in the bond, checking on me. And although that was sweet, why would you ask when you already knew?”
Marcello leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Because you need to work on being vocal about things, mio angelo. You are such a strong person, and I know you are, but you need to learn to say things so others know what you want or are feeling.”
I sighed. “I’ll try.” I cleared my throat. “What day is it?”
“I believe it is Thursday.”
I pushed up onto my arms, looking over at Marcello. “I was brought here on Friday.”
“Yes. We spent that first night with me being stubborn, the next morning started off rough but soon turned into sexual bliss, and then we took a nap. Sometime in the middle of our nap, you went into heat.”
My eyes widened. “That was Saturday.” Marcello nodded. “It’s Thursday, you said.”
“It should be. Let me check my phone.” Marcello kissed my shoulder once more before he rolled away and out of bed.
I couldn’t help but stare at him. He was gloriously naked and didn’t seem to care one bit that he was.
He crossed the room and picked up his phone, which was on his dresser.
After waking it, he nodded. “Yes, it’s Thursday.
It’s also almost ten. Would you like me to draw you a bath?
Maybe a soak in the tub would be good for your aches? ”
I took a deep breath. “I can do it. I’m sure you have things to do. I never meant for you to be away for so long from your responsibilities.”
Marcello scowled. “What are you talking about? Of course I will be away from business. Even Vincent, who is the coven master, said he would see me in a week. A week is not until tomorrow.”
Marcello walked back to the bed with purpose and didn’t even hesitate when he leaned down, tossed the covers off me, and swept me up into his arms. I gasped and reached for his neck to hold on. “Do you really think I would drop you?”
I looked up at my mate. He was irritated. “I’ve upset you.”
We were in the bathroom, and Marcello set me on my feet right outside the room with the toilet.
It took me a bit to figure out that the second toilet was a bidet, but I was so thankful that Marcello had a roll of toilet paper in there with everything that first day. How was that less than a week ago?
“We will talk after you go to the bathroom. Come out and join me in the tub. The hot water will soothe your aches.”
I nodded. He wasn’t wrong. I nodded, and after I stepped into the room and relieved my bladder, I stood there for a moment, searching my memories.
I’d gone into heat. I knew it would happen, but I had thought I might have at least a few more hours.
Another day would have been really great, but obviously, that wasn’t going to be my luck.
I opened the door and found Marcello bent over the tub. He was pouring something into it that smelled nice. “What’s that?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” Marcello said. “It was here on the edge of the tub with a note. It’s from Mazzi and says it will help with the aches.”
I smiled. I wanted to like Mazzi. He’d kidnapped me though. I looked at my mate and sighed. I wouldn’t be here, wouldn’t even know that he existed, if Mazzi hadn’t done that. “I’m torn,” I said. Marcello looked back at me with confusion on his face. “I want to like Mazzi, but he kidnapped me.”
Marcello chuckled at that. “I can understand that.” He held out his hand. “Come. I will help you in before I get some cloths and towels.”
I closed the short distance between us and took Marcello’s hand. His other went to my waist to help steady me as I stepped into the tub. The water was warm on my feet and legs, and when I sat down, I hissed as it stung in other places.
“Is it bad?” Marcello was suddenly concerned.
“Not terrible. I know that once I shift, it will all go away. But if I don’t, it will only take a few hours before I’m better.”
A cloud of darkness washed over Marcello’s face, and I wondered what caused that.
He nodded curtly before he walked away. He disappeared into the walk-in linen closet that I’d found that first day.
I’d looked in all the doors and drawers, hoping to find a way out of the room, despite knowing from scent that it belonged to my mate.
Marcello returned with two fluffy towels and a smaller cloth. He set them on the corner edge and then walked into the shower and returned with a pair of bottles.
I tried to reach out to him through our bond to gauge what he was feeling, but he was closed off.
That, or I just didn’t know how to access our bond.
I was certain I had done so when we’d first claimed one another.
In fact, he’d talked to me through it, and I’d responded.
He’d been able to read my thoughts. But now?
Nothing. I pulled my legs up, wrapping my arms around them and hugging my knees to my chest. Marcello scowled before he stepped into the tub.
“What is this?” he asked. He didn’t give me a chance to respond though.
He simply bent down, tugged on my feet, and pulled me into the center of the tub before he stepped over—yes, over the top of me—and sat down behind me.
“I don’t know why you’re being shy or distant, but there will be none of that between us.
” He pulled me back into him and slid his arms around my chest, forcing his hands between my chest and legs.
“You are my beloved, and I will care for you, no matter what. You do not have to like me; that will not change the fact that we have claimed one another, and you are mine to care for.”
I relaxed a little, letting him pull me closer to him. “That’s not it,” I said quietly. “You are the one who is closed off to me.”
Marcello sighed before he kissed the side of my head.
“It is not because I am upset with you. I fear that if you knew my true thoughts and where they had gone when you told me you would be fine in just a few hours, you would most certainly be frightened. That is not what I wish for so early in our relationship.”
“Why would I be scared?”
“Because despite how I am with you, I am not a nice man. I do bad things to people. My world is full of greed, drugs, sex, unethical business deals, betrayal, death, and so much more. I’m in the middle of it, and there is no way out but death.”
I thought back to what he’d said before. “You said we could leave. That you would go anywhere with me.”
Marcello’s hands roamed up and down my arms in a comforting gesture.
“I did. And I will if that is what you wish. But know that it will not be a comfortable life. We will always have to be on guard. I have enemies, we all do, and they will know that you are my weakness. When you let me claim you, without knowing, you became a target for all of them.”
I gasped as I turned a bit and looked at my mate. “What? Why? Why would you let something like that happen?”
Marcello sighed and shook his head. “I tried to warn you. I stayed away for over a year. Believe me when I tell you that I want you more than anything or anyone. But away from the coven, our life will be uncertain. We can try to go to where we are near the council, but we’ve already had that conversation. ”
Master Ambrosius did not like Marcello. I’d seen it with my own eyes, and he’d tried to kill my mate.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” I said quietly.
” I leaned closer, resting my head on Marcello’s chest and turning to the side so I could be held by him.
Marcello leaned forward, turned off the water that was now up to our chests, and then sat back, pulling me tightly to him.
“And I feel the same about you.”
We were quiet for a bit before I spoke, breaking the silence. “Will you tell me where your thoughts went? I get it, you’re not a nice guy, and you don’t want to scare me.” I lay there, listening to the beating of Marcello’s heart. It was soothing when I seemed to need that.
“What can I do to make you feel more comfortable?” Marcello asked.
I wanted to sit up and look at my mate, but the desire to stay where I was was far greater. “What do you mean? I’m not uncomfortable.”
“I didn’t mean here in the tub. I was referring to in general.”
I sighed again. “I want to know about you. We’re mated, and I know you have seen what I’ve been through. It’s not as if my life has been rainbows and happiness. I’ve seen ugly before. I’ve lived it.”
Marcello was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “When you mentioned that in a few hours your aches would be gone, my mind immediately went to finding the men that raped you and making them suffer very painful deaths.”
I smiled. “Why would that scare me? I think that’s sweet.
” I did sit up so I could look at Marcello now after he reluctantly loosened his hold on me.
“They’re already dead though. When I was rescued, the council captured those that were there, and after they were questioned, they were all put to death. ”
Marcello’s eyebrows rose. “You’re telling me that the council kills people?”