11. Gianna
CHAPTER 11
GIANNA
I hadn’t wanted him to go, but now that I had seen Bianca at work, I never wanted to see it again. No matter what, I would do anything not to see Marco in that same position. I’d believed the stories of Bianca’s cruelty, but seeing it, hearing the screams…
If behaving a certain way within these walls protected both of us from that, I’d do it.
When Marco was gone, I turned to the stack of boxes that contained the entirety of my old life. Lined against one wall, they sat like Tetris pieces. The suite should be big enough for everything, but it was a daunting task nonetheless. I desperately needed the distraction, though, and with nothing else to do to fill my time, I tackled the boxes one by one until my muscles ached and my stomach growled.
I broke into my stash of snacks, unsure what I was supposed to do for meals. Eventually I gave up and climbed into bed with a pair of pajamas I’d located, passing out almost instantly.
Arms wrapping around me woke me instantly, triggering my fight or flight. My elbow collided with someone and I tumbled off the bed, launching into the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind me and hitting the lock before flicking on the light.
With a hammering heart I sank to the floor, trying to calm my breathing.
A soft knock at the door sounded a moment later. “It’s just me.”
I flipped the lock open but didn’t move from where I’d curled up. My fingertips had gone numb, ice sliding through my veins until tears pricked at my eyes and slid down my cheeks.
Marco entered the room, a hand over where I’d elbowed him, and kneeled next to me, dragging me into his arms. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I thought—” I hiccuped. “I thought you were someone going to take me away again. All my dreams were blood.”
A crackly purr rumbled in his chest. “You’re safe in here.”
The stupid thing was that I felt safe, curled in his arms. I knew it wasn’t entirely real, but I clung to it anyway.
“Every other night with you, I was high off heat hormones. Now it’s just reality.”
His hand cradled my head. “Reality fucking sucks.”
I let out a broken laugh. “It kind of does.”
“I’ll try not to be too offended.” His voice was soft, like he was afraid if he spoke too loudly I might spook again.
I curled closer to him, breathing in the bourbon and smoke scent that clung to his skin. It was too faint for my liking. Climbing to my knees, using him as a ladder, I pressed my face to his throat and locked my arms around him. His scent there, where my bondbite marked his skin, was exactly what my omega brain needed to calm the fuck down.
I tucked myself closer, allowing this moment of weakness in front of him. Warm tears slipped over my cheeks, the salt burning after a while and I was forced to wipe them away. He didn’t say a word of judgment.
I hadn’t entirely lied to my father when I’d told him that Marco had been taking care of me. It wasn’t the life of a fairy-tale princess, but I was as safe as I could be.
When had the sound of Marco’s heartbeat, the steady rise and fall of his breathing, become something that helped me feel safe? I’d bitten him first in the heat. Maybe all those primal instincts knew something about him that I didn’t.
“Can I take you to bed or would you rather stay here longer? Maybe a bath?”
“Bath sounds nice.”
He scooped me up and awkwardly maneuvered to get the hot water running. “Unless you bought something at the pharmacy, it’s just going to be plain water.”
“Plain is fine.”
He stripped me out of my pajamas when the tub was about halfway full, his fingertips lingering a little longer on my skin than comfort required, but he didn’t make any move to touch me beyond that. I stripped down, feeling his gaze on my skin as I climbed into the massive bath.
When he turned to leave, I squeaked out a “Wait.”
He stared at me, waiting for me to give him an explanation.
“Stay?”
Marco sat on the edge of the tub.
“In the water,” I clarified.
I watched greedily as he slipped off the pants he had worn to bed. Was that just for my benefit? I’d assumed he’d have climbed in naked, but maybe he’d been attempting respectfulness.
Once he was fully seated, I crossed the distance between us and climbed into his lap. His cock instantly rose to attention, but he only wrapped his arms around me and nudged my head until it rested on his shoulder, my nose brushing his throat. His fingertips danced a rhythmic pattern against my arm and I focused on that until my heart and breathing had calmed down enough that I dared to look at him.
“I’m sorry I hit you.”
“It was my fault. I’ll learn not to sneak up on you.”
“Our life is weird.”
“Yes,” he agreed.
“Everything feels so fucked up.”
“That’s because it is.” He sighed. “I’ll try to give you the best life possible here. I know it’s never going to be the life I want to be able to give you.”
I believed him. We were both stuck and neither of us had a choice, but we could make the best of it. “Thank you…for wanting to make this all okay.”
We could figure it out in time. For now, I knew at least one thing we were good at together. I traced my own patterns—spirals and zigzags and hearts—against his chest until my comfort started to shift into something else. I inched my fingertips down until I boldly swiped them over his nipple, his entire body tensing in response.
His cock tapped insistently at my ass now that I had woken the beast. “If that wasn’t an invitation, you’d better make yourself really fucking clear right now.”
“What if it was?” I tweaked the nipple again and shifted my hips.
With one quick movement, Marco had me turned, my back to his chest, his hand over my throat, and his legs forcing mine wide for his other hand to descend. I gulped air down, my whole body trembling as the rough pads of his fingers focused on my clit at the same moment his teeth found my bondmark.
I breathed his name on a sigh and arched my back, rocking my hips to grind against his fingers. This was a million times more fun than stewing on all of the shit I’d been through. The orgasm he was building felt like glass under pressure, every new crack bringing me closer to breaking for him. I bucked hard when the swell of pleasure became too great, riding his hand while I locked it into place with both of mine.
The world tilted as Marco pushed me forward and spun me in the open water before dragging me closer. My back bowed when he looped one arm around my waist and pulled on my hair, lifting my breasts so he could wrap his mouth over each of the pink peaks in turn. I squirmed in his grip, hands braced on his shoulders and nails digging into his skin as he scraped his teeth over me hard enough to leave red streaks and have me yelping when they closed over my nipple.
It wasn’t fair that he had all this power over me. I managed to loosen my own grip and dropped my hand to grasp his cock trapped between us. Marco hissed, a growl escaping in between his lapping against my skin.
I did my best to keep a steady rhythm but Marco seemed content to continue surprising me. A lick here, a bite there, a tug on my hair or a roll of his hips to glide against my clit.
Only after I broke for him again did he haul me out of the water and take the both of us, still dripping, out to the bed. I fell onto the blankets with a whoosh and then he was above me, my hands reaching for him, his weight pressing between my thighs. I locked my ankles behind each of his legs and pulled in, arching as his cock plunged into me. Between the heat and stretch of him in my cunt and his mouth feasting on my throat where his bondbite made everything a thousand times more sensitive, I could barely catch my breath.
I pawed across his back as if finding something to grab onto might help me cope with the barrage of sensations assailing me. Marco was both too much and not enough. Even without the heat high, he was still more than I could bear.
He bit me hard enough to break skin and I cried out, my vision going white, my scent gland responding with a flood of endorphins as my pussy contracted.
I wasn’t used to the intimacy of him in this position. The play of pleasure across his face and the heat in his eyes teased some deep part in the recesses of my brain.
Alpha.
Mate.
Mine.
He was a dangerous man, but I had proven to him by this point that I wasn’t to be taken lightly. Marco kept his strength leashed, letting me feel his power in the way he held me, in the way he moved, but he wasn’t rough with me like he’d been during the heat. Was he trying to comfort me? Was his own version of softness with me an olive branch extended for all that had occurred between us?
The flow of his hips grew erratic and he pulled out, pumping his cock and decorating my expanse of skin before him. I whined at the aching emptiness he had left behind, and his response was to drop down and bury his face between my thighs. His facial hair scraped against the sensitive skin, his tongue flicking a morse code of desire against my clit that had me arched and begging.
“Marco—fuck. God, please, please don’t stop, don’t?—”
He pressed his fingers into me and my legs shook at the stretch and curl of those digits, my desperate whine seeming to only be fuel for his actions. His lips sealed over my clit and my eyes rolled back. My mouth dropped open in a silent scream as every inch of me tensed and broke apart under his attention.
I lay there, dazed and limp, when he finally pulled away, disappearing briefly and returning with a warm cloth to clean up the white streaks that painted my chest and stomach. Once he was satisfied, he tossed off the top layer on the bed, wrenching it out from under me before gathering me up and under the sheets. My body didn’t react with fear this time when he wrapped his arms around me, his chest pressing against my back.
His purr flared back to life. I was already ridiculously relaxed, but that gentle sound reached deep, assuring every instinct that I was safe. That he would keep me safe.
I had no idea what tomorrow would bring, or any of the days after that, but tonight I was where I belonged.
I was so fucking warm. Satisfied, blissful even. My purr kicked on, the soft buzz filling my ears until I finally drifted away into oblivion with Marco securely tucked against me.