Mr. Maker by Rayven WoodSong (read books for money .TXT) 📕

their squabbling out, and turn to Adrian. I look around, only to see people staring.

“We need to talk, Adrian. But we will not do it here, at your brother’s funeral. Come to my rooms tonight. If you don’t, I’ll hunt you down. Got it?” He just stares at me. I take that as confirmation.

I spend the rest of the evening hovering near Adrian, but not touching or talking to him, and watching as someone called a High Priestess does some kind of ‘sending away’ ritual. I refuse to cry, as my mourning is complete. I follow instructions, which is holding a lit candle and repeating what the Priestess tells us to. A fire is lit and I realize that Blake’s body is on a pyre in the center of the room, how I missed it earlier I have no idea. Once the ceremony is over, the Marcos introduce me to the others in the room. I don’t remember many names, names aren’t my thing, but I do remember their relation to my Mates, thus their relationship with me. I met several aunts, a few uncles and some cousins. Everyone present is family, apparently Blake didn’t have any friends. Once I’ve been introduced to everyone, I excuse myself and go my rooms. I’m not sure why, but I couldn’t help but feel like an outsider.

But I guess I am an outsider. All of the people back there know each other, and have known eachother for years. Hundreds of years. I’m just the random Turned Human who just happened to mate to their king. Even Jace fits in better than I do. I left him talking to the Great Aunt Caral talking about the history of the Van Helsing clan.

Chapter 20

 

I enter my rooms and go directly the fire that’s already lit. I plan to sit in one of the chairs in front of them to wait for Adrian, but my plan changes when I see who's sitting in one of them.

“I’m surprised you actually showed up,” I say, sitting down on the floor in front of the fire. I don’t want to sit too far away from Adrian, but I don’t want to be too close either.

He doesn’t say anything. I’m sure that if my back wasn’t to him, he’d be giving me that blank stare again. I look over my shoulder to see just that, the stare.

“So we’re back to that?” I start to watch the fire, the dancing flames are oddly soothing.

Several minutes pass with no sound other than the crackling pop of the fireplace. I’m almost startled when Adrian says “I shouldn’t have struck you.”

“No, Adrian you shouldn’t have.”

“I was angry.”

“No, shit.”

I hear him stand up, and feel him move closer as he sits down next to me. We’re both silent for a while, watching the fire.

“You’ve been inside my head, Adrian. You’ve seen all my memories and secrets... How could you accuse me of betraying you? Of betraying the Marcos?”

“I was upset. My brother was killed.”

“And I wasn’t? He was my mate, Adrian. I literally felt him die. I lost two mates that day.”

“Ana, don’t be an idiot. You only lost one. He died.”

“And now you’re back to denying me?” I turn to face him. “What is with you? I thought we were getting somewhere. I get that you lost a brother, but I lost a Mate, and pushing away one of the few people that actually care for you will not change it.”

He blinks at me a few times. “I don’t do feelings, Ana. You know this.”

“So you’ve said, but you do do feelings. You opened up to me. Don’t pull away now.”

I move so that I’m more in front of him than beside him. I reach up and cup his cheek. “We were doing so well...”

He shrugs my hand away. “I hit you. You should be avoiding me.”

“Adrian. The Marcos hit me. And although I never expected you to, I’m okay with it. As long it won’t happen again. I could have kicked your ass, like I did the boys, but I didn’t want to. I was hoping you’d calm down if I was out of sight. But you left instead.”

I’m crying again. I swear, before Adrian showed up, I never cried this much. He sighs, and I find myself buried into his chest. His arms are wrapped around me.

“I’m not used to feeling, at all. I don’t know how to.” I think he’s trying to tell me that having actual feelings scares him. That he doesn’t know how to react, so he randomly pushes me away, or runs away. It even explains him lashing out when he was grieving.

“I forgive you for hitting me. And leaving when I needed you the most. I think I understand. You don’t know how to handle feeling things.”

He doesn’t say anything, so I just wrap my arms around him and cuddle into him. “I’ve missed you, Mr. Masters. Please don’t leave again..” His response is to tighten him embrace, I can feel him rubbing slight circles in my back. I can barely feel it, as I’m wearing a corset and the fabric is thick. I pull away just enough to look up at his face and I’m mildly surprised that he’s looking down at me. I reach up and touch his cheek again. This time he leans into it, instead of pulling away. I move my hand around to the back of his neck and pull him down.

My lips press to his and he instantly kisses me back. The kiss deepens when he maneuvers us around so that he’s pinning me down. I let out a moan as he presses the length of his body against mine. He lets out a breathy chuckle and starts kissing down my jaw and to my neck. He starts to suck on the spot where he bit me and I moan, loudly, as I grab fistfulls of his suit jacket. His teeth sink into my neck and I hear a tear as I rip my skirt to wrap my legs around him. He continues sucking from my neck and I can’t stop myself from grinding onto him. He pulls away and kisses me again. My hands slide to the buttons of his jacket and I start to unbutton them. He pulls away and throws both his jacket and his shirt somewhere behind him. I lean forward and lick his chest. He laughs and stands up, pulling me up with him. He moves behind me and undoes the stays of the gown, let’s it drop, then starts working on the laces of my corset. It takes him no time at all to get it loosened and to have it off, it’s followed by the petticoats and bloomers. Once he has me stripped completely naked, he steps back and looks me up and down. He frowns when he looks at my stomach. I’m getting ready to hit him in the face when he looks up at me.

“Have you always had that mark?” I look down, and sure enough there’s a lightning bolt on my tummy. The bottom point is just touching my belly button and it reaches up about an inch.

“No. What does it mean?” I slide my hand over it, it’s completely smooth. If I wasn’t seeing it, I wouldn’t know it was there.

“The only thing I can think of it being is a Mate Mark. Maybe it represents the deceased Marco?” Adrian says, running his thumb over it. I place my hand over his, holding it to me. His fingers splay over my tummy and his thumb stops moving. I step close and wrap my free hand around him. I bury my face in his neck, breathing in the scent that is Adrian. He pulls his hand free and pulls me close, his hands resting on my hips. He tilts his head to the side.

“Bite me, Ana.”

I look up at him, “Are you sure?” He half smiles and nods. I don’t need anymore encouragement. I kiss his Mark, then open my mouth and sink my teeth into him. He grunts and his fingertips dig into my side. I start swallowing mouthfuls of his blood, reveling in the familiar taste that is Adrian. His left hand slides down and tugs on my thigh, so I jump up and wrap my legs around him, still drinking from him.

Distantly, I hear the sound of the door opening, but I’m too engrossed in Adrian to pay attention. It’s only when he grips my hair, ranks me away from him, and throws me behind his body, do I remember that I’m completely unclothed.

“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t expect to see you here. Where’s Ana?” Jace asks. I blush and bury my face into Adrian’s back.

“I’m back here, but uh..”

He laughs. “If you’re unclothed back there, you know I’ve seen it before. But no worries, I’m just passing through to my room. You guys may want to take it into the bedroom though, someone else could walk in.”

I can instantly tell when Jace is gone. Adrian’s whole body relaxes before he turns around and pulls me flush against him. I look up, with the intention of reading his eyes, but he presses his lips to mine. I’m beyond surprised at his passion and the aggressive way he’s claiming my mouth. I kiss him back with equal fervor and jump up, wrapping my legs around his waist again. My back hits something softish and I find myself lying horizontal on the bed. His speed will always amaze me. He kisses his way down my jaw and to my neck where he kisses the point he normally bites. I let out a moan and grip the sheets beneath me. I remember his ‘no touching’ rule from the last time. His hand slides from my hip, across my stomach, over my ribcage and to my breast where he cups and kneads it. My back arches when he slides his fangs over my chest and to my nipple where he presses the point into it.

“Adrian..” I breath as he breaks the skin and drinks from me. My whole body clenches as I orgasm. Adrian moves so that he’s hovering above me.

“I haven’t even touched you yet, idiot.” He smiles, actually smiles, down at me. I smile back, despite the blush covering my features. He kisses me again, nibbling on my bottom lip. I grip the sheets even tighter and wrap my legs around him again, ignoring how his belt digs into me. Still kissing me, one of his hand slides from cupping my jaw, past my shoulder, down my arm and to my hand. He pulls the sheets free from my death grip and guides my hand to his chest. He wants me to touch him? I flatten my hand and rub slow circles with my thumb. I slide my other hand over his chest to meet my other one and then I wrap my arms around his neck and thread my fingers through his hair. He pulls away and steps back. I watch as he removes the rest of his clothes. There’s nothing special about the way he removes them, he just does.

Once naked, he climbs back on top of me, kissing my tummy. Once hand