Marked by Blood: Book 2 of The Marked Series by Ford, Rinna (top novels of all time txt) 📕

back off of his lap and leaned forward licking his chest clean. Matias breathed out deeply and watched as my tongue moved over his muscles.

I worked my way down his stomach and without thought, I reached for the top button of his jeans. Using his vampire speed, Matias moved me away, pinning me to the opposite wall.

“No, Emelia,” he chided.

I immediately felt guilty. Guilty for taking advantage of him when he laid it all out there for me before we started, and guilty for betraying Xander.

I pushed him back slightly and walked around him. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

He padded to the bedroom door and opened it wide. “Come back tomorrow morning after you’ve fed well. We’ll go over it again.”

Matias’ face was hard, his emotions shut down and I knew I had crossed the line. I was thankful he was stronger than me because I was ready to take it all the way and not even know what I was doing.

I lowered my eyes and walked passed him out the door. I heard it close behind me and the lock click in place. Keeping him inside or me out, I didn’t know, but the sound reinforced my guilt.

I took off running down the stairs and out the back door, not stopping for anyone. Once I hit the backyard grass, I used my vampire speed to disappear from anyone who knew me at that moment. I needed to wrap my head around what just happened and what could have happened.

Chapter Twenty-One

I ran to the abandoned beach Matias had found me at only days before. It was completely surrounded by large bounders, so unless you were a supernatural or someone who was used to climbing humongous rocks, no one could get to it. For that, I was grateful.

I needed to be alone.

But you’re not alone. Soliel seemed to say.

“Please, Soliel, don’t make me feel any more guilty than I already do.” I closed my eyes and waited for her to do something else, but nothing except possessiveness and support came through our bond. Apparently, she felt sorry for what I was going through and somehow during the blood exchange, she began to consider Matias ours just like Xander was.

Huh. I thought I’d have to try harder to convince her to accept others besides our dragon mate. I didn’t know if the fact Soliel was on board would be a good thing or a bad thing in the long run, but I decided not to worry about it too hard. I had enough on my plate.

I sat on the beach through the whole day, not moving from my spot in the sand until the sun completely dipped below the horizon. It was a beautiful sight and something I truly needed to witness. It made me feel small, like my problems were insignificant compared to the rest of the world.

For the last month and a half, it felt like my worries were suffocating me and they only seemed to pile on more and more. But the sun still rose every morning and set every evening, no matter what and it would continue to do it for all of eternity. Life went on, and mine would too. I just needed to handle things one at a time.

I made my way back to the mansion, stepping through the backdoor to find Camille in the kitchen with Grayson and a few of his shifter friends. I knew I looked a little wild, a little windswept but I didn’t care. I began to walk past them without saying hello when Grayson stopped me.

“Emelia, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked. The bear looked a little beaten down, probably from his girlfriend for the part he played in my turning.

I raised one eyebrow, but didn’t answer his question out loud. But I didn’t move away either.

Grayson cleared his throat. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for how it happened. I knew what was coming, but I didn’t expect it to be as hard on you as it was. I still believe you are the person from the prophecy, so it needed to happen, but I realize I went about it the wrong way. You should have had the choice.”

I stared at him for a second before nodding once and then glancing at Camille. She walked over to her boyfriend and slipped her arm through his and going up on her tippy toes to kiss his cheek. She was proud of how he apologized and honestly it was nice, but not what I cared to hear at the moment. Yes, I was feeling much lighter about my situation, but I had already written off Grayson and most of the residents of the house. Their feelings didn’t register to me and I had no problem with that.

“Thanks,” I told them. “Goodnight.” I continued on my way through the living room and up the stairs to my bedroom. I had every intention of getting a good night’s sleep, hoping the rest would bring more clarity. After all, I was going to be feeding from Matias again in the morning.

* * *

I slept for almost two hours before waking up feeling more refreshed. I dressed quickly and went downstairs in search of sustenance like Matias told me to do. His reasoning for asking me to do this was good because I would be well-fed and less likely to take too much blood. I wanted to make it as easy on him as possible, not that I was doing a good job in other areas.

I walked down the stairs quietly since most of the residents were sleeping and went into the kitchen. I expected to be the only person up besides the other vampires, but Amos was rummaging through one of the large refrigerators. When he stood up straight, he had a beer in one hand and screwed the top off with the other.

“Hey there,” he grinned, surprised to see me. He pushed