Engulf by Scholey C. L

Author:Scholey, C. L. [Scholey, C. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press
Published: 2013-02-27T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

When Raiden dipped his head to kiss Abri, she pulled back. She was sitting nude on his bed covered only in a warm white blanket. She was dry and yet the blanket wasn’t damp. Everything around her was so different. She had been told Earth as she knew it was gone. Where was home? Outside the rectangular window, Abri could see stars. The person before her was male—and yet monster. Under his soft flesh hid a hideous beast. Was she just supposed to forget that?

Raiden had declared them mated, but Abri wasn’t certain what exactly it meant. He had given up half of his hearing for her. Sounds she never thought to hear again were now possible because of him. She felt him inside her. She wasn’t sure what that meant either. He seemed to just expect her to know—Abri didn’t.

“Is mated the equivalent of being married?” she asked.

“No. It’s so much more.”

“How so?”

“We are one. No matter where you go in this universe, I will always find you. I can scent you, sense you, feel you. I cannot lie to you, and it’s best if you don’t lie to me. I can scent deception.”

“What did you do to me on your vessel?”

“I marked you as mine.”

When Abri looked at him filled with confusion he took her hand and led her to a mirror. He turned her slightly and lowered her blanket from her shoulder and she gasped. The tattoo he sported on his face when in his armor was shining brightly on her shoulder blade—an exact glowing green match. He had branded her? Abri glared at him.

“I’m not an animal!”

“I don’t understand.” Raiden had been standing there looking very pleased, his bubble burst right in front of her.

“Let me see your mark,” she demanded.

“It’s on my armor,” he stammered.

“Tucked neatly away. While you branded me like cattle.”

“What do humans do when they mate—marry?”

“We exchange rings.”

“You each wear one?”

“Yes.”

Raiden seemed to think about it then brightened. “Well, we both wear tattoos. The same ones.”

“But they can’t come off,” Abri insisted.

“If you took your ring off, didn’t that mean the marriage was over?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then the rings really mean nothing. They’re simply tokens, symbols or symbolic. My mark will protect you from a warrior. No warrior would dare harm you, they know you are mine.”

“Because I’m branded.”

“What is ‘branded’?”

“Ownership—you own me.”

“I don’t own you. I marked you to save you. Because you’re important enough for me to stay with for perhaps thousands of years.”

Abri’s knees buckled. Raiden scooped her up and took her back to the bed. Abri’s head was spinning. Thousands of years? Was he serious? He looked serious. Once more, when Raiden touched her, she felt a calm wave wash over her. Her emotions battled. Part of her wanted to feel him inside of her, but the other part of her was afraid. His touch did such strange things to her emotions. She wanted to hold tight to him and never let go.

“Is your sweat a drug?” she asked.

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