Page 37 of Black Hearts
Juliet said nothing. Her head angled back, and she gazed up at me like I was her whole world, like I was everything to her. She didn’t say anything about the masquerade or me feeling like I wouldn’t have been able to hold back from her. She simply lifted a hand, bringing that hand to my face and running it down alongside my jaw, catching my stubble.
Such a soft touch, it made everything inside of me temporarily forget why we were here. I wanted to throw her to the bed again, tear off those clothes, and go at her again, hard and rough and dominant in all the ways I could be. It took everything in me to not do that.
“I love you,” Juliet whispered, the emotion raw in her voice. I could tell she meant it. I could tell I was everything to her, just as she was everything to me. She was an angel, untouchable in every way, and yet she was mine. There was a time when I might’ve caged her, stapled those wings down to her back and forced her to stand at my side, but now I’d much rather have a willing angel who adored me, loved me, even with my flaws.
Because, let’s be honest, there were quite a few of those.
I took the hand on my jaw in my own, bringing it to my mouth and kissing the back of it. “Not nearly as much as I love you.” The words were not exactly easy for me to say, and yet I forced them out, knowing she should hear them. I’d kept them to myself for far too long.
Juliet smiled at me, and never before had I seen a grin so wide and so joyous. She practically squealed as she stood before me, and I let her hand go and rolled my eyes. She bounced up and down like I’d just told her the most exciting thing ever.
Ridiculous. But also kind of adorable.
I bent my top half down, simultaneously taking her neck in my hand and holding her still. Kissing her while standing was no easy feat due to the height difference, but I made it work, and the moment her lips were on mine, her giddy excitement and bouncing died down. The kiss was too demanding, too forceful; she couldn’t do anything but kiss me back.
As if on cue, the door to the motel opened, the others strolling in with multiple bags of takeout. I couldn’t discern what it was based on the smell, but it looked like quite a lot of food.
I let go of Juliet, and as I scowled at them, she turned around, smiling.
Bennet and Will glared at me, but Jaxon was too busy setting both bags he carried on the opposite bed. “Hope you’re hungry,” he said, green eyes twinkling. “We got a bit of everything.” That had to be an understatement, since Will and Bennet also carried bags of their own.
What the fuck were we feeding, an army?
Chapter Six – Juliet
Having Markus here with Jaxon, Bennet, and Will was like… I didn’t even know. A dream? Even though we were currently stuck in an old, dingy motel whose TV was small and had hardly any channels, it wasn’t exactly terrible.
I liked it. I liked being with them, having them with me. And being with Markus again—I’d been reminded of why I’d fallen for the man to begin with.
He commanded the room, even if the others pouted or brooded about it. He was Markus Scott, and he was on a level of his own. A devil among men, the darkness of my dreams made flesh.
And he’d gotten to his knees before me.
I still couldn’t believe it, and no matter how many times I replayed it in my head, it felt like a dream. I mean, we were all sitting in the motel room, eating what Jaxon and the others had brought, and they weren’t bickering with each other. I wouldn’t say the mood of the room was light, but it could’ve been a lot worse.
Though I wasn’t very hungry, the guys forced me to eat. They’d gotten a hodgepodge of things: Chinese, pizza, McDonald’s. They made me try some of it all. Jaxon, Will, and Bennet sat around me on the bed. Though at one time each of them made me uncomfortable, now I found their presence calming. Yes, even Bennet’s, now that he had stopped going on and on about how much he hated me and wanted to kill me.
All the while, I kept tossing looks to Markus, who sat on the other bed, away from us. He ate, but I could tell his mind was elsewhere, probably thinking of his father and how he’d get him to leave.
“I wonder how Doc’s doing at the house,” Will was busy saying, talking with his mouth full.
Jaxon’s brows furrowed. “I think we should all start calling him by his name. It’s only fair—”
“Fair for who?” Bennet interrupted. “He’s the fucking doctor, even if he is fucking Juliet, too.” His crass words made me blush, and his blue stare noticed. It’s what I’d come to expect from Bennet, and yet I still couldn’t hide my embarrassment when he said things like that.
“It feels weird to call him Theo,” Will mused. “I mean, he’s been Doc for so long.”
Jaxon looked at me, as if he wanted me to back him up. I swallowed what I was currently chewing before I said, “I think it would be nice if you guys called him Theo. Doc isn’t his name.”
“See?” Jaxon said.
“Just because you’re buddy buddy with him now doesn’t mean we have to be,” Bennet shot back, frowning. He definitely took after Markus in his physical expressions, even if he had not an ounce of Markus’s control.
Will shrugged. “The guy’s all right. He’s got a darkness in him I never noticed before.” He rubbed his stubble-free jaw, like he was remembering something. “I guess I could call him Theo from now on.” His admission made Bennet huff in what must be annoyance.
On the other bed, Markus harrumphed. “Why Juliet finds your company enthralling, I’ll never fucking know.” A not-so-subtle jab to the others, one that made them all glare at him, but he didn’t seem to mind one bit. He’d put on his suit jacket and tie, tucked in his shirt and put on his belt, before he’d started to eat. He was the model of perfection, even if he was stuck in a motel room with us.
“I actually take offense to that,” Will deadpanned. “Because I know for a fact I am the most enthralling person you’ll ever meet.” He threw a wink toward me, and I couldn’t help but giggle. This whole thing was kind of silly, but it was a welcome distraction. At least when I was too busy paying attention to the guys and what they were saying, I forgot about how sore my midsection was and the fact that my father was still out there, on the run.
