Page 37 of Hunt the Dusk
“I know.” Her smile was thin and determined. “But I’ve got this.”
Ordell didn’t commentwhen I climbed up into the driver’s seat of the carriage beside him. He simply grabbed the blanket tucked by his feet and pulled it over my lap, tucking me in for the ride. My stomach contracted in that telling way that was all too sexual. I exhaled through my nose, then proceeded to mouth-breathe to avoid his intoxicating aroma.
Ordell snapped the reins, and we set off, clip-clopping toward the misty boundary between New Town and Old Town.
“How was your day?” he asked.
I didn’t want to make small talk. I wanted to ask him about the mark and whether it was indeed a mate mark. But I also needed a moment to get my emotions in check first so I’d be ready for whatever the answer might be. And maybe a second moment to remind myself that if itwasa mate mark, then it wasn’t his fault. It was his beast who’d done it, and yes, he’d lied to me by omission, but he wasn’t a bad guy. He was probably only trying to protect me. I mean, I had his whole argument mapped out for him. But if itwasn’ta mate mark, then none of the above mattered. Still, being prepared meant the difference between a constructive discussion and a destructive argument.
“Orina?” Ordell said. “You still with me?”
“Huh?”
“Your day? How was it?”
“Yeah, yeah, it was interesting. I met the high clan leader of the fae in Brimswood Park today.”
“You met Crushale?”
“You know him? Of course you know him.”
He smiled. “Yes, we go way back. He’s a good guy. So why did you need to see him?”
I filled him in on how we’d tracked Diago’s signature and how it had stopped at the park gates and what Crush’s response had been, and for a few minutes, I allowed myself to forget about the potential mate mark.
But only for a few minutes because when I was done, he said, “I’m sorry about last night. I lost control.”
Silence sat heavy between us as he waited for me to absolve him, which was easy to do; it was what would come after that was going to be awkward. “You don’t have to be sorry. You didn’t lose control. You never lose control. It was your beast.”
He sighed. “Yes, and he’s a part of me so?—”
“Did he mate mark me?” I blurted the words, then bit the insides of my cheeks as I waited for his response.
His stony stillness was answer enough. “What did Hemlock say?”
It was true, then. It had to be. “Hemlock didn’t say anything. I spoke to my friend Quinn. She’s mated to the Hawthorne Cove Pack, and they said it sounded like a mate mark.”
We clipped on for a few moments before Ordell urged the horses to the side of the road and brought the carriage to a standstill. He sat with his head bowed for several seconds in which my heart pounded so hard I was sure the whole world could hear it.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally. “I should have told you.”
Even though part of me had come to accept the bite was a mate mark, a small part had hoped I was wrong, so his confirmation still hit like a blow to the chest. “What…what does it mean? I mean, it’s different for each shifter species, right? So what does it mean for us?” My mouth was dry, and I swallowed and licked my lips, waiting for his response.
He looked over at me with an expression that bordered on awe. “You’re not angry?”
“What? No, I’m not angry. I mean, I should be because you kept it from me, but. No. It’s not like you had control over it, right?”
“I want you.” His voice was a delicious rumble that rubbed in all the right places.
A fist clenched low in my belly. “Ordell…”
“My beast knows I want you, and it made you tempting to it.” His gaze dropped to my mouth. “It made you desirable, and then he found you and marked you.”
His breath mingled with mine, and I realized we were leaning toward each other, lips mere inches apart.
I sat back quickly, breathing heavily. “Explain it to me. What happens now?”
He licked his lips, and I tracked the movement, pulse beating hard in my throat. “The mark is the first stage. The beast claiming his perfect mate. It means the beast recognizes you as compatible in body and soul. But if I allow it…If I lose control, then it will take you. It will consummate over and over until you’re broken, and then it will…” He exhaled shakily and looked right at me. “Iwill kill you.”
