Page 93 of Marked By Moonlight
The next time I checked the clock, it was almost nine. Which was all right since Anastasia wasn’t due to call with her decision until noon.
I giggled. “At the risk of sounding like something Bene would say… Boy, are we on fire.”
I expected Marius to chuckle, but he stiffened and went very, very quiet.
I turned in his arms, facing him. “What?”
He forced a smile. “We are. And it’s great.”
His tone left me hanging, so I waited. And waited.
“But?” I prompted.
He hesitated. “But this might be a good time to talk.”
Uh-oh. That didn’t sound good.
“That night by the canal in Paris…” he started haltingly.
My body heated at the memory, and my hand went to my neck in the new habit I’d formed since then. One guaranteed to set off all kinds of sensual imagery, even now, when my lust ought to have been more than sated.
Marius gulped, following the gesture.
I froze, then probed my skin in a more clinical way. “You mean that hickey you left me with?”
He shook his head. “Not a hickey.”
After waiting an eternity, I hit him with my sternest teacher look. “Explain.”
It took him a good minute to work up the nerve to begin, and when he finished, I practically shrieked.
“You what?”
He winced and patted the air, urging me to lower my voice.
“I marked you,” he repeated. “By moonlight.”
That part, I’d heard. I’d also caught that it was a form of staking one’s claim to a future mate. Butlike an engagement ring for supernaturalssounded way too harmless for the pained expression on his face.
I sat up and crossed my arms sternly, though part of me loved the idea that he wanted me the way I wanted him. Forever.
“You don’t sneak an engagement ring onto a woman’s hand. You discuss it with her to see if she agrees.”
“It will wear off with time,” he tried.
“An engagement thatwears off?” My voice hit the ceiling.
“I didn’t mean to,” he tried lamely.
I glared. “Oh, that makes me feel better.”
“Don’t get me wrong — I would love to mark you if the timing was right. But at that moment… Well, it was destiny.”
I knew the man wasn’t an ace with words, but I was losing my patience quickly. Did he want me or didn’t he?
“So, destiny wants us together, but you don’t want me?”
“I want you,” he insisted. “More than anything.”
