Page 10 of Marcello
“You’re right. I would never fit in here. Even if I could get past the whole mob thing, I could never live somewhere that had people that you fucked all of the time,” I said without thinking. I dropped the phone I’d been holding in his lap and scooted back to the other side of the room. “I’m going to sleep over by the doors there,” I said. “You can have your bed, because the thoughtof sleeping somewhere that you fucked someone else makes my skin crawl.”
Marcello sighed. “I should leave you to your anger. It will only serve you well, but I cannot. You need to know that I have had no one in this room ever. Yes, I have fucked many in exchange for blood. It is not something I can help, as I was born a vampire and not a shifter. But never have I brought them here to this room.”
I glanced at the bed, then back at Marcello. The bed was incredibly tempting, but I couldn’t do it despite the offer. I got up, grabbed a pillow and the top cover, and pulled them down to the floor with me.
“What are you doing?”
“Making a bed here. You can have your bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.” I dropped the pillow and then folded the thick cover in half.
“You will do no such thing. You sleep on the bed. I will take the makeshift spot,” Marcello said as he stood. “If it bothers you that much that I am in the room with you, I will sleep in the tub in the bathroom.”
He crossed to me, and I knew I should be terrified of the man, but I just couldn’t. He was my mate, and I absolutely was not afraid of him. Yes, I knew he killed people. Probably lots of them. But I also knew that many at the council had done the same thing. Granted, there were drastically different reasons. But still. Marcello tried to wrestle the blanket from me, but there was no way I was going to give it up. I turned, trying to keep my plush bed away from him since he wanted to take it away.
“No, it’s my bed for the night,” I said as I turned again. I probably shouldn’t have, though, because I found myself not only wrapped up in the blanket but in Marcello’s arms as well. Being plastered to his body told me exactly how certain parts ofhim were feeling at the moment, and they were very hard and ready. I gasped.
Marcello immediately realized why because he did everything he could to move his hips away from my lower stomach. “I cannot control that. But you need not worry. I made you a promise. I will not touch you while we are in here.”
That both frustrated me as well as made my heart hurt. I stopped fighting and let Marcello have the blanket. I would shift and curl up into a ball and sleep. He could have his blanket, and I would be perfectly fine sleeping in the corner in my fox form. I’d done it many times, and I had a feeling that I would do so many more before I finally died of a broken heart.
“You can have your blanket,” I said quietly.
Marcello let go of it at the same time I did, and it fell to the floor. He gently placed his hands on my shoulders, and I looked up into those brown eyes. They were once again a bit red, but that didn’t scare me. I knew enough about vampires to know that their eyes tinted red when they were turned on, when they were incredibly angry, when they were feeding, or when they needed to see in the dark. From the hard dick in Marcello’s pants, I knew he was turned on. Well, that and the fact that I could scent it.
“Can I ask one more question?” I asked but didn’t wait for an answer before actually asking what I wanted to know. “Is it only that you don’t want me involved in the family that is keeping you from claiming me or something more? Is there something about me that you find undesirable?”
“I’m certain you know I want you very much. I have not only not fed from another since I scented you, but I have not been with anyone in an intimate way since either.”
I gasped. Surely not. He was…hot. And sexy. Like…really sexy. “No way,” I said.
Marcello smiled. “It is true. I have been drinking from a glass. It is not preferred but is what I have to do in orderto survive. It works but obviously is not nearly as enjoyable,” Marcello said. “The only reason I do not already have you naked and in my bed is because my world would destroy you. Not because I do not think you are strong enough to accept it, but because I know just how ugly it is.” Marcello shocked me when he leaned down and kissed my forehead. His lips tingled when they touched my skin, and I closed my eyes, feeling them fill with tears as his lips trembled slightly as they lingered. He removed them, and then I felt his fingers in my hair for a fleeting moment before he was gone. I opened my eyes as Marcello retreated to the door where he’d been earlier. He sat back down, this time with his knees up and his arms resting on them. “You are a temptation,mio angelo.You should choose the bed,” he said. “I will keep messaging the others, and hopefully, they will respond and let you return to your home in Montana soon.”
I stood there, wondering just how this had become my life. I was given a mate, only to have my mate not be willing to claim me. I understood why, but the more I thought about it, the angrier I became. Why did he get to make all of the choices? Why did he get to decide that we couldn’t be together? Why did I have no say in anything?
“You know, you really are an asshole,” I said.
Marcello had a moment of surprise on his face before he masked it. “It is good that you have realized that. Yes, I am. And much more. I am lethal and kill men without a second thought.” Marcello held out his hands. “I killed four men not even an hour before meeting you today. With these alone. Why? Because three were in my way of getting to the fourth. I meant it when I said you do not fit into my world. You should remember that.”
I took several breaths, wiping at my tears, no longer knowing if they were from sadness or anger. Either way, I was ready to be home in Montana.
“I won’t forget,” I said quietly before I turned and went into the bathroom. I quietly closed the door and pulled out my phone again. I already knew it wasn’t going to work, but there was always hope. It was useless, though, because when I pulled it from my pocket, I saw that it had zero service. I was in Italy, and I didn’t have a global plan. I powered it down and set it on the counter before I turned on the cold water. After I splashed my face a few times, I dried it and then started pulling my clothes off.
Once I was naked and my clothing was neatly folded and placed on the counter, I went back to the door and opened it enough that I would be able to get my nose through and open it once I shifted. I knelt down, and quickly enough, my fox happily came out to meet our mate. Only he wouldn’t be meeting him. I was simply trying to get through the night without having to deal with the mate that I’d been given.
I nosed the door open, and after peeking around, I darted for under the bed. There, I carefully crawled to the other side, where I could see Marcello, who was looking toward the bathroom door. After a moment, he got up and walked in that direction.
“Abel?”
I moved away from where I’d been and crawled up near the head of the bed, against the wall. Once there, I curled up in a tight ball, burying my nose in my thick brush. It wasn’t cold, far from it, but how else would I sleep? Sure, at some point in the night, I would most likely stretch out, but for now, this was what I needed.
“Abel?” I saw Marcello’s shiny shoes and the bottoms of his slacks as they moved up next to the bed. Suddenly, his face was there, and he gasped. “You’re a white fox? How did I not realize that? I had only learned that you were a fox shifter.”
I partially raised my head before I laid it back down. So much for knowing about me. Then again, I knew nothing about him except that he was a mobster and killed people.
“Come out,mio angelo.You should sleep in the bed. It is much more comfortable for you there.”
I closed my eyes, feeling the tears even in this form. How long would I be able to stay in my fox fur? I’d spent weeks in this form before, but that wasn’t near my mate. My head popped up, suddenly remembering something incredibly important. I was going to ask Cole to spend my upcoming heat with me and help me through it. Obviously, that wasn’t an option now. But I’d heard about all of the omegas and how they’d gone into heat quickly after meeting their mates. Especially if their animal half met them. What would that mean for me? Would I go into heat soon? What would happen then? Would Marcello help me? Would he end up claiming me against his will?
I crawled out from under the bed and found Marcello staring at me. He offered a smile and patted his lap. “May I run my fingers through your fur? I know I am asking a lot, but the desire to touch you is a bit much right now. You can deny me, and I would deserve nothing less. But just once?”
