Page 22 of Marked By Him

Isaiah was the youngest. He refused to get married because he preferred to fuck freely. And often. I selected him to be a guard because guards were typically single due to the late hours they kept. Thankfully, Isaiah wasn’t the one on gate duty last night when Eve showed up.

Ezekiel lifted a brow as he tried to peer over my shoulder. “Isaiah didn’t want to wait to meet her, and I couldn’t let him come unsupervised.”

“She’s asleep.”

Isaiah shoved past me, letting himself inside. “I heard she’s not bad to look at. Naturally, I had to see for myself.” He had that mischievous gleam in his eye that said he planned on doing more thanseeing.

I closed the door behind them. “You—” I shoved a finger at Isaiah’s chest. “Stay the fuck away from her. And Silas talks too goddamn much.”

Isaiah barked a laugh. “Can you blame him? There hasn’t been a woman in this house since Eliza—”

I took a step closer, stopping inches in front of his face. “We don’t talk about her and you know it.”

His chest bumped mine, the arrogant fucker. “Fine. Can we talk about you, then? About how much of a fucking asshole you are. About how it’s probably because your balls are drying up. One day, you’re going to jack off and dust is gonna shoot out of your dick.” He backed away and made an exploding motion with his fingertips. “Pffft.”

“Say one more word about my dick…”

Ezekiel cleared his throat, attempting to be the voice of reason. He gave Isaiah a sharp look. “What he means to say is that you shouldn’t live the rest of your life alone.”

Who the fuck did they think they were? Coming intomyhouse, telling me how to livemylife?

“It’s in the fucking book, Roman. God said man shouldn’t be alone. He said it wasn’t good to be alone. That’s why he sent Eve,” Isaiah said, as though it was the simplest thing in the world.

Mother of all fucks.

That book was our saving grace. All our lives, we’d been taught it held all the answers. I was a tortured soul, destined to be alone. My tastes weren’t normal. My preferences were more animal than man, and God had punished me for it. That was what I believed.

But now, Isaiah’s words rang loudly in my ears. For the first time in three years, I started to believe something else.

That’s why he sent Eve.

11

Eve

Roman was right.The drink did help me sleep. But my dreams eventually broke through the numbness. Vivid images suffocated me. I willed my eyes open, but I was trapped there. Like a prisoner. I felt every moment as if I were living it all over again. Darkness surrounded me, but I saw his face clearly. I watched him wipe the blood from his lips. I heard the growl, low and deep as if he were standing right behind me, growling in my ear. There was so much blood. And then my mother looked at me. Her eyes locked with mine. Fear clawed at my throat.

No!

I bolted upright as a shrill sound ripped through the air.

I looked around, trying to place where the sound came from, to see who broke the third rule. Then, I swallowed, flinching at the dryness, at the pain of needles in my throat.

It was me.

That wasmyscream.

My eyelids were heavy. Sweat coated my skin. Tears dampened my cheeks. The darkness was still there, but suddenly something was holding me down. Hands gripped my wrists and braced my arms above my head. A strong body pinned mine to the bed.

The bed.

I wasn’t at the abandoned camp. My mother wasn’t here.

It wasn’t real.

I struggled against the hands that held me. I kicked my legs, trying to break free. I blinked through the thick fog of darkness around me.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.” There was a rough voice against my ear, hot breath against my neck.

---