Marked 2: Marked for Desire (20 page)
Maybe she was doomed to repeat her mother’s mistakes and love a man who couldn’t accept the whole package. She stopped pacing and stared in the full-length mirror on the wall. No. She wasn’t her mother. If nothing else, Leo had taught her how to deal with the power of Placido. Even if he left her, she wasn’t going to be devoured by the power here as her mother had been.
She took a deep breath.
Right. Get the fuck over it, Princess. You are who you are, and no one, not even the man you love, is going to make you into someone different. He’ll either accept you or he won’t.
The door whooshed open.
Leo’s blond hair was shorter now, and the scar on his face was more visible. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his features seemed tired, worn. Sera wanted to run into his arms and hold him close, but she stayed still in the center of the room, her hands twisted together.
He made no comment on the fact that she hadn’t obeyed him. “Everything is going well with the intake population?”
So he was going to play the businesslike game. Fine. “Yes, it’s going well. Several Nyral doms and their subs have settled here. It’s made the political transition smoother.”
Her heart clenched when his fingers brushed over her vanity, touching her brush. Her lips tightened. “How was the trip back? Difficult?”
Keep it casual and impersonal
. What else could she do?
“Yes, it was difficult,” he said softly.
Here it comes, she thought. Now he’ll tell me he’s not good enough, strong enough to be the consort to a queen. She wasn’t going to fucking break down and cry.
“Oh? And why is that?” She hung up a sweater she’d left on the chair.
“Because I wanted to bring you good news. But I don’t have any.” He sounded…sad.
Her hands shook as she placed the sweater in the closet. Time to face the music. She turned around and managed a smile. “Well, tell me what news you do have, Leo. I can take it.” At least she hoped so.
He jammed his hands in the pockets of his flight suit. “I went through all the archives on Nylar. Second marking is extremely rare. So rare, it hasn’t happened for hundreds of years.” He cleared his throat. “It happens when the first marking isn’t a strong one.”
“Like chicken pox.”
His gaze snapped to hers. “What?”
“An Old Earth disease actually called varicella. If you only had a light infection the first time, you could get it again.” She was babbling. Another example of her infinite store of useless information. She pressed her lips together.
“Yes, like that,” he said slowly. “Apparently my mark with Shanie wasn’t strong, so I was able to mark you.”
“Fabulous,” she said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her tone. Great. She was the second infection of the chicken pox.
“The bad news is there’s no way to reverse it.”
Her very soul went still. Had that been his purpose of going to Nylar? To reverse their mating? Her stomach rolled, and she felt dizzy. “I see.”
“Sera, what is it?” Leo closed the distance between them and gripped her arms. “I know you didn’t want this, and I’m sorry I can’t free you, but it’s not all bad, is it?”
Her head shot up, and she glared at him. “You don’t have to stay here if it’s too much for you, Dom Boy. It’s not like I trapped you. You’ve made your point. You feel stuck. It was all good when you could get your jollies, but now that it’s about work and duty—”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” He interrupted her and punctuated each word with a shake. “I do not feel stuck.”
“Then why did you try to get out of it?” Her voice rose, and tears were clogged in her throat.
Shit
. She was going to lose it and start crying in front of him. God, she’d missed him so much, and she loved him with every fiber of her being. She didn’t want to fall apart until he’d walked out the door. She took a deep breath. “I appreciate that you came to tell me in person—”
“Tell you what?” His eyes narrowed, and his hands tightened on her arms.
“Tell me you’re leaving.” There. She’d said it. He was going home to Nylar and leaving her here. It was clear to her that he wanted out, he wanted to be free.
“Are you insane?” He practically shouted the words at her.
She blinked. “We’ve been apart for three months. Then you come in here talking about how you tried to find a way to undo the mark.”
“I marked you without your permission.”
“You did a lot of things without my permission,” she shouted at him. “Like leaving me here alone for three fucking months!” She jerked away from him. “Get out, Leo. If you want out of this mating, then go.”
Like a vise, his hand gripped her arm and whipped her around to face him. “I never wanted out of this mating. You did.”
“No, you fucking idiot, I didn’t.” She met his glare with one of her own. “And had you asked me, you would have found that out.”
“You never said you loved me. Not once.”
Well, shit, he was right. She hadn’t. Except in every way that mattered. “I didn’t think I had to.”
“Well, you were wrong,” he said, but his voice was low, seductive. “Sera, you disobeyed me.”
She gasped. His gaze held hers, hot, intense, all the cold, businesslike bullshit out the window. But the bastard hadn’t said he was sorry, and she was still pissed. “So?”
“So, I’ll have to punish you.” He tightened his grip on her arms.
She squirmed and kicked out with her feet. “Fuck you, asshole.”
His grin only pissed her off more. “I might.”
She growled in frustration and kicked his shin. He only chuckled and tossed her onto the bed. In two seconds, her hands were cuffed to the headboard. Damn him. “Unlock these now!” She put every ounce of command in her voice.
“I love it when you go all regal on me,” he said and clasped one of her ankles. She thought he was going to restrain her feet too, but he didn’t. Instead he bent down and slid his tongue over her calf to her knee. The dress she wore was bunched up around her waist, and he continued to torment her skin until he reached the crease between her pussy and her thigh.
She shuddered, her body betraying her. Afraid of the power he had over her, she tried to kick him, yanking on the cuffs. He slammed her right thigh down onto the bed and held it, while his body held her left leg. Her struggles were useless, and his mouth robbed her of her resistance. He held her legs open with his strong hands, and his tongue circled her clit with long, slow strokes.
God, he was cruel. A sob escaped her, and she pressed her face into the pillow. Suddenly he stopped. She glanced at him and found him staring at her. Her body melted. Why was she so weak?
He knelt between her legs and cupped her face. “I want this mating, Princess Sera Placido. With all my heart.”
“Then why?” she sobbed. “Why did you leave me?”
His lips were tender and sweet on hers. “I meant to let you go. To free you. I trapped you in this mating, and I wanted to give you a choice.”
“By taking away my choices?”
By leaving me alone like everyone else has?
His gaze held hers. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. You said having a dom in your life was laughable—”
“That was before!” Tears squeezed from her eyes, and she turned her face away from him. He gripped her chin and forced her head back.
“Before what?”
She gulped for air, and then the words came out in a rush. “Before I fell in love with you.” There. She’d said it. She closed her eyes and waited for his laughter, his pity, his—
“Was that so hard, sweetheart?” His voice was deep and unsteady. Her eyes flew open and stared at him.
“Yes,” she shouted, her tears falling freely now. “You’ll leave me. I’m too high maintenance. And—” His mouth covered hers, and she moaned. God, she loved the way he kissed her to shut her up. He plundered, his tongue delving deeper inside her mouth to duel with hers.
Her whole body shook. His kiss, his touch both made her slide into that ocean of sensation. His hands stroked the sides of her breasts, and she arched closer to him, shameless, needy.
She groaned when he left her and began to strip. Her gaze remained riveted on him as he slowly removed his flight suit. His cock sprang free of his underwear when he yanked them off, and she licked her lips. He covered her body with his and took possession of her mouth again. She could stay like this forever, his naked body draped over hers, his tongue twined with hers.
Then he broke their kiss and lifted his head to meet her gaze. “I love you, Sera. All of you.” He kissed the corner of her mouth. “I love when you’re every inch the princess telling me what to do. I love when you smile for the camera and put them in their place with sweet, cutting words. I love when you’re helpless beneath me, trembling, like you are now.” His cock teased the entrance of her pussy, and she groaned. “And I love when you trust me enough to give me your submission.” His tongue slid over her throat, and she sobbed. “Give it to me now, Sera.”
“Please,” she whispered.
He lifted his head to stare at her. “Say it.”
She blinked. “Master,” she finally said. “I love you.”
A fire blazed in his blue eyes, and he thrust his cock inside her waiting channel, his gaze locked with hers. She spun, her vision blurred, her orgasm ripping through her like fire sweeping over dry wood. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she convulsed around him, unable to make a sound, unable to breathe.
“By the stars,” he whispered. “You’re so beautiful, Sera.”
She tried to catch her breath. He filled her, stroked her with his hard length, and the pressure built again, pushing her toward the edge. “Oh God,” she choked out. Her forearm screamed with burning pleasure that was as erotic as the fire licking inside her pussy.
When he took her mouth once more, his hips frantic, she exploded, her scream lost in his kiss, her body tense and strained. She was still falling, drifting in a lake of burning sensation when he released his cum, and its force sent her reeling.
He continued to thrust inside her, spent, but he caressed her gently. His kiss softened, deepened. Her legs hooked behind his back, holding him close. He lifted his mouth to murmur soft words to her. “I love you, Sera. I can’t live my life without you.”
“Do me a favor, Dom Boy.” She stroked his cheek.
“Anything, Princess,” he promised, but she caught an amused glimmer in his gaze.
“Don’t do anything all noble and shit anymore.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “I promise. I’ll be the most selfish bastard you’ve ever known.”
“That would be more consistent.”
He grinned and teased her nipple with his fingers. “You’re asking to be punished, aren’t you, sweetheart?”
“Blah, blah, blah. You talk too much.” She tightened her legs around his waist.
His grin faded. “You’re not sorry I marked you then?”
“Oh no,” she told him and brushed her lips over his. “I love being marked by you.” She smiled, her reckless love for him overflowing. “Mark me some more.”
Loose Id Titles by Jennifer Leeland
The MARKED Series
Marked for Pleasure
Marked for Desire
Jennifer Leeland
Once upon a time, there was a little girl…
I loved Harlequin romances when I was little and used to sneak them from my mother's bookshelf. But my father influenced me with Agatha Christie, Ngiao Marsh and Arthur Conan Doyle. When I was thirteen, I read Frank Herbert's “Dune” series and Terry Brooks' “Shannara” series. I always loved to write but never thought about becoming an author.
In 2003, a profound experience changed that. My mother showed me a manuscript written by my father. No one had ever seen it. No agent. No editor. No one. He died in 2002 never realizing his dream to be a published author.
I wondered if that would be my fate? Would my family come across my attempts at storytelling and shake their heads in pity? I vowed that I would at least try.
Romance seemed to be my genre, but I loved to visit other worlds, other planets, in my stories. Jennifer Leeland was born when I wanted to write erotic romance. I'd loved reading it and wanted to take a shot. It turned out that writing erotic was as much fun as reading it. The more I write, the farther I want to go. The pleasure of combining my love for science fiction and my love for erotic romance has been fantastic.
I live with a Redneck, who loves to brainstorm with me on occasion, and my two dirt-faced Okie kids in the Northern California boonies.
Web site:
http://jenniferleeland.com
