“Marco,” Anani finally called out. Even his name sent shivers through me.
From somewhere upstairs, a door slammed open. I cringed. The house had an open square ground floor that had cool slate flooring and massive ceilings. Everything was cold except the furniture that was styled in dark comfortable textiles. I couldn’t see more than the corner of the kitchen from where I stood. Although, a massive staircase led to the top floor and through the open steps I could see a massive glass panel view of the forest. I could hear footsteps echoing down onto the landing.
I snapped my head up and found a familiar pair of mint green eyes.
In a movement so quick I knew it wasn’t normal, my body was pressed into the scent of vanilla and pine.I sighed into it.I was even okay with the pain from his massive hands biting into my back. The room was still except for the deep rumble that echoed through Marco’s chest and up my spine. His nose trailed in my hair as my knees buckled just slightly. A flame that I didn’t know existed roared to life inside my small heart. I could barely breathe. Tears collected in my eyes slightly as I gripped his shirt, feeling a burst of pure joy at seeing him again.
“Holy shit Marco,” Sai mumbled, “you could have told us.”
Marco didn’t respond, but instead tugged me tighter against his body. My hands curled into his crisp soft buttoned shirt even further. He was so much larger than I remembered. Was this normal? My reaction didn’t feel normal, but at the same time, it was natural.
“Be careful Marco, she has bruises and you’re holding her pretty tight.” Henry’s words brought a sound from Marco that sounded like a growl. I knew that sound, I growled sometimes. I pulled back to see if he was frustrated.
Those green eyes looked down at me and all the composure that had been there yesterday disappeared. His massive hand smoothed the back of my neck in gentle strokes as my eyebrows shot up. What in the heck was going on? My pulse was moving like butterfly wings and an infusion of warmth saturated through me.
“Are you okay?” He asked, his brow dipped in concern. There was a tightness in his jaw I didn’t like. I brought my hand up to smooth his clean-shaven jaw.
A rumble started up in Marco’s chest that had my eyebrows raising. Instead of lying, I continued to smooth my hand on his neck. I could feel myself melting into him as certain parts of him grew harder against me.
NowthatI had read about in Cosmo. Oh. Also, after reading about Adam and Eve, mother had graced me with the birds and bees conversation. I didn’t want to tell Marco I noticed, but I was pretty damn sure it meant he liked me. It was the physical equivalent of hitting on me. I wish I could warn him that I wasn’t even worthy of friendship.
“Are you purring?” Anani chuckled so hard he gasped, holding his stomach.
“Shut it,” Ledger smacked his head, “you were practically shifting at gym.”
Henry smiled, “accurate.”
“How about I make you some tea?” Sai asked me from next to Marco. I looked away from the massive man and peered at Sai. Marco made a frustrated noise as if he was upset I looked away from him.
“What’s tea?”
The room silenced, Sai frowned, and asked “you don’t know what tea is?”
“She doesn’t have a cell phone either,” Anani commented. I shot him a scowl and wiggled away from Marco. He grumbled and hooked an arm around my waist gently. I settled facing the group.
“Can we not talk about what I don’t have?” I frowned at Anani.
“Yeah Anani, stop being an ass,” Ledger chuckled. He winked at me as Sai jerked his head toward the kitchen. I followed and stepped down into the main room that attached to the kitchen. It didn’t escape my notice that Marco was plastered to my back still. Sai sighed and shook his head at Marco’s rumbling chest. I didn’t mind at all, in fact, I was more comfortable than I’d ever been in my entire life. It sounded naive, even to me, but with Marco right there in addition to my new friends in the same room… I felt the safest I’d ever felt in my entire life. Silly, right?
“Get her a cell phone,” Marco spoke quietly to Henry. The man in question looked at me, his ears turning slightly pink, and sped from the room. It was still faster than normal.Was I the only one noticing this?
“Wait!” Ledger called out before looking back at me. “Any color preference?”
Henry peaked his head back over the stairs and explained, “they come in red, pink, black, and blue.”
I smiled, “pink please.” I blushed a little because Henry nodded quickly with a cute grin before rushing away. He made the butterflies jump in my stomach as well. There was an underlying vibration of energy coming off him that I didn’t completely understand. I felt like he was hiding half of himself and I was very interested in knowing what that other half was.
“What flavor do you want?” Sai asked as Marco picked me up and placed me on top a large granite slab.
I didn’t answer right away because the granite kitchen made me flustered. I shouldn’t be in a kitchen like this and I shouldn’t be on the counter. Kitchens like this only existed in the paper. The church kitchen had been small, and the only way I knew that was because a picture of it hung in the basement. At one time, it had been filled with a parish celebrating someone’s baptism. I’d never been baptized because the minute that water had touched my skin, my mother had claimed I’d lit on fire.
It sounded very extreme, right? Not sure I believed her.
Sai presented me with three different shiny packs. One was orange, one purple, and the last green. I hesitantly pointed at the purple.
“Can we get a look at those bruises, peanut?” Anani asked with a small smile, but his eyes were dark as night.
I looked to Ledger, who offered a soft smile and began pulling food out of the fridge. My stomach rumbled on cue as Marco frowned. His ridiculously pretty face turned very serious.