Iniquitous (The Marked #3)(41)

That was the thanks he got for saving my life.

It just didn’t seem right at all.

“I’m so sorry.” My words fell flat somehow. They just weren’t enough.

Dominic’s hand stilled as he looked back at me. “You never have to apologize to me, angel. Not ever.”

My stomach bottomed out, pulling me deeper into confusion and turmoil.

A breath of silence stretched between us, long enough to make it awkward for all parties involved.

“Come on,” said Trace, placing his hand on my hip. “It’s late. We need to get you somewhere safe for the night.”

I nodded in agreement but I didn’t take my eyes off Dominic.

Throughout my time in the dungeons, I hadn’t been able to think beyond the point of escaping. I certainly didn’t think about what it was going to feel like to walk away from Dominic when it was all over. It hadn’t even occurred to me to wonder. The truth was, I didn’t think I’d be bothered by it, but in that moment, standing in his den and staring at him clean his wounds, I felt…torn.

He nodded to me reassuringly, as if understanding my dilemma. “It’s alright, angel. Take care of your affairs. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

My cheeks warmed. Without thinking twice of it, I left Trace’s side and crossed the room to Dominic. He didn’t move a single muscle as I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck. His familiar sent of chocolate and liquor immediately eased me into him.

“Thank you. For everything.” Fearlessly, I held him closer than I ever had before. “You saved my life.”

And you mine, he replied to my mind so that only I could hear.

I pulled back and met his gaze, searching his eyes for meaning, for…something. There was so much complexity staring back at me; so much he wanted me to know, and even more that he didn’t. I couldn’t make sense of it.

“We gotta go,” said Trace, behind me now. He slinked his arm around my waist and drew me back to him.

I went easily, but it took every ounce of willpower I had to ignore the mounting unease in my heart. I couldn’t even look back at Dominic to say goodbye out of fear that I might not be able to leave him.

Face to face, heart to heat, Trace wrapped his arms around me once more, enveloping me in a blanket of his perfect love, and just like that, we were gone.





19. RUNAWAY TRAIN


The frigid cold that came from porting through infinite time and space immediately left my body as we sprung up in the Macarthur cabin up north. The heating had been turned all the way down and the room was cold enough to produce smoke stacks out of my nose, but I didn’t feel it at all. Being this close to Trace always incited the kind of heat in me that could melt an ice block and tonight was no different. With his arms still wrapped around my waist, I looked up at him under my lashes and met his eyes. Beautiful, forlorn eyes filled with worry and pain stared back at me helplessly.

My heart sank to my feet and my throat tightened right the hell up.

The weight I’d been carrying around with me had already been too much for me to bear, but standing there in that moment, witnessing the utter agony I’d inflicted on him was enough to nearly kill me where I stood.

“Why don’t you leave the mind-reading to me, Jemma?”

“Huh?” I looked up and met his playful smile.

“Whatever it is you think you’re reading off my face,” he clarified. “It’s not there, and even if it was, it’s not your problem to worry about.”

Something landed in the pit of my stomach, needling it with unease. “It is my problem, Trace.” And it’s all my fault, I thought, but I didn’t say that part out loud.

His eyes ransacked my face as though it held the answers to the universe. “None of that matters anymore. The only thing that matters to me is that we’re together right now. That you’re alive, and you’re safe, and you’re mine.”

I meant to smile at him, but that icky feeling in my stomach intensified, making me feel queasy. All I could think about was all the horrible things that happened in the dungeon. All the things I had yet to tell him.

He leaned in and brushed his lips against my neck.

The suddenness jolted me back. “So, as much as I’m enjoying this, we should probably get a fire started before we freeze to death, huh?” I meant for it to sound light and joking, but it came out strained and completely unnatural.

Trace didn’t seem to notice. If he had, he wasn’t letting on about it.

“I’m not sure I can let go of you right now.” He pulled back, both dimples pressing in. “Or ever again.”

He tightened his hold on me to drive home the point, but the impending implosion was attacking me from everywhere now, armed with everything from our raw feelings to the untold secrets between us.

I swallowed the pasty spit in my mouth. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere,” I assured him and then took a full step back, purposely breaking out of his hold. “Do you have any spare clothes around here?”

His eyebrows knitted together as he lowered his arms to his sides.

Obviously, the emotional turmoil had followed me from Dominic’s. Not to mention, my anxiety was through the freaking roof again. “I’d really like to get out of this disgusting dress. And maybe take a shower.”