Free MARKED (Hunter Awakened) by Rascal Hearts Page B

remind me of
someone I knew when I was younger.”
    “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I
asked.
    He shook his head and reached for the bowl of
mashed potatoes. “It does not matter either way. I have not seen
her in a long time.” He handed the bowl to me. “You do not want
them to get cold.”
    He had a point. I set to work eating them as
he started on a sandwich of his own.
    “May I ask you something?”
    I nodded and prepared for one of the hundreds
of questions people threw my way after first meeting me. True, we'd
spent some time together, but it wasn't like we'd really talked
about anything other than just hobbies and such.
    “Did you truly like the flowers I brought?”
He glanced up at me through eyelashes that were annoyingly thick
for a man. “I do not wish you to feel obligated to pretend.”
    Where had that come from? I set down the bowl
and focused all of my attention on him. “I absolutely loved them,
Elias. What made you think that I didn't?”
    “I noticed that the flowers were no longer on
the table.”
    I didn't have to be overly observant to
notice that he wasn't looking at me when he said it. I felt a pang
of guilt. I hadn't even thought about what he'd think if he
happened to see the flowers gone. Honestly, I hadn't thought he'd
be back in the house so soon, but I doubted it would've occurred to
me even then.
    “I put them in a book,” I said, desperately
wanting to make him feel better. “I wanted to preserve them so I'd
never have to throw them away.”
    “Oh.” The sound was tentative, as if he
wasn't sure he could believe me. “I was worried that you had only
taken them to be polite.”
    It was strange, I thought, how our roles had
suddenly switched. Now I was the strong one and he the one in need
of my support. I reached out towards him, pushing aside any
hesitation that I may have felt under other circumstances. This
wasn't about me or what I wanted. This was about making him feel
better. I put my hand on his forearm and felt the muscles tense
under my touch.
    “You remembered that those were my favorite
flowers and found the rarest ones to give to me. I never thought
I'd see either of them anywhere other than a picture. They are
truly two of the most beautiful things I've ever been given.” I
hoped that the truth of the statement was clear. “When they're
finished drying, I'm going to frame them.”
    He looked up at me now. “I am happy to hear
that you were pleased.”
    Another one of those long pauses filled the
space between us. I broke it this time, sitting back and reaching
for my sandwich again. That moment had more weight to it than I'd
expected. I wasn't hungry anymore but I kept eating rather than
letting Elias think that there was something wrong with the
meal.
    I'd acknowledged my initial attraction and
had been aware of this connection that, for some reason, allowed me
to sense when he was near, but I hadn't realized until that instant
just a few seconds ago, the depth and strength of the pull between
us. This was beyond anything I'd experienced before. It was... it
was almost like gravity, like we were being draw together by a
force of nature.
    “May I ask another question of you?” Elias's
voice interrupted my musings.
    “Of course,” I said. “You can ask me anything
you want.” Part of me said that wasn't a good idea, but I'd already
made the offer, and I didn't intend to take it back. I braced
myself for something emotionally deep and personal.
    “You do not seem like a person who revels in
the money she makes, or one who flaunts her wealth,” he began.
    My interest was piqued. I wasn't sure where
this was going.
    “I am curious, then, why a lone person would
choose to live in such a large house.”
    I laughed. I could honestly say that no one
had ever asked me that question before. He froze for a moment, then
relaxed when he saw that I hadn't been offended by his inquiry.
“It's actually a really simple answer,” I said. “When I was