AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I want the truth. You kept me in the dark long enough.”
He can’t demand my surrender when he’s clearly holding back from me.
“Aren’t you afraid?” He shackles my hands above my head, letting my chest stretch, exposing my breasts for his eyes to feast. “Aren’t you scared this will end us?”
“I’m many things but not afraid, Mark,” I tell him, determined.
Those hungry eyes trace his movements as his thumb strokes the underside of my breast. “So damn brave and beautiful, it hurts not to be able to claim every inch of you.”
“Stop trying to give me only the pieces of yourself and ask me to surrender to you whole. Tell me who you are. I’m here for you, waiting to entrust me with your past.”
“It isn’t that easy as you might think.” He strokes the corner of my eye, traveling to my jaw. “Those secrets might undo you, Lovebird. You are light, full of love and hope, and I’m the opposite of you. The things I lived through are a pure mindfuck.” His gaze connects with me, and I choke up, seeing so much pain is in there. He smiles sadly, noting my reaction, and brushes his lips against my forehead.
“Mark.” I gasp, pleading. “Please . . .” I don’t even know what I’m asking anymore. “You promised me the truth, so tell me the way you can. The way it won’t break you.”
27
Twisted Past
~Cassandra~
“All right.” He sits on the edge of the bed as if to make more space between us. “Just don’t run.” His troubled gaze is begging me to stay while part of him expects me to do exactly that.
“I won’t leave you, Mark. Not with your past, not with your demons.”
His nostrils flare as he touches his chin as if to soothe himself.
“Remember when I told you my blood family found me?”
I hold my breath, afraid to make a sound.
“I’m Darren’s nephew.”
My head spins, and goose bumps prickle, tightening my skin. I gasp from the impact of these three words.
“My biological mother died in childbirth, and there was no one who wanted me. I was in the foster care system until Lester took me in when I was about five. We left a small town close to Zalim to live in the States. I believed in a beautiful picture he painted for me.”
Unsettling shadows mist his eyes, making my guts twist in a knot. Mark jumps to his feet, pacing around as an emotional storm winds him tight like a string.
“You know, Derrek Cade, Darren’s brother, came to visit once.”
The cold snakes into my bones as I wrap the covers around myself to preserve the little warmth I still have.
“I didn’t know who he was, but he recognized me. I saw it in his eyes as he kissed my head goodbye and said something that didn’t make sense. My father,” he spits it out like he can’t stand to call him that, “left me with the monster who broke me and never returned.” Mark’s sharp gaze cuts into me, searching for something.
“Derrek Cade knew where you were?” I force the bitter words to pass my lips.
r /> The shock clutches my racing mind as hot tears burn my cheeks like acid. I inch closer, unable to handle the space between us. Mark’s hands lock around me like shackles as I fight a sickening feeling in my guts.
His mouth parts to tell me something else, but it chokes him.
“It’s okay, Mark, breathe,” I whisper gently, needing him to draw on my strength. His lips trace my neckline as he breathes me in.
“I was fourteen when Darren found me.” His words cascade down my neck. “He told me they never knew where I was. I didn’t believe him.”
“Did you tell them about Derrek?”
He shakes his head, squeezing me to him. I realize he never trusted them with the truth. Or perhaps they haven’t tried hard enough to prove themselves to him, and Mark needed it.
