Page 13 of Marked By Him

I didn’t need reminding. I knew every verse.

I leveled my gaze on him. “And letmeremindyouof Romans 13:4.”

‘For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.’

It was no coincidence that the part of the book that mentioned theone in authority, theagent of wrath, was the same part that I’d been named after. I was the ruler who bore the sword, but I had no plans of using it againsther.

“I’m not asking for permission to take her life.” It pissed me off that he would even think that.

Joseph stood, resolute in his tone. “Make her presentable. Then, give us a time, and we’ll all speak with her. Until then, I will pray you find the answers you’re looking for.”

I left the meeting without another word.

On the way back to my cottage, one of the younger farmhands ran up beside me. “There’s something wrong with one of the heifers,” he said, breathless.

Of course, he was nervous. This kid was barely sixteen. He’d only been out of the house and working in the fields for a few months, yet he had the good sense to come find me when something was wrong.

Our community was a machine that needed all its parts running smoothly. Everyone had a role that had been hand-selected by me. This was proof that—with him, at least—I’d made the right choice.

Is that an answer? Follow my instinct?

God, this woman had gotten in my head.

I followed the kid to the field behind the church. We hopped the fence and hurried through the grass to an old oak tree. A young heifer stood alone in the shade, not eating, not caring that we’d just invaded her space. She didn’t even wag her tail.

“She’s pregnant.” One look and I knew.

“How do you know?”

I nodded toward her swollen udder, then around at the field full of other cattle. “She’s developing. And the bulls want nothing to do with her. They won’t try to mate and un-mateable female.” Men were the opposite, it seemed. At least, I was.

There was once a time when I couldn’t keep my hands off a certain pregnant woman. She was the only person to make me fulfill my purpose and question it simultaneously. She was everything pure and right in this world. She was also the reason I was alone. She was a harsh reminder of why Ihadto be alone.

It always came back to her.

“You do realize you can’t get me pregnant twice?” she teased as I brushed my hard cock against her ass.

“Is that a challenge?”

“Roman?” the boy said as though he’d been saying it for hours.

I blinked out of the memory. “Yeah?”

“What should I do with her?”

“Make sure she has a lot of water and keep an eye on how much she’s laying down. If it’s more than usual, let me know.” I ruffled his messy brown hair. “She’s going to be fine. And so are you.”

As I left him to finish his work with the animals, I was reminded of my role.

I didn’t need to wait for the council to figure out who the woman in my basement was. The kid had found me to figure out what was wrong with the heifer because I was the fucking Shepherd.Me.

She might have thought she could hide from whatever brought her here, but she wasn’t hiding from me.

That was my motivation when I went back inside. When I walked through the living room, then the kitchen, then opened the basement door. When I clenched my jaw as I went down the stairs. And when I stopped in front of her, sucked in a breath, and locked eyes with her.

She hadn’t moved. She didn’t try to escape like I thought she would, not even after I gave her every opportunity. I left the basement door unlocked, for Christ’s sake.

She didn’t run.

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