Page 28 of Marked By Him

For a long moment, they stared at each other in silence. Every look was a sharply forged weapon, a quiet war being waged. Tension wound up, tighter and tighter.

And then it snapped.

Isaiah’s throat worked over a swallow, then his gaze drifted to my face. “It was nice to meet you, Eve. I’ll see you again soon.”

Roman sniffed loudly, then started walking back toward his house.

“Your brother is… different,” I said, keeping my pace beside him. My strides were short and quick compared to his long ones.

A shadow danced over his features. “He’s an asshole. Stay away from him.”

I’d met plenty of assholes, and Isaiah didn’t seem like one of them. He seemed like a younger brother who liked pushing his older brother’s buttons. I wanted to know what those buttons meant, what started that silent battle back there.

“What’s a claiming?”

Roman kept walking. “Part of our purpose.”

We passed all the houses, including his.

“I thought our purpose was survival.” At least that was what I’d always been taught.

I followed him past a circle of stones and a white pavilion.Where in the world were we going?

“It is. And until now, your purpose has been the survival of one.Ourpurpose is the survival of many.”

What did that even mean?

“Are you always this intense?”

Finally, we stopped at a wood rail fence. On the other side, there was a big wooden building—bigger than any of the houses—and hundreds of horses, cattle, and sheep. The grass was tall in some areas and shorter in others. There were scattered trees with umbrellas of branches full of thick green leaves. It seemed to stretch for miles.

Men wearing the same tan pants and black t-shirt I’d seen Roman in last night moved around in the wooden building. Some carried buckets. Others shoveled hay. All of them looked perfectly at ease. They smiled and laughed as they passed one another by.

They were happy.

Roman held onto the top rail and inhaled a deep breath. His body relaxed. The harsh lines of his face softened. The strain from moments ago seemed forgotten. The constant war in his mind seemed to quiet.

“Sometimes I just stand here and stare at it,” he said, ignoring my previous question.

I stood next to him. “I can see why.”

Roman was a man who carried the burdens of the world on his shoulders. I heard it in his words, saw it in his eyes. And although those shoulders were extensive, broad enough and strong enough to hold it, I couldn’t help feeling that he deserved rest. He deserved these glimpses of peace.

I grabbed the rail and our hands touched. I ached for more. More touches. More closeness. More secrets.

The barn faded. The animals disappeared. Time blurred. The only thing that existed was me and him.

He stared out into the pasture, not moving his hand from mine. “The world wasn’t meant to be the way it is.”

He spoke as though he could change it. And at that moment, as I soaked in the tranquility of my surroundings, I wanted to help him.

14

Roman

Who the fuckdid Isaiah think he was?

And why the fuck was this woman invading my every thought, commanding my actions, consuming my mind?

Source: www.allfreenovel.com