CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
MARCUS
I hatedto get up before Merry woke, but I couldn't sleep anymore and my stomach was growling.
I carefully extricated my hand from hers and slipped off the bed. The door opened on silent hinges. I closed it behind me without a sound. Callum's door was still shut but I could hear his snores coming through the wall. We really needed to invest in some soundproofing for his room because the man sounded like a comatose grizzly.
As I went into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and grab some breakfast, my thoughts went back to last night.
Merry was coming out of her shell around me. She was no longer as hesitant or wary. It was both beautiful and dangerous, as most women were.
I loved seeing the true Merry, the one I knew from her dreams.
But it was dangerous because I wanted her. All of her.
Merry talked about dating, about spending time together, but she didn't understand that I was past that.
If we went down this path, I would want her, body and soul. She would be my mate. I couldn't accept anything less.
I needed everything she was, or I would have nothing.
I'd tried to talk to her about it in the dream last night, but the way she looked at me, the way the water lapped at her bare skin, had clouded my mind. The heat of the pool had intensified the scent of her skin until she was the center of the world—all I could see, hear, or smell.
I'd wanted so badly to touch her and she wanted to be touched. I could feel her yearning as intensely as I felt my own.
I had to resist.
If she wanted to be courted, I would do it.
But we would have to talk, and soon. Because I wouldn't be able to hold back for long.
She needed to understand what she was in for with me, and if she rejected me, I would have to accept it, no matter how much it hurt.
I had to set it aside for right now and focus on the most important thing—protecting the woman I was beginning to love.
After I ate and drank a cup of coffee, I changed into a pair of workout pants and grabbed my sword and staff.
First, I had to check the perimeter and make sure that no one lurked in the woods around the house. Ava had set wards different distances from the house, the first to warn us of someone's approach was a half-mile away. The second would stop anything non-human a quarter-mile from the house. It was keyed to allow in people we trusted, such as Arien, Harrison, Savannah, Rhys, and Caleb, but any other creatures would be stopped. They could eventually break through, but it would give us ample time to fortify or run if necessary.
The final ward started at the tree-line and it would take a sorceress or wizard of Ava's power to break through.
Since I seriously doubted that there was another witch of her caliber in this world, I felt that we would be safe in the house.
But I never wanted to take it for granted.
I used the perimeter check as my warm-up, running the border of the ward nearest to the house before I moved out to the second ward. There was nothing. As I circled the furthest ward, the sun peeked over the horizon.
When I finished, I found no sign that anyone had been on the edges of the property and I ran back to the house. My muscles were loose and ready for a more intense workout.
I went through a series of push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups on the bar that Callum and I installed in the backyard. Sweat soaked my shirt as heat began to rise of my body. I stripped it off and tossed it aside before I grabbed the staff.
I went through a slow series of strikes and blocks, focusing on technique rather than speed, and turned when I heard the back door open.
Callum stood on the back porch, a cup of coffee in his hand and his hair sticking up in several different directions.
He took a sip from his cup before he said, "You're up early. Couldn't sleep?"
I shook my head and picked up speed with the staff. "Considering what time you went to bed, you're up early yourself."
