"I ordered pizza," he said, nodding toward the kitchen, and I raised a brow at him. Had he gotten up to receive the pizza without waking me?
"I'm surprised I didn't wake up when you got up to get it."
"That's because I didn't," he said with a grin, making his piercing glitter as the light hit it just right.
"Huh?"
"The door wasn't locked, so I told the guy to come in and drop it off in the kitchen. I tipped him extra, of course."
I blinked. Some stranger had seen me sprawled over Nolan, napping away like a kid?
"Uh... should I not have done that?" he asked as the smile flickered away, replaced with consternation.
"Nah, it's okay. It just caught me off guard."
Nolan nodded, though he still looked unsure. "Would you like to eat now?"
"Yeah, let me wash up first."
He told me to use the one in his bedroom, and I snuck glances at his room as I walked through. His sheets were silk, a navy blue color with four pillows stacked against the headboard. The wall across from the bed was covered by a large bookshelf stuffed full, with a small reading nook under the window on the far side. A desk sat in the corner, with a lamp, some papers, and a few pens in a holder. I imagined Nolan sitting there as he wrote the letter he'd sent me, and it made me smile.
Before he caught me cataloging his room, I ducked into the bathroom.
I'd meant to wash my face and get out of there, but a sliver of red peeking over my collar caught my eye, and I pulled my turtleneck off. I sucked in a breath, turning this way and that to take it in.
While the marks that I'd gotten from Keoni's life force hadn't disappeared yet, I could barely see them under the new marks. Beautiful, vibrant streaks of red and orange covered my chest. They started at the base of my sternum and rose all the way to my collarbone, with a single streak curling around my neck possessively.
I'd never liked the marks I got from feeding on supes. It was because of their magic, I'd concluded, and every supe I fed from left their distinct marks on my skin. It'd been another proof of what I was: a parasite.
But Nolan's marks felt different. I didn't want to hide them. I didn't want them gone.
They didn't make me think I was a monster, a parasite. They made me feel like I belonged. Belonged to Nolan.
It was like shifters and the way they loved marking their mates with a bite. It was visible proof I belonged to Nolan.
