it meant feeling awkward on how to handle this. I didn’t want this just to be about him being protective because I had noticed my mates were very much so.
Marco’s voice turned soft and velvety. “It means the same thing as the brand on your arm and the bites on your body. It means you’re ours. Forever.”
Oh. My heart began to inflate.
“And you’re mine?” I clarified before smiling. “You know… you may end up having no places left to mark me between all of this.”
“Always yours,” Marco answered sincerely, his eyes burning with truth before he admitted, “You know how much I love you.”
“I love you too.” I blushed.
“Plus, there are always other ways to make it very obvious who you belong to.” He leaned down and nipped my lip, making me sigh into him as his fingers ran up my waist and his thumb drew lazy circles on my stomach. “I want all these fuckers to stop trying to steal you away from us. I’m selfish with your attention. I didn’t realize how much I would hate having to share you with the rest of the world. I want to mark you in every single way possible, Maya. It’s like a damn compulsion.”
“You have all of my attention,” I promised, running my tongue against the seam of his lips as he let out a throaty groan.
“So you will wear it?” His voice was absolutely intoxicating, and I was pretty sure the man could convince me to do absolutely anything.
“I didn’t realize it was a question,” I pointed out shyly.
Marco’s eyes darkened as he kissed me again. “Good girl.”
My hand slid up his chest as I smiled further, looking at the ring. I couldn’t help but look up at him, my face flushed at his words of approval. “It’s really sparkly.”
“And pink,” he mused.
It was pink, and it was so impossibly gorgeous. The gold band itself was simple, with small diamonds that wrapped around my entire finger, and the main stone was a massive pink oval diamond. It wasn’t surrounded by anything, it was just stunning in its simplicity. And sparkly. So, ridiculously sparkly. I couldn’t help but let out a small pleased sound from my throat, my phoenix absolutely loving it. I wanted to always have this on, and I was really hoping that was an option.
“You like it?” Marco asked, his voice sounding nearly concerned.
“I can’t stop staring at it,” I admitted and then looked up at him. “I don’t know what to say, Marco. It’s beautiful.” When had he even gotten this? Did the others know? I mean… Did this mean I was engaged? I had a ton of questions, but somehow I knew that this was past being engaged or anything like that. It was another symbol of our bond, just like the brand and mate marks. It made me love it all that much more.
“Say that you will wear it,” he insisted.
I flashed a smile and reminded him, “You didn’t really ask.”
“Nope,” he rumbled softly, cupping my jaw. Something serious crossed his face again as I frowned, feeling worried about where his thoughts were.
“Of course I’ll wear it,” I murmured. “What’s bothering you, Marco?”
“Your brothers aren’t wrong, Maya. We don’t have a good reputation here for a reason—”
“I don’t care about your reputation,” I admitted softly. “You didn’t ever question my worth when you found out the family I came from. Your past doesn’t scare me, Marco. I know you.”
His eyes shone with a warmth and relief that I hadn’t expected, mostly because I wasn’t positive how he could ever doubt how I felt about him. About any of them. Hadn’t they made a point about looking past everything I’d been through? I mean, my mother had said enough mean crap about me to scare away anyone from my life, not to mention the effect it had on my confidence.
My lips parted in realization that my doubt about being a burden in their life was similar to the insecurity they felt about being in mine… unneeded. I moved closer into Marco, wrapping my arms around him and letting my head fall back as I bathed in his warmth.
“I don’t want to go back in there,” Marco admitted after a moment.
“Honestly, it’s a bit overwhelming between the parent and brother thing. Although, I do sort of want to be friends with Eleven, but I have a feeling she doesn’t want to be friends with me.”
Marco chuckled. “I’m not sure that’s the case, baby girl. I don’t