MARKED (Hunter Awakened) (11 page)

I wanted this and I knew that he wanted it
too. It didn't matter that we'd only known each other for less than
two days. It only mattered that every cell in my body called out to
him, that every fiber of my being ached for his touch.

He shed his clothes as he came forward,
revealing a body that made my breathing stutter and things low in
my belly tighten. His torso was just as muscled as it had seemed
beneath his finely tailored suits, walking that fine line between
'holy shit I need a cold shower' and 'okay, way too much.' I let my
eyes travel down his body to his narrow waist, my gaze following
the dark curls that started at his bellybutton and descended to the
thick, long member that hung between his legs, half-swollen and
rapidly growing.

I licked my lips and tossed back the covers.
I was bare beneath my nightgown and pulled it off with one smooth
motion. I heard him suck in a breath as I revealed my slender body.
I wasn't as buxom as, say, Summer, but what I had was all natural.
My breasts were firm, my nipples well proportioned. I'd had more
than one man tell me that they were the perfect size.

The hair between my legs was sparse and pale,
marking me as a true blond. Despite the numerous compliments I'd
had about my body over the years, I usually was nervous any time
attention was drawn to it. Now, however, I felt nothing but desire
for the man approaching me and saw my own need reflected on his
face.

He climbed on the bed slowly, his movements
fluid and almost cat-like. He settled between my legs without
saying a word and covered my mouth with his own. I gasped as he
entered me, my lips parting to grant his tongue access. As he moved
over me, I trembled, my body on fire. I had never felt anything
like this before. It was as if we had always been and would always
be. As if he had been made for me and I for him. We were one body,
one soul, and I could feel the impending release that would merge
us more wholly than I'd ever dreamed possible...

My body jerked awake, my breathing coming in
pants. What the fuck? I stared up at my ceiling, my eyes open wide.
Had I seriously just had a sex dream about Elias? We hadn't kissed,
had barely touched, and now I was dreaming about us having sex? I
really hoped this wasn't a harbinger of things to come because I
didn't think I could take a lot more of that.

It was a week before Christmas and I still
didn't know what I was going to do about my bodyguards over the
break. Things had been quiet since Thanksgiving, but I knew that
Harrison was still nervous. If it had just been Paul, I would've
only had him come with me when I went shopping and not care what my
manager said about it, but because I didn't want to go that long
without seeing Elias, it made things a little more difficult. And,
if I was going to be completely honest, as much as I liked Paul, I
just felt safer with Elias.

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. It
seemed that the guys felt similarly. I'd told them both that I
needed to do my Christmas shopping and they'd both suggested that I
do online shopping. When I'd told them that I like the whole
shopping in person experience, they'd both given me looks that had
clearly said that there was no way I was going to be leaving the
house to go buy gifts that I could get online. They were probably
right and I knew I should get started so I didn't have to do any
rush deliveries, but I was still holding out hope that I'd get to
go.

There was a knock on my bedroom door.

“Miss Rhines?”

I shook my head, wondering if I was imaging
what I was hearing. Why was Elias waking me up? My sleep schedule
was all screwed up, thanks to needing an extra day shoot because of
the rainstorm last week. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was
close to seven o'clock. That was actually about right. I had an
eleven o'clock call time tonight, so this was about when I needed
to be waking up. I'd just forgotten that it would be Elias doing
it.

“Teal?”

“I'm awake,” I called back. “Thanks for
checking on me.”

There was no response for a moment, then he
spoke again. “I have a surprise for you.”

Half an hour later, Elias was driving me to a
part of the city I'd never seen before. He wasn't telling me what
this was about and the suspense was killing me. The only thing that
kept me from trying to wheedle the information out of him was the
excited light in his eyes that told me how much he was looking
forward to whatever this surprise was.

He pulled the car into a small parking lot
that didn't appear to belong to any one building. When we got out,
I saw that the parking lot had a sidewalk leading towards a small
grouping of what looked like little shops. All of them were decked
out for Christmas, complete with lights and what I thought were
window paintings. It was absolutely beautiful.

“I thought that this would allow you to do
your Christmas shopping. I know that it is not a large mall,
but—”

“It's perfect,” I said, and I really meant
it. This was like something out of a fairy tale, the kind of place
I would've described if someone had asked me where my ideal
shopping location would be. The only thing that was missing was
snow, and it was chilly enough that it wasn't entirely out of the
realm of possibilities. “What is this place?”

“It is called Christmas Village. The stores
prepare all year and remain open twenty-four hours a day, seven
days a week starting the day after Thanksgiving.” Elias looked at
me for a moment, then held out his hand.

I felt the smile spread across my face as I
threaded my fingers through his. This night just kept getting
better and better. “This is amazing, Elias. Thank you so much for
bringing me here.”

“I am glad that you like it,” he said. “Shall
we see if we are able to find gifts for all of those on your
Christmas list?”

I nodded and the two of us started down the
sidewalk. Only a handful of people were milling about and none of
them gave me a second look. It was a wonderful change of pace. I
loved my work and I accepted the fame that went along with it, but
it was my least favorite part of doing what I did. Being here made
me feel what I imagined it must be like to be 'normal.'

We were approaching the first building when
the most tantalizing scent I'd ever smelled reached me. Cinnamon
and chocolate. My stomach growled and I realized that I hadn't
eaten anything since hours before I went to bed. Without me having
to say a word, Elias steered us into the shop. I blinked as I
stepped inside. This, I imagined, was what it must be like to live
inside a gingerbread house. Or the witch's house from
Hansel and
Gretel
.

The entire interior looked like it was made
out of food. The walls were painted gingerbread brown and lined at
the top and bottom with what looked like fluffy white icing. There
were tables shaped like fruitcakes with legs, shelves decorated
with Christmas cookies. Even if I hadn't been hungry, this place
would've made me want to eat.

“Merry Christmas!” A cheery voice came from a
few feet away.

I turned and saw the happiest looking person
I'd ever seen. She was a pleasantly plump woman who I swore looked
like every picture I'd ever seen of Mrs. Claus. She was even
wearing a red dress with a white apron and had white hair pulled
back in a bun.

“This is your first time to the Village,
isn't it?” Impossibly, her smile grew even wider when I nodded. “I
can always tell. There's just something special about seeing it all
for the first time. It's such a magical place, especially for
couples.”

It wasn't until her eyes dropped down that I
realized Elias and I were still holding hands.

“And you two are so cute together.”

Damnit! We hadn't had that conversation yet
and I didn't want anyone ruining it by making it seem like I was
pushing things. “Oh, I—we—”

“Thank you.”

I couldn't help it. My jaw dropped open and I
looked up at Elias. He winked at me. Actually winked at me. And
there it was again, that slightly mischievous side that he hid so
well.

“Follow me.” The woman didn't appear to have
noticed the quick exchange. “I have some cinnamon rolls ready to
come fresh from the oven.”

I thought she was kidding until I moved
closer and saw an honest-to-goodness oven. I'd spent enough time on
movie sets to know the difference between a prop and something that
really worked, no matter how good the art department was. I wasn't
surprised, then, when she opened it and pulled out a pan of huge
cinnamon rolls. She set them on the counter next to the oven and
opened a small refrigerator that I hadn't seen until that moment.
From there, she took a bowl of what looked like butter, but I was
pretty sure it was icing. Yummy, gooey icing. My mouth started to
water.

“They'll need to cool for a couple of minutes
before I can put the icing on,” the woman said. “Why don't you take
a look around and I'll let you know when they're ready. First one's
on the house.”

My stomach growled its agreement and, ten
minutes later, I was happily working my way through an insanely
messy cinnamon roll while Elias carried our hot chocolate and a bag
with a dozen more rolls in it. I was pretty sure I'd just found on
a new Christmas tradition. When I saw the sign on the next store's
door, I decided that this was officially my favorite place in the
world aside from home. A big sign on the door read “All food and
drink purchased here welcome.”

Still eating my breakfast, I followed Elias
inside. Once again, we were greeted by a very happy and
enthusiastic store owner slash employee (I wasn't sure which) and
told peruse at our leisure. This place sold a variety of
accessories. Necklaces, cuff-links, scarves, hats, gloves,
bracelets, watches, earrings, wallets. Basically, everything that
went with an outfit except for the clothes and shoes. Some were
name brands, others were hand-made, everything of beautiful
quality.

I made a first pass as I finished my food,
then washed it down with the perfectly-cooled cocoa. Without me
asking, Elias handed me one of the wet naps the cinnamon lady had
given us. Once my hands were clean, it was time to get down to
business.

This place was as much of a treasure trove as
I'd hoped it was going to be. I found a beautiful pair of
hand-crafted silver earrings for my co-star Amy, a pair of
monogrammed cuff-links for Harrison, a leather wallet for Simon and
a gorgeous watch for Bryson. I also found an absolutely beautiful
silk scarf for Alexa, my cleaning lady, and a pair of leather
driving gloves for my landscaper. I'd get Summer the same thing I
was getting for the rest of the cast and crew, half a dozen gift
cards to various places. I wasn't going to leave her out, but I
wasn't about to make anything personal. Gift cards would also work
for other acquaintances, but there were still two people I needed
to buy for, and I had a feeling they were going to be the most
difficult.

We went to the next few stores, and while
they were all lovely, nothing really spoke to me. Then we walked
into the fudge shop and I knew that I'd found my gift for Paul. A
few weeks after he'd started working for me, he'd told me about how
his grandmother had always made fudge for special occasions. She'd
passed away three years ago and I'd still been able to hear the
sadness in his voice. I didn't expect this fudge to be as good as
his grandmother's, simply because no matter how amazing a recipe
was, nothing could compare to something made with love, but I hoped
that it would make him happy.

Now I was down to the last gift and I was
really at a loss for what to do. Even if there hadn't been this
weird thing between Elias and I, I would've been buying him a gift
because that's what I did, but it probably would've just been gift
certificates. I didn't want to be that impersonal, but I also
didn't want to go to the other extreme. We hadn't talked about what
we were to each other, so I had to be careful that I didn't push by
accident. It also had to be something that, if he didn't get me
anything, I could still pass off as an employer gift with equal
measure as Paul's.

The final shop was a toy store, and for a
moment I forgot all about my conundrum. There were no electronics,
nothing pop culture. These were dolls, stuffed animals and
hand-crafted toys, the beautiful, old-fashioned designs that were
basically impossible to find anymore. If I had children or nieces
and nephews, I would've come here to buy all of their gifts. In
fact, I made a mental note to check with local places that gave out
gifts to children to see about purchasing and donating from this
shop.

I must have stood there for a good two
minutes before I realized that Elias was completely entranced by
something. I followed his gaze and found him staring at a display
of wooden, hand-carved animals. As if he was completely unaware of
where he was, he set down one of the bags he was helping me carry
and reached out for a horse. It wasn't painted, but it didn't need
to be. The artist's work was amazingly detailed and life-like.

Elias picked it up, running his fingers
almost reverently over the wood. There was a softness to his
features I'd never seen before, a sad sort of wistfulness mixed
with joy, as if whatever memory this toy had sparked was both sad
and happy at the same time. I took a step forward, but Elias didn't
look my way. I thought he didn't realize that I was there, but when
I was right next to him, he began to speak.

“My family did not have much money when I was
a child, but we always had something for Christmas. When I was
seven, I wanted my own horse, but I knew that we could not afford
one, so I did not ask for it. Instead, I told my parents that I
wished for them to use any money they would have spent on me for
Christmas to buy something that the family needed.” His voice was
quiet, his eyes saying that he was lost in the memory.