Marien's POV
"Well, now I understand why you're traumatized," Marcus commented.
"Why?"
"What do you mean why? If Anthony has blown off the heads of a couple of evolved or has ripped muscle out of wildly in front of you, then obviously," he assured, making me laugh.
"He hasn't killed anyone; he just knocks them unconscious." I sighed. "I don't like him to be hurt anyway, but evolved can't fight without hurting like that..." My lips tightened for a few seconds. "I was petrified today because we ran into the same situation a while ago, only this time Max helped. That day, it was Sirius against the three. By the time I managed to remove the man's control and deactivate them..." I shook my head. "Anyway."
The three evolved men were already resting, except for the youngest, whom Rosy entertained with a conversation. Marcus looked at me suspiciously, probably thinking the same thing as me.
"She must be trying to seduce him to be just like you," he said, whispering and making me laugh silently.
"I don't think it's that easy," I replied in the same way, "but it would be interesting if she tried. It starts with something, right? The objective is to unite the species and ensure no more war."
This time, he chuckled.
"Fix a war by pairing humans and evolved? The typical subject of a romantic movie."
We both laugh.
"Yeah... it sounds silly," I admitted.
Sirius appeared with his father and the two men who were with him.
"It has been a pleasure. Thank you for the attention you have given us, darling," said his father in an authoritative and respectful tone at the same time.
I was stunned.
"Don't worry. The pleasure was mine," I replied. "You can come whenever you like."
"I will take them to the outskirts of their town in the car," said Max's brother, who came with them.
That relieved me. Apparently, they had already agreed on that. The three of them nodded and left. Sirius returned to my side.
Max also returned to the room with his arm bandaged, and the three newcomers looked at him. Acrux asked Rosy for permission and walked away from her. The other two joined him and approached Max.
"We want to join your group," he asked.
The boy was shocked. "What?"
"We have nothing out there. We want to stay and be useful. You have already accepted that one." Acrux pointed out to Sirius, saying bye to his father. "Three more would be better."
Max pursed his lips, thought for a few seconds, and shrugged.
"Whatever; come on then," he said as he left. "See you guys later!"
Acrux shot a fleeting glance at Rosy, which no one noticed except her, who didn't take her eyes off him and me because I expected him to.
"Will there be any news about the recording soon?"
"I don't know," Marcus answered. "Max said that if there was nothing..." he looked at me a little nervous, "his platoon would intervene."
"What?" I replied. "He's crazy."
Sirius belonged to that platoon now. I was worried. This was never-ending.
Finding herself alone, Rosy walked over to us.
"So..." Marcus commented. "Rosy, trying to hook up an EH."
The girl laughed, embarrassed.
"He's attractive," she replied with a blush, then she got a little sad, "but he looked at me weirdly."
"What did you expect?" Marcus asked. "He is an EH; don't think everyone is like Sirius. He showed sympathy for Marien since he saw her. You don't know anything about this one. You don't know if he was someone normal or belonged to his evolved army or whatever, which is most likely. You don't know if he has killed people, by the way."
I blushed when he said that about Sirius but felt sorry for Rosy. She got excited very soon, and Marcus made her plummet from her little pink cloud. I just let him continue because he was right. Better late than never.
"Yes," she murmured. "I just don't know... I thought."
"And one more thing," Marcus added. "You told me once that you like a man to say things like how pretty you look today, or someone who asks you out, to have a date, or to tell you that he loves you, and do things like remembering anniversaries. An EH doesn't do that, and there's Marien as a witness. She deals with one."
"Uh." I reacted, somewhat surprised. "Well, yeah... something like that."
"You see?"
Rosy pursed her lips and wrinkled her nose a little.
"You're right," she accepted. "Now that I think about it..." She smiled. "Anyway, I still wanted to experiment. We don't know what they are like in bed," added in a mischievous tone.
I opened my mouth in surprise.
Marcus had done the same and raised his hands. "Okay, well, I heard enough," he exclaimed and stood up, blushing a little. "Two girls with raging hormones. Normal men are no longer enough for them."
"But what are you talking about?" John interrupted, making us jump in surprise. "You're admitting you're not man enough. Max will know about this." He began to laugh and walk away.
"Come on, you imbecile, you better not say anything about this! I haven't seen you any girlfriend so far," Marcus claimed.
They both walked away, arguing and laughing.
Rosy smiled at me. "Did you do it?" she asked, arching her eyebrows.
I knew what she meant; I narrowed my eyes.
"I'm not going to tell you."
"Then you did!" she exclaimed, making a fuss, managing to scare me away.
"No!" I interrupted her to be quiet.
"Oh." Her emotion stopped short, and I laughed. "How do you feel about the fact that he doesn't express his feelings much? I mean, he's not affectionate and stuff."
I thought a bit. It was true in some way. He didn't give compliments or 'cat-calls.' He had told me he loved me only once, but I couldn't complain because I had not told him much either. I shrugged my shoulders. I was just getting things started with him, but I no longer had doubts about making him mine entirely.
I looked up, and Sirius was approaching.
"Let's have dinner," Rosy said.
***
We went to our room. I thought about the conversation with Marcus and Rosy, maybe because doubts had not let me think about it before, but I loved him and wanted this. I sighed and smiled.
"Did you have lunch today?" I asked him. I just remembered that detail.
He showed a slight smile, and then his brows drew guiltily.
"You must have lunch, or I'll worry a lot about you," I scolded fondly. "At least we've already had dinner."
He grinned.
"I will, sorry. As you can see, I couldn't today."
"Yes... I know." I looked down.
I wanted to throw myself at him, tell him how worried I was when I thought they would take him away when he fought, and so many things, but that wouldn't make him feel better. He didn't like seeing me worried, and I didn't understand that. The other reason was that he sure was very sore from the injuries...
But heck, what the hell was I doing? He was my man. Well, my husband. He still had not been my man in that sense of the word...
He opened the door to our room, and I couldn't help but smile. I also noticed that he had a lot of chivalry. Although most of the doors would have opened by themselves, not all of them did, so he was always attempting to open them for me. He helped me to stand up whenever he could and more. Maybe it was seen as an old-fashioned custom for many women, but I loved it.
He closed the door, and I turned and pulled the collar of his shirt to kiss him. He smiled and grabbed my waist, slipping his hands under my blouse, suddenly making me fly.
"Hey," I stopped, smiling. "Wait."
"Why?"
"You are injured."
"So what?"
At that moment, I suddenly remembered something.
"You know you can touch me, but not in public, okay?"
He seemed confused.
"You think I don't know? Of course, not in public. This is just between you and me," he whispered at the end, kissing me again. "Why do you say those things?"
"Sorry. I just remembered that I hadn't explained it."
"Don't worry, I know, and to kiss you in public, either."
"Of course, you can," I claimed.
"You seemed uncomfortable today early when Marcus saw us."
"Yes... well..."
"Don't worry, I understand. In my society, there is almost no display of affection."
I didn't like it.
"But I don't want us to be like that," I whispered, taking his face and giving him short kisses. "I love you and adore you."
He kept a sweet smile.
"I do it too..." He kissed me again. "Your skin is so soft," he added, raising his hand towards my ribs.
I gasped against his lips.
"Hey, you are hurt and sore. You must rest."
"I can bear the pain," he said without wanting to stop. He kissed my chin, starting to drive me crazy.
"I don't want you to be taking any pain when we do this," I could whisper before entwining my fingers in his hair as he moved down my neck.
Now I understood him when I left him cold after kissing him and touching his chest. How mean I had been with him, but I wanted our first night of intimacy to be extremely special.
"When we do this?" he asked with a mischievous smile, stopping at last. "This what?"
I bit my lower lip.
"You will see." I gave him a quick kiss on the tip of his nose. "Now I want you to rest, okay? I'm going to give you a massage, so take a shower."
He sighed with resignation.
"Fine, I'll wait for you."
"No, you first. I'll do it later. I don't want to end up asleep."
He caressed my cheek and gently cupped my face, looking deeply at me, making me blush.
"As you say, miss." He leaned in to give me a chaste kiss and pulled away.
When I got out of the shower, I saw him lying face down near the edge of the bed, focused and trying to manipulate his phone, which he didn't know how to use. Although, I didn't doubt that he would do it soon. He was very smart and learned very quickly.
I giggled. He looked up and smiled at me.
"Max called. He said a car for me was on its way. I don't know if he meant it, but it's one of those things you guys drive, right?"
"Could be. The national security men all have one." I shrugged my shoulders. "Now, stay where you are, in that position, okay?"
He looked at me curiously as I went to him. When I got on the bed, he wanted to turn, but I stopped him and straddled him.
"Wow," he whispered. "Should I really have my back to you?"
I knew he liked having me on top of him, but not like this. I laughed silently again.
"Be calm, my love. Just relax."
"My love..." he analyzed the phrase as he leaned his face into his forearms and closed his eyes. "Yes, my love."
He no longer had the bandages or cotton pads or anything. There were only the scars that would disappear soon, but also those that he had since he was little and would never go away. I sighed. His back was so manly and strong. He was beautiful, but those scars hurt me, and I really hated when he fought. I didn't want him to suffer even the slightest pain ever again.
Although, maybe that was one of those dreams that would never come true. Those dreams that one would remember in old age, along with the regrets and the 'I wish I had...'
With my legs circling his narrow hips, I gently slid my hands over his skin, those muscles, those broad shoulders. The truth is I had only massaged my mother, and obviously not like this, but he always provoked me to seduce him. I smiled at that.
I put more pressure on my touch and barely heard him moan. It was a moan of pleasure, and I loved hearing him like that since he did it when I kissed him for the first time and when I kissed his chest.
I wanted to make him very happy. I wanted to seduce him and drive him crazy for me. I wanted to give him a lot of pleasure...
"Do you like it?"
"Oh yeah," he mumbled. "Can I try doing it to you?"
"Maybe later. I want you to relax and rest."
After doing it for a while and getting another soft moan from him, I leaned in and kissed the back of his neck, pulled my hair back, and went slowly to his shoulder, tracing a path of soft kisses over his skin.
"Marien..." he whispered.
"Yes?" I had practically leaned on him. I ran my nose through his hair and went close to his cheek to give him another kiss.
"When this is all over... I..." he muttered. I pulled away to look at him. He opened his eyes. His gaze was serious, looking at my hand that was now on his, on the mattress. He slid it down and entwined his fingers through mine. "I would like to take you to my city, give you a house, and make sure that you will always live in calm, not distressed, as I saw you today... I will give you all of me... I promise."
My heart was pounding hard. When Marcus told me that I couldn't abandon everything and go with him or that he would not be able to stay here forever... it sounded so tragic... But now, hearing Sirius say those words, the only thing that wanted to come out of me was tears of happiness, which I didn't think would happen. And I realized that I was willing to drop everything and go with him. I was ready to follow him wherever he went because he was my home. It didn't matter where we were.
I reacted when one of my treacherous tears fell on his cheek. He also reacted and sat up while I retired to wipe my face, smiling sheepishly.
"Sorry."
"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned, wiping my tears. "I'm sorry. If you don't want to leave, it's okay. I understand..."
"No," I said quickly, smiling. "On the contrary. You made me very happy." I threw myself to hug him. "I love you!"
We fell on the mattress, and he gave a soft laugh. I couldn't be happier, but the horrible fear of losing everything also wanted to come to take that feeling away from me. Yes, I wanted to go away with him, where everything could be fine, where he didn't have to fight anymore...
I sighed, settling on his warm chest, gently sliding my hand over one of his pecs. I closed my eyes and relaxed with his pointed nails running through my hair. It was the most relaxing thing ever.
"Are you still in pain?" I asked with my eyes closed, a little sleepy.
"No, not much anymore," he whispered.
I breathed deeply.
"You know...? When I couldn't sleep, my mom gently ran her hand over my face, barely touching me, which relaxed me. Now you do, too... The tips of your nails pass over my skin gently, and it relaxes me quite a bit," I said ecstatically, stretching a little and making him chuckle.
"I'm glad. Then I'm not going to trim them for now."
"No. Don't trim them." I sighed and opened my eyes, looking at my finger playing over his chest. "The last night I spent with my mom, she did what I told you about... I couldn't sleep. I'm used to it. I've always been slow to fall asleep until I met your caresses," I whispered, and I couldn't help but feel sad. "I had no idea that I would never see her again... Sometimes, they make you believe you'll know it's a goodbye, that you can guess or predict it, but that's not the case... Sometimes, the most careless Goodbye is the last one." Another traitorous tear ran down my cheek, and he wiped it away. I smiled. "Wow, I think I'm sentimental today," I chuckled and sighed. "Sorry."
"Why are you saying sorry? I understand. I promised to take care of you every night, and I also meant this."
I nodded and smiled more, turning around and lying on my back, looking at the ceiling.
"Well, you see... I guess it scares me that you think I cry over stupid things, that maybe it bothers you...
"Never. And I don't think that."
"A long time ago... let's say I was with someone who did mind, and I guess that idea stuck with me. Sometimes, I do cry a lot. It's not something I can easily control. And, well... That person would get upset and demand that I not cry, which, to make things worse, makes me cry more." I snorted. He leaned on his forearm to caress my face with his free hand. "I was younger and more anxious than now, but anyway..." I enjoyed his caresses. "I know it's different with you."
I looked at him, and he was smiling with closed lips, observing me deeply.
"I don't throw him into the river just because I don't know where he lives," he said. I let out a short laugh and snuggled against his warm body. "My Marien," he whispered. "Don't worry about that. If you want to cry, do it. I would never tell you not to do it. I don't like seeing you sad, but it's part of life, so never feel ashamed for crying. Not with me. If one day you feel like you want to cry, just come to me, and I will hold you in my arms as long as you want."
"Strangely, feeling I have the freedom to cry calms me and helps me stop. My mind works in mysterious ways."
We chuckle.
"I admire your mind."
That made me laugh some more. Feeling more relaxed, I sighed and settled against him, throwing my arm over his chest and my leg partially over his. He hugged me tightly and stroked my hair again.
It didn't really matter if he wasn't going to praise me, say something seductive, ask me out, or tell me that he loved me at all hours of the day. He demonstrated his love with actions, and everything else was unnecessary.