Read Marcus for Free Online Page B

you.”
    Pain lanced through her. Okay, he couldn’t
make it any clearer that he thought she wasn’t right for the job.
She quivered against him. “I know you never wanted me as comms
officer for Six. I know you thought I couldn’t do it, but haven’t I
proven that I can?”
    His head lowered, his intense gaze roaming
her face until it stopped. Was he looking at her lips? A flicker of
heat in her belly. No, Marcus would never feel that way about her,
despite her most secret fantasies.
    “You’ve done a great job, but I don’t want
you in the field.”
    His deep voice shivered through her.
Everything about this tough, battle-hardened man drew her in. His
voice, his strength, his resolve. She wanted to lean into his
strength, let him take all the worry and burden off her for a few
precious seconds.
    But he already shouldered too much. He was
already the one all of mankind depended on to go out there every
day and risk his life to protect them.
    “I need to do this, Marcus.” She stared
straight into his eyes. That bright, vivid green she sometimes saw
in her dreams. “I need to help.”
    He groaned, his head dropping forward until
his hot lips brushed her ear. “Ellianna.”
    No one called her that anymore. She’d left
Ellianna, the society girl, behind the day the aliens had destroyed
her world. But she guessed that was all Marcus saw when he looked
at her.
    Her voice dropped to a whisper and she
forced the next words out, even though it felt like they were
ripped from her soul. “I need to matter.”
    She’d never really mattered to anyone—not
her mother, not to the man she thought she’d marry, and least of
all, the father who’d barely noticed she was there.
    Marcus was silent, his entire body vibrating
with tension. His breath was hot on the side of her neck and she
felt all the muscles in her body turn to jelly. “Do you want me to
beg? Please, Marcus—”
    “No, I don’t want you to beg.”
    His lips brushed her earlobe and she closed
her eyes. God, did he know he was killing her with that accidental
contact? She wanted to give into the gnawing inside her and grab
him. Hold him tight, explore those hard muscles, taste him…
    “I know you can do this, Elle. I just want
to keep you safe.”
    She pulled in a breath. He was always
protecting everybody else, never giving any consideration to his
own life.
    Again, his lips brushed her skin, this time
the side of her neck. She shivered and barely managed to swallow a
groan.
    “And you do matter,” he said. “To me.”
    ***
    Back off, Steele. His brain was
telling him one thing, but with Elle’s slim, enticing frame pressed
against him, his body wanted something else. Shit, it was lucky he
hadn’t taken off his lower-body armor, or she’d feel his hard cock
digging into her belly.
    He fought for some control. In the field,
control was so damned easy. He commanded his squad, covered all the
bases, planned every step but was always ready to flex when the
shit hit, as it always did.
    But with this woman, he always felt like he
never had a handle on anything. He shouldn’t even have his dirty,
death-covered hands anywhere near her creamy skin.
    But with everything churning inside him and
being this close to her… Marcus lost the battle he’d been fighting
for months.
    He pressed his lips to the silky skin of her
jaw, then moved up and claimed her mouth.
    Her full lips parted on a gasp. And he took
full advantage.
    He wasn’t gentle, had never been gentle, he
plundered. He slid his tongue in her mouth and her taste hit him
like a rush. Sweet, so fucking sweet.
    Her hands slid up into his hair. She moved
against him, making little noises in the back of her throat.
    And she kissed him back.
    She kissed the hell out of him.
    Lost in her, in that special taste that was
Elle, he held on, taking everything he could and loving that she
gave as good as she got.
    But slowly, reality filtered in. He had her
pinned against the wall. Mauling her. Worse, he was