Because It's You (Carolina Rebels 2)

??ve done.

His mouth and tongue move fast. His hands grab my hips with a strong grip. He rolls us and before I can break away to remind him we’re on the couch, my back hits the floor and Marc’s big body crushes me.

“Fuck. Sorry. Wasn’t thinking. You okay?”

“Ow.” I shake my head because my back hurts, I knocked my head pretty good, and Marc stole my breath when he landed on me. Somehow, laughter escapes me. This is ridiculous. “Get off me, Marc. You’re heavy and I can’t breathe.”

“Right.” He stands and then pulls me up, gently massaging my head. “Let’s go to the bedroom and I’ll give you a massage to make up for it.”

“Then you’ll go back to kissing me and this time you won’t injure me?” Another chuckle comes from me.

“Stop laughing. You’re making me feel worse,” he says as he leads me to his room.

“Why? That should make you feel better because I’m able to laugh about it. Laughter is the best medicine, after all.”

“Because you’re laughing at me and because I could’ve hurt you. Strip down and lie on your stomach; I’ll be right back.”

“Naked?” I call after him.

“Yep!”

“You sure aren’t working for it today!” I laugh again to myself, but I start removing my clothes. All of a sudden, I’m giddy and I know exactly why. Marc loves me. He loves me! Can I skip around the house? I should text Sylvia and let her know. Maybe Meredith too since we’re basically friends. But my phone is in the living room, so I get onto the bed, and get comfortable, though it feels awkward to lie naked on top of the covers, waiting for Marc to come back. “You’re naked already?”

He grins as he walks to the bed and crawls over my body, straddling my hips. “It’ll save time later.”

Maybe so, but he’s hot and he’s touching me and he’s sliding against me as he moves, drizzling oil I didn’t realize he had in his hand because I was so distracted by his nakedness and on top of all of that, those large, callused hands of his are gliding over my skin. I moan. This is just what I needed. Why hasn’t he given me massages before? We should’ve fallen off the couch a long time ago!

“If you had’ve done this the day we met, I might’ve told you I loved you. Oh, right there,” I say partly through another moan.

Marc chuckles. “I’ll remember that for when you’re mad at me. A little massage should make you all gooey eyed and in love with me again.”

I hum in agreement. Soon, my eyes begin to droop from the long day and how I’m finally starting to relax. I’m in a light doze when my hips are jerked up into the air. Marc’s cock is pressed against me, his torso flat against my back and his mouth by my ear.

“I know you’re not about to fall asleep on me, Elizabeth.” He enters me with a push that wakes me right up, and I groan. The massage and those hands running over my body had me fully prepared to take him.

“Well, not now.”

He laughs. “Good, because I’m not tired at all.” Marc begins to move within me, and I’m suddenly not tired at all either.

When I get to Sylvia’s, it’s around noon, and one look at her is all I need to see she’s already talked to Scott, so she’s been informed of what happened. She squeezes me tightly with her hug before I can say a word.

“I’m okay,” I wheeze. “I won’t be if you crack a rib, though.”

She releases me, but keeps her hands on my shoulders as she looks me over. Her eyes keep dropping to my scarf. The red marks on my neck are clear bruises today. Marc’s jaw clenched every time he looked at me early this morning because his eyes kept straying down to them. I had to buy a scarf before I came here since I didn’t own one, something Sylvia is well aware of, but neither she nor the girls need to see what’s hidden beneath it.

“How did you even stay at his house last night?”

“Marc was there,” I answer simply. I did pause for a moment on my way into the house, remembering the moment his father flashed the gun, but a glance over my shoulder to see that Marc was only feet away in the driveway helped scurry the panic away. Once I was inside, I was fine as long as I didn’t think about what happened. My shower made me feel so much better, too.

“I just don’t understand.”

“Sylvia,” I cut in before she can get going good. “Marc and I talked about all we needed to talk about. I’d really rather not discuss it anymore. You know it happened. I’m unharmed and fine. Can we move on?”

“I’m just surprised, I guess. I’d still be freaked the hell out. Why aren’t you? Maybe that’s odd. Maybe you should be freaked out still.”

“Because it’s Marc. If it wasn’t for him and if he wasn’t with me last night, and since things didn’t go any further than they did, that’s how I’m fine. What frayed nerves I had, Marc calmed them all, and if they come back, then he’ll do it again. He’s more bothered by it than I am.”

“I bet,” she murmurs.