Marked by Destruction (The Marked Series Book 3) Read online

  “Sorry Crowe, I’m weaker than I thought, and I couldn’t call my air mark quick enough,” he explains.

  “It’s okay,” I mumble against his chest, looking around at the cave we are in. It’s massive, with purple stone walls, and the pool of water is in the middle.

  “We can drink this,” he tells me, and I don’t question him as I immediately lower my head and start drinking.

  “Let’s get out and dry our clothes. I think we should sleep here for the night,” Enzo says.

  “What about the others? They will need us,” I say, swimming to the edge next to him. He doesn’t answer until we both pull ourselves out the pool of water, our clothes dripping onto the purple grass floor.

  “Crowe, we didn’t see any animals in the forest, and we were lucky for it. At night, we might not be so lucky. It’s too dangerous, the others will know this, and they will find their own place to hide for the night,” he says, and I know he’s right.

  “I just… I’m just worried. They could be anywhere, and my father could be doing anything on Earth,” I start panicking as he steps closer to me and pulls me to his chest.

  “We could worry all night, or we could rest, get stronger, and find them. I’m all for resting, just so you know,” he grumbles, making me chuckle a little as I pull back.

  “Okay, so clothes off, and we can hang them over there,” I point at the sharp rocks sticking out the wall. I’m sure they will dry. Enzo swallows loudly as I step back, pulling my horrible white dress off, and throwing it to the ground. I’m not drying that. I’m so freaking glad I kept my leggings and vest top on underneath that thing.

  I pull my boots off, leaving them on the side as Enzo pulls his shirt off, and I stare at him. His chest is toned, covered in his marks, and there’s even a mark just at the bottom of his stomach, disappearing into his jeans. He has a sexy six-pack, and that lickable ‘V’ dipping below his waist. I look up, and notice that he’s breathing more heavily than before.

  “I should turn around,” Enzo says, but he doesn’t. It’s a seductive warning, and I feel his dark eyes burning my skin as I lift my top over my head. Leaning down, I push my leggings off slowly as I maintain eye contact with him. When I’m left standing just in my underwear, Enzo finally snaps, walking over to me and picking me up. He slams me into the wall, and I wrap my legs around him.

  “Once we do this, Crowe, you’re mine. There’s no going back,” he warns me, his lips tracing lightly over mine as he whispers.

  “I was always yours, Enzo,” I whisper back, and he slams his lips onto mine crushingly, as his body moulds against me. I can feel the sharp rocks from the cavern wall digging into my back, but he’s kissing me so senseless, I couldn’t care if I tried. I draw my nails down his back, eliciting a groan from his lips as I press myself firmer against him.

  His hands tighten on me, an almost punishing grip, as his lips kiss down my throat. He shifts me higher against the wall before kissing down to my chest. He drags my bra straps down with his teeth, before reaching up a hand behind my back to unclip it. It hits the ground, the sound echoing in the near silence of the place; the only other sound is our thumping heartbeats. He looks down at me, one of his hands tracing down from behind my head and over my neck, his nails scratching softy as he caresses down my throat to my chest. His hands practically glide over my breasts, sinfully teasing as his fingers brush them, leaving me aching for more.

  I almost curse as he pulls his hand away from my flaming skin. He steps back, and I unwrap my legs from his waist and slide down, my feet hitting the ground softly as he lowers me. He presses his lips back to mine, kissing me so hard it leaves me utterly breathless, and then he pulls me down with him to the floor.

  “What was wrong with against the wall?” I ask between heavy breaths, impressed at the fact I manage to get the words out fairly steady.

  “If I fucked you up against the wall, Crowe, it would have been over all too soon. I’m planning to take my time with you. All night, over and over again, until you can’t take anymore. I’ve waited long enough.” His hand rests on my shoulder as he pushes me back so I’m lying down completely. He crawls over top of me and looks me straight in the eyes. “Is that a problem?” he adds, his hot breath so close to my lips.

  Instead of answering, I lean up a little and kiss him, sliding my hands into his hair and hooking a leg around him, pulling him closer against my body. He kisses me back passionately, his lips demanding to dominate the kiss as he changes the pace. His lips trail off from mine, and he kisses down my throat, before replacing his lips with his hand. He holds my throat gently as he nips my collarbone with his teeth. I moan, my hips bucking a little against him. His grip tightens, and his other hand rests on my hip, his thumb massaging over my hipbone. I feel so fucking connected with him right now. The way he just seems to know exactly where to touch me, it leaves me feeling like a scorching fire that is ready to explode at any minute beneath him.

  He peppers kisses down my chest, before circling my left nipple with his tongue, and then the right, biting down on me teasingly. I can’t stop the gasp that escapes my lips as he tugs it with his teeth, before kissing it softly and moving back to my left breast. He repeats his tantalising treatment, and then continues his manipulation of my body, working his way down.

  As he reaches my waist, he slides across to the hipbone, moving his thumb away to place a kiss there, followed by a nip of his teeth. His thumbs hook into the sides of my underwear, and then he slowly begins to tug them down. He takes his sweet time as he pulls them past my thighs, pausing to brush his fingers up the inside of my left thigh. I shiver, looking down and seeing that his eyes are watching me, watching my reactions to his touch. I bite my bottom lip nervously, hoping he likes what he sees. I suddenly feel so self-conscious with my skin so bare, not even my marks covering me. I truly feel naked without them.

  “Relax, Crowe, I can feel you shaking,” he whispers, his breath hot against the inside of my thigh.

  “I'm relaxed, I'm just…I feel a little bare,” I reply, feeling the heat from the colour that I know is creeping into my cheeks. He presses a soft kiss to my thigh before moving up my body so that his face is hovering just over mine.

  “Generally, people are bare when they're having sex,” he says, his lips quirking at the edges.

  “It's not that, it's just...” I trail off, moving my hand to brush my fingers over some of his marks. My fingers graze over the one that dips into his jeans, and he draws in a sharp breath.

  “You might get them back, Crowe, you never know. But you're beautiful whether your skin is marked or unmarked, and I’ll want you either way. You are fucking perfection,” he replies sincerely, settling some of the nerves that were pulsing through me. I wrap a hand behind his neck and pull him close. Kissing him with everything I have, I drop my other hand to his waist to unbutton his jeans.

  I slide my hand down his back, and then I use my feet to help remove his jeans and boxers off in one go. Unable to wait anymore, my hand snakes around his hard cock. He groans into my ear as my hand strokes him gently.

  “Fuck, Crowe,” he whispers, and then I'm flipped over roughly onto my front. One hand grips my left hip firmly, and his nails start to dig in, as I feel his other fingers slide across my entrance, teasingly at first, but then he slides them in and out. He repeats the motion a few times before pulling away. I’m about to protest their absence when I feel him press up against me, and I moan. My hands claw at the rough ground, as I feel him slowly slip inside of me.

  My breath is heavy, and as he begins to move, he forgoes his earlier words, losing all control, roughly fucking me from behind. I bite my lip, trying to keep in the moans that are slipping from my lips. He leans down his body closely over my back, his skin warming mine as he kisses the bottom of my neck, tightening his demanding grip on my hip as he does.

  Chapter 4

  Mr M. Daniels

  “Could you walk any fucking slower?” I growl behind me to Locke. He'd been stop
ping to gape at every little thing as we made our way through the thick forest, and he seems to be determined to continue to gawk as we follow the river up towards the mountains.

  “What's the point in rushing? How can you be sure you're even going the right way?” Locke replies, not speeding up in the slightest. Stopping mid-step, I turn around to scowl at him.

  “What is the only thing that stands out for miles?” I ask plainly, and he looks around.

  “Everything, it's a whole different freaking world,” he answers, gesturing with his hands out. I feel my teeth grinding together.

  “Other than the fact it's a different world, which I'm sure your brother, East, and Kelly are well aware of, what stands out?” I ask again. His eyes fix on the large mountain range we're heading towards.

  “Oh,” he says.

  “Oh,” I echo mockingly, before turning on my heel and heading towards the mountains again. I hear Locke jog to catch up with me. Halle-fucking-lujah.

  “What makes you so sure they would think to go to the thing that stands out, too?” he asks as he reaches my side. I slowly increase my pace, hoping he'll follow suit.

  “I'm not holding out hope for your wonder-twin, but I'm hoping that Kelly or East have some sense instilled into them. It's a point that could easily be seen for miles in all directions, and it's the only area that particularly stands out. If they're in a finding distance, they'll head there too,” I answer confidently, but the concern they wouldn't think of doing this plays on my mind.

  If only Enzo had fallen through, I know he'd think of it.

  “Makes sense I guess,” Locke replies, but his voice is glum.

  “We’ll find them,” I say, trying to reassure him.

  “It’s not that, it’s just…Ryan’s dead, and who knows what happened to Enzo…or to Kenzie. I haven’t been about to stop thinking about her since we got here,” he explains, thankfully while keeping up the pace this time.

  “Enzo was with her. We have to trust that they will keep each other safe.” He better fucking keep her safe anyway.

  “What if we never see them again?” he asks, and I want to shout at him to shut the hell up. I just want to punch that stupid rock over there, or maybe Locke’s face. Why does he have to keep voicing all my worries? I try to keep my face calm, and remember that even though there’s only a few years age difference between us, Locke has had a much more sheltered life up until recently. I have to be the responsible one here.

  “We are going to see them again. The people here were able to cross before, so I’m sure we can find a way home. Or Kenzie will find a way to us. We will find the others, and we will get home to fix this mess,” I finally answer, trying to push as much conviction as I possibly can into my words. I look at him, watching the words sink in, and he nods. When he begins to walk again, there’s more bounce in his step, and I let out a breath I didn’t realise I was holding.

  This isn’t going to be easy, but I’m damn well going to make it happen anyway.

  “What do you know of Ariziadia? I only know a few things I was told as a child,” Locke asks me after we walk in silence for a while.

  “Not a lot. The council keep everything secret. No one talks about anything they know, and everything is locked up,” I say, and he sighs.

  “Everyone is going to be mad at the council for hiding this from them. There is no way they could hide the truth now,” he says, and he has a point.

  “All I know, is that there is a huge book, with far more than twelve pages. An old council member, one of the good ones, told me he suspected that the original marked had more marks than we do. That our blood is so diluted, we have lost the power we originally had,” I explain. He suspected a lot of things, like how they could shift into giant creatures, creatures that even dinosaurs feared. He suspected they had their own language, their own religion, and extremely strict rules. He also believed the marked that came to earth, were banished there for doing something bad. That we are all descendants of banished marked, and the marked here wouldn’t be happy for any of their children to open a portal. If any of it’s true, we have a huge fucking problem, and all I want to do is get back to Earth. Back to Kenzie.

  “Then we need to be careful, if we find any marked that are alive here…they could be more powerful than us,” Locke muses.

  “I won’t go down without a fight,” I warn him, and he grins.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be your Robin,” he says, and I give him a confused look. What the fuck is he going on about?

  “Dude, Batman and Robin…come on,” he says and shakes his head at me, a disgusted look on his face. “When we get back to Earth and shit is back to normal, I’m forcing you to watch some decent movies.”

  “Thanks, but no thanks,” I mutter.

  “You know what Daniels?” he says, patting my shoulder, and I look at his hand, wondering how much Kenzie likes this guy and how pissed she would be if I threw him into the nearby river. “I think we are going to get along just fine,” he grins. I don’t reply, quickening my pace, but I hear him chuckle behind me as he follows.

  Chapter 5

  Mackenzie

  “Why are we going this way?” I ask. My feet are killing me, and there's an ache pulsing through the backs of my calves. I seem weaker physically since losing my marks. I never realised how much stronger I'd become when I received them, until they were gone. Why did Enzo insist on heading up the hill? I eye the mountains we’re slowly approaching, and barely manage to without my groan. It’s only going to get worse!

  “Because this is the most logical way to go, Crowe,” he answers simply, but he does slow his pace a little, and he slides his hand into mine. “If Daniels is with the others, or even on his own, he will know to go towards something we can all see for miles.”

  “Makes sense,” I say. We don’t talk much more as we climb up the hill, pausing when we get to the top. The top of the hill stretches out into a long field, and the entrance to the mountains is at the other side, not too far away, but that’s not what makes me pause.

  “What the hell is that?” I point at the bottom of the mountains where there’s a huge, stone doorway. It’s shaped in an arch, with two massive stone tigers that appear to be pushing the doorway as they roar up at the skies. There are people walking in and out, and even horses dotted around, pulling carriage-type things behind them. There’s a massive roar, not like anything I’ve ever heard, and it’s loud enough to shake the ground beneath our feet. Enzo grabs me, pushing me behind him before I can see where it came from. I stumble a little, but he holds me to his back.

  “Crowe, stay calm, and stay the fuck behind me,” he instructs in a nervous voice. I’ve never heard Enzo nervous, and it scares the shit out of me. I peer my head around his shoulder trying to catch a glimpse of whatever the hell is making that noise. My mouth drops open at the sight of five dragons flying towards us. Four of them are a brown colour, each impressive with their giant wings and long bodies, and there’s a grey, almost white, dragon leading the way. He or she is twice the size of the others, with wings covered in deadly looking spikes. Holy shit…dragons.

  “We should run,” I whisper, fear filling me. I don’t have any powers, and there is no way Enzo could fight these dragons on his own. They could crush us in a second. What the hell are we going to do?

  “It’s too late; they’ve seen us, and there’s nowhere to hide around here,” he says, and I look behind us, just seeing the fields and hill we have walked up. It’s too open, and the treeline is too far away for us to get there in time. Also, we’d be screwed if the dragons shoot fire and we’re in those trees.

  “Any chance you shift into something big enough to fight these guys?” I ask, watching as the dragon’s swoop down, in a formation almost, and land on the field directly in front of us.

  “I’m not telling you what I shift into. You’ll only laugh, and it sure isn’t any use to us here,” he says, making me wonder what the hell it is that he shifts into, but I know it’s not th
e time to demand answers. I step around him, and he grabs my hand, stopping me going any further.

  “If they are going to kill us, I’m going to be at your side, not hiding behind you,” I tell him. “And I love your stubborn, arrogant ass, just in case this is the last time I get to tell you,” I add, looking into his dark eyes.

  “I’m not saying it now, because it won’t be the end of us here,” he says, every word is confident.

  “See, so stubborn,” I mutter, and he grins, lifting my hand and kissing the back of it.

  “I believe even when we die, those we love are never separated from us. This isn’t the end for us, Crowe,” he says, and I don’t even get to reply to his sweet words as the dragon in the front roars loudly. The dragons shift back suddenly, until five men are stood about half a mile away from us. They are covered in marks; every visible part of their skin is showing dozens of them. They only have black, woven trousers on, with a gold, v-shaped necklace dipping into the middle of their naked chests. They each also have marks in the middle of their foreheads, which are in the same v shape as their necklaces. They’re all tanned, with jet-black hair. I try to stay steady on my feet as the one in the middle steps forward. He holds his hand out and makes a come here gesture.

  “We should just go and talk to them, as we can’t run, and they could have killed us by now if that’s what they wanted.”

  “Okay, but for the love of the gods, let me do the talking, Crowe,” I give him a shrug for an agreement. “We don’t want to piss them off,” he mutters, as we start walking towards them. Every step across the field is full of tension and fear. They could easily kill us, and I’m not sure why they haven’t already done so. I keep my eyes locked on the one standing in front of the others, clearly, he is the leader. His grey eyes are narrowed on mine, and he doesn’t look impressed. We stop when we are close enough to speak, but the dragon man doesn’t say a word.