wc 5
Her sweet smile hovered again when the man insisted that his offer was sincere. She did not doubt it and was quite satisfied knowing that her tattoo would be in good hands. Both of the brothers seemed to possess knowledge about body art. She knew very little. She had been terrified when she had received her crimson star. First she had feared that Kaena’s hand failed, and then when the perfect star had shone for a moment on her chest, she was afraid to ruin it as it healed. As her skin had swelled up and turned red she had feared for the design to suffer, but it had turned out beautifully. A larger design covering the majority of her back would not be that simple though, and she would probably have worried herself sick if Marik had not offered his assistance.
”I’ll remember that, then.” her light voice stated with appreciation. He drifted over to respond to her comment about the similarity between the brothers. With such stunning eyes there really could be no doubt despite Marik’s strong hint of dog in his features. Again a compliment rose and she felt her face redden slightly again. Intelligent? The girl had obtained a certain amount of self insight as she had grown from an arrogant snot into a damaged woman, but had never thought herself to be particularly intelligent. The eyes too were commonly seen in Inferni, though she did agree with the beauty of the deep scarlet colour. It bothered her that her face turned hot again – she never would have felt this shyness in the past. Was she anything like her old self anymore?
Ruby orbs widened in surprise, then flashed with fear as the man suddenly reached out to touch the star branded beneath her collarbone. Her mind reminded her who had last let his hand run down her body and she could not keep the shiver from shaking her body gently. Her hand rose swiftly to partially cover the tattoo, clearly unwilling to let him touch her. Disappointment was sour in her mouth at herself. Marik was not dangerous. Samael had always possessed the aura of danger, but this man was kind to her and only showed interest in the art displayed on her chest. Her hand sunk again and she grimaced slightly, though reluctant to share with him the reason why she was so jumpy and unwilling of such a simple thing. She too adored letting her fingers run over scars and brands, so she fully understood him despite the reaction her body had forced on her.
Her soft gaze was apologetic, but instead of stammering an excuse, she jumped on to answer his question. ”It is the chaos star, the mark of the Lykois.” She was so fucking proud of her star, one of the things that truly had allowed her to settle in and feel like a member of the family. She had been conceived through rape and half raised by her ivory wolf mother, half raised by her lying bastard father – she had never known the feeling of belonging before the first time Kaena Lykoi embraced her. Her smile was back again, though not as secure and sincere as it had been before she had made a fool out of herself.
Now, with the rat, she was relieved that he did not award her with a frown. Her ear twitched gently when Cotl’s traps were mentioned though – strangely the other male had failed to mention such a fact despite knowing that the woman let some of her better behaved rodents run free. Some of her rodents less gifted with brains than others had disappeared and she had guessed why, but it saddened her that Cotl had kept from mentioning his own hobby. ”First I trained rats to kill off wolves,” she sincerely confessed, wondering how he would take that as she seemed anything but bloodthirsty at her current state. She had her moments still, though.
“But I realized that they are intelligent creatures, not filthy and as primal as everyone seem to think.” they were extremely useful creatures and they had also kept her company when the large house had been hers alone. Her smile brightened when the doggish male reached out for the rodent and spoke directly to it. His acceptance and reaction to the rodent was unlike any other reaction she had seen. Irritation came over her at once though – she was not the rodent’s mommy. The intention of the rodent training was to use them, not love them. She would not openly admit it, at least not yet, but she actually did feel for and appreciated her rodents. ”They are very useful.” she finished and let a finger gently stroke the rodent’s surprisingly soft fur.