Chapter 57

Natalia POV

"You marked me," I whisper in shock.

Victor pulls away from me and stares at me with his piercing blue eyes. "I thought..." he mutters quietly. "I thought that is what you wanted."

"It was," I try to sound excited. "It is."

"But..." Victor say with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"When Alexander sees this..." my voice waivers as I think about the punishment that I might receive. "He will punish me."

Cupping my face in his hands, Victor forces me to stare deeply into his eyes. "You are never going back to him ever again," he says with a stern look on his face. I try to avert my eyes from his relentless gaze but he squeezes my cheeks tightly. "Look at me," he demands, "you are never going back to him ever again. You belong to me. Do you trust me?"

"I do trust you," I tell him but even I cannot hear the conviction in my own voice.

Even though the water in the spring is hot my body begins to shiver as if I am cold. I pull my hands away from Victor and l