FinleyMy eyes were still closed as Calvin breathed dangerously close to my neck. My heart was hammering in my chest and I heard a car pull up the long driveway and faint voices but they were too far away and I opened my eyes. Calvin’s eyes glazed over for a second and then returned to their normal brown.“Do you know what marking is Finley?” Calvin asked me.“Yes,” I said to him. I had described it countless times in my books.“Then tell me who was stupid enough to mark you?” he asked. His voice was much calmer now but I was still afraid.“Nobody marked me,” I said to him. I’d know if someone marked me.“Don’t fucking toy with me Finley!” he yelled again as I jumped when he slapped the wall next to me.“I’m not,” I said to him nearing the point of crying.“Fuck,” he whispered as he lifted his head towards the door.I took the opportunity with him being distracted as I lifted my knee into his groin and pushed him away from me. I turned and ran for the bedroom door and I pulled it open

FinleyI lay there on my side for a while after Damon left the room and as soon as he left I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. My brain was maxed out on processing information. He turned into an animal and he marked me. I knew how this worked, even if I thought that I’d made it all up, it was all true.That’s why I craved his presence and felt safe with him but if I was being honest with myself, I felt that way long before he marked me. He was right about one thing though, we had fallen in love before that St. Barts trip.There were a lot of things that I understood better now but I was still angry. He had invaded my privacy, forced himself into my life, I didn’t care what his reasons were, but a small voice told me that his intentions had been sincere. Had he actually killed someone to protect me? I had no idea to what extremes he had gone for me.I sat up straighter when a knock came at the door. It was very soft at first and I thought that I’d misheard but the knock cam

FinleyDamon woke me up as he parked the truck and when I stretched my arms I hit him in the face, not realizing he was so close to me.“Sorry,” I said as he laughed.“If you want to hit me just say so, at least give me a chance to defend myself,” he said as I laughed feeling embarrassed.“It’s your own fault, why is your head so close to me anyway?” I asked him.“Let’s go check in,” he said as he climbed out of the truck and I looked up at the hotel.I followed Damon inside and waited slightly behind him as he checked in and got the keys to a two bedroom suite. He was still playing at being a gentleman and I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. My head said he should give me space but my heart wanted him close to me.Upstairs in the suite Damon put my suitcase down in the master bedroom and then went to the second bedroom and closed the door. I sighed and closed my door as well and opened my suitcase to take another shower.We had to report to this Council place at eight am and I had no

FinleyI was led from the conference room to another one that looked eerily similar. One man and one woman sat at the table and they stopped talking as I walked inside with the woman that escorted me.“Miss Blake,” she said and stepped out of the room.“Good morning Miss Blake, I’m Oracle Lily and this is Council Member Woodruff, we’ll be overseeing your oath,” she said and smiled warmly at me.“Okay,” I said and sat down on the chair she indicated.“It won’t hurt,” she said and winked at me.I felt slightly better knowing that and wondered what this oath consisted of. I didn’t know what to expect and I had no idea where Damon was or what would happen to him, only that he was going to prison. A prison for the supernatural.“This document stipulates the oath, that you swear to not reveal our existence to any outsiders or discuss what happened here today with anybody that is not supernatural,” she said.“Okay,” I said again and felt stupid because that’s all I kept saying.“Give me your

FinleyEvery day I waited for the pain to start and I had planned my days out so that I wouldn’t have to leave the house. I didn’t want to be driving or in a store when it started because I had no idea when they would do this. Maybe they’d already done it and I just wasn’t aware, maybe because I was human I didn’t even notice it?“Hello,” I answered my phone as it kept ringing for the fifth time.I had moved my laptop to my bedroom and I avoided going to the basement. I didn’t want to fall back into any of my previous habits because I could still see Damon’s face when he found me that night. His scent had lingered in the guest room but it was gone now and I missed it.“Finley, we’re going out tonight and you’re joining us!” Harley said.“I can’t tonight,” I said to her.“Stop making excuses and stop sulking over that asshole,” she said to me.Harley and Wells had come over that night I got home from New York and I had told them all about our weekend in St Barts and then the words woul