The Soul's Mark: Broken by Ashley Stoyanoff Page B

and
laughed bitterly.  She narrowed her eyes at the absurd statement and put her
hands on her hips, drumming her fingers with annoyance.
    “Yeah, your orders.”  He shook his head and
crossed his arms over his chest.  He took a few deep breaths, his eyes faded
back to gray, and his skin settled in place. “If you ever fell for that vamp,
we were supposed to execute you.  That’s what you wanted.”
    Amelia felt hot, cold, and sick.  She
wanted to deny it.  The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t. 
So far, there had been a hidden memory to confirm all of his allegations, and
she was sure she didn’t want to see that one.
    Josh raked a hand through his hair, and he
let a deep sigh escape.  “I’m sorry, Amelia.  I’m sorry for the way I treated
you.”  He paused a moment, searching her face for a reaction, Amelia assumed,
but she kept her eyes narrowed, and her hands on her hips.   “It was wrong
but…You made me for you.  We were supposed to be together.  I just thought …”
He clipped his words short, his eyes pleading with her to understand.
    “You thought feeling me up and trying to
control me would make me want you?” she spat furiously.  Her jaw was starting
to hurt from her clenched teeth, but she couldn’t relax it.  What was it about
these supernatural jerks that made them think they could just do whatever they
wanted?  It was as if they didn’t see her as a person, just a piece of meat,
and it made her burn with fury.
    “It worked for that bloodsucker,” Josh
said, contempt contorting his features.  He threw up his arms in exasperation. 
“I’ve been watching you for months now.  Watching him walk all over you and you
let him.”  His jaw flexed, and he glared at her for a moment before he shrugged
it off.  “I figured that was what you were into.”
    The idea that he had been watching her sent
a chill racing over her skin, snuffing out her anger.  How had they not
noticed?  She tried to hide her unease, and said with a huff, “If this is you
trying to sweet talk me, it’s so not working,” and then she started down the
hallway.  He followed; she heard the patter of his footsteps smacking against
the stone floor, and she focused on trying to ignore him.  She veered left at a
fork in the hallway and ventured into the first open room she came to.  She
flicked on the light switch and thankfully found the blankets.
    “That might have come out wrong,” he said
shyly from the doorway.
    “You think?” Amelia grabbed an armload of
blankets from the shelf.  She could feel his eyes on her, wandering up and down
her backside.  Her arms began to shake; her legs trembled.
    “I just don’t understand why you’re
fighting me,” he said.
    Amelia sucked in a deep, shaky breath and
slowly turned to face him.  She met him square on, and for a moment, time stood
still.  There was something so perfect about the way he looked at her.  He
didn’t try to hide the remorse or the affection or the lust from his eyes like
Mitchell always had, and she let the emotions envelope her.
    Josh closed the distance between them in
three large steps.  Her breath caught in her throat, and for a fleeting moment,
she thought about backing away, but she didn’t.  He took the blankets, placing
them back on the shelf, and then inched a bit closer until she was pressed
against the metal frame of the shelving.
    And then he kissed her.
    It was sweet and tentative.  Her skin grew
warm, and before she knew it, she was kissing him back.  His hands rested on
her hips, his thumbs rubbing lightly against her sides, and he pressed closer
still.
    And it all felt … nice.
    Her heart, although beating quicker, was
not pounding.  Her skin, although warm, did not tingle.  His lips moved from
hers and trailed along her jaw to her ear, and it felt … okay.  Not earth
shatteringly wonderful, but nice, and it freaked her out, but damn, she was
pretty sure she could get used to that