The Twelve Zenati Pt. 31

It was late, and Gideon knew the other children would have been put to bed by their nannies while the three little boys terrified of the ever-changing world they now lived in, clung to their Aunt refusing to separate into their own beds. Gideon began to become entangled by the story as well. He stepped inside the room, letting his back slide down the wall until he sat on the floor and just listened to the sweet young voice of his soon-to-be sister-in-law.

*****

Noah looked at where Marcella had curled into a protective ball on the big day bed and sighed. He was harsh, probably too harsh, but he had tried to play it her way, and it hadn't worked! Now he had to make her see that somebody loved her enough to stop her from taking such big, poorly thought-out risks. He got it. He honestly understood that she never had anyone show her what real love and caring was about, not even her sisters. The same sisters she devoted herself to knowing she would get nothing in return.

He toed off his shoes and removed his belt then he slid onto the bed behind Marcella curling around her form and wrapping her in his warmth. He could feel her trying to get her ragged huffing breath under control. Had she been crying? His Kitten didn't cry although his memory of that day with her sister on the balcony called him a liar. It was just that she was so strong, so self-contained the majority of the time. Despite her diminutive size, she was a powerhouse. Seeing her like this almost broke his resolve, knowing he was partially to blame.

"Leave me alone, Noah," she finally whispered hoarsely.

"Never again," he said softly back. He knew or at least hoped this would get a reaction from her.

"So, I'm a prisoner now? Do you plan to lock me up somewhere safe where Konrad can't find me? Don't kid yourself, Noah. I'm not worth losing your life over. You've already been shot once because of me," her words were cut off by a sob. Unable to take not being able to see her face while they spoke, Noah gripped Marcella's shoulder and rolled her to her back.

"Yes, if it means you remain safe and able to live your life with the people who love you, it is well worth the price," Noah said softly looking into her eyes. "I love you Kitten and you are mine, just as every inch of me belongs to you now. What I feel goes so far beyond caring for a friend or family member. Even though you won't acknowledge it, I know you care about me and could love me if you let yourself. Make no mistake, though, you are mine to love and protect, and you will acknowledge that in the end."

The voice that came to Marcella's ears was gruff, not angry or mocking as it had been during his ranting lecture, but full of emotion and sincerity. She did care about him she could admit that much to herself. She wouldn't have been trying so hard to protect him alongside Olivia, if that weren't true, but love? She didn't feel love, not for anybody, not even for herself. What she had was a vicious need to protect her sisters from all the pain they had suffered because of her mistakes, her unwillingness to bend to her father and Uncles perverted view of the world. How could this man claim to love her when she had done such horrible things to survive and get away from everything the Tables represented.

"No," was all she could say. No, she wasn't his even though feeling him this close, it would have been so easy to give in. Of course, she cared about him. He had helped her to protect her sister since she had arrived in this city but love? The concept was so abstract to her, even as she had watched real love bloom between Vivienne and Gideon, she hadn't understood it or why Vivienne would want to tie herself to Gideon so happily.

"Yes," Noah argued and lifted a hand to smooth her hair back from her face. "You are mine, and you will acknowledge it. So just say it and put us both out of the misery you are insisting we suffer." His fingers trailed down over her cheek and along her jawline before curling around to the back of her neck, his thumb reaching out to stroke her throat as she swallowed heavily. "I need you to hear me and understand me when I say I love you, Marcella, truly, madly, deeply," he said and leaned down to brush his lips tentatively over hers. He was only human, and with the woman of his dreams and fantasies lying below him looking so vulnerable, he couldn't help the desire that flooded him.

Marcella gave a small choking gasp as his grip tightened, and his thumb pressed deeper into her throat. He pulled back immediately and looked down at her frowning at what he had done and released the pressure from her throat. The slightly reddened skin pleased his inner Dom as he scanned the area that now held his thumbprint.

"You are mine, Marcella, to love and protect and I will do that until the Game Master is no longer an issue, just as your father and Uncle are no longer issues for you or your sisters. We could have done this together, we could have been a great team, but you shut me out and now must endure the consequences of that," he said gently. "If you could only admit what you know you feel, that I am yours just as you are mine, then we could be a great team again." He watched her face as his hand tightened again his thumb pressing into her throat.

"No," Marcella ground out in a whine, tears coming to her eyes despite her inner fight against them. The reality was that she couldn't argue anything he said. Still, she also could barely admit that to herself and definitely not to him.

"It took a ton of self-restraint for Noah to keep his eyes locked on hers as she denied him again. He wanted to look over the delectable body below his that he had missed so much. She was the most beautiful of women, and she was made to fit into his body perfectly just as he was made for her. He both hated and loved that she had this power over him. It was so hard to find that balance between completely dominating her and running the risk of her walking all over him as she had done on several occasions during their time together. This time, now that he had her back, he needed to leave her with no doubt that he could and would be a dominating arsehole if she continued to fight him and try to leave him again. He wasn't sure he would survive her walking out on him again, no matter the reasons for it.

Marcella drew a deep breath as he released his hold on her throat again, keeping his hand in place with a gentle touch now. She knew he wanted her to say it, to admit she was his, but she couldn't. He didn't understand how much danger he was in just by being with her now. She knew she was no prize, but the look on Konrad's face when they had made their final deal told her he would come for her and remove anybody in his way. It seemed to be a matter of pride from him now, and she knew without a doubt she had lost any chance of negotiating with him again.

"I want you to say it. I want you to tell me that you trust me to love and protect you. I want you to tell me that if you have to leave, we leave together," Noah spoke in a husky tone that was neither pleasant nor harsh.

"No," she sighed and closed her eyes against his intense glare.

"Then you give me no choice but to accept that you don't or won't trust me to protect you and keep you safe," he sighed and eased his hand from her throat back up to stroke her cheek.

As his hand lifted from her throat, Marcella opened her eyes to watch him warily. He was gazing at her with a softer undiscernible expression, and she could feel all of the attraction and desire this man had always brought out in her. She squirmed, knowing she should move away from him, but he felt so good, so right being here with her.

"Before we begin our battle of wills in earnest tomorrow, give me tonight, please Marcella. I have been going out of my mind without you. Just give me tonight, be mine tonight and tomorrow I will take you to Perth," Noah said with a catch in his voice. His hand stroked down her face and throat again but didn't stop there. Instead, his hand glided down over her breast to her ribs and further down to her hip as he caressed her slowly and tried not to moan at the need he felt to claim her again.

Marcella swallowed her eyes widening at his words and the feel of his touch on her body. It was hard to admit she wanted what he offered just as badly as he did, even to herself, but she did want it, wanted him. Maybe it would be okay to feed her need for him if only for tonight. One last memory to keep with her as she left those she loved one last time and disappeared into the shadows of the disaster her life had become. She would wear him out, and he would sleep deeply then she could be gone by the time he woke. She could indulge in this one last memory of him, take what she needed from him, love him the way she could never confess to him. She couldn't voice any of those thoughts, so she merely nodded her head in agreement, as she still held his gaze.

There was no need for her to voice anything though, at her nod, Noah dove in and kissed her deeply, passionately and rolled to his back taking her with him as his hands went to work removing her clothes so quickly, she barely had time to process what he was doing. The buttons on the blouse she wore allowed Noah to strip her without breaking the kisses to her lips, throat, and jaw. Despite herself, Marcella began to tear at his clothes with equal eagerness now that she had tossed her misgivings to the wind and agreed to this one night.

Once naked, Noah rolled them back. He was on his side half hovering over where he gently pushed her to her back again. He looked into her beautiful eyes full of desire laced with uncertainty. He could see she cared for him more than she could admit out loud. She wouldn't be trying so desperately to protect him if she didn't, but he wanted more from her, needed more from her and tonight he would make her understand that.

He cupped her face in his hand, she responded by rubbing her face into his hand, and then he leaned over and began to softly and sensuously nibble on her lips and mouth. Driven by weeks of pent-up emotion, he let the dam break on his desire. He thrust his tongue past her lips, claiming her mouth as his while revelling in Marcella's gasps and moans as she gave herself over to his possession of her. Weeks, no months, of pent-up love and passion came pouring out of Noah as he began to slowly stake his claim to every part of her sensuous body.

Marcella let herself slide into the moment. She would deal with the fall out when he wasn't addling her brain with his kisses and touches as if he couldn't get close enough to her and wanted to crawl inside her skin. She let go of all her fears and worries as he kissed her, and she could feel the hot skin and hard muscles of his body move against her. If there was a safe haven in her life ever, this was it. Wrapped in the arms of the man who believed he loved her, except he couldn't, not really. She could never be the woman who deserved his adoration, and he would learn that soon enough. They all did in the end, so she gave herself over to the pleasure he offered for this one night, just this one night.

Noah sucked and nibbled on her neck and ears then moved to her breasts where he aggressively nipped and bit the soft skin there and teased her nipples, leaving tiny red marks as he claimed them as his. When he sucked the delicate skin on the under-side of her breast into his mouth intent on leaving a mark that would last for a day or two to remind her that he had claimed her, he found she responded by pushing her body into his aggressive attack. It was almost as if she was making a demand of her own that he claim her and take her as his. Her actions drove his need to dominate her even higher. It was as if, at that moment she wanted to give herself completely to him.

Marcella had only given up total control of her body a handful of times, and each time to someone she believed she could trust. However, she could still remember the feeling of euphoria that completely releasing control of her body to another would give her. Did she trust Noah that much? Could she let him take total control and revel in the freedom and bliss she knew lay down that path? She wanted to, she thought she could trust him but... but nothing you stupid bitch, you like this, take it, tomorrow is just another day that might not come in your miserable little life. With that last hateful though Marcella shut off her thinking brain and just let herself feel.

Noah continued moving down her body, claiming every part of her. He licked, nipped, bit and caressed every inch of her ribs, her flat, hollow belly, her sensuous naval as he moved on to her hips. He nibbled around her hips and then down her right leg paying special attention to the inner thigh's sensitive areas, behind the knee and her toes. He moved to the left leg starting with her toes and moving up her leg, aiming for her hot wet pussy that was moving almost hypnotically with the rolling of her hips, begging for attention.

Marcella was ready to explode the minute he touched her pussy. There was no softness as Noah began to devour her, and almost her whole body came off the bed as she exploded into a mind-numbing orgasm. The build-up to this over the last few weeks had only added to his claiming of her body with teasing licks, bites and kisses and blind-sided her in a way she had ever experienced before. All of the muscles in her arms and legs went taut. She pulled his hair, bringing him closer and almost immediately pushing him away to give herself relief from the onslaught of sensations he brought her.

Noah didn't let up as he sucked her pussy and tortured her clit with his tongue and teeth as he continued to claim this woman he loved madly. He continued to drive her orgasm higher and higher as Marcella's stomach muscles cramped into tight knots trying to curl her body around her throbbing and now overly-sensitive pussy. Her whole body began to spasm as Noah refused to relent in his claiming of her. Whether it was one long orgasm or multiples chained together, Marcella continued to float on pleasurable endorphins.

Noah relented once her voice had gone hoarse and practically disappeared from her cries of pleasure. He began to move up her body slowly, slithering over her with little kisses and nibbles until his cock nudged her entrance. He claimed her mouth again in a brutal kiss to share the exquisite taste of her sex with her.

When he stopped eating her pussy Marcella's body fell back to the bed bonelessly. Still, it blasted into a whole new level of orgasm when he drove his hard cock deep into her in one ferocious movement burying himself to the hilt. Marcella screamed noiselessly as the ecstasy overrode all of her bodily functions. All she could feel was the pleasure they had always shared magnified tenfold by her loss of control and the nagging voices in her head telling her to keep the most intimate bits of her psyche in hiding as he claimed her. It was different having no inner voice warning her of the dangers of loving this man or the claim he was making on her as he drove her to heights of bliss she wasn't sure she had visited before.

Noah fucked her like a man possessed, his hand reached up to curl around her throat again his thumb pressing in slightly as she looked up at him with glazed eyes seemingly unable to focus on him properly as he continued to ram home into the warm depths of her.

"Tell me," he growled. "Tell me that you are mine. Tell me that you feel it too. The rightness of us, just as we were always destined to be."

"Oh, fuck! Noah," she cried out in a hoarse elongated scream unable to make sense of what was happening to her as she spiralled into another orgasm that left her totally wrung out and unable to make sense of anything but the rightness she felt right then.

Marcella's whole body was quivering and shaking as Noah drove into her one last time and came deep inside her. As he continued to cum inside her Noah's passionate madness began to clear, and he leaned down to kiss the woman he loved more than life itself. But Marcella couldn't respond. Instead, she leaned up to kiss him. Noah began to softly kiss her face and give her soothing body caresses until she began to calm. He stared into Marcella's eyes and kissed her cheek as he said,

"I love you Kitten, and I need you to know that you are mine and you will always be mine. I love, want and need you more than I can say," he murmured hoping his words were getting through her orgasm addled brain.

Marcella tried to raise her head to try and kiss him again, but the last quivering remnants of the fuck of her life made her miss the mark, and she hit his chin. She gave a small lazy smile, tried again, and this time she captured his lips. As their lips parted, she relaxed back onto the bed and let him claim her mouth again, giving up all pretence of wanting to control this man when he had claimed her so thoroughly. She couldn't say what wanted he wanted to hear. She didn't talk at all as her own emotions and feelings overwhelmed her.

Noah cocooned her shaking body into his. He continued to caress her and kiss her hair until their breathing steadied. He knew that to push her now would be to take advantage of her vulnerability, so he said nothing. He gently caressed her until she fell asleep in his arms where he wanted to keep her forever, safe and his.

*****

Marcella had woken twice during the night, her mind racing with her plans of escape. It had been madness to believe she could have one night and leave unscathed by what they shared. The first time she had barely moved when she felt Noah's arms tighten around her and draw her even tighter against his body. Instead of fighting for space though, she had let herself have a moment to revel in the fact that he was still here with her and loving her before berating herself for her stupidity. She'd closed her eyes and let sleep take her again as the voices in her head came back with a vengeance. The second time she woke, she listened for his breathing and then slowly began to edge herself away from him only to turn her head and find him watching her with an amused smirk before he gathered her back to him fitting her in close to his body.

"Where are you going, Kitten?" Noah murmured into her neck, kissing the sensitive skin behind her ear.

"Bathroom," she whispered and turned her head to look at him again, believing he would relent and let her go.

"Okay," he kissed her, then rolled them both to his other side and sat up on the edge of the bed without breaking the kiss. He stood, pulling her legs around his hips and walked with her to the small bathroom he'd seen when he was pacing and ranting at her earlier in the night. He dropped her to her feet in front of the toilet with a fluid motion gave her one last soft kiss and turned away moving to the sink and mirror to splash water on his face and wash his hands as he waited for her.

Marcella couldn't believe he was doing this to her. The room was dark enough, being shielded from the dim light of the pool, but she didn't want to have to pee in front of him. When he turned back in her direction and folded his arms across his chest, quirking an eyebrow at her as if catching her out in a lie, she forced herself to pee. The man was insufferable and reminded her of exactly why she had to get away from him. He would never let Konrad take her, and she couldn't risk him being hurt just because he felt he needed to protect her.

She moved over to the basin, reminding herself that she was a tough bitch and could look after herself quite well thank you very much. She opened her mouth to tell him just that when he stepped behind her and curled an arm around her waist before cupping her cheek and tilting her head up into his kiss. She bit his lip and broke the kiss.