Siren's Mark

Chapter 54

𝔸𝕧𝕒

The scent of coffee and toast wakes me from a deep sleep. I stretch my arms above my head and my joints pop like they're made of bubble wrap.

Ow.

I reluctantly roll myself out from the covers and onto the floor, letting out a groan when my body thunks onto the floor less gracefully than I intended.

Ow.

I pull myself off the ground and make my way to the kitchen, where Zane is standing in his boxers and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Morning, love," he says, leaning in for a quick good-morning kiss. "Long night?"

He looks at me with a mischievous grin as I recall the sexy little prank I played on him last night. I smile to myself.

"Nope," I say, stealing a slice of toast from his plate. "You?"

He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me in until my chest is resting upon his.

"Cheeky girl," he says.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I smirk at him and innocently bat my eyes.

"Of course you don't. You definitely didn't try to distract me last night or anything of the sort." He playfully rolls his eyes and smiles.

"Well, I mean, you are a Siren—God's gift to women and all that—so I'm sure you can't possibly be distracted by little ol' me."

He gives me a playful spank.

"Yeah, maybe I did deserve that," he says. "But you know, the only reason my ego is what it is... is because I won the only girl that really matters."

He places a soft kiss on my lips. Even without the effect of the venom, his kisses send shivers down my spine and through to my fingertips.

I'll never get tired of this feeling.

"You know, there's just one problem with your plan," he says. "Now that I know I can feel it when you touch yourself... I know it will work in reverse too."

I blush as he thrusts his hips forward, grinding himself into me. A soft moan makes its way past my lips, but we're quickly interrupted by the sound of our doorbell ringing.

"Oh crap," I say. "What time is it?"

I look at the clock and see it's almost noon. I told Jen she could come over at 11:30 and I'm still in my pajamas.

"Are you expecting someone?" Zane asks.

"Jen," I say. "I woke up so much later than I thought."

Zane steps away to put on clothing while I make my way to the door. As I open it Jen bursts in with her usual enthusiasm.

"Ava, light of my life!" Jen yells, throwing her arms around my neck and pulling me in for a hug. "I'm so glad you're doing better! Never do that to me again, okay?"

I hear a low growl from Zane and turn to see him with his eyes slightly narrowed and his arms tightly crossed. It looks like he's still working on the extra possessiveness brought on by the mark.

"Zane, other light of my life!" Jen exclaims. She runs over to Zane and gives him a big bear hug. The expression on his face is of pure confusion as she squeezes him and rocks him back and forth.

His eyes widen as he looks to me for an explanation. The last he had heard, Jen was still pissed at him for our short-lived breakup.

"I explained to Jen how your family friend was able to get me that experimental treatment for my liver failure," I say with a bit of a wink.