Read Online Carnival of Hearts: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance by Scarlett Rhone - Free Book Online

alone surviving the mark. I…don’t know if you would live.”
    Clara lifted her chin a little, and Marcus watched a carousel of emotions turn through her eyes. Fear, doubt. But then fierce determination, and love. The love swelled his heart, thickened his breath. Made him feel whole as she looked up at him. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life.
    “I can do it,” she insisted quietly. She nodded. “I can do it, Marcus. I want to do it. I’ll survive, and then you’ll defeat the Ringmaster and we’ll be free.”
    “Yes.” He squeezed her hands. “Then we’ll be free.”
    Then he sank down to his knees on the grass in front of her and bowed his head over her hands.
    “Clara, I love you,” he whispered. “And I will love you for the rest of my life. Do you consent to be my mate and bear my mark for the rest of yours?”
    “Yes.” He heard her voice tighten with impending tears. “Yes, I do.”
    He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, pressing his cheek to her breast to listen to her heartbeat for a moment, letting his align to it. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to hold her again after this night.

Chapter 13
    Marcus had found a soft, dry spread of moss and grass encircled by thick trees, and as Clara laid herself down on the ground, her mind was whirling with thoughts. She didn’t understand a lot of what was happening. She didn’t really understand what Marcus even was, but she’d already decided it didn’t matter. There wasn’t time for her to take it all in, and she loved him. She understood that. And she understood that this was their best chance at staying together. She’d certainly seen enough to believe in it all, and she knew Marcus loved her too. All she’d wanted, for the past two years, was to be reunited with him. She couldn’t stand to lose him now, and the idea of going on without him, or living her life knowing that he could be dead or imprisoned, was enough to make the decision quick even if it wasn’t easy. She would lay down her life for him. She knew he’d do the same for her. Perhaps together they would be strong enough to get through it.
    She eased back, lying on the grass, and tugged up the hem of her dress, hooking her thumbs on the waistband of the underwear that Kat had given her and tugging them down her thighs. Marcus stood above her, watching, and she felt a gust of warmth move through her, heating up her cheeks as he looked on. It was so dark that she couldn’t make out more than the outline of him, but that was enough. She’d always wanted him and knew that she always would, no matter the circumstances.
    In darkness, she watched him unbutton the front of his jeans and slide them off, his silhouette a shadow of strong, lean lines and muscles caught by the occasional glance of moonlight through the trees.
    She dropped her panties to one side as he sank to his knees, crawling between her thighs. A breath hitched in her throat as their eyes met, and she saw something primal, and wild, dart through his gorgeous golden eyes. Her heart galloped in her chest.
    “You can tell me to stop,” he murmured.
    She shook her head a little. “I want to do this, Marcus.”
    “After I bite you,” he told her, “you have to bite me too. Hard, Clara. You have to draw blood. Do you understand?” He lifted a hand on her knee, then slid it slowly up her thigh, beneath her dress.
    “I understand.” She was already breathless, and he’d barely touched her.
    This wasn’t like it had been in her car. This was different. It wasn’t about desperation and need, even though the motivation of it might have been. The act was about love, and passion, and she could feel both welling up inside her.
    He settled above her, her knees brushing his hips, and she could feel the hard length of his cock pressing against her thigh as he looked down at her a moment. Then he bent his head and kissed her, his mouth firm and warm against hers. Her lips parted, and