Page 237 of His Flash Mate
He thumped his cane on the floor.“Check her mark.”
I was expecting Marta to walk in.Instead, Javier entered and stalked toward the bed.When he reached me, he roughly pushed me forward and pulled on the cut in my shirt.
“Gently, Javier,” Hestian said, walking closer.“It looks the same.”
“What were you expecting?”I asked calmly before shrugging off Javier’s hold.
The way Javier looked at me as I straightened sent a chill of warning through me.Something told me Hestian’s presence was the only thing stopping Javier from giving me the back of his hand.
“I was told that, if you had a mark, it would fade with time.”
“Either they purposely misled you, or you misunderstood.Marks can fade with time, but not in days.”I didn’t add that it also depended on how the person who wore the mark felt about the one who gave it to her.
“How long will it take for your mark to fade?”he asked.
“I honestly don’t know.I was led to believe it would take months, but he said he would never let it happen.”Tilting my head at Hestian, I added, “Do you know what this mark is?”
“The start of a dragon bonding.”
Was Hestian stupid or oblivious?
I decided it didn’t matter.Either way, he’d get what he deserved for robbing me of my basic human rights.
“Nothing more to share?”he asked.
“You chose to kidnap a dragon’s bonded mate.There’s nothing I can say or do that will help either of us.”
His gaze noticeably heated before he reached out to touch my face.I jerked back and held his gaze calmly.
“I bite,” I said.
The sick bastard smiled.
“I’m looking forward to having you under me, Sophia.”
With a final sweeping look that made me wish for a bleach shower, he walked away.I turned my attention to Javier and arched a brow.
The look he gave me promised a level of pain that would leave me broken in some way.Then, like Hestian, he turned and left the room too.
If Konni didn’t hurry, I would be in deeper trouble than either of us could handle soon.
I went back to doing leg lifts and tucks, twisting and moving any way I could to keep myself from getting stiff.That included opening and closing my hands, rotating them this way and that.
Javier appeared in the doorway after only a minute of that.I swiveled my hand to flip him off and continued what I was doing.He didn’t leave until I grew bored moving and closed my eyes for a nap.
A gentle nudge woke me, and I looked up at Marta’s bruised face.Her dull, hopeless gaze held mine as she offered a glass of water.We stared at each other for several long moments.
Movement from the corner of my eye drew my attention from her to Javier in the doorway.His mean smile and the way he lifted his hand to rub his knuckles told the story he wanted me to hear—Marta would be his punching bag in my place whenever I gave him the urge.
“I used to think men were good for one thing, but you’ve changed my opinion, Javier.Please tell Hestian you made me angry and he can go fuck himself with his cane.I’ll ask if you delivered the message the next time he visits.”
The gloating superiority vanished behind an unreadable mask.We stayed in a silent stare down for an eternity until he finally turned and left the doorway.
When I looked back at Marta, the hand holding the water out was shaking violently.Fear or exhaustion from ignoring it for so long?
I nodded and drank but refused the food again.Unfortunately, I couldn’t refuse the bedpan.When she moved to stand between me and the camera, a sharp word came from the hallway.
Marta immediately repositioned herself, no pity in her gaze.I didn’t blame her.She was in survival mode.
