The Girl He Marked by Laila Callaway novel Chapter 3

Axel's POV.

Mum and Dad place piles of food on the table. Plates filled with fried eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast, you name it.

The four of us dig in whilst my parents sit at the end of the table, watching with amusement.

'So, what else happened last night' Dad asks.

'I asked Grace to be my girlfriend,' I tell them casually.

Grace blushes next to me and smiles shyly at my parents. 'And I said yes.'

Mum grins at her. 'That's wonderful news. And I must say, it's lovely to finally meet you, Grace. Axel has told us so much about you.'

I don't even complain or try to deny it. She is what I talk about most of the time.

Grace's blush deepens, but she looks happy. 'It's lovely to meet you both, too.'

After eating, Rory's Mum comes and picks her up, taking Xaden with her.

Grace and I go up to my room for a bit. She calls her Mum and lets her know that she'll be stopping by in a bit to change her clothes, but then she's going out for a late lunch.

I change into a t—shirt and jeans, whilst Grace keeps her eyes locked on her phone, blushing intensely.

'You know I was joking earlier, Strawberries,' I explain. 'You can ogle my body any time you want, I am your boyfriend, after all.'

That makes her smile.

There's a knock on the bedroom door and after calling out, Mum pops her head around it.

Grace hurriedly jumps off of my bed, making my mum laugh.

'Oh, darling, you don't need to be worried about that with me. I am well aware that you two shared a bed last night and it's quite alright,' my mum reassures her. She looks at me with a knowing smile. 'I know you how important you are to Axel, so it's not a problem.'

Grace looks relieved and slowly sits down on the bed.

'Anyways, I just wanted to ask if you're staying for dinner, Grace'

My mate shakes her head, looking disappointed that she can't.

'I'm sorry, I told Mum that I'd be home for dinner, I think she wants to see me,' she replies despondently.

'How about tomorrow' I ask and she brightens up.

'Sure, I could do tomorrow.'

Mum grins. 'Perfect.'

I drive over to Grace's street and wait in the car whilst she runs around the corner to her house and changes out of last night's dress.

She comes back wearing a cropped t—shirt and a pair of dungarees. I didn't think it was possible for her to get any cuter, but apparently, I was wrong.

We get smoothies from the shake shack and walk down the high street, drinking them and holding hands.

We go to the park and walk around the lake, enjoying the sunshine. With Grace, we don't need to do lots of things for us to have a good time. I enjoy her company just as it is.

After buying us some sandwiches from one of the van vendors, we find our bench from our first date and eat them together.

When she's done, Grace lies down on the bench and rests her head on my lap. I lean back and close my eyes, running my fingers through her hair absentmindedly.

'I enjoyed last night. Your friends are nice,' Grace says casually.

'I'm glad you like them. They can be dicks at times, but they're alright.'

'I didn't much like Delaney or Harriet, though,' Grace adds, scrunching up her nose. 'Delaney was rude and Harriet, well, she kept looking at you when you wouldn't notice.'

I automatically stiffen up and Grace looks at me suspiciously.

'Do you two have a history She was looking at you like she wanted a piece; I'll be honest. She looked away each time I caught her, but it didn't stop her from looking back when she thought I'd looked away again.'

I swallow hard. I swore I'd never lie to her, and I won't start now.

'We um, slept together last year. A long time ago. It was only twice, and it was nothing. But she always expressed an interest in…revisiting the situation.'

'Ah,' she replies thoughtfully. 'That makes sense.'

'I don't think she wanted a relationship or anything,' I add quickly, hoping that it helps the situation.

Grace snorts. 'No, she just wanted your D again. Apparently, it was good enough to go back to.'

I look down at my mate, to find her smirking coyly.

'Could we please talk about something else'

Grace grins. 'Why I quite enjoy talking about your dick.'

I roll my eyes at her. 'Fine, we can talk about my dick, just not the mistakes I have made that include it, deal'

Grace giggles and nods her head. 'Deal.'

'Come on, Strawberries, let's go find the maze.'

We stroll through the park, reaching the two—meter—high hedge maze at the end of it.

There are some children playing in it, but they don't take it as seriously as Grace and I do.

Strawberries groans and stomps her feet adorably each time we hit a dead end. She drags me along, pulling me by my hand when I go too slowly for her liking.

Eventually, we make it to the middle of the maze.

She turns to me and smiles triumphantly.

'I got us to the middle!' She declares and then looks at me coquettishly. 'What is my prize'

I smirk and take a step closer to her, so that our chests are almost touching.

'A kiss' I ask and she nods eagerly.

I capture her lips with mine. She pushes up on her tiptoes to kiss me harder and buries her fingers in my hair.

I hold onto her waist tightly, savoring the sweet taste of her lips.

Just as Grace's tongue bumps mine, I pull away, making my little mate pout in frustration.

'There are children about!' I tell her with a laugh. 'Come on, horny one, find a way out of here.'

She blushes at her new nickname and rushes down one of the paths.

We spend another hour or two in town, before I drive Grace back to her house.

'I'll pick you up about three tomorrow We can watch some films at mine before dinner,' I suggest.

'Okay, sounds good.'

I give her a modest kiss goodbye and watch her disappear around the corner before driving home.

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On Sunday morning, I go for a run with Xaden. He comes back to mine after, and we play some video games.

We complete a bit of our sports assignment, and he leaves just before lunch.

I eat with my parents and then do schoolwork until quarter to three. Then, I drive over to pick up Grace.

She's waiting for me on the pavement, wearing knee—high socks, a short, pleated skirt and a cropped long—sleeve top.

She looks hot—cute.

Less than half an hour later, we're lying on my bed, choosing a film on my TV.

We pick a new action one that has only been out a couple of weeks; neither of us has seen it yet.

'Won't your parents get suspicious about what we're up to in your room' Grace asks worriedly, eyeing the door.

I laugh at her nervousness. 'No, Strawberries, they don't care. They believe you're my soul mate, too, so they don't mind. As long as I don't get you pregnant, they don't care what we do.'

Grace blushes and snuggles closer to me. 'Wow, okay. I wish my mum was that relaxed.'

I wince at thought of meeting her strict mum.

'When do I get to meet her, again' I ask casually.

Grace groans. 'Ugh, I was thinking of telling her about us this week. I think she suspects that I'm seeing someone, because she keeps making these pointed comments about how happy I am.'

I grin and look down at her. 'How happy you are Cause of me'

'Yes, because of you,' she says with a giggle. 'Who else would it be'

I frown at that. 'I don't know. Let's not consider that, please.'

Grace chuckles and rests her head on my chest.

Halfway through the film, I feel Grace's eyes on me. Her blue eyes are swirling with concupiscence. I can practically see the dirty thoughts going through her mind.

'Grace,' I say her name with a groan. 'Don't look at me like that.'

She plays innocent. 'Like what'

I narrow my eyes at her. 'You know what I mean.'

She shrugs. 'Nope.'

I turn back to the film, but her little fingers reach for my chin and turn my face back to her. She smiles and then leans in to kiss me.

With our lips connected, my little mate throws her leg over my waist and straddles me. I can feel the heat from her core, covered by nothing but her underwear under her skirt, pressed against my erection, now straining against my jeans.

Fuck.

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