"Why lie?" Mark suggested and moved one step closer to Emma. His impish smile made him look more farie than he ever did before.

Emma was so in shock about his sudden move that she was paralyzed. It has been a lot for her to handle these days and she had the feeling like her head could explode at any minute.

Mark took her lack of reaction as an agreement and slowly pushed some of Emma's blond strands back behind her ear, moving her chin up so she was facing him.

Emma stared in wonder at the polychromic eyes, one so similar to her beloved Julian's, the other untamed and mysterious.

In another universe, if there had not been the Dark War and if Mark had not been taken away, maybe her crush on Mark would have developed into something more? But the Dark War had happened and Julian and her became parabati...and she would not be responsible for his downfall. She would protect him and his...her family, even if that meant that she had to lie to him and herself... .

It would be the best to act on Mark's offering and embrace the distraction.

I mean she had done it before, many times with Cameron, but that was before she knew how it was meant to feel like...how being in love felt. Now she would not be able to shrug that off that easily and pretend.

"Emma...if you don't want to you have to tell me now, I mean it was your suggestion, right?" Mark said. He was cupping her cheek and leaning against her, while she was just standing there next to her open closet and lost in his Blackthorn blue eye.

„No, I want to...I just had a rough morning... ."And with that she raised her armes and hugged them behind his neck. „I mean, if we want them to believe we are falling in love we do have to practice looking 'in love'."She said and awkwardly pushed herself an inch closer to him. And just with this thought she turned her focus to his golden farie eye. All the tints and sprinkles of different shades of gold made her feel free and unbound suddenly and she felt a heavy weight lifted off her chest. The storm of the wild hunt in his eye had made her able to dismatch herself from her selfish love for Julian, free herself of all her emotions and concentrate on the physical.

She stared in wonder at the endlessness of gold as he lowered his head to her and put his lips on hers. His lips where as soft as Julian's, but they were thinner and more trained. He definitely knew what he was doing.

He smelled like spearmint and citrus, but there was still a hint of the earthy farie smell on him.

He kissed her like she had not been kissed before. It was a strange feeling kissing Mark. On the one hand he was skilled and careful, not rushing anything, but she could feel his confidence and...he must have blocked out all emotions as well. He slid his hands to her neck and played with some of her hair, winding it around his finger. His lips placing light and tempting kisses along her jaw, going down to her throath. Her skin started to burn were he touched her with his lips and she was shocked about herself. How could she be doing this, just so shortly after her fight with Julian? She hated herself, but this was not just about herself, this was about all the Blackthorns. Who was she to destroy their family?

So she gave into her body's needs and gasped lightly as Mark was pushing the strap of her top slightly to the side so he could place small kisses along her shoulder.

„You are a beautiful girl Emma Carstairs. How could I not have realized that earlier? I guess I always saw you as Julian's untouchable property."He looked up at her and grinned lightly, before returning to her shoulder and caressing her sides with his hands.

A shiver went through her whole body by his mention of Julian. She choked it down and smiled down moving her fingers through his light blond hair. It was so much thinner than Julian's brown curls. It was almost like clouds flying around his face. He placed his right arm over her hand in his hair and took it down to the front of his shirt.

„Can you feel my heart racing? I haven't been with a girl for a while and almost forgot how much I loved these..."And by saying that he placed his left hand on her left breast. She could feel his desire and his eyes turned a darker shade as he looked up to her. „Can I...?"He asked and placed a light kiss to her collar bone. And when she did not stop him he went under the hem of her tank top and pulled it up over her head. Her black lace bra was slighly see-through and she could not believe that this was Mark she was making out with. With hungry eyes he traced the swell of her breasts with his finger tips, which made a hot wave go through Emma's entire body. If she closed her eyes now, maybe she could make herself believe, maybe just for a few seconds, that she was with Julian again, that she was as happy as she could be under his hands and melting away by his touch to her skin. As his hands kept tracing over her torso and she gave a small gasp in surprise about his tender touch and his wicked lips tracing a path down to her navel. But when she felt his hand lowering to her waistband her heart started beating faster and she panicked.

„ , stop, please!" She groaned between small gasps and he brought his head to hers and looked at her challenging.

„What is it? Don't tell me you are still a virgin? I heard Dru and Livy talking about your on and off relationship with this Cameron. Haven't you guys yet...?"

„No, I did have sex before, but I am not some fary girl...human interactions are a bit...they proceed slower. I am not ready yet, this all feels so new and ... ."

He looked at her lightly disappointed, but understanding.

„Alright then, but can I go on just a little bit more? I was just about to...well lets say you will like it." He look at her with an unhuman face, full of desire and impatience. He bit his bottom lip and stroke her arm slightly.

„Oh,ok... ."Emma said a bit uncertain, but he did make her curious.

And just like that he grabbed her by the hip and pulled her over his shoulder and moved towards Emma's bed. He shoved away her ILOVECALI pillows and layed her down besides himself.

„You know I always pictured you as Julian's small little girl...,but you are not a little girl anymore. Your body is the body of a strong and stunning woman and I cannot stop looking at it." He said shamelessly, while howering himself over her. She could feel his hot breath on her naked skin and his arms reaching to the front of her bra to undo her clip. She felt his hands shake a little when he tore the bra of, freeing her little round breasts and leaving them exposed. He almost jolted of excitement and went for her right breast with his eager kisses. He stroke her red nipple with his fingertips and lightly twisted it. Her whole body ached of pain and pleasure, but a small voice in the back of her head told her to not let this go any further or she would loose control.

Carefully she took his chin and lifted it up, so he was looking her deep into the eyes and kissed him. She closed her eyes and arched her back against him trying to distract him from his work on her breasts. He kissed her back tenderly, moving his hands all over her torso. She could feel herself loosing control. She slide her hand under his shirt and traced the hard muscle underneath. His body was leaner than Julian's, attractive in its own way. He moaned into her mouth and started opening the hook of his belt.

With still closed eyes she let herself sink deeper against the pillows, trying to focus on what she was doing but it all went blury with lust. He stroke the sensitive skin right over her waistband and lightly tucked on it while placing kisses all over her upper body.

Suddenly she could feel his lips at the right side of her neck kissing her most sensitive spot.

"Oh Julian... ."She moaned, before she realized what she just had said. She could feel him tense in shock, before bolting upright and staring at her with disbelieve and fury.

„What did you just call me? Is that why you were doing all this? You love him, do you?" His expression had changed. Anger turned into fear and worry.

"I...yes, I do. But I..., we can't act on it... ."

"What do you mean 'we'? Are you in love with each other? Emma, you know that it is against the law?!"Mark almost screamed, he had pulled away from her.

"Yes, but it just happened and by telling someone that their love is forbidden, it will only strengthen it. So I did what I had to do. If you cannot make yourself not loving a person, you can at least try to erease their love for you."

"Oh Emma,... ." Mark said and edged closer to her, putting one of his hands to her shoulder, as if to comfort her.

"So this is why I need your help. I need Julian to believe that we are falling in love, so that he will stop loving me eventually. It is saver for everyone. I will not stand between Julian and his family."

"But you are his family, too." Mark said with a bitterness in his voice, but he seamed to get her words.

"I do understand you now and as I told you I have my own reasons for wanting a little distraction, but of course it does not make things easier, that my little brother is in love with you. Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked.

"Yes, I am. I want to try." Emma said in a flat voice.

"Ok then. Julian will hate me for doing this to you." Mark said and he gathered Emma closer to him and put his face close to hers.

"I would say, that I won't hurt you Emma, but you are shaddered to pieces already and so am I. Lets try to collect some of them ok? Together? That is something I learned in the Wild Hunt...you endure a lot more, if you are not alone." By that he rubbed his thumb over her lips and waited for her to answer.

She was absolutely surprised by his behaviour, she had expected him to turn her down, after he knew her real intentions, but he was willing to take what he got and unite with her in their hurt over the loss of their love.

She felt herself relax into him and grab his hand, that was resting on her shoulder and squizing it.

"Ok, I will try. Just promise me you won't fall in love with me. Two Blackthorns at my tail I think I wouldn't survive that." She said with a small grinn and mark was smiling back at her. „ I promise." He said and then he was kissing her again.

NOTE:

Hey guys,

so I hope you liked it- please let me know by leaving a comment;-).

I have been asked this and yes, I will continue this story. I loved Lady Midnight and kind of have some ideas about how this Mark/Emma/Julian dynamic is going to continue;-). Also you are more than welcomed to suggest some ideas how the whole parabati issue could be solved. You can send me suggestions or theories via PM. Excited to hear your thoughts;-).

So next chapter will be uploaded soon;-).

Lots of love,

Violetta

P.S. Check out my other TDA short story "Where Fire turns to Water";-) ( set before LM)