AN: Jeeeeez! Another update. I almost forgot how much I liked writing this story and this style. Yeah, writers block got the best of me but now I got so much inspiration for this story that it was quite easy to write.

I really HOPE that you liked it so far and I HOPE that it won't bother you that their relationship will get a bit "dominant & submissive" after this chapter xD I don't want to spoil you, really - but I also want to warn you here that suggestive dialogues or lemons ARE a possibility in this story. (Not in this chapter though.) But I would love to try a little bit of erotic poetry in here :P

Enjoy the new chapter and pls: Review when finished. Feedback is a wonderful thing for a writer to know if you liked the stuff.

CHAPTER VIII
Head Over Heels

I slowly awoke from a dreamless, but so restful sleep. A wonderful warmth took my body into a cozy embrace. It took me a few moments to realise that my cheeks rested and cuddled against his well-toned chest while his arms were softly wrapped around me. As I opened my sleepy eyes I looked up. Marik was still sleeping and I started to smile. He looked so peacefully and graceful. Even now I couldn't believe what happened between us yesterday and that I have slept next to him - in his arms.

Memories of the last night flooded my mind as I cuddled myself into his arms and against his chest again. We kissed each other for probably the whole night until we fell asleep, cuddled next to each other underneath those bedsheets made from Egyptian silk.

Eventually he opened his eyes, staring at me with those two pools of a lavender oceans that I lost myself in. A little smile rose on his lips and it made my flesh crawl in gratitude. His fingertips brushed softly over the frames of my body, which still wore my outfit from the last day and I smiled back at him.

"Good morning." I whispered shyly.

"Good morning." Marik replied under his breath and tied me closer to his chest until our noses touched. "I hope you had a wonderful night. Just like me."

"I did." By now I wasn't able to hold back my wide grin of happiness. As our lips touched again I realised that I finally fell for him head over heels.

xx

The hot water ran down my naked spine as I took a shower to freshen myself for the upcoming day, although I hated it to wash off his compelling scent that I used to soak in like the air I needed to breath last night. I hoped to get more of that addictive odour of his soon.

After dressing myself in my usual deep purple attire and putting on some jewellery I stepped out of my room to get some breakfast. I really needed that now after what happened last night and never did I think that kisses would cause such a hunger that I almost starved to death.

"Good morning, Odion." I greeted and tried to cover that lovesick grin of mine and to act like it was just another, normal day in an illegal organisation that craved to rule the world. He stood by the stove and prepared some pancakes as his gaze met mine.

"Mistress Jesara, good morning. You had a good night? I hope that Ilias didn't hurt you yesterday evening." Odion said and gave me one of his wise smiles. I bit my lip nervously. Little did he know - I was certain that Marik would never tell him those breaking news and I was quite sure he wouldn't want him to know. At least for now.

"I'm fine. Thank you. And it's just Jesara. Nothing more." I said and sat down on the luxurious dining table for four, which was made from blinding white marble stone, decorated with golden veins. I was glad that Marik made sure to invest in a private dining room for the three of us. His other servants who used to live here in the headquarter had to use the normal dining and cooking hall. So I never had to spend more time with them than necessary and even Odion was glad about it. Besides that I had to admit that most of them were quite weird. Thankfully they had so much respect towards Marik and the Ishtar family that weird situations or unprofessional conversations were rare. At least I thought so until that encounter with Ilias. If Marik and Odion had something in common it was the fact that both needed their "Me-Time" in the morning.

"Pancakes? You look like you're starving." Odion asked and just a second later he put a plate with three delicious smelling pancakes on the dining table in front of me. "Coffee or tea?"

"Absolutely. I guess I'll go for coffee today. Thank you." I said gently and started to munch away my well-deserved breakfast. Odion then put his own plate of breakfast on the table, such as a cup of steaming coffee for me and for him. Then he sat down beside me.

"It was a quite wonderful night to watch the stars yesterday - I guess?" Odion asked and took a bite. Then his olive eyes stared at me, awaiting my answer. With that the pancakes almost stuck in my throat. How did he know that? I felt how my cheeks started to burn in embarrassment.

"Uhm. Y-Yeah. Very clear." I stuttered and took a sip of my coffee to flush down the pancakes.

"So I guess you've been able to work things out with Master Marik?" Another details that I thought he didn't know and my unease was now probably more than evident in my face.

"How do you…know that?" I questioned, indirectly answering his question.

"I wanted to check on you after brining Ilias' body away and you weren't there. And when I wanted to ask Master Marik for further instructions I noticed that he also wasn't in his quarters. I just put the pieces together. But it was just an idea that you had the time to talk about your little problem." He explained casually.

"Oh." I said. "Yes, we talked and everything is fine again." I munched on the latest bite of my pancakes quite nervously. 'THIS is probably the understatement of the year.' I thought to myself and tried my best to hold back a grin when I remembered last night and how my conversation with Marik ended up.

"Fine." That was all Odion added and shot me a simple smile. It was one of his signature well-knowing smiles. Did he knew more than I thought he did!? Whatever, I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret for forever anyway. And who knew if Marik told Odion something via his mind link - although I highly doubted that. Marik was a person who kept his private life very private towards his servants. He hated it to show any kind of emotions or kindness in any way - for him it was a sign of weakness and literally a leak in the wall be has built around himself over the years. My heart look a joyful leap when I realised that Marik had let me take a step behind that wall. I almost thought he also locked me out.

"Morning." Marik's voice interrupted my thoughts as he stepped into the kitchen. Odion immediately shot up from where he sat - just like the king of china had just entered the building.

"Master Marik, good morning," He greeted and added a little bow of respect to it. "Your coffee is already on the way."

I arched a brow at the sandy blonde who I totally lost my heart to last night. But now; just about an hour after I left his quarters to take a shower in mine, he was back in his typical pissed off signature mood. Marik took a seat across of me and said nothing as Odion put a full mug of black coffee on the table in front of him.

"Did the scanning and entering of the new cards in our system work out yesterday?" Marik asked without looking at Odion, who sat back down at the table again.

"Yes, Master Marik. They are already online for sale." He replied with a nod.

"Fine." Marik murmured and took a sip of his coffee. "The cards those idiots brought from their trip should better sell by a good price, otherwise there will be consequences."

Wether Odion nor me dared to say something at his sharp words, so silence was our only company. Our eyes met in a cursory glance - icy and cold. "Odion, make all the preparations for an organisation meeting in one hour." Marik commanded cooly.

"I will, Master Marik. It's a pleasure to serve you." Odion replied with a bow and left our private dining room, but before the door shut behind him he shot me a glance I couldn't interpret. And so he left us to ourselves. I pursed my lips because I didn't know how to handle his actual mood.

When our eyes locked again I saw a mischievous smile rising on his lips, adorning his masculine jawline just as perfectly as the golden traditional jewellery. The golden headpiece with the eye of Anubis on it made him look like an old Egyptian prince. "Good morning." The coldness in his tone had faded away, the gentleness he showed me last night came back to the surface.

"Hi." I muttered with a shy smile. My palms began to sweat in comfortable nervousness. "Is everything alright?"

Marik leant forward and rested his elbows on the marble table, his face reflected in its smooth surface. "Why certainly." He said with a playful smirk. I felt my cheeks blushing and heating up. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you acted so harshly towards Odion?" I asked back and slid deeper in my chair. "I-I expected you to be… happier after… last night?"

He let out a sigh through his smirking lips as he stood up and rounded the table to where I sat. Goosebumps shot a shiver down my spine as I felt his fingertips traced from my ear down my neck and along my shoulders. He bowed down behind me until I felt the warmth of his breath stroking my right ear. It was almost hypnotising - overwhelming just like it was last night. My heart started to race, but I didn't dare to look back at him.

"Sometimes things are different than they may appear from the outside. I prefer to keep this new development between us a secret for a while." He whispered into my ear with that sly and playful undertone.

Another shiver raced down my features. "So you mean you don't want to show even a tiny bit of your so called weakness towards your servants?" I asked under my breath, enjoying his touch on my shoulder and his breath in my neck.

"Smart girl." Marik whispered again, this time his nose tip tickled my ear for a second before he stood up straight again. "Stand up." He commanded, but this time his dominant tone seemed to adorable to me. For the first time in my life I liked it. I did how he said and stood up, then turned around to face him.

Then he closed every distance between us and placed his right hand on my back to pull me closer to him until our chests touched. I swallowed when his mouth came close to my right ear again, letting our cheeks touch. "They need a leader to work properly - not a lovesick teenage boy. What we both do behind closed doors is none of their business. Is that understood?" That line sounded so pleasureful in its undertones although it always scared his servants to the bone.

"Understood." I whispered and pressed my cheek against his. "But what about Odion?"

"He will find out sooner or later. But it won't bother me at all since he's our families most loyal subject. Lets keep this just between you and me for at least a little while." He replied and looked me in the eyes. Is piano thin fingers brushed a few ebony black hair strands out of my face and I felt my heart melting like butter from the softness of his touch. I nodded submissively.

He elegantly lifted my chin with his index finger a little more before he placed his lips on mine again… and my senses went wild in sensation.

Away from everyones eyes.

xx

I stood right beside Odion in the first row as Marik's slow, calculated footsteps echoed through the silence and all other of his footmen froze. We all bowed in respect when he sat down in his golden, Egyptian throne in the rear end of the meeting hall. About eighty of Marik's Rare Hunters attended the meeting, but none of us knew what the youthful leader's agenda was about today.

"Yesterday night one of my servants earned a one-way ticket to the shadow realm, because of his disrespectful behaviour towards my family. I guess it's time to remind all of you that naughty behaviour won't be tolerated at any time." Marik spoke up. The anger of last night's incidence was still evident in his gaze as his lavender stare travelled over the audience. Wild whispers started to flood the room and my cheeks blushed a bit in embarrassment.

"Silence!" Marik spat and shot up from his throne, the millennium rod held in a tight grip. There he was again; the icy, dominat, uncontrollable hurricane named Marik. By now the others obviously recognised which of their mates was missing.

"Ilias dared to lay his hands on a girl against her will and harassed her. I want to make myself clear that, wether we're an underground organisation and break international laws everyday or not, any kind of sexual harassment or abuse will have consequences and instant execution. Especially if one of you dares to touch my wife like that fool Ilias did. Is that understood!?" His blood was boiling again. I didn't know how much this incidence drove him to the edge of fury. With those words spoken all eyes were on me and I blushed even more from that unwanted attention. This situation filled my body with unease and my tortured eyes met Marik's angry lavender pools.

Suddenly one of Marik's servants in the line across of me fell to his knees, begging for the allowance to speak. His body trembled; I knew he was frightened to the bone but still curious about what he had to say.

"Speak." Marik commanded and glared down to his footman. I didn't remember his name, but his face was familiar to me. He had about the same height as Marik, ash brown hair and green eyes. I guessed he was in his late twenties.

"Master Marik. I don't want to be disrespectful towards you or your family. But as you know there are no other females in our great organisation. Maybe Ilias' wouldn't have done such awful things if we had some kind of… amusement every once in a while?" He asked after collecting all his courage. With that the hall fell uncomfortably silent.

My eyes never left Marik; his body tensed and his eyes narrowed dangerously at his servant who still kneeled in front of him. I knew that he should better had kept his mouth shut. Marik stepped down the steps of his throne and came to a halt just inches away from the man. A little golden glimpse illuminated the hall. "Stand up." Marik commanded sharply. And his servant obeyed within a split second - against his will. His pain-stricken face was the evidence for me that Marik controlled him with the power of the millennium rod to set a warning example.

"So you dare to say that it was my fault that Ilias was too weak to withstand his disgusting instincts!?" He scolded with fury in his lavender eyes as they stared his servant to death. I cringed. "Seems like you'd like to bear Ilias company in the eternity of the shadow realm!?"

Marik packed him by the collar of his deep purple cloak, pulled him a bit closer and stared daggers at him.

"No, Master M-Marik. I-I just…" His servant stuttered, realising his statement was a fateful mistake.

"Shut up, you useless fool!" Marik hissed and shoved him away in a rough, sudden movement. His anxious servant tumbled down to the ground, trembling in fear. "But that's a perfect transition to the second and final topic of todays meeting. Today I wanted to fight a little test duel with the deck I created and give The Winged Dragon of Ra a burst. Congratulations, Carter, you are the perfect volunteer to experience the almighty power of an Egyptian god card."

Carter's eyes shot wide open in fear. "P-Please, Master. I-I didn't mean-"

"THAT WAS NOT AN OPTION, YOU FOOL! Don't you dare to disobey my orders or I will make it ten times worse for you!" Marik cut him off. His harsh, loud and angry voice echoed through the hall like it was raining daggers. Yes, he was a man with two faces that were so extremely different like lights and shadows. At this outburst Carter said nothing more. "You will be my human guinea pig to test the powers of Ra in a duel. That's my last word!"

I took a deep breath and looked up at Odion beside me. I could tell from his face that he knew that this duel won't have a happy ending for Carter. The Winged Dragon Of Ra was a card that should never be underestimated. Even Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters feared the power of the god cards. Even he wasn't able to control them. How should someone like Carter hold against it? But the only thing I worried about was Marik. What if also someone like Marik wasn't able to control that ancient powers?

AN: Yes! The next chapter will contain a duel and the first appearance of the Winged Dragon of Ra! Hope you liked the interactions of Marik with my OC so far :P I want to keep them up in the same spicy way.

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