The Heiress Nobody Saw Coming (Natalie and Marcus) novel Chapter 396

Natalie reached out and poked one of the bruised spots on Marcus' body. He immediately sucked in a sharp breath.

"Does it hurt?" Natalie frowned, her concern growing. She had heard the crashing sounds outside the door, but she hadn't expected Lincoln to be this rough.

Marcus was about to say it didn't hurt, but upon seeing Natalie's furrowed brow, he quickly changed his answer. "Yeah, it hurts. It really hurts. I can't stand up, can't walk."

As he spoke, he lifted the corner of his bathrobe to show Natalie his leg. "It seems like my knee is broken."

Natalie's eyes fell on Marcus' leg, and her face flushed. She quickly looked away, embarrassed.

"You deserve it, getting me drunk on purpose, then messing with me," she muttered, though her body acted honestly as she bent down to help him.

"Lincoln was right. You could've taken me home after I got drunk, or at least let me share a room with Connie, or let me stay in the guest room I used to sleep in. But no, you had to carry me to your bedroom. Marcus, you did it on purpose."

"It wasn't on purpose," Marcus sighed. "After you got drunk, you insisted on crawling into my arms and asked me to hold you. You even touched my face, said I was the best-looking man you'd ever seen, and you said you wanted to build a golden birdcage to keep me in, so I could be your pet."

Hearing this, Natalie's face turned bright red. Did she really do and say all those things while drunk?

Marcus, taking advantage of her drunken state, mixed some truth with lies to tease her. "You even straddled me and said you were going to tame me. And you said I wasn't a pet bird but a big eagle."

Natalie quickly slapped her hand over Marcus' mouth. "Stop talking!"

Had she really said those things? Straddling him, taming him, the big eagle, the golden cage… Good heavens, was she really that wild when she was drunk?

Marcus watched Natalie's face turn from pale to bright red. The speed at which her face flushed made him want to laugh, though he held it in.

"Nat," Marcus reached out and gently took her hand away from his mouth. "You don't know how strong you are when you're drunk. You're right. I could've taken you home or handed you over to Ms. Sterling, but you wouldn't let go of me.

"I couldn't just force you off and leave you behind. I didn't resist because I was worried I'd hurt you. But from now on, don't drink alcohol when you're out, or I'll worry."

After saying that, Marcus tucked a loose strand of hair behind Natalie's ear. "Let's start over, okay? Let's get to know each other again and start fresh. How about it?"

Natalie's head was buzzing, and she covered her face with both hands. She couldn't even imagine the terrible things she'd done to Marcus when she was drunk.

"It really hurts."

"Let me put some medicine on it," Natalie said as she hurried to help him out of the bathroom. "You sit here for a moment. I'll ask Connie for the first aid kit."

She was rushing to leave, but Marcus grabbed her wrist. "Go wash up and change into something clean. I had Sheldon prepare clothes and toiletries for you. They're in the bathroom."

"Can you… endure the pain?"

Natalie's mind was in a whirl, and she had never been this flustered before. She had been calm earlier, but after hearing Marcus' teasing words and seeing Lincoln's rough handling, she just couldn't calm down.

"Yes." Marcus gently ruffled her hair. "Don't worry."

"I'm not worried about you," Natalie muttered before walking into the bathroom.