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“Ella!”

Ella woke up to find someone leaning over her and fought a scream. A familiar hand cupped the side of her face.

“It’s me. What’s wrong?”

She managed to open one eye and glare at Vadim, who was hovering an inch in front of her. Either she’d left the bedside lamp on, or he’d put it on when he’d come in.

“Get off me.” She turned her head and bit his thumb and the hand disappeared.

“Ouch.” He sucked his thumb into his mouth. “You were shouting in your sleep.”

“Loud enough to wake you next door? This must be a shit hotel.” She sat up. “How did you get in?”

“I had another key.” He sat beside her on the bed and she realized he only wore his boxers. “I heard you in my head. You woke me up.”

She winced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I must’ve been having a nightmare.”

Without asking he walked around to the other side of the bed and settled himself beside her as if he belonged there. “It felt like Otherworld to me, so I thought I’d better check up on you.”

She stared up at the ceiling. Somehow his belief that she’d be okay with him lying on her bed irritated her. “It’s an old favorite dream of mine. I get trapped in an elevator and some handsome dude insists I mate with him.”

He sat up. “You had a nightmare about that?”

“Just kidding. The nightmare is the reason why I got scared of elevators and small places in the first place.”

“So that phobia was caused by a dream?”

No,” she sighed. “Keep up, can’t you? The experience triggered the nightmare, and the nightmare is triggered by new experiences, get it?”

“I think so.” He rearranged the pillows behind his head as if he was settling in for the night. “So what happened originally?”

She looked sideways at him. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because if you’re going to wake me up, I’d like to understand when I need to worry, and when you’re just processing an old fear.”

“You don’t need to worry about me,” she said more sharply than she had intended. “I’m quite capable of looking after myself.”

He didn’t say anything, just looked at her until she leaned back against the pillows. She suddenly realized she was naked under the covers and that all her clothing lay in an untidy heap on the bathroom floor. In movies, the women always managed to gracefully drape a sheet around them before they made their dramatic exit. She’d have to get the sheet out from under Vadim and then untuck it from the sides of the bed and she didn’t see that working at all.

“Okay, when I was about five, just before I got sent off to school, I was at home with my siblings playing hide and seek. One of our favorite places to hide was in a big Chinese chest on the upper hall landing. We were told not to get in there because there was no safety catch, but none of us took any notice. So, I was looking for a place to hide and decided to go in there for the first time. The thing was, when I put the lid down, I thought one of my other cousins had already got in there, so I turned toward them and—there was no one there.”

Vadim edged closer and put his arm around her shoulders. “What happened then?”

“I looked down and there was something on my leg. At first I thought it was a spider but it was too big.” She swallowed. “It was also creeping up from my ankle to my knee and whatever it was had long black nails and hairy skin.”

“Troll?” Vadim stroked her skin with his thumb.

Ella nodded. “At that point, I had no idea what it was, just that I had to get away from it. I tried to stand up and push the lid off the chest but it was too heavy for me, and I started to scream.”

“Did it bite you?”

“Just as I felt its teeth graze my skin, my oldest brother appeared, opened the box and picked me out of it. I was screeching like a lunatic. He threatened to put me back in there if I didn’t shut up, so I stopped. No one believed what I said. They just put it down to an overactive imagination.” She managed a shaky laugh. “I didn’t know until years later that Otherworld creatures consider young empaths a special delicacy.”

“And you’ve hated small spaces ever since.”

“Yeah. Lame, eh?”

“Not at all.” He hesitated. “One of the reasons I like things to be in order is because my early years were lived in such chaos.”

“Makes sense,” she murmured, guiltily aware of the mess she’d made in his bathroom. “Did Alexei come back?”

“Not yet. I think he’s out with some Fae kin. He could be hours. They have an amazing tolerance for alcohol and sex.”

“Lucky them.” She allowed her head to remain on Vadim’s shoulder. “Did you get any sleep at all?”

“A little.” He glanced at the clock on the bedside table. “It’s about two in the morning now.”

She considered how safe she felt with him next to her. It freaked her out.

“Do you want me to go?” he asked softly.

“It’s your bed.”

“Then I’ll stay.” He rolled onto his side and got up. “I’ll just go to the bathroom, okay?”

While he was gone, she pulled down the covers so that he could get in beside her. For the first time in her life she felt like one of those women who needed a man sleeping next to her. Was that what mating had done to her? Made her dependent?

“What the hell did you do to my bathroom?”

She sat up and blinked at Vadim. “What’s wrong?”

He pointed behind him. “You trashed it in less than three hours.”

“Oh for God’s sake, it will clean up fine. I just moved a few things around.”

“ Deliberately .”

“Maybe.” She flung herself down on the sheets. “Make up your mind, Morosov. Continue having your hissy fit, or shut up, turn off the light and come to bed.”

The light snapped off and she waited in the darkness, not sure if she wanted him to storm off in a huff, or join her. Her breath hissed out as he came down on top of her, his skin warm from the shower, his cock already hard and pressing against her stomach.

“Hissy fit?” He kissed her. “You are…”

She kissed him back and he shut up, his mouth gentling, his body aligning against hers, his already wet shaft pushing between her legs. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, trapping him, but he didn’t seem to object, only surged deeper and set up a steady thrusting rhythm that ignited all her senses, both physical and psychic. At some point, she grabbed his hair and pushed him over onto his back and rode him that way. He didn’t seem to mind, his mouth busy with her breasts, his clever fingers on her clit, her ass…

This time, when she came, the pleasure was even more powerful and she felt it reciprocated in him. She sank down over him and just lay there until her heartbeat returned to almost normal. His hand threaded into her hair and he lay quietly beneath her.

“Go to sleep, Ella,” he murmured, “and no more nightmares.”

So, she did.

* * *

“I don’t think you should go home.”

Vadim’s unshaven jaw was set in an obstinate line that made Ella want to punch him. It was late morning and for once the sun was streaming in through the window of the hotel. They’d shared an amicable breakfast, which had swiftly deteriorated when Ella had stated her intention of leaving.

“It’s not up to you, is it?”

“As I’ve already said, we need to stick together.” He sat on the side of the bed looking disgustingly attractive despite the fact that he’d just come back from an early-morning run.

“Why? Didn’t you have enough sex last night?”

His eyes narrowed. “No. Did you?”

Despite everything her girly bits perked up at the very thought of even more sex. She clamped her lips together before she started whimpering and instead spent a moment retying the sash of Vadim’s silk robe around her waist.

“I’ll be quite safe at home.”

“Like the other empaths?”

Ella scowled at him. “I’m seeing Rich and Andrew on Sunday and I’ll hang with my neighbors for the rest of today. Satisfied?”

“Not really.”

“I’m going to shower and then I’m going home.”

He didn’t say anything but she was aware of him staring at her as she shut the bathroom door. If it were up to her lady parts, she’d be straight back in that bed and she’d never get out again. She turned on the shower. What was even more frightening was the thought that Vadim seemed to feel the same. He made love like a god and had the stamina of a full-blooded Fae.

Below the noise of the shower, Ella allowed herself a quiet moan as she thought of Vadim moving over her. She had to go home and think this through. Antagonizing him wasn’t going to work, so she’d have to try something else.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Vadim was finishing his breakfast. He looked up as she retrieved her coffee cup.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Walsh. Of course you should go home. I’ll walk you to the ferry.”

“Seriously?” She eyed him over the rim of her cup. “What brought about this change of heart?”

He sighed. “I was being overbearing.”

“What’s new?”

“It’s the most obvious way of sending you running, though, isn’t it?” He met her gaze, his blue eyes serious. “And I don’t think we can run away from this one.”

“Don’t say that.” Ella looked distractedly around the room. “I can’t find my clothes.”

“I hung them up for you in the closet last night.”

“You did?”

“Of course I did.” He pointed at something on the bed. “I also bought you some panties in the shop downstairs on the way back from my run.”

“That was…really nice of you.”

“You know me. A neat freak through and through.” His smile was devastating.

Why did she want to leave again ?

Ella went across to the closet and found her disreputable garments hanging neatly between his snowy white shirts, khakis and dark suits. As she turned with the hangers in her hand, Vadim nodded and went toward the bathroom.

“I’ll leave you to it, then. I’ll just have a quick shower and we can go.”

While she waited she got dressed and finished off the last donut without getting any of it on herself. Part of her wanted to leave while he was in the shower, but she didn’t want him to think she was afraid or anything. And she wasn’t afraid. She was just… conflicted .

Conflicted was a good word.

She had no idea how to process what had happened to her, especially when Vadim was close. All she could think about when she saw him was sex. Just keeping her shields in place was extremely stressful when she sensed that if he chose to, he could blow them away like rice paper. She supposed she could do the same to him, but she didn’t want to. All she’d wanted was to get out of the elevator alive. She had no desire to bond with him. He was still way out of her league.

“Are you ready?”

His calm voice made her jump and turn away from the window. He was dressed in jeans and a gray T-shirt that stretched over his chest and cuddled his biceps. She just about stopped herself from drooling and throwing herself at him.

Ella grabbed her backpack and jacket. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Two hours later, she was huddled on her own couch, biting her nails, her mind racing as she pretended to watch some baseball. She wished Vadim was sitting beside her with all the intensity of a fifteen-year-old girl on her first crush. It was ridiculous. Once again, she longed for Laney. If her best friend had gone ahead and mated, Ella might have had a better idea about what to expect. This longing was unexpected and terrifying. They hadn’t even kissed when Vadim had left her at the ferry; she’d been too terrified to make any physical contact in case she dragged him back to bed. She didn’t think he would’ve stopped her either.

Ella found her phone and checked through her contact list. Mari Jones had worked at SBLE for a year as Ella’s superior before being transferred to Seattle. She was a mated empath and the closest Ella had to someone to talk to about such a very peculiar subject. As she tapped the number, Ella found herself wondering why OCOS harped on about the death angle of not taking a mate, and not on the unforeseen issues that arose when you did take a mate.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mari? It’s me, Ella Walsh. Do you have a moment to talk?”

“Sure!” There was the sound of yelling in the background and a door closing, shutting out the noise. “That’s better. I’ve shut the kids in with their dad. That’ll give me at least ten minutes before they notice and try and break down the door.”

“How are the kids?”

“Dave’s driving me mad and I think Nick is psychic but it’s early days yet.”

Ella frowned. “How old is Nick?”

“Three, but there’s definitely something funky going on with him.” Mari sighed. “You know how it is.”

“Are you okay about that?”

“Not much I can do about it, is there? His dad is one-eighth Otherworld, so it was more likely. And things have changed since we were kids. They don’t take them away to special schools at such a young age anymore.”

“Thank God for that.”

“Anyway, what can I do for you? I’m sure you didn’t call to talk about my kids.” Mari paused. “By the way, I heard about Laney. What a terrible thing to have happened. Is that why you called?”

Ella swallowed hard. “No, I’m just about dealing with that. I miss her terribly though.”

“I’m so sorry, hon, and you have no one to talk to about empath stuff. No wonder you called me. I’m so glad you did.”

“You’re way too nice. I don’t deserve it. I’m a terrible friend.”

“We empaths have to stick together. You’re at the potential end of your career. I totally understand how draining it becomes when you’re close to twenty-seven. It’s not quite so busy out here. I don’t think the Otherworld creatures like all this rain. So, what’s up?”

“I’m less than two weeks away from my birthday.”

“Have you changed your mind and decided to take an OCOS mate?”

“Well, put it this way, due to unforeseen circumstances my OCOS mate and I happened to already know each other. We accidentally pre-empted the prescribed date for us to contact each other through OCOS, and we hooked up.”

“You’ve already mated? That’s awesome!”

“Are you sure about that? It seems a bit weird.”

“In what way?”

Ella lowered her voice. “The sex.”

“You mean the fact that you can’t keep your hands off each other?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, that’s quite normal.”

“Are you sure?”

“Didn’t you get the information pack from OCOS?”

“As I said, we didn’t actually mean to hook up yet. Technically, I haven’t even agreed to meet him.”

“That’s kind of funny.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Oh, hon, it is. If it’s too much sex for you, it’s definitely funny.”

“I didn’t say it was too much. I just said it was surprising, seeing as we hadn’t exactly hit it off before.”

Mari managed to stop laughing. “Listen, it’s a gift. Take it and run with it. Sharing your mind with another person can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but there are compensations.”

“Like great sex.”

“Exactly, and not going mad. That’s another good thing. Basically, the sexual act helps you learn to trust your mate and open your mind to him. As you share your thoughts and feelings you gain power and stability from each other.”

“I suppose so.” Ella sighed. “I still don’t understand why anyone would agree to mate an empath.”

“Don’t be dumb, Ella. Stupendous sex, increased magical powers and the opportunity to legally reside in two different worlds? Most men would jump at the chance.”

Not Morosov . He seemed as shaken by the consequences of their actions as she was, and from what she could tell, he already had all the advantages Mari had just listed.

“What happens if we just want to keep it casual?” Ella asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, just about the stupendous sex.”

“You could try, I suppose, but don’t you want someone to share your life with?” Mari’s voice gentled. “It really does make a huge difference to everything.”

“But what if we don’t even want to live in the same place?”

“I think you’d find that very difficult. Mated couples are supposed to be together.”

“So I could go mad anyway if he leaves?”

“I don’t know, Ella. Why would he want to leave? If he volunteered for the FAM program, he must’ve known what he was getting into.”

“I guess,” Ella said.

“I know this has all been something of a shock to you, but it really is a good thing. Your male will be able to help you with the psychic overload from your work and provide you with a safe and secure life. I don’t know how I managed without Cameron. He’s literally been a lifesaver.”

There was no doubting Mari’s sincerity. Ella smiled. “Thanks. I feel a bit better now.”

“Good.” Her tone turned businesslike. “Now, you should go ahead and register your consent with OCOS anyway. They can proceed in their own indomitable fashion and send you all the information you’ll need about the mating process.”

“Even though I’ve already done it.”

“It’s not quite as simple as that, Ella. It’s a lifelong commitment.”

“Oh God, don’t say that,” Ella groaned. “I was just starting to think about allowing myself to enjoy the sex.”

Mari started laughing again. “Start with that, definitely, and call me if you have any more questions. I’m dying to hear how it goes.”

“Will do. And Mari? Don’t tell anyone, will you?”

“Only Cam, and I swear he’ll keep it to himself.”

The yelling started up again and Mari groaned. “I’d better go and see what’s up with the boys. Take care, Ella, and keep in touch.”

Ella put the phone down and stared out the window. So it was okay.

Having stupendous sex was quite normal for mated couples.

And she was quite determined not to see Vadim Morosov until Monday morning at the office.

With the rest of the team. Fully clothed.

She buried her face in the sofa cushion and howled.