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ELLA

E lla snuggled into Mack’s pillow and smiled.

He’d responded to the audio file she’d sent him a few hours earlier.

After messaging him when he arrived at his destination—wherever he was—and all the dirty talk about using the sex toy in his draw, Ella thought there was no way she could go through with it.

Then she had dinner with Madison and Brianna. They’d teased her about Mack and moving into the castle.

“He’s a sexy hunk of a vampire. Don’t tell my mate I said that.” Madison winked. “A number of the females lost their minds when he arrived at the castle.”

Typical.

“They really did.” Brianna bit into her chicken.

Ella rolled her eyes. “It was the same growing up. All the girls in the neighborhood liked him.”

“But you snagged him.” Bri winked.

“Sort of...”

“Honey, you’re sleeping in his bed tonight. He might not be there, but I’m pretty sure that qualifies as snagging.” Madison laughed. “Plus, word has it he never takes females back there.”

Her brows shot up.

“Oh”—Madison held up her hand—“don’t get me wrong, he flirts and has been trying out for the Castle Playboy title since my man lost it, but I overheard two of the female warriors saying it was his rule.”

Really?

“That’s something, I guess.” Ella shrugged, hearing about him with other females. She’d lived a whole lifetime pretending she didn’t care.

She had.

She’d cared every single time.

“So.” Bri tipped her head. “He’s your mate, right? I have a nose for these things.”

“Craig calls her nosy , but same-same.” A gorgeous female flopped down in the spare chair.

She wore a form fitting Moretti uniform and had a weapon on her side.

Wow, a female warrior.

“Ella, this is Cassy. Cassy, this is Mack’s girl.”

“Mate or girl?” Cassy asked, and Ella felt her skin prickle with irritation.

“Don’t worry, she’s mated to Oliver. One of the Assassins.” Bri shook her head.

“ He’s mated to me.” Cassy winked and Ella grinned, loving her attitude.

She considered the question and how to answer it. Mack might have said the three little words and invited her to stay in his room, but that didn’t mean they were bonded. After their history, she wasn’t leaping ahead.

He could do a one-eighty on her.

“I don’t know.” Ella sighed and dropped her fork. “He told me he loved me, then took off.”

All three of the women stared at her, mirroring back her doubts.

“Hmm.” Madison toyed with her salad.

“Commitment issues?” Bri tapped the table with her long nails.

“Nope. He’s a warrior. He’s protecting her,” Cassy said, and cracked open her soda.

“Do you think? You’re a soldier, right?”

“Yup. That’s why I get it.” Cassy shrugged. “If something happens—I mean, I don’t know where they are—but Mack will want to know your lives aren’t linked. If... yeah, you know what I mean. Shit happens.”

If he died.

That made sense. He could’ve told her, but that wasn’t his way. Mack was a protector, whether he admitted it or not.

While Ella didn’t completely understand how it must feel to head into dangerous situations, she knew how protective and caring he’d been of her all their lives. Even if he had made her feel like an annoyance most of it.

It was his way of keeping her at a distance, likely.

It was all starting to make sense.

“If I’m his mate, would he have always known?” she asked, biting her lip.

They all shared a glance.

“Maybe. Possibly,” Brianna said, then held up her fork. “Before you kick his ass, why don’t we share the story of how we got together with our mates? Trust me, these males are incredibly stupid and stubborn.”

Then, one by one, Cassy, Madison, and Brianna shared the frustrating and hilarious tales of how they got together with Oliver, Kurt, and Craig.

It not only gave her hope and made her feel a lot lighter, but Ella felt excited about the possibility that she and Mack would one day bond and be together.

If their world didn’t fall apart completely first.

Afterward, she’d said goodbye and headed back to Mack’s room for a shower and to unpack.

Since being intimate with one another, everything had changed. Ella missed him on a level she’d never felt before. Almost like she couldn’t breathe properly without him. It was a little unnerving, but matched some of the things the girls had shared when describing how the bond tugged uncomfortably.

It wasn’t that strong.

Yet.

Climbing into his huge bed, wishing he was there, she’d swiped on their messages and reread them at least ten times. Her body had heated at the thought of pleasuring herself in his bed as he’d challenged her to do.

The more she thought about doing it, and recording it, the stronger her ache grew.

Ella had scrambled over the edge and pulled the drawer open, where she found an unopened purple vibrator. She ripped it open and flung the packaging onto the floor.

Tugging the covers over herself again, she spread her legs and paused, wondering if this was insane.

It was.

She felt very dirty and sexy...and liked it.

She closed her eyes, thinking of Mack as the vibrating toy pressed against her clit. Oh, how she wished it was his mouth sucking on the nub, teasing it with his teeth as he had nights earlier.

Then Ella turned on the audio recorder on her phone.

“Oh, oooh.” She’d moaned, drawing in the scent of him from his sheets.

Lifting her hips, a video played in her mind of his tattooed body, his broad shoulders, and dark hair. The deep V that led down to his heavy, thick cock.

“Mack.” she moaned as the thick purple toy slid across her clit. “Hmm oh, God.”

Come baby, she imagined hearing him say. Come on my toy and let me lick the juices from your weeping pussy.

The thought of him hearing her moans had her body stiffening as the orgasm rolled through her.

Flopping her arms to the side, Ella lay for a moment afterward, acknowledging that was one huge orgasm. It could be because she was on the edge of mating. Or that her senses were heightened being in his room.

Perhaps he’d stirred something in her the moment his cock entered her. A craving existed that had been simply a theory and a dream, not the reality that it now was.

She knew how he felt.

Knew how he tasted.

Knew the pleasure he was capable of.

Turning off the recording, and before she could second-guess herself, she messaged it to him.

By the time she’d had another quick shower and climbed back into bed, her phone was ringing.

FaceTime. Mack.

Oh, God.

She blushed as she’d answered.

“Christ, look at you in my bed,” He groaned. “I’m hard as fuck after listening to that.”

“Are you surprised?” She smiled, snuggling into his pillows.”

“I’m aroused.”

“But you didn’t think I’d do it, right?” Ella chuckled.

His big, beautiful eyes sparkled back at her and there was a depth to them that had never been there before.

“I’m glad you did. Fuck, I wish I was there. Holding you. Touching you, so you make more of those sexy sounds.” Mack rasped. “I’ve wasted a lot of time, Ella. I regret it.”

She watched as he wiped a hand over his face.

Sadness filled her, but it was nice to hear him speak the words and open up to her like he never had.

“It’s okay. You’ll be home soon. We can move forward from here. I—”

“Don’t say it,” Mack interrupted. “I want to be there when you do.”

“Okay.” She smiled.

“If I don’t...” Mack trailed off and cursed.

Her heart slammed inside her chest, beating rapidly as fear crashed into her. She tried to identify where he was, but the phone was super zoomed in.

He was such a positive person, so it was very strange to hear him talk like that.

“Tell me you’re safe. That you’ll come home to me.”

“I am. I will,” he lied.

She could hear the lie in his voice because they both knew he couldn’t guarantee it. But as tears began to pool in her eyes, she let it go. Because she couldn’t accept that he might not make it back to her.

“I’m going to listen to that recording over and over.” Mack forced a smile on his face, shifting the conversation.

Ella wiped her eyes and nodded, forcing her own smile. “Good.”

Her smile vanished, and a sob tried to escape.

What if this was the last time they ever talked?

“Mack, I need to say it. Please.”

“No, baby. I know I’m being selfish, but hearing those words from you when I can kiss you after is what’s driving me home.”

Oh God.

A tear slid down her face.

“You don’t need to say it; I can see it in your pretty eyes.”

Another tear.

“There are things I need to tell you about myself. Things you might not accept, Ella,” Mack said. “You might not feel the same way.”

“Never.” She shook her head.

“Wait for me,” he said rough and low.

“Always.”

“Shit, I have to go. Sweet dreams. I love you.”

The call went dead, and she lay there staring at the black screen.

“I love you too,” Ella whispered.

What was it that he was going to tell her?

Nothing could change the way she felt about him.

Did he feel that he needed to tell her about all the women he’d been with? Or apologize in person? Because she didn’t care about that.

Ella knew the bond was far more powerful than simple lust or the need to fuck someone. She’d been with other males. Not that many. Things hadn’t been smooth in her dating world.

The night she’d spent with Mack had been out of this world and unlike anything she’d experienced.

T WO HOURS LATER, unable to get to sleep, she phoned her mom back in Seattle and talked to her for a while. She told her about the run-in with the crazy holy-water-spraying humans, leaving out how the warriors had killed them, and tried to encourage her parents to move to Maine.

“Your father won’t, but we’re happy you’re with Mack.”

“I’m in the castle now. I met the princesses and queen, Mom.”

She gasped. “You met Queen Kate?”

“Yup. She’s so beautiful.”

“Oh.” Her mom sighed.

“And the heir, Prince Lucca. He looks just like his dad. A little rascal.”

They giggled, and Ella told her more about her adventures and some shopping she’d done.

“Well, look at you hanging out with royalty. My little girl.”

Ella went quiet, then decided to confide in her mom.

“Mack and I are kind of together. I think he really is my mate.”

“I know, darling. I’ve always known. About time that boy realized.”

Ella stared at the ceiling and let out a sigh, spilling the rest of the news. “He told me he loved me.”

“Has since he was five years old.”

“That boy finally bonded with our daughter?” She heard her dad in the background.

“Almost.”

“Christ, I’ll be a relic by the time he gets on with it.” Her dad groaned.

Ella chuckled, then said her goodbyes.

Sleep finally pulled her under.

Ella dreamed of walking along a sandy beach under the stars with Mack, while wearing a long, flowing white dress.

He stopped and lifted her hand to his lips, then pulled her into his arms. Fireworks went off around them and she finally got to say those three words.

Then she heard a growl, like the sound of an animal.

Someone was banging loudly on her door, and she bolted upright, confused by the dream and the aggressive yelling.

“Ella! Wake up. Quick.”