Page 29

ELLA

“ E at honey, he will be here soon.” Sage leaned across and rubbed her hand.

She’d met all the females and warriors now, but the royal family was nowhere to be seen, which was surprising given how small the Tuscany mansion was compared to the castle.

Then again, she suspected they were being guarded heavily.

Ari Moretti was sitting beside his mate, Sage. He’d only just turned up in the dining room. When he arrived, he kissed her forehead, sat down to eat, and said very little. Clearly, deep in thought.

As they all were.

There was something about him that screamed power and intrigued her. She couldn’t stop watching him.

“I can’t eat either.” Brianna pushed away her stew. “I’m going to see Willow and Issy.”

“I’ll stay with Ella,” Madison said, looking as miserable as she was waiting for Kurt.

“Same.” Anna glanced at the doorway, clearly hoping Ben would walk through it.

Another female walked in and sat on the other side of Sage. There wasn’t room, and she clearly thought everyone was going to budge over.

Ari lifted his brow but didn’t look up and kept eating.

“Move,” the female said.

Sage rolled her eyes. “This is my sister, Piper.”

“Hey,” Ella said, and the female shot her a quick hey, nice to meet you.

“Ari, move.”

“Please,” Ari said without looking up. “Please, is the word you are looking for, Piper. Otherwise, you are welcome to come over here and move me yourself.”

Despite the horrible situation they all found themselves in, Ella chuckled. Even if all five of the girls tried, they wouldn’t succeed in moving that huge male.

But...Piper got up.

“Piper, for the love of God!” Sage dropped her napkin on her plate while the female started shoving at Ari’s shoulder.

The vampire didn’t move.

Ella watched his lips twitch, and he quickly glanced up at her and winked.

“You. Big. Oaf. Move.” Piper kept pushing, and it was like watching her try to move a ten-ton truck.

Anna and Madison shook their heads, but no one looked surprised by her behavior. It was as if this was classic Piper.

“She’s stressed,” Sage explained. “Oliver is with the guys. Her mate.”

“Oh.” Ella nodded.

Next minute, Ari lifted his head. Then, so fast she didn’t even see him move, he was behind Piper—who squealed—and lifted her up like a bag of potatoes. Then carried her out of the dining hall.

“Come on! The boys are here,” he yelled over his shoulder.

Anna and Madison leaped out of their seats.

How had he—?

“He has very good hearing.” Sage smiled. “Go get your male.”

Mack! Ella pushed out of her seat, tossing her napkin on the table, and turned to—

Boof!

She was lifted into the air and crushed against a wall of black uniform, sweat, and muscle.

“Thank fuck.” Mack growled, his mouth crashed down on hers as he held her, legs flailing in the air against his chest.

Ella threw her arms around his neck and hung onto him as if her life depended on it. It did. She didn’t care that he was a hot mess; grime on his face, the smell of aviation fuel and blood filling her senses.

All she cared about was that he was here.

Safe.

Alive.

His tongue swept over her lips, and she opened to him as they devoured one another.

“I love you,” he growled.

“Wow, you really don’t want to do any of this in private, do you?” She giggled.

Mack lowered her to the ground, kissing her mouth harshly. “Yeah, actually I do. Right now. Where’s our room?”

Ella leaned into him and took his hand. “This way.”

“Debriefing,” Kurt called out, Madison under his arm.

“Nope. I need at least an hour.” Mack shook his head, and the SLC didn’t say anything.

Ella had to skip to keep up.

“You can go. I understand,” she replied, even though it was a lie. She never wanted to be apart from him again.

“Here?” Mack pointed to their door as she slowed.

“Yes.”

Mack pushed it open and slammed it behind them, then tore off her dress.

“Oh.” She gasped, then watched him remove an enormous number of weapons, his black tactical jacket, T-shirt, boots, and pants.

My God, he was gorgeous.

Covered in tattoos and ripped with muscle, she followed the V shape at his waist, down to his thick, hard cock.

It was as glorious as the first time she’d seen it.

“Ella.” He nodded at her as he fisted it.

Oh yeah, shit. She was standing in her panties and bra, just staring at him like an idiot.

She swallowed.

Get undressed.

She felt herself blushing and overwhelmed despite having been intimate with him before this. Tonight felt different. Ella suspected he would bond them.

Yet it felt rushed and urgent, as if there was no time.

Were they going to die?

The answer might be yes, and if it was, did she want to spend it talking about their inevitable demise or just make love to the vampire she’d loved forever? And feel the bond she’d craved a lifetime?

The answer was clear.

Ella reached behind her and flicked off her bra, then tossed it on the ground. All she wanted was Mack and to feel their passionate and deep connection. To hear him say he loved her over and over...

Ella let out another squeal when Mack picked her up and laid her down on the bed.

“Mack, slow down.”

His eyes brushed across hers like a madman craving a fix.

“I need you to be mine.” He climbed over her, pulling her panties off and spread her legs. “Now.”

When his tongue flicked her clit, her hips bolted off the bed.

“Oh, shit.” Painful pleasure plowed through her as he then clamped down and sucked the nub.

Shuddering with desire, Ella clenched the sheets, barely taking in the beautiful high ceilings of the Tuscan mansion. She probably should have been more impressed with the centuries-old property that was located on a huge tree-lined section in Italy.

But the man making love to her was so much more amazing. This was her dream come true. Well, except the part where they might not live past this moment.

Don’t focus on that.

Gripping the backs of her thigh, Mack continued to devour her, his large palm reaching to cup her breast and flicking her nipple. Responding, Ella reached for his hair and slid her fingers through it, then tugged.

She noticed he wasn’t looking at her. Something was wrong. This wasn’t urgency, this was avoidance. She needed to see his eyes. Feel his heart.

“Mack.”

“Ella,” he said against her sex.

She tugged his shoulders, and he lifted, moving over her, his body blocking out the world, so it was just the two of them. His soul peering into hers.

“Hi,” she whispered, cupping her hands around his face. “I need you.”

As his cock pressed against her entrance and the head pressed in, both their mouths parted.

“You have me. I’m going to protect you with my last breath, El, I promise.”

“I know.”

“I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember.” Mack rasped. “You are mine.”

Tears prickled in her eyes at the words she’d longed to hear for as long as she could remember. As her heart soared, Mack filled her, sinking deep as her body stretched to accommodate his girth.

“Tell me.” He growled, dominance lacing his words.

Her lips stretched into a small smile, joy dancing inside her chest. Finally.

This was it.

The moment she got to tell him how she felt instead of pretending. Instead of hiding.

Instead of fearing rejection.

Mack was hers.

Her mate.

Her eternity.

There was nothing to fear any longer.

“I love you.”

A growl so animalistic it startled her sounded from his broad, ripped chest as Mack’s fangs slid out. Then he dropped to her neck, his cock swelling inside her as he pulled back and simultaneously thrust and bit her.

Holy mother of mercy!

Arching, she screamed out in pleasure as he fucked her in long, deep thrusts and sucked her blood from her vein. Shuddering, she clenched his shaft, seeking to trap him, and their flesh slammed against one another.

Then Ella felt it.

Like a bolt of electricity as Mack lifted, blood dripping from his fangs, their bond snapped into place. Licking the incisors, he threw back his head and let out a roar.

Ella gripped his biceps, her nails digging deep into his skin as his cock exploded.

When he glanced down again, it wasn’t over. Palming the bed beside her face, he slammed in and out of her with manic need.

“Wrap your legs around me.” She did as he instructed. “I have been dreaming of this pussy. Of owning every inch of you forever.”

Then his arms were around her and he flipped them so she was on top, straddling, and without hesitating, gripped her hips and was grinding her down on his cock.

“Come, Ella. My mate. My everything.”

Everything had changed in an instant.

It was more intense.

Double the pleasure.

Her nerves twice as sensitive.

With her clit rubbing against him, being teased over and over, Ella drew in a few sharp breaths, moaning as she palmed his sexy pecs. Then an explosion of color burst inside her mind. The cliff appeared, and she fell over it, her orgasm crashing through her like a storm.

“Mine.” Mack growled. He cupped her breasts as the waves of pleasure rolled through her, and then he pulled her down onto his chest.

Her mate.

Finally, he was hers.

When she lifted her head, his eyes were almost glowing, the dark bond circle around his pupils. Never in her life had she seen a more handsome vampire.

Both of them smiled stupidly at one another.

“Feel that?” Mack asked.

Ella nodded.

The bond connected them in a way that no one other than another mated couple could relate. They could feel one another. Almost, but not quite, hear the other’s thoughts. It was noisy and yet...

Wait.

What was...

Mack’s smile vanished as if he knew she’d picked up something. “Ella, I need to tell you something.”

Those words. He’d said them to her so many times in the past few days and she thought it was another female or his past behavior. None of it mattered.

If they had little time left, she didn’t want to waste it looking back.

“It doesn’t matter. We’re mated now. Whatever it is, I forgive you.”

Mack slid out of her, moving them so they were half sitting and staring at one another as her stomach clenched with dread.

“You’re scaring me.”

“There isn’t a lot of time.” Mack glanced at the door, then back at her. “So much of what I need to tell you is confidential.”

Then he shook his head. “Fuck, it might not matter. You’re my mate, so you have a right to know now.”

“Know what?” Ella frowned, her tummy turning upside down.

“That I’m not just a vampire. I was changed and”—he finally met her eyes—“I’m also a wolf.”

What the fuck?

Her mouth parted.

A...what?