Chapter Two
Ella
My triumph is short-lived.
”Enough,” Ade rumbles, biting my lower lip gently. He pulls away from me and once again sets me down on the sand.
Damn, this man has iron self-control... most of the time. But sadly, today is not the exception.
”Take the bags up to the house, and I”ll bring the bed ashore,” he orders, resuming his sergeant mode.
I jump to salute him playfully. ”Yes, sir.”
Rolling his eyes, he turns back to the dinghy. But then he turns lightning-fast and slaps my ass.
”Hey,” I protest, ready to dish it back to him, but, of course, he”s already at the water”s edge, giving me his trademark cheeky wink.
That man!
”Stand back,” Ade instructs as he gets ready to slice through the packaging of the compressed mattress.
We”re at the house, all windows open to air it. Ade emptied our bags and hung up or stashed everything neatly in drawers. Once a soldier, always a soldier. But I”m not complaining. I prefer order over chaos.
”Why? Is this mattress like a jack-in-the-box?” I ask, amused.
Ade grins. ”Did you know...”
Oh, here we go again. I bet a random and utterly useless fun fact is going to follow this statement. And I”m right.
”...jack-in-the-box toys have been around for centuries. The earliest known mention of a jack-in-the-box toy dates back to the sixteenth century in Europe.”
Staring blankly at him, I shake my head. I have no witty comeback for that.
”I guess even centuries ago, people loved a good surprise,” I say as I take a step back.
Assembling our new bed was easier than I expected. I was prepared for heated discussions, scratching our heads, and complaining about useless instructions. That was my experience when Rhia and I tried to assemble a bookshelf years ago. But I shouldn”t have been surprised that with Ade in charge, it took no time at all, skilled, handsome devil that he is.
Now all that remains is to let the mattress unfurl on the bed from its tightly rolled up and compressed confines.
”And you”re sure this is a king-size? It looks too small.”
”Ye of little faith. As if I would buy the wrong size.”
”You wouldn”t, but they could have made a mistake in the factory and labeled it wrong.”
”We”re about to find out,” Ade says as he cuts into the packaging.
There”s an audible release of pressure, and the mattress seems to take a deep breath as it spreads out slowly, expanding to its original form.
”It”s strangely satisfying to watch these compressed layers stretch and bloom into their full size,” I muse, unable to look away.
”Okay,” Ade says, a little bemused.
”Actually, it”s kind of like my life after meeting Tiero.”
I sense Ade”s eyes on me. He doesn”t say anything, but patiently waits for me to elaborate.
I let out a sigh. ”As much as I loved Tiero, I never felt like I could truly be myself. When I first met him, he seemed so out of my league.
”His whole persona screamed power. His wealth intimidated me. The constant entourage around him was invasive and foreign to me. I couldn”t see myself living like that.”
”Rhia had to pep-talk me into going on that first date. I didn”t think we”d have anything in common and feared we”d have nothing to talk about.
”She talked me into playing ”Opposite Ella”. At the time, I liked the idea, but in hindsight, it should have been a red flag. Pretending to be someone I”m not was never going to work. Like this mattress, I had to contort myself to fit the package.”
”Hmm,” Ade hums, contemplating my words. ”My interactions with Tiero were limited, but I believe he did see you. Not ”Opposite Ella” or the brave front you were putting on. He fell for the real Ella, because you could never be anybody but her. He fell in love with your light, your essence, your soul.
”Just like me.”
He steps closer and winds his arms around me, pulling me into his body.
”Even from afar, you shone luminously. That”s why you are my lucida--always and forever the brightest star in my universe. I was pulled into your orbit. It”s where I”ve always belonged.”
Butterflies erupt in my abdomen. Even after more than a year together, they haven”t settled down. Especially not when he makes me swoon like that.
I wrap my arms around his shoulders and pull slightly to bring his lips to mine. I claim him with my mouth. If I”m his sun, his star, his lucida and he”s in my orbit, that makes him mine.
Mine.
It”s not the first time I”ve felt this possessive.
And it”s also not the first time I wonder if it”s Tiero”s possessiveness that”s overtaken me. But whether it”s mine or his, I understand Tiero better now, and somehow it makes me feel closer to him... and myself.
I rub my thumb over the scar on my chest where Tiero”s heart now beats. It”s faded a lot more over the last few months, but the memories of the man who is part of my soul and who sacrificed everything so that I could live have only become more vivid.
Above all, I love that Ade isn”t threatened by it.
Some might say, why would he? Tiero is dead. But sometimes the dead have a way of haunting us.
Luckily, in our case, Tiero only seems to enhance what we”ve got. Perhaps there really is some truth to my Scottish prophecy that Tiero, Ade, and I are each part of the same soul.
Ade bites my lower lip playfully, bringing my mind back to him. I retaliate, taking his lower lip between my teeth to gently pull and stretch it before letting it go and licking it to soothe the sting.
Ade”s eyes find mine. ”So did you?” he asks.
”What?” I have no idea what he”s talking about.
”Did you have something to talk about on your first date?” he clarifies.
I chuckle. ”Yes, it surprised me. Once my nerves had settled, Tiero was surprisingly easy to talk to. That”s until he tried to kiss me. Then I panicked.”
Now that memory definitely makes me laugh.
”Is that when you got bitten by the spider?” Ade asks, and I nod.
He knows all about my animal-sitting saga, and how I pranked Rhia afterward. Truly priceless.
I stare at the mattress on the bed, reminding me what our original conversation was about.
”After Tiero kidnapped me and I discovered who he really was, everybody wanted me to accept that I was a Mafia girl. They wanted to compact me into a role I didn”t want to play, especially when the rules were ”Do as you”re told” and ”Never question anything”. Well, that”s not me. I could never live like that.
”After I ran away, and you and I met and spent time together, I felt like I could breathe freely for the first time in a long time. Like this mattress, I was unfurling again. I could just be me, and you liked what you saw... loved it even.”
Ade”s arms tighten around me. There”s a smile in his voice. ”Still do... like and love who you are immeasurably.”
Smiling, I let out a contented sigh.
Everything turned out in the end, even when for a long time it seemed like it never would.
”Tiero and I could never have worked. No amount of love and soul connection could have changed that,” I admit.
Deep down inside, I always knew that. If I”m being honest with myself, I realized it the first moment we met. It didn”t stop me from exploring our connection, and I”m glad I did.
I could never regret what Tiero and I shared. And if it wasn”t for him, who knows if Ade and I would have crossed paths again. ”If you had believed in your relationship with Tiero, you would never have given me the time of day. And I”d die a miserable old fart. But lucky for me,”-kiss-”I now will live,”-kiss-”happily,”-kiss-”ever,”-kiss-”after.” ”I never stood a chance against your charm. And your reverse psychology of no hanky-panky until I was certain I wanted to be with you worked very well for you.” Ade winks at me. ”I told you, I was very good at hanky-panky.” ”And you weren”t lying.” ”You know I have more moves up my sleeves.” ”Do you? I would have thought I”d seen them all by now.”
”Not even close.”
”How about you show me one of them?”
”Right now?”
”Mmm,” I hum as Ade kisses along the sensitive skin of my neck.
”I suppose I could be persuaded. We need to christen this new mattress after all.”
About time.
Standing on my tiptoes, I reach up and pull his head to mine. Without hesitation, Ade takes my mouth, taking charge of the kiss.
Feeling somewhat playful, I decide not to make it too easy for him. I don”t challenge him often in the bedroom or wherever else we end up having sex. Often enough, it”s against a wall or any other suitable surface—we”re really not that picky. When the hunger for each other strikes, it needs to be satiated, and neither of us is willing to wait.
But tonight is different. I”m in the mood to test his patience... and mine.