Page 81 of Soul Sucker

“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 tobondwith 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. Thislongingwas 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 youdidtake 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.”

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