Page 36 of Black Wing and Shadows
“Where do we start?”
“Ella, huh?” he said, almost annoyed, maybe bitter.
I pulled my head to the side to look up at him, raising my eyebrows at him. “He told you?”
“What he told me was that he was in love with a girl that he had been off and on with. He said her name was Ella. He mentioned that it was complicated, but that when he went home last year, you two spent time together. He told me about your birthmark, which is why I ran that day on the mat. Later I thought, since it was a bloodline birthmark, maybe it was someone else because clearly you didn’t go by Ella.”
“He is the only one who calls me Ella. When we were little, he couldn’t say Auri or Auriella, but he could say Ella. It’s always been a nickname that he’s called me. It’s not one that I go by.”
“I hate that he has a special nickname for you,” he said. He slid my hair to the side, lifting my chin and placing a kiss on my lips.
“Is that jealousy I hear?”
“No, maybe I don’t know. Can I be jealous?”
“Jealousy and possessiveness are two different things, as long as you don’t confuse them.”
“I’ll try not to be both. My bond with you has feelings I didn’t know existed.”
“Alex and I were over a long time ago. If there was even a remote feeling left. The moment our eyes linked, it was gone. We are better as friends. He nearly broke me.”
“What do you want us to be?” he choked out.
“Um. I guess I hadn’t thought of that,” I couldn’t imagine being with someone else, nor him with someone else, but I didn’t want to sound clingy.
“Look, I want to be honest. I don’t think I can handle you being with someone else. In the courtyard earlier, Alex reached down to kiss you, and I nearly lost it. I put all the pieces together in those minutes that you were the girl he always talked about. I felt my temper rising, but I kept it controlled.”
“I felt your anger.” I told him, looking back up at him, placing my hand on his heart, “I felt it again when he mentioned sparring.”
“Sorry,” he said, kissing my forehead.
“I don’t know what label, or if we need labels, but I want us to be exclusive.”
“Am I allowed to kiss you in front of other people?”
“Is that allowed? Are there rules?”
“No rules on intermingling, and you are far from my chain of command.”
“In that case, yes, but I think I should talk with Alex first.”
“Can I talk to him first?” He asked, which gave me a sense of relief.
“I guess, if that’s what you prefer. I am going to tell Lili, though. So, am I going to run into any of your exes here?”
“Um… No…”
“Alrighty then.”
“So… There is something I need to ask…”
“That sounds ominous…” I put my head down.
“You’re General Blackcreek’s daughter?”
I furrowed my brow and looked up at him, “Yeah, why?”
“Fuck me.” He rubbed his eyes.
