open my eyes to find Ash with his head propped on one hand, looking down at me.
“I almost can’t believe you’re here. I felt like half of me was missing while you were gone,” he whispers in the hush of the morning stillness and then adds, “I can’t tell you how sorry I am that you were taken, that you were alone all these months. I’ve replayed the day you disappeared in my head a million times. Going over everything I could have done differently.”
“Ash, it wasn’t your fault, and I wasn’t alone. I had two little pieces of you growing inside me. And hearing your voice through the mate bond kept me from falling into despair.” Reaching up, I brush his hair back from his face. “Why didn’t you give up? How did you know I wasn’t dead?”
“My back tattoo has been on fire since the moment I knew you were missing. Even though I couldn’t feel you on the other side of the bond, I knew in my heart you were alive somewhere and that something had interfered with your magic. I never lost hope because I know how fierce and determined you are. I’ll always bet on you.” Ash places a hungry kiss on my lips, and I return it with equal fervor.
We’d taken turns waking each other up to make love during the night. We hadn’t been able to get enough of each other and had explored each of Sofie’s suggested positions—side lying, from behind and me on top—multiple times. The empirical evidence is in—they’re all my favorites.
“Why don’t you try and go back to sleep for a while? You hardly got any sleep last night,” Ash says, breaking the kiss.
“No, I feel great. Like I could take on the universe single-handedly.”
“Relax, Princess. You just got home. You’re pregnant and need to rest.”
With a pounding heart, I drop the bomb I know is going to shake the rafters. “I’m going back there, Ash. Today. Back to the school.”
He looks at me as if I’m speaking a foreign language. “No, you’re not.”
“I have to.” Sitting up, I pull the sheets around me.
“I forbid it.” His jaw clenches, and his eyes harden.
“Please just listen for a minute.”
“There’s no fucking way,” he shouts, but it’s Archer’s gravelly voice reverberating around the room, his yellow eyes lighting up Ash’s face. “I will make Elle and Franco pay for what they did to you, but you are not going back to that school.”
I sit up straighter—taken aback. I’ve never heard Archer’s voice out loud before. Ash’s intellect has been taken over by his primitive nature—his instinct to protect his mate and his offspring overriding everything else. I need to coax Ash’s thinking side back to the surface. Testing the mate bond, I discover it’s closed down tight. My normally level-headed husband is nowhere to be seen—a testament to how difficult the last six months have been on him. He’s reached his limit.
For several long moments, Archer and I have a silent argument with intense eye contact being the only form of communication.
The color of his eyes cycles from yellow to gold to hazel in a continuous loop. “I can’t be close to you right now, Nina. I’ll never get Archer under control,” Ash says, at least temporarily back in the driver’s seat. He retracts the magic of the handcuffs, releasing me, before leaving the bed and heading to the bathroom.
Listening to the sounds of running water and Ash shaving, I think about our relationship—how much we’ve been through and how far we’ve come in such a short period of time. We went from hate to lust, lust to a magical bond and then our bond grew into a true love. Now I’m asking him to take the next step and give me his unshakable trust.
Grabbing my phone, I send Stewart a text, asking him to take care of something very important for me.
Once Stewart responds, I pad naked into the bathroom and step into the shower to see my husband with his palms flat on the tiled wall, letting the water run over him. I rest my forehead on the ouroboros tattoo in the center of his broad back. The ouroboros—two dragons woven together in a circle so you can’t tell where one begins and the other ends—represents our eternal connection and the circle of life.
He jerks away from me as if scalded. “I’m not in a place to hear you yet.” Then he exits the shower, grabs a towel and leaves the bathroom without looking back.
It crushes me to see him so upset, but resolve doesn’t waver. I have to make him understand. After a quick shower, I get dressed in the only thing that fits because I have no maternity clothes—a stretchy black top and leggings—and then go look for him. I find him on the couch in the living room, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Although his eyes have returned to normal, the unyielding lines of his clean-shaven face look as if they’ve been carved from marble.
“Let me tell you why I have to go back.” I take a seat in the chair opposite him. A decorative full-length mirror leaning against the wall reflects our rigid postures.
“Yes, Seraphina, tell me. Tell me how I’m supposed to let you put yourself in danger when you just got home. When I just found out I’m going to become a father.”
Ash unexpectedly opens the mate bond wide, and it’s like standing in front of a blast furnace, a firestorm of hurt and fury seethes from him and Archer.
Ash shakes his head at me. “I don’t think you understand how important you are to me. How much I love you. You’re the sun, the moon and the stars all rolled into one. There’s nothing more important to me than your safety and the safety of our children. There’s nothing you can say that will change my mind about this. Nothing.” He sits back and folds his arms over his chest.
I meet his hot gaze and say the one thing I know will sway him, “It’s my duty, Ash. It’s my duty to save the girls still being held captive by Elle.”
He looks shaken for a moment before quickly recovering. “No, it isn’t. It’s not your territory. We’ll tell Edmund what’s happening. It’s his territory. He can get the girls out.”
“Edmund might be involved. I don’t know how much he knows about what Elle is doing. I have to handle this.”
“I’ll go back to the school and release the girls when I kill Elle and Franco.” His decisive tone indicates the matter is closed.
“You don’t know the portal’s magic signature. You’ll never find it without me. You won’t be able to get into the subbasement of the school. And even if you did, you could get lost in the maze of spelled hallways down there. I left a trail of my magic that only I’ll be able to follow. Also, the girls don’t know you and may not go with you. Some of them don’t trust easily.”
Blue-white flames of anger burn brightly across the bond. “Seraphina—”
“I gave those girls my word, Ash, my solemn pledge that I’d come back for them. That I wouldn’t forget about them. These girls were thrown away by society. The world turned its back on them. They don’t have anybody. They don’t have my power or my family, and they don’t have someone like you in their corner. I’m all they have.” With the mate bond open, I show him the girls and share their stories.
It takes a while, but his anger is slowly tempered by his compassion for the vulnerable girls.
“They’re under my protection, and I’m going back for them. I’m not leaving them behind. This is not about me being reckless. And I’m not planning on going back alone. But, I’m also not the defenseless princess you once knew, Ash. You need to let me fight like an equal. When I was trapped there, I couldn’t use my might, so I had to use my mind. I was patient and careful. You loved me when I was weak. Can’t you love me when I’m strong?”
He unfolds his arms and looks at me for a long time, his savage outrage fading to smoldering embers, smothered by his need to do the right thing. “The girls are not my first priority. You and the babies are. We’ll rescue the girls once the twins are born.”
“They can’t wait three months. What if that was one of our children trapped there waiting for death? No, it has to be today. It’s Halloween. Elle was planning to offer my blood to the Stirling coven tonight. She may decide to kill Edmund or all of the girls in the school as a substitute now that I’m not available. I can’t live with either of those things happening. I have a plan and need your help. Let me show you.” Using the mate bond, I lay out my plan of action to save the girls.
“If I agree to this plan, and I haven’t said yes yet, you have to do exactly as I say during the rescue. You don’t leave my sight for a second. And when we get home, you stay put until after the babies are born, and let me take care of you.”
“I don’t know if—”
“That’s the deal, Seraphina. Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll take it,” I say, knowing he’s not going to budge any further. With my hand extended, I cross the space separating us.
Ash stands up so we can seal the deal with a handshake. “You’re my fucking weakness, Princess. I can’t fucking say no to you.”
“That’s okay, Ash, because you’re my strength.” With our hands clasped, I pull him toward me. Our mouths crash together in a bruising kiss, neither one of us wanting to be gentle.
Ash starts toward the bedroom.
“No.” I glance over my shoulder at the mirror. “I want to see us together.”
Ash leads me to the end of the couch and spins me around so I’m facing the mirror.
I watch as one of his hands slips under my shirt, shaping my breasts and tweaking my nipples, while the other trails down over my tights to cup my pussy. I’m instantly tingling all over, my clit hypersensitive.
I press my butt back into his thick length. “I want you hard and fast. I wasn’t joking. The pregnancy has me constantly wet and ready.”
Ash yanks my tights and thong down my legs. He bends me over the arm of the sofa so my chest is supported and my butt is in the air.
With one hand on my hip, Ash quickly undoes his pants and slams into me. His cock fills me perfectly, like a key specifically made for an intricate lock. My internal muscles ripple around him, trying to pull him deeper, wanting more of the delicious stretch.
My gaze searches out Ash’s in the mirror. But it’s Archer’s fierce yellow stare that meets mine as he pounds into me—I asked for hard and fast so I’m not surprised to see Archer in control. Also, I think Ash’s savage side needs soothing. Closing my eyes, I lean forward for deeper penetration.
He touches a pleasure spot inside me with each hard drive that has my lips parting on a gasp as I come around him. Waves of satisfaction flow over me, originating from my core outward in deep undulations.
When I open my eyes, he pulls out and picks me up to carry me to the couch. Sitting down, he stretches his long legs out in front of him, and positions me with my knees on either side of his hips. He takes his dick in hand, pulling it away from his stomach so I can quickly lower down on it and start my up-down rhythm. When the head of his cock bumps my cervix, I reduce my movement, keeping him deep.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispers, seeming to know he’s right up against my cervix.
“It doesn’t hurt. It feels great,” I purr, catching a glimpse of us in the mirror. Rolling my hips back and forth, I arch my back, his cock scratching an itch deep inside me. An itch only he can reach. I come again, grinding on him until the quaking ends.
Then he lifts me off him a few inches and fucks up into me, doing all the work from the bottom. I can feel another orgasm building, my body having been deprived of his for so long. I wrap my arms around his neck and come again. Then he pumps forcefully several times in quick succession and finishes inside me with a low growl.
As we catch our breath, I rest my head on his shoulders and watch in the mirror as he traces my back tattoo.
Archer’s gravelly voice fills my head, You have no idea what I’d do for you. I’d follow you anywhere. You own me.
And you own me. I can’t do this without you. I need your support. I need your love. I need your trust.
“You have it,” Ash answers. “Agreeing to let you go back to that school is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But no matter how much I hate this, I understand why you have to do it.”
“When you’re pregnant, life and death take on a whole new meaning. You realize they’re out of your control and that to be alive is to know both. I’m not afraid. I have to do this. There is no way around it.”
“What do we need to do first?”
“The first thing we need to do is rally the troops.”
After Ash and I clean up and get redressed, we head to my office. Stewart is at his desk and leaps up when he sees me before executing a deep bow. “Your Majesty. All of Avalon rejoices at your return.”
“Avalon saved me, Stew. She brought me home.” I’d spent a lot of my life rebelling against who I was born to be, but it was the enchantress magic embedded in my seat of power that became my saving grace. Just like when I was brave enough to let go of my fear of intimacy and accept both sides of Ash, I was finally able to get pregnant. I guess you have to give up old beliefs to become the best version of yourself. “I’ve sent a message to everyone asking them to meet us in my office. Please send them in when they get here.” I give Stewart a quick hug.
“Of course.” A flush inches up Stewart’s neck, and he clasps his hands behind his back.
“Oh, and when that package arrives, please bring it right in,” I add.
“What package?” Ash asks with a raised brow.
“I have an insurance policy of my own,” I say, walking into my office with Ash right behind me.
Ben strolls in a moment later. He checks out Ash’s newly clean-shaven face and then crosses the office to me, taking my chin in his hand, tilting my head from side to side. “It’s a good thing you shaved, Ash. She’s covered in whisker burn. Gods, you two. You’re mated. You’re royalty. Show some decorum.” And then he adds with a grin, “I wonder where else you have whisker burn?”
Fucking Ben! I swat his hand away from my face.
Ben laughs and steps back. “Pregnancy agrees with you, Nina. Especially the visit from the titty fairy.” He turns to look at his brother. “You really do play the long game, Ash. I never saw those boobs coming.”
“You’re hilarious, Ben,” I deadpan with a scowl, but I can never stay mad at him, and he knows it.
Kat and Sofie arrive next, followed shortly after by Gia, Max and Luke.
When everyone is assembled, I lean my butt against my desk with Ash on my right and address the group. “I wanted to let you all know that I’m going back to the school. I have to get the other girls out of there. I made a promise to them, and I intend to keep it.”
“I’m going with you,” Kat says, without hesitation.
“We’ll all go,” Sofie says, taking Kat’s hand as Gia smiles in agreement.
“It’s going to be dangerous. Elle is a powerful black witch, and Franco is a sadistic vampire bent on revenge. Elle has cast a number of spells and wards to protect the school and the grounds. There are also guards and dogs on patrol. There are human girls in the public-facing side of the school and girls hidden in the subbasement that can only be accessed by the magic portal. It won’t be easy.”
“I’m in,” Ben says, sliding his hands into his pockets as if this is just another day at the office.
“I don’t know, Ben. If something happens to me, you’re next in line for the crown of Westmoreland,” Ash says.
Ben’s casual stance stiffens. “If something happens to you, I’ll find a necromancer to reanimate you and kill you again myself. You’re the firstborn son. You get the crown. I definitely have to go now and watch your back so you don’t get killed and leave me with a boatload of responsibility I don’t want. And if something happens to the both of us, then Cal will inherit the crown. Either way, it won’t be me.”
“Count me in, Nina,” Max says.
“Me too,” Luke adds with a lift of his chin.
“Max, I need you to stay here and have an operating room ready. If something goes wrong down there, I’ll need you to be ready to deliver the babies at a moment’s notice. Sofie is coming with me to treat the girls in case any are injured during the rescue,” I say.
Max nods his assent but looks unhappy at not being part of the fight.
“As trouble seems to find the fuck out of our queen, I’ll be on her like a shadow,” Ash says. “My role is to be her personal protection and to kill any threat she encounters. If she gets injured, I’ll jump her right back here to you, Max.”
I look up at Ash, and he singes me with an intense stare, and for a moment it’s as if everyone else in the room fades away and we’re alone. When I’m able to break our eye contact, I search out the other person I have to ask to stay behind. “And Gia, I need you to stay here as well. If the worst happens to me, you’ll have to help raise the babies. I need to know that someone will show them how to have fun—pick spring flowers, jump in mud puddles, bake cookies. I want to make sure they experience a normal life along with a royal one.”
Gia clutches her hands to her heart. “Nothing is going to happen to you, Nina. But if it gives you peace of mind, I’ll stay back.”
With a quick tap on the open door, Stewart walks in holding a small crate. It’s the package I’ve been waiting for—a gift from my grandfather. “It just arrived,” Stewart says, placing it on my desk.
“Will you help me put it on, Ash?” I ask, spying my dagger on my desk and using it pop the top off the crate. I haven’t seen my dagger since it was embedded in Thane’s forehead. Ash must have brought it home for me.
Ash lifts the gift from its container and helps me put it on over my black top and tights. It fits perfectly.
“I asked Zeus to make me a breastplate for battle. It was fashioned by Zeus’s own blacksmith with steel from Mount Olympus and is similar to the one he wears.” The molded shiny metal is lightweight and completely covers my chest and rounded belly but rises over my hips so I can move freely. Knowing Zeus has to have some benefit.
“This is a rescue mission first and foremost, not an attack in retaliation. Our priority is to save the human girls, so we can’t go in there dragon-fire blazing.” I turn to face my small, but mighty army. “That will alert Elle, and she may panic and kill them all. We’re going to have to use stealth and subtlety—fight like an enchantress. Here’s what we’re going to do.”
