A genuine laugh burst out of me. “Come sit on my face again and I’ll remind you.”
Her head snapped, a lopsided smile curving her lips. She looked so cute and so much likemyEllie that my heart twisted. Happiness bloomed in my chest.
I think…I did it. I revived the old Ella I fell in love with.
“Is that so, princepin?”
“Princepin?” I arched my brow. “Look at you already remembering who I am.”
She chuckled and crawled closer to me, kissing my lips to taste herself before positioning her knees on either side of my head.
Sifting her fingers through my hair, she gazed down at me tenderly. My breath caught in my throat. “I could never forget you. No matter how much time we spent apart. You’re branded inside of me, too.”
“Good.” I swallowed and kissed theKtattoo on her hip bone. “Because I’ve never forgotten a single detail about you, Ellie.”
Then she proceeded to sit on my face like it was her personal throne and I made her come again, loud enough for everyone in St. Victoria to know what we were doing.
And I did it all with my gun next to me.
“I can’t believe you got my name inked on the inside of your bottom lip.” Curled beside me in post-coital bliss, Ella traced my lips, almost in a trance. “It’s so possessive. I love it.”
“I’m glad you do.” I burrowed her deeper into my chest,pressing a kiss to her forehead and inhaling her scent. Orange blossoms and jasmines mixed with rain. It calmed me down. “Though I hear the tat won’t last long.”
“Guess you’ll just have to redo it in a few years.”
I smiled like a fool.In a few years. That meant she was back and in it for the long haul, right?
Everything could finally go back to the way it was.
Well…not completely to the way it was.
Many things were different now. Yes, we were still the same Ella and Cade in some ways, though we had also changed due to the indelible marks we left on each other. Miscommunication was the root of our separation, but many external factors morphed us into the versions we were today. Ella’s miscarriage was a harsh dose of reality, yet she overcame the pain and was stronger than ever. As for me? Losing her forced me to immerse myself into the family business. Lonely nights spent working alongside Josh to build our empire and punishing dirty rats who crossed us made me colder, harsher, and more ambitious.
We grew and learned how to survive without one another.
But just because I knew how to survive without her didn’t mean I wanted tolivewithout her.
“Guess I will.” I kissed the tip of her nose.
Now she traced the tattoos on my right arm. It was difficult to hold back my beaming grin. Ella was enamoured with all the ink in her honour. It was a way to never forget us and manifest her return.
“What else did you do over the summer, besides getting all this ink?”
“I spent a lot of time with Livvy, who made me have daily tea parties with her. She said it was the fastest cure to stop feeling sad.”
Ella laughed. “Basically, a ploy to get you to play with her dolls, eh?”
“Oh, one hundred percent.” I didn’t mind, though. There were three girls in my life that I would do anything for: Olivia, Aunt Julia, and Ella. My mom, too, when she was alive.
Silence stretched between us. Ella was pensive. I didn’t like that. I smoothed the furrow between her brows. Was she thinking about me? Was she regretting kissing and touching me?
I was afraid that once we left St. Victoria, all the magic we found tonight would be lost and her walls would go back up.
“Ella, I…”
“Yes?”
Will you take me back?
