As I set the damaged book down on my comforter, I curl into a ball when my video doorbell chimes detecting motion at the front door. It’s probably Layla leaving without even saying goodbye.
I pull up the feed. I know I’ll only hurt my own feelings more by watching Layla leave, but I can’t stop myself. Nola makes her way to my bed and curls up in my lap, purring and snuggling, but my heart hurts far too much for her to make me feel better.
I watch the video load. Seeing the turning blue swirl of death before, a man appears on my screen. Oh, what? Did he leave something here at my house? Oh, wait—his game console. He must be here to get his game console. The thought brings me back to before the mating ceremony, just before things started to go bad when we played that game, and I was happy. So happy, even with Milo after me, and now I almost wish he was still after me. So I could still be with Eddie. So Eddie wouldn’t have a reason to leave.
I turn on the mic and speak to him, since I have no strength to get up and see him in person. “Leave,” I whisper, trying to hold back the sadness I’m sure is pouring out of my pores.
“You owe me a favor, Willow,” Eddie says, holding a yellow box of tea bags and a packaged blanket in his arms.
“What are you talking about? I don’t owe you anything,” I say as I sit up in my bed. Owe him? And is he holding gifts for me? Are they parting gifts? If so, I don’t want them. He can keep them just like he has kept my heart.
“Yes, you do, Willow. It was my witch that saved you when you were having an allergic reaction, and in exchange for her saving you, you owe me a favor. I’m cashing it in today.”
Favors are unavoidable in the paranormal world. It’s worth more than gold and diamonds, and it is an incredible betrayal to not honor them. He’s put me in between a rock and a hard place, and I have no idea why.
“Willow, I want to tell you what the favor is in person, please,” he begs, and I can feel myself giving in. No, he can’t come to my home and make demands. I’m kind, but not a darn rug he can walk all over. I get out of bed, even though I don’t want to, and walk to the door, but I don’t open it. I slide down the door with my back against it and turn my mic back on.
“You lost that privilege when you asked me to leave. What’s the favor, you jerk?” Name calling is way better than when Istruck James for thinking he was the one who kidnapped Layla. I’ll have to remember that next time I get angry.
“Willow, tell me how you feel about me.”
“I know you heard me at the grocery store,” I mumble into the mic, rolling my eyes. Is he serious right now?
“You weren’t talking to me. You were talking to Milo. Talk tomenow, Willow. Confess to me.”
“I would’ve if you’d let me at the wedding,” I say, still reeling in the rejection. He would’ve heard it before Layla was kidnapped, before Milo appeared, before I bit Milo; he would’ve heard me, yet he stopped me.
“I want to hear it in our place, Willow. Not at the grocery store, not at your sister’s mating ceremony. Here, just me and you.”
“And Layla, she’s still here, I think,” I say. I’m far too emotional to scent if she is still here. But this is the first time my door camera has gone off since I’ve been home, and she has way too much stuff to try to go through a window.
“And Layla. Me, you, and Layla. Now on with it, woman!” he says, smiling into the camera. I finally stand and open the door, but I don’t step outside.
My eyes focus as I wipe away the tears, and I fully see him, breathing, smiling, with a box of tea and a blanket. I see him, really see him. He’s my fated mate, whether or not he accepts it. He stands in a coordinating outfit to mine, and I’m suddenly glad I didn’t change. He’s wearing a purple T-shirt similar to my skirt. He smiles, and he has his glasses on, which I think he knows I love.
He is everything I could have ever wanted in a mate, and he sent me away.
I take in a deep breath, readying to lay myself bare. “Okay, Eddie Enchanted, you are my fated mate. I was wrong about thinking Milo could ever be my mate. Not just because of thingshe did to Layla, but because I know he would have never been my mate. Not when I’ve never felt this explosive wave of emotion every time you look at me. Not when I see and smell and feel all the good in the world showering me every time you’re around. Eddie Enchanted, I love you. I love you so much, and you broke my heart,” I say with a sob as my hand comes up to cover my mouth as I drop my phone.
“I’m sorry, Buttercup, but I needed you to tell me, face to face, what you were feeling was even a tenth of what I feel. Willow Buttercup, you are my mate, and I thank the Moon Goddess she brought you to me because I know,I know, you are mine.”
“Kiss me, please,” I mutter as I rush towards him. The box of tea and the blanket fall from his hands onto the porch. His lips crush against mine, our teeth almost bumping. Hearing him say I am his mate is everything I need to push forward. Our kiss is explosive, and even when I stand right under the fireworks, I crave more.
“I need you,” he mutters as his hands swallow me up. He urges my legs up, and I jump to hook them around him. He walks into the house, leaving the gifts he brought on the porch, and kicks the front door closed with his foot as he us into my bedroom. Dropping me on the bed, both of us breathing heavily as he lifts my hips and yanks my skirt and panties off. Exposing me bare to the harsh wind of my AC.
“I need to see all of you, Buttercup. I need it like I need my next breath,” he says, and I’m quick to lean up and get rid of my shirt too.
Completely bare to my mate, my cheeks getting red, my insecurity peeking its head out, but the glow of Eddie’s eyes melts that monster away as he’s almost frozen in place.
He slides his own shirt off, still dazed by me, fueling my aching cunt with want and need as he unbuckles his belt. Thatgets me jumping up as my mouth waters from the sight of my mate.
My mate.
I don’t need a bite to tell me this man is my mate anymore. I know, I just know, Eddie Enchanted is my fated mate. I crawl forward, placing my hands on his belt, lightly moving his own away. I look up at him through my lashes as his breathing gets quicker, harsher, as my skin brushes his.
He doesn’t let me get much farther as he pushes me back down on the bed, nodding his head. “You first, my mate.”
I sigh in complete satisfaction as his words reach my ears, and I catch his lips in another kiss. Goodness, this man is everything.
