He shook his head. “I’m off the market.”
“Ella locked you up tight, eh?” she asked with a grin.
“Never any doubt,” he answered, and the absoluteness of it rang in the air between them.
She nodded. “Good for you. At least one of us has their shit locked up tight.” Then she walked away.
Jude headed inside to look over the plans Fedir had given him. He needed this over so he could go home to his Ella. That was all he wanted.
* * *
“He’s not going to be happy about this,” Georgia said to King.
Ella looked the woman over, dismissing her as a threat. She may once have had a relationship with Jude, but Jude was Ella’s now. Her conviction was bone deep.
“Which slip?” King asked.
“Three,” she answered before she turned to Ella. “He’s all yours.”
Ella smiled, hoping it was more than just a baring of her teeth. “I know.”
Georgia laughed.
Ella walked over to the bar. “She’s the Piper’s, according to Vivi,” Rook said from the corner of his mouth.
“She told me Jude has the plans to Dresden’s mansion,” King told them as they sat down around the small table by a window.
Ella sniffed lightly. “We don’t need them. They’re probably out of date. Dresden remodeled shortly after taking it from the previous owner.”
“You going in first, Ella?” Brody asked with a quirked eyebrow.
“Yeah. Right after a shot of vodka to fortify myself,” she said around a laugh. Brody motioned for the woman behind the bar to bring them a round.
“I think we all need one,” he said in agreement.
They each took a shot, slamming their glasses upside down on the scarred wooden surface.
“We’ll bunk on the ship tonight. According to Georgia, Jude is set to leave at oh six hundred. Be ready,” King warned.
They each stood and made their way down the docks. When Ella came to the third slip, she breathed in deeply. He was going to be pissed.
She didn’t give two shits.
She stepped onto the boat, steps nearly silent, wind tossing her hair to and fro. She entered the main cabin and froze as a gun was leveled at her temple.
“Goddamn it, Ella!” Jude pushed out between clenched teeth. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Get the gun off me, Jude,” she demanded.
“Then take yours out of my gut,” he said ruefully as he lowered his weapon.
Ella did the same. Then they were face-to-face. Darkness had fallen hours ago. It had been a hard ride to Sevastopol from Odessa. Puddle jumpers never failed to wig her out. The moon shone bright over the water and highlighted the cabin.
“I’ll accept your apology once we’re home,” she whispered, and they both knew she was referring to his leaving.
“I can’t do this if you’re here,” he said, once again through clenched teeth. “You’ll pull my concentration.”
Ella cocked her head. Frustration gnawing at her. “Well, you won’t be doing it without me here, so looks like you’ve got a choice to make.”
The others stepped in behind her.
“Take her home, Your Highness,” Jude said softly, his gaze never leaving Ella.
“No.” King was implacable.
Finally, Jude moved the weight of his gaze from Ella to their team leader.
“You’ll do it with your team, or we’ll do it without you,” King said firmly.
Jude ran a hand over his head. She felt his tension, wanted to ease him.
“He tried to kill her. Blew my cabin apart to find her. Had his men fire shots at her. I can’t let her go back into that.”
“We go together. I understand why you left, Keeper, but there’s shit you need to know, and Ella was coming after you whether we came or not,” King informed him.
“Then you should have locked her ass up,” Jude bit out.
“That shit don’t work, man.” Brody spoke up. “Even Dresden figured out real quick that Ella doesn’t do real well locked up.”
Jude dropped into a chair by the captain’s table. He hung his head and took deep, even breaths. He was struggling with it. With having her here.
“I spent the last year tortured every day with thoughts of Dresden possibly killing you. I have done things I won’t ever receive forgiveness for. The least you could do is look at me when you talk about me,” Ella demanded.
His gaze rose to hers.
“When he shot me in Beirut, I thought it was over. When I woke up, I knew I was going to suffer and then die. You were there with me every step. And now, when you need me the most, you’re shutting me out. I want to know why.”
“I would die if I lost you again,” he said simply.
Every word was a bomb dropped right on her heart.
But she raised her head and nodded. “And I would do the same. It’s why I suffered the last year—doing the Piper’s dirty work, dealing with Dresden, doing every last thing I’ve done to help that monster. Don’t shut me out because you think I’m weak and can’t handle it. If you don’t understand what I gave up when I stayed gone, letting you think I was dead, then we have nothing between us.”
He stood at that and rushed her, taking her arm and moving her to the back of the forty-foot boat, as far away from the others as he could get. He slammed a door behind him, and they were enclosed in a small space. Too small to contain the aggression pouring off them both.
Ella opened her mouth, and he was on her. Mouth closing over hers, tongue demanding entry. “Take it all off,” he whispered savagely.
“You first,” she returned stubbornly.
He had to realize that while she wasn’t as strong as he was physically, she was an equal in this. Dresden was hers. For everything that bastard had done. He was hers.
Jude ripped her shirt in half. Okay, she really wasn’t as strong. She pushed her hands under his tee and pushed up. “Get it off,” she pleaded.
His lips left hers long enough for him to tug his T-shirt
