by Lola Gabriel
“Thank you, sir,” Max said.
His fear had given way now to excitement. He didn’t know what this job was going to be, but for Faust to be recruiting for it personally, it had to be an important role. And Max knew that whatever it was, he would do it, and he would do it well.
“As I’m sure you know, my daughter has yet to find her one true mate. And until she meets him and they begin training to take over as the ruling couple of the tribe, she is insisting on leading a normal life. She has a civilian job and she walks the streets like she’s a normal citizen. But in my mind, that puts her in danger. Which is where you come in. I would like to offer you the position of Ellery’s personal bodyguard,” Faust said.
Max’s jaw dropped open. He had never thought for a second he was going to get an offer like that, especially not for his first assignment. He was flattered by the offer, but if he was honest, he wasn’t entirely happy about it.
Ellery was Max’s sister’s best friend, and Max remembered her from the time before he had left Bowles for his training. She had been a spoiled little brat, always complaining about something. The thought of being in close quarters with her all day, every day, wasn’t something he would have ever chosen to do. But he knew he couldn’t turn down the offer. It was his chance to make his mark, to really serve the royal couple, and he wasn’t about to let them down. He knew that any of the other new recruits would kill for this opportunity.
“I would be honored to accept the position, sir,” Max replied.
“That’s great,” Faust said. “Now, you will obviously be paid handsomely for the post. And you will be given quarters within the house. Your job is simple yet dangerous. You must keep Ellery safe at all costs. That means you must accompany her wherever she goes outside of this house. Is that clear?”
Max nodded.
“Good. And I hate to have to ask you this, but I need to know that you’re completely on board with the role. I want an honest answer, and if that answer is no, I will understand. Are you prepared, in an extreme case, to die for this job? To give your life to save Ellery’s if the need arises?”
“Yes, sir,” Max said without hesitation.
He knew his duty to the family might lead to his death. He had accepted that in his first few weeks of training, and as annoying as Ellery was, Max was well aware that she was the future of the tribe and he knew that meant she had to be kept safe.
“Good. I’ll have my people draw up the paperwork and make it all official, but I would really like it if you could start today,” Faust said. “Ellery is leaving for work soon and I would like you to begin accompanying her to the office.”
“Yes, sir,” Max said again.
“By the time Ellery is finished work today, your living quarters will be prepared and you can get your things moved in. I want to make it clear that while Ellery will be your duty and the person you see the most, you are not working for her, you are working for me. If her requests go against my orders, then you follow my orders. Are we clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Max said a third time.
“Good,” Faust said. “Then I guess it’s time for you to meet her.”
He stood up and moved around the desk, then opened his office door and stepped out. Max heard him walking a few steps and then opening another door. He heard voices talking and then footsteps heading back, two pairs of feet this time. Max stood up as Faust came back into the room, followed by Ellery.
Max took a second to get a proper look at the girl he hadn’t seen for fifteen years, since he was eighteen and signed up for the royal guard training and since she was only fifteen. She was no longer a girl. She was most definitely a woman now.
A beautiful woman with blonde hair that looked so soft it was almost fluffy, and intense blue eyes that sparkled with intelligence. Her mouth was almost sensual to look at, her lips dark pink and full. And her body. Wow, Max thought, that body. Ellery had certainly developed curves in all of the right places.
4
Ellery had sat waiting impatiently in the little room beside her father’s office. She had been leafing through a magazine, but she had kept checking her watch. If her father didn’t hurry up and call her, she was going to have to leave and face his wrath later, otherwise she was going to be late for work. She half wondered if he had timed this on purpose to make her late. He had never really approved of her taking a civilian job, although he hadn’t actively forbidden it.
Finally, her father had come to collect her. He hadn’t said much about the purpose of the summons, just told her to come to his office. She had followed him, hoping that whatever this was about was going to at least be quick.
She stepped into the office behind Faust and her eyes widened slightly when she saw the office wasn’t empty. It wasn’t so much the surprise of seeing someone else there; it was more the surprise of seeing who it was. Max. Fiona’s older brother. A guy she had had a serious crush on growing up.
She took him in now. He was different and yet the same. He had certainly grown into his tallness, his chest and arms having expanded during his training with the royal guard. His dark brown hair was cut close to his face, showing off his impressive jawline, a jawline that Ellery imagined herself running her fingers down. His dark brown eyes hadn’t changed a bit. They were still full of warmth, full of life.
As Ellery looked at Max, she felt like nothing had changed. She could feel her body responding to Max, her center tingling as she looked him up and down. She cleared her throat, aware that she had been looking at Max for a second or two too long.
“What’s going on, Dad?” she asked, trying to cover for her obvious staring.
“Ellery, this is Maxen Lewisham. Maxen, this is my daughter, Ellery,” Faust said.
“I know who he is, Dad. He’s Fiona’s brother. But what’s he doing here?” Ellery said.
She glanced at her watch and Faust smiled at her.
“I’m sorry, dear. I didn’t realize your schedule was more important than mine,” he said drily.
Ellery rolled her eyes.
“I have to be at work soon. You know that,” she pointed out.
“I do. So, let’s make this quick. Ellery, Maxen is going to be your bodyguard,” he said.
“My bodyguard?” Ellery repeated. “What on earth do I need a bodyguard for?”
“Do I really need to remind you of your status, Ellery? While you insist on wandering around the village like any normal resident, I must insist on you being kept safe.”
“I’m nothing special,” Ellery shrugged.
“We’ll have to disagree on that one, I’m afraid, Ellery. Whenever you go out, Maxen will accompany you,” Faust said.
“Is that really necessary?” Ellery said.
Faust nodded and Ellery sighed.
“Fine. Whatever,” she muttered.
She knew it was pointless to argue with her father once he had made up his mind about something. And besides, she could think of worse things than having the gorgeous Max accompanying her when she went out.
“Maxen, could you give us a moment, please?” Faust said. “I need to talk to Ellery about something personal. You can wait in the room next door, if you don’t mind.”
“No problem, sir,” Max said.
Ellery couldn’t help but glance at his ass as he left the room. She wasn’t disappointed by it. She turned back to Faust as the office door clicked closed.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Nothing. I just wondered how your date last night went,” Faust said.
“Ugh, it was awful. Honestly, where do you find these losers?” Ellery griped.
“That’s no way to talk about Errol,” Faust said. “I take it then that you’ve concluded he isn’t your one true mate?”
“No. He definitely isn’t,” Ellery said quickly with a shudder. “When did I meet him before?”
Ellery had just remembered Errol saying that they had met three years ago and she was interested to know in what capacity she had met him. It w
as still bothering her that she couldn’t place him.
“You haven’t met him to my knowledge. Why?” Faust said.
“He said we met three years ago. So, on top of him being a creep, he’s a liar as well,” Ellery said.
“Or maybe he didn’t mean you two had met personally. Maybe he came to an event or something,” Faust suggested.
“Maybe,” Ellery said. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I have to run. See you later.”
Ellery hurried from the office. Faust followed her and watched her walk down the hallway.
“Ellery?” Faust called. She turned back. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Am I?” Ellery said.
Faust raised an eyebrow and then nodded toward the room Ellery had been waiting in a few moments ago. She realized what he meant and she groaned.
“I’m only going to work. I hardly think I need protecting from my colleagues, Dad,” she said.
She saw Faust’s expression harden and she raised her hands in surrender.
“Fine. I’ll get him,” she said with a sigh.
Faust nodded, smiling, and stepped back into his office as Ellery stuck her head into the room and told Max she was ready to leave.
5
“Max?” Ellery said, sticking her head around the door to Max’s lounge. “I’m ready to leave whenever you are.”
“At your service, ma’am,” Max said, standing up.
Ellery laughed and shook her head.
“We’ll have less of that ma’am shit. It makes me sound ancient,” she said.
Max smiled and nodded. He had been working as Ellery’s bodyguard for almost two weeks now, and she had made it clear from day one that he wasn’t to call her ma’am or treat her like anything other than a friend. He had been suspicious of this at first, but as the days passed, he realized Ellery had really changed. She was no longer a spoiled brat. She had definitely grown up and Max found her to be pleasant company now. She was funny and she genuinely had no airs or graces about her. She really didn’t think of herself as being above any of the tribe.
It had become their little joke that he still responded in an official way whenever she told him she was ready to leave for somewhere and she always laughed and told him it made her feel old.
They walked down the hallway and left the house. Once they were out of the gate, Ellery turned right, heading into the main village.
“Where are we off to, then?” Max asked.
“I have to pick up my dress for my party tonight,” she said.
“Don’t you have people to do stuff like that for you?” Max asked.
Ellery laughed and nodded her head.
“Oh sure. But I don’t see why I need them. I’m perfectly capable of going to pick something up myself,” she said.
“Fair enough,” Max said.
He peered at her out of the corner of his eye and she caught him and smiled.
“What?” she said.
“Nothing,” Max said. “You’re just very different to who I thought you would be, that’s all.”
“You mean I’m very different from the teenage version of me that you remember? God, I was awful then, wasn’t I?”
“Well, I wasn’t going to say that,” Max grinned.
“But you were thinking it,” Ellery laughed.
“Maybe a little bit,” Max agreed.
Ellery laughed again and then she turned serious.
“I guess somewhere along the way, I kind of lost myself and bought into this whole ‘I’m a princess’ thing. But then I grew up and I realized that we’re all the same, really. Every member of the tribe is important and we all have our duties to fulfill. Just because my duty is to one day be the leader of the tribe, it doesn’t mean I’m any more important than someone whose duty is to run the bank or work in the supermarket.”
“I like that way of thinking of,” Max said thoughtfully. “We’re all parts of the same whole.”
“Exactly,” Ellery said.
“Your father doesn’t seem to see it that way, though,” Max said.
“Oh, he’s convinced that I’m in danger because he thinks I’m important. Personally, I think he just wants a spy,” Ellery said with a grin.
“Well, I can honestly say he’s never quizzed me about you or anything,” Max said.
“But you would say that if he had, wouldn’t you?” Ellery said.
“Yeah, probably,” Max admitted.
“Ah well, if I want to do anything he wouldn’t approve of, I’ll just have to ditch you first,” Ellery grinned.
“Don’t even think about it,” Max laughed. “Losing you would be more than my life is worth.”
They reached Main Street and Ellery led Max to the store she wanted to go in.
“I won’t be a minute,” she said. “Do you want to go and scope the place out, look for hidden ninjas or anything?”
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Max said. He winked at her. “Ma’am.”
Ellery slapped him playfully on the arm and then she ducked into the store. Max smiled to himself as he watched her making her way to the counter. She really had changed. And the more time Max spent with her, the more he was starting to feel drawn to her. He shook his head, telling himself to get that kind of thinking out of his head right now. He had a job to do here and no part of that job involved him letting himself get too close to Ellery.
True to her word, Ellery was back out of the store in minutes, carrying a garment bag folded over her arm. She smiled at Max.
“All done,” she said.
“Cool,” he replied, glancing down Main Street longingly.
“What is it?” Ellery asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “Let’s go.”
“It’s clearly something,” Ellery said, not moving. “If you want to go somewhere while we’re here, just say.”
“I did kind of want to pop into the comic book store,” Max admitted. “They called me earlier to tell me an issue I ordered is in.”
Ellery laughed.
“I didn’t peg you as the comic book type,” she said.
“Why? Aren’t I nerdy enough to like comic books?” Max said.
“Not even close to it,” Ellery laughed. “Come on, then. Lead the way.”
Max led Ellery down Main Street and then turned off onto one of the smaller streets. He stopped in front of the comic book store.
“Here we are,” he said.
He pulled the door open and gestured for Ellery to step through.
“Why, thank you, kind sir,” she said with a smile.
Max followed her inside, laughing at her response to him holding the door open for her.
“Holy shit! Look at this!” Max exclaimed as his eyes fell on the display cabinet. He stepped toward it and Ellery followed him, making him remember himself slightly. “Excuse the language.”
“What fucking language?” Ellery winked, making Max laugh and shake his head. Once again, she had surprised him. “So? What are we looking at?”
“Issue sixteen of the All-American comic,” he said, pointing it out to her. She frowned and he went on. “It’s the first appearance of Green Lantern.”
“Okay,” Ellery said, still looking confused.
Max laughed and shook his head.
“Let’s just say it’s pretty rare,” he said. “It’s one of those issues every collector dreams of owning.”
“So, buy it,” Ellery said.
Max snorted out a laugh and Ellery frowned again. Max shook his head.
“I don’t think you understand quite how rare this is. Look at the price of it,” he said.
Ellery peered closer into the cabinet and she gasped.
“$12,000? Are they joking?” she exclaimed.
“In better condition, this issue could go for up to a million,” Max said.
Ellery shook her head.
“And people say I’m crazy because I spent a couple thousand dollars on a dress,” she said.
Max laughed
and turned away from the cabinet.
“I’ll just go and grab my order. Two seconds,” he said.
He went to the counter and paid for his order. When he was done, they stepped outside of the store again and started heading back home.
“Okay, I’ve got a plan,” Ellery said as they walked.
“Right,” Max said, wondering what she meant.
“We’ll set up a fake assassination attempt on my life. You can play hero and save me. And my father will be all grateful and you can tell him you want a twelve grand bonus and buy the comic,” she said, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
“It’s terrifying to think that one day you’ll be running the tribe with plans like that,” Max laughed.
“Oh, come on. It could work, you know it could,” Ellery insisted.
“I’m not saying it couldn’t work. I’m saying you’re an evil genius,” Max grinned.
“But it’s for a good cause, right? And that makes it okay,” Ellery said.
“If you say so,” Max said.
“I do,” Ellery said. “So are we going to have a lone nutcase come for me or a carefully orchestrated gang attack?”
She glanced at Max, who just shook his head.
“Oh wait. I’ve got it,” Ellery said. She linked her arm through Max’s and moved closer to him. “We’ll have a wolf pack attack me. And you can take them on single-handedly and save me. Yes, I like that.”
Max laughed along with her, but he was finding it hard to focus on her words now. All he could focus on was the closeness of her body to his, the way her hand felt linked through his arm. It sent tingles through his body, and for the first time, Max realized just how much Ellery had really grown on him.
6
Ellery smiled and shook the outstretched hand of a man named Richard. He was the latest in a stream of eligible bachelors her parents had introduced her to over the course of the night and it was starting to really get old now. None of the men sparked any sort of reaction in her although they had all seemed nice and polite enough. Ellery’s favorite one had been a man named Jake who had admitted that his own parents had forced him into introducing himself to Ellery. She had actually spent a bit of time talking to him, but there was still no attraction between them.